When looking at Clemson’s 2026 recruiting class, there’s some good news and some not-so-good news.

The good news? The Tigers’ class is ranked higher than the previous class. On3 and the 247 Composite both have the 23-member class ranked at No. 20.

The not-so-good news? While the current class is ranked higher than last year’s, it’s not by much. On3 ranked the 2025 class No. 23, while the Composite ranked it No. 26. And let’s be real, to be where Clemson wants to be, the Tigers need to be recruiting at a higher level. At worst, inside the Top 15 consistently. Honestly, they probably need to be inside the Top 12.

Let’s take a look at where recent classes have ranked in the Composite Rankings:

• 2026: No. 20
• 2025: No. 26
• 2024: No. 11
• 2023: No. 11
• 2022: No. 10

The decline is obvious. Full disclosure, these rankings don’t include transfer portal additions, so all of those players the Tigers added last month don’t factor into these numbers.

However, for a program that is so devoted to building through the high school ranks, as well as retaining that talent, the drop in talent level is hard to overlook.

Going back to the previous recruiting cycle, it was understandable how the Tigers finished so low in the rankings. There were seven decommitments in that class, with six of those coming after the summer had started. Four of those recruits were ranked inside the Top 100, making the sting that much worse.

In this class, there were four decommitments, but just one of those players ranked in the Top 100. Two ranked outside of the Top 250.

The bottom line is, Clemson just isn’t landing the type of talent it was in the past, and so far, Dabo Swinney just hasn’t shown a willingness to lean heavily on the portal to make up the difference. Blame it on the new NIL era, or whatever else. The fact of the matter is, if the Tigers want to get back to competing for ACC Championships and advancing to the College Football Playoff, the high school recruiting has to improve.

Photo by Bart Boatwright