After putting together one of the best classes of offensive linemen during the 2026 recruiting cycle, Clemson assistant Matt Luke has gone out and done it again.
Luke signed six last December, with five of those being four-star prospects. The sixth was a four-star by at least one service for a time, but for some reason, he was dinged late in the cycle.
Some might think that signing a class with that many players, high-quality ones at that, could have made it more difficult to pull off the same feat in the following recruiting cycle. Not for Luke.
Coming into the month of May, the Tigers did not have a single offensive lineman committed in the 2027 class. However, after the current heater Clemson is experiencing on the trail, Luke now has four linemen in the fold, including the top target. And all four are ranked as four-stars by at least one of the services.
2027 OL Commits
- Four-star Carter Jones
- Four-star JJ Brown
- Four-star Elijah Morrison
- Four-star Luke Starcevic
However, it’s not just where these players are ranked that makes this haul impressive. It’s the caliber of schools Clemson beat out for these guys.
Multiple experts pegged Jones to Penn State following his official visit there back in April. Not that you can still find any record of those “predictions” now. Funny how that works, huh? But that is a topic for another day.
Make no mistake, the Nittany Lions were pushing, and pushing hard. To the point, they’d gained significant traction. But Jones had called Clemson his favorite multiple times ahead of that visit, and the relationship he’d built with Luke was unlike any other. He was never not going to make it to his Clemson official visit. So, those predictions were a tad premature, and Jones ultimately committed to the Tigers on Memorial Day, becoming the first offensive lineman to join the class.
Georgia and Tennessee were also involved and beating out those three schools for a prized lineman makes a statement in its own right.
Clemson also beat out the Dawgs for Brown. For weeks, he certainly appeared to be trending towards Georgia, having taken multiple visits to Athens. Seeing as Brown hails from the Peach State, this makes it an even bigger recruiting win. It’s not very often the Tigers have beaten the Dawgs head-to-head for a highly-touted lineman from the state of Georgia.
Morrison’s recruitment carried a similar theme. He also hails from Georgia, and once again, the Dawgs were one of the finalists. So was Florida State. Morrison was originally scheduled to be in Athens for an official visit this weekend, meaning Kirby Smart’s program was pursuing hard. He joined the fold late last week, even before Clemson’s big official visit weekend, giving Luke another big recruiting win over his former employer.
Starcevic’s recruitment was a little different, seeing as some were recruiting him as an offensive lineman, some as a tight end and others as a defensive end. The Tigers ultimately beat out Kansas State for his services. The Wildcats were recruiting him as an edge rusher.
While Kansas State doesn’t carry quite the cache as a Georgia, Tennessee, or even a Florida State, there was another high-profile school heavily involved. Notre Dame was also recruiting Starcevic hard, and it’s always nice to beat out the Irish for a highly-rated lineman.
What Luke has been able to do with his first two full recruiting classes at Clemson has been remarkable. Obviously, the Tigers still have to hold on to all four through signing day, but if all four do indeed sign, Luke will have put together back-to-back stellar recruiting classes.