Swinney, coordinators visit with talented teammates
By: Gavin Oliver January 21, 2017

On Friday, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Tony Elliott and defensive coordinator Brent Venables made a stop at Cambridge Christian School in Tampa, Fla., to check in on highly touted 2018 recruits and teammates Andrew Cunningham and Richard Gouraige.

The Clemson Insider caught up with Cunningham, a high-three star running back with two dozen offers, about the coaches’ meeting with him and Gouraige, a four-star offensive tackle with 25 offers.

“It was a really great feeling to know that the head coach that just won a national championship, coach Dabo Swinney, was coming by to see me and Richard Gouraige.” Cunningham said. “Coach Elliott and coach Venables were there, also, and we just had a real good talk.”

What did Cunningham and Gouraige hear from the coaches?

“They brought us up to the meeting room, and they said they want us to come to their Junior Day and speak with us and stuff like that,” Cunningham said.

Clemson offered Gouraige, a consensus top-70 prospect nationally and a top-10 prospect at his position, in July. Cunningham, an ESPN Junior 300 member, carries offers from Louisville, Kentucky, Maryland, N.C. State and Oregon among others.

The two teammates visited Clemson together for the Dabo Swinney Camp in June, and Cunningham said Clemson has come up during their frequent conversations about schools and recruiting.

“Me and Richard talk about a lot of schools,” Cunningham said. “Clemson right now, I’m pretty sure is a school he’s pretty big on. We talk about daily what schools we like and what schools we have the most interest in and things like that.”

Cunningham hopes to make it back to Clemson for Junior Day, and said he will take one of his official visits to Clemson in the future.

“Down the road, for sure, I’ll take an official visit,” he said.

After getting a good feel for Clemson and the campus during his summer stay, Cunningham looks forward to talking more in-depth with the coaches when he returns.

“When I was at the camp, I pretty much saw everything,” Cunningham said. “I know they have the nice facilities, the dorms and stuff like that, but overall I just want to have a good experience, talk to the coaches as people and get down-to-earth with Clemson.”

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