Jesse Hanson has competed at several Dabo Swinney Camps over the years and visited Clemson a few times as a recruit, as well.
The 2019 offensive lineman from Daleville (Va.) Lord Botetourt was on campus again yesterday for the Tigers’ Orange & White spring game. It was his first visit since the Syracuse game last fall, so he was able to get his first look at the finished product of Clemson’s new football facility.
“It was fun. I always love coming up to Clemson,” Hanson told The Clemson Insider. “I loved seeing the new facility today. It was like a Clemson Disney World. So, it was fun.”
“There was a lot of cool parts about it,” he added. “I thought it was crazy they had their own nap room and their own barber. The outdoor putt-putt was amazing, too.”
Seeing the facility wasn’t the only highlight of Hanson’s latest experience.
“I always love coming to the locker room afterwards and getting to see the guys talking to each other and just carrying on,” he said. “And I got to talk to coach (Robbie) Caldwell and then I got to meet coach (Brent) Venables today, so that was good.
“Coach Caldwell was talking about being glad that I was up there, and he was talking about getting somebody to come down to my school to watch me there. And we were just joking about how Venables always seems to be in other places and that coach Caldwell’s always the one that’s talking to me directly.”
Hanson said Clemson has increasingly expressed interest in him as he’s gotten older and developed a relationship with Caldwell.
“They’ve been showing a little bit of interest, and it’s gotten more progressive as I’ve gotten older,” he said. “I think the main reason is because I’ve built a relationship with coach Caldwell through the camps. I started going to those when I was fairly young, and coach Caldwell’s kind of seen me grow up.”
The 6-foot-4, 285-pounder has heard that Caldwell likes his tenacious and aggressive attitude as a lineman.
“From what he’s told me, I think he likes the grit and I always attack and things like that, aggressiveness-type stuff,” Hanson said.
Hanson, meanwhile, likes Caldwell’s down-to-earth personality.
“He seems real,” Hanson said. “He doesn’t act different because somebody’s around, and then he seems like a real father-figure type of a guy, so I like that a lot too.”
Hanson plans to camp at Clemson again this summer and possibly attend a practice during fall camp. He visited East Carolina recently, is visiting Coastal Carolina tomorrow and Liberty on April 15.
Iowa State is also highly interested in him.
“Iowa State wants me to come out there,” Hanson said. “They actually emailed my coach and they’ve been on the phone a lot because they said they promised to offer me sometime, they just don’t know when, so they want me to come up there.”
When Hanson looks at Clemson, the straightforwardness and genuineness of the coaching staff sticks out to him the most.
“For me the biggest thing for Clemson is that (Dabo) Swinney, he’s so personal and family based,” he said. “He’s strong in his faith, and everything about Clemson seems real. What they tell you is what they mean, and they’re just really personal. I like it a lot.”