As soon as the clock struck midnight Tuesday and the calendar turned to Sept. 1, college football coaches could begin directly contacting class of 2022 prospects, and many coaches across the country reached out to Columbus (Ga.) Hardaway four-star defensive lineman Mykel Williams.

“My phone has been going crazy,” Williams told The Clemson Insider. “From 12 a.m. to 12:30, I had about like, I’d say probably like 100 text messages from different people on multiple staffs and different coaches. Head coaches texted me.”

Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall and defensive coordinator Brent Venables are among the many coaches who have contacted Williams, a consensus top-100 national prospect in the 2022 class.

“Basically they’re just happy to finally recruit me and talk to me,” Williams said of what he heard from Hall and Venables.

Williams (6-5, 255) has racked up offers from more than two dozen programs including Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame and Ohio State among others.

The plan for Williams right now is to narrow down his recruitment and drop a list of his top schools around the beginning of next year.

“My top 10’s coming January 1, around that area,” he said. “I probably won’t commit until about this time next year.”

Clemson is a lock to make the cut for the top 10, according to Williams.

“Oh yeah, Clemson’s in there, for sure,” he said.

“It just (sells) itself,” he added of Clemson’s program. “They’ve got a winning history, they’ve got a great (defensive ends) coach in Coach Hall, and I feel like I could succeed there.”

Williams is ranked as high as the No. 44 prospect in the 2022 class regardless of position by 247Sports, while Rivals and ESPN tab him as the No. 51 and No. 85 overall prospect in the class, respectively.

ESPN and Rivals consider Williams a defensive end, while 247Sports rates him as a defensive tackle. Clemson offered him in June and is recruiting him as a defensive end.

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