This month, thousands of high school athletes flocked to Clemson over the span of two weekends for the program’s annual summer camps.

Now virtually every school runs their own series of camps, but the Tigers do things a little bit different in comparison to others.

“Clemson camp is different because Clemson has ‘words of wisdom,’” Greenville (SC) quarterback Zachary Pickelsimer said. “It’s where the players/coaches will speak to us and give the most useful advice to use in the real world, not just in football. Most colleges don’t do that.”

The focus the program puts on doing everything possible to help players improve is something that stands out to nearly every student athlete.

“They care about you a lot,” four-star Buford (GA) offensive tackle Brayden Jacobs said. “They’ll come to you individually if you need it. Other camps in this country like big groups, but (Clemson), after your reps and stuff will pull you aside.”

However, the differences do not stop there. Unlike many other programs, Clemson does not put athletes through any sort of athletic testing, such as the 40-yard dash.

“A bunch of other schools, they’ll run you, test your vertical and do all that stuff just to see who’s fast and athletic,” Jefferson (GA) linebacker Max Brown said. “But Clemson, they do drills and they see who’s able to do stuff that correlates to the football field. They do stuff that just makes it enjoyable instead of just running, jumping and then doing a couple of one-on-ones.”

In place of testing players’ athleticism, Clemson seems to focus on the on-the-field product and putting athletes in position to prepare for pressure packed in-game situations.

“They really dive into game situations,” Dorman (SC) quarterback Riley Scruggs said. “We did a lot of drills based on live-game situations, with our footwork, eyes and all that kind of stuff. It’s also a really family feel there too, so I’d say that’s definitely the difference.”