Back in late March, JR Hardrick was on the road for a couple of days, making recruiting stops.

On the way back home to Tennessee, the three-star defensive end decided to make a stop at Clemson. Turns out that decision would pay off in a big way.

The Tigers have been showing heavy interest of late. Defensive ends coach Chris Rumph has made two stops by his high school (South Pittsburgh) in the past couple of weeks. That interest has now officially turned into an offer from Clemson, with Hardrick going public on Monday. And it all started with that initial stop in the Upstate.

Pretty much the entire coaching staff made it a point to welcome Hardrick into the facility that day, something that really resonated with the fast-rising prospect.

“I think they had gotten all of their staff for me there in the morning,” Hardrick told The Clemson Insider. “Everybody came in and greeted me. Great hospitality.”

While Hardrick was on campus, Rumph detailed Clemson’s plan for the 6-foot-6 pass rusher.

“Then, me and coach Rumph watched my film,” Hardrick added. “He critiqued me on some things that I need to work on and stuff like that. Coach Rumph kept in contact with my coach after that and it really just took off from there.”

Rumph’s most recent visit in to see Hardrick came late last week. Then on Sunday, while he was working out with some of his friends, he got that call from Rumph that he was hoping to get.

“I was at the field working with my friends and stuff,” Hardrick said. “He called, and he was asking, ‘Y’all think JR should be a Tiger?'”

By the time that call ended, Hardrick had an offer from Clemson.

“I feel very honored,” Hardrick said. “That is a privilege that is very high up there. I did not really expect that to be honest. I mean, I know I still got a lot of room to improve. I’m just very thankful and grateful, and just give God all the glory.”

Hardrick now has close to 20 offers in total, with three of those coming from Power-4 schools. Louisville and Georgia Tech both offered in March.

Along with his visit to Clemson, Hardrick also made spring stops at Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Louisville, North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest and Mississippi State.

However, there is one thing that separates Clemson from the rest of the pack, and it’s the commitment and dedication that Dabo Swinney and the rest of the Tigers’ coaching have for their players.

“What really stands out, and my coach, he made the point about the transfer portal. How most schools use the transfer portal,” Hardrick said. “Clemson only used the transfer portal for three players this year. That just shows that they are really big on development. You actually have a chance to play, instead of just going somewhere where they just get somebody to come in ahead of you who’s already been there, done that. They actually gave you the chance to work for and earn a spot.

Now Hardrick’s attention turns towards summer officials. Georgia Tech will get one June 6-8. Originally, he was planning to take an official visit to Louisville the weekend before that.

With that being the same weekend the Tigers will hold their big official visit weekend, the plan is to now push that Louisville visit back to June 13 and attend Clemson’s annual event. Knowing the Tigers only host official visits one time during the summer, Hardrick knows how important it is to be on hand that weekend.

“I still got to work some things out,” he said. “But that is a very big thing and you just can’t pass it up.”

Hardrick would like to make a commitment before the start of his senior season, and what transpires on those official visits will factor heavily into his decision.

“The big thing is let the main thing be the main thing, as somebody has told me,” Hardick said. “Am I really wanted there? Do they really need me? Do I feel welcomed? Do they really want me and need me there? That is probably my biggest thing because I don’t want to go somewhere where they don’t really need me.”

Photo courtesy of JR Hardrick on X (formerly known as Twitter) @JRHardrick2026