What a difference a year makes.
After absolutely crushing in the last recruiting cycle, Clemson assistant Matt Luke is finding it a little more challenging with the 2027 class. The Tigers signed six offensive linemen last December, with five of those being four-star talents. Some have called it the best group of linemen signed last December. And all six have the potential to contribute at some point in the future. Some sooner than others.
However, the current recruiting cycle is playing out a little differently. Clemson has offered 11 offensive linemen, with more than half already committing to other schools. Three of them, four-stars Maxwell Hiller, Peyton Miller and Elijah Hutcheson, have announced verbal pledges to Florida.
Hiller was a big swing. That is one the Tigers never had much of a shot with, but the other two, the program had a realistic shot. Clemson was actually trending with Hutcheson at one point.
As it stands currently, several targets are still expected to give Clemson official visits. The one at the top of the board is four-star Carter Jones. The Tigers were at one time in the driver’s seat, but Penn State has surged in recent weeks. The Nittany Lions have already gotten an official. So has Georgia. Jones will hit Tennessee on May 21 and then finish up with Clemson the following week.
As many misses as the Tigers have suffered in recent weeks, watching Jones head elsewhere would equate to the biggest miss in this class to date, in my opinion. This is a guy who had no problem maintaining, on multiple occasions, that Clemson was the leader. It’s rare to see Clemson getting a recruit’s final official visit, but in this case, that’s a good thing.
“They are at the top of my list,” Jones told TCI in March. “One of my favorite schools for sure. It is the culture, and it is Coach Luke’s development and ability to get players into the NFL. That is really big for me. The development piece mixed in with the culture. Because I will develop not only as a football player but also a man.”
Four-star in-state talent Nate Carson is also expected to attend the big official visit weekend. However, he’s another long shot. For whatever reason, more often than not, kids who go to Irmo just don’t end up at Clemson.
Four-star Reed Ramsier will also attend the big official visit weekend. He was on hand for the Elite Retreat. Texas, Auburn and Florida are also scheduled to get officials. He is a former teammate of freshman OL Chance Barclay. It is hard to get a good read on exactly where Clemson stands at this point.
Three-star Elijah Morrison recently included the Tigers in his Top 5, and revealed he plans to be at the big official visit weekend. Florida State, Georgia and NC State will also get officials.
After taking six in the last cycle, the plan was never to take that many this go around. And make no mistake, signing such a deep, star-studded class in 2026 does make it a little more difficult for current recruiting efforts. That said, the misses are starting to stack up, and no matter the reason, that makes for bad optics, and that’s why Clemson needs to be able to seal the deal with a couple of the remaining targets.