A little over two weeks ago, one of the top safeties in the 2028 recruiting class, CJ Criag-James, included Clemson among his top schools.
While there is nothing unusual about that on its face, there was a little something different about Craig-James including the Tigers on his list. The four-star talent, out of Parker High School (AL), not only doesn’t have an offer from Clemson, but he’s also yet to even visit.
It’s the final box that needs checking before the staff at Clemson can officially extend an offer.
“Coach Swinney has a little different process on offering,” Craig-James told The Clemson Insider. “You’ve got to come on campus first. So, they are trying to get me to come on campus and make the offer official. The time didn’t work out right because we were still in school and stuff when they had the camps.”
Expect that box to get checked fairly early in the season, as Craig-James said he’s planning to make two early-season visits to campus. One of those will be for the Tigers’ home matchup against Miami on October 3. The other might be for the home-opener against North Carolina in Week 3.
Nick Eason made a stop by Craig-James’ school during the contact period, and once coaches could start contacting recruits in the 2028 class directly on June 15, the Clemson staff has been putting on the full-court press, with defensive coordinator Tom Allen leading the charge. That is a big part of the reason Craig-James felt more than comfortable putting the Tigers in his Top 12.
“My dad, he is real technical. He’s got this whole spreadsheet tracking calls from schools and who is reaching out,” he said. “When June 15 came, the whole staff was reaching out, and we thought it was standard because everybody was doing it, but their whole staff was reaching out. I expected it to fall off, but it did not happen like that. They kept doing it every single day. Coach Allen, the DC, personally called. And still to this day, every other day, he is going to call. Or coach Eason is going to call. Somebody from the staff is making sure they are intentional. They don’t just send generic text messages.”
Another part of the appeal to Clemson is the success the Tigers have had developing defensive backs.
“I might be mistaken on the number, but like the past four or five drafts, they’ve had a DB go in the first round,” Craig-James said. “It might not be every one, but it is more than the average. That is a big deal to me.”
Once Craig-James makes it to campus, he can officially pick up an offer, and to him, that is going to be a big deal.
“It would mean a lot,” he said. “A lot of schools don’t do this, but once Clemson offers you, it is committable. It is official. They want your transcript when you get there and all of that stuff. There’s not a lot of messing around.”
The 247 Composite ranks Craig-James No. 77 overall, No. 7 among all safeties in his class and No. 4 in the state of Alabama.
The 6-foot-3 defender also has a step-brother in the 2028 class who is generating interest from some Group of 6 schools. For that reason, Craig-James wants to try and have his recruitment wrapped up as early as January, so the focus can shift towards his sibling. Expect him to drop his finalists sometime around midseason.
“By midseason we will be down to about four or five,” Craig-James said. “Then, by January we might be ready because I have traveled and I have visited tons of places and stuff. I don’t want to spend my whole summer trying to fit in six schools on OVs.”
The Clemson program does have a lot of the characteristics he’s looking for in a school, which should give the Tigers staying power in his recruitment.
“The main thing I am looking for is development to the NFL,” Craig-James said. “Who gets their guys ready long-term. Staff stability is also a big part of it. Facilities, the culture and can they make a good playoff run.”