Swinney: Consistency, Culture The Key to Clemson’s Recruiting Success

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has turned the Tigers into a national recruiting machine, but it the program has had to go out and earn its reputation.

It’s been said there is a good reason we never see commercials on television for car companies like Lamborghini, Ferrari and Rolls Royce. Those brands and their quality speak for themselves.

Now while there is still leg work to be done in sales, generally their clientele flock to them based on the brand reputation that has been built over the course of time. Simply put, those companies don’t have to spend time, money and resources on your typical ads like other mainstream car companies.

The same concept could be applied to the elite of college football. Coaching staffs at programs like Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC, Notre Dame and Georgia can be more selective with their clientele (recruits) than most other schools across the country.

Furthermore, the return on investment speaks for itself with top recruiting classes year after year and sustained success on the gridiron. But the transition to such elite status is a gradual one that takes time, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is very aware of the process. He is a living testimony that putting in the hard work and achieving consistency with a winning culture will have quality players coming to you.

“I think we've earned it. That didn't just happen. We didn't just show up and say, 'Hey, we're Clemson, come to Clemson and kids want to come,'” Swinney said. “That's been earned through years of consistency. Nine, 10-plus win seasons, national championships, conference championships, those type of things, big, big wins, big, big moments over the last decade.”

Swinney, a two-time national champion head coach has built a Clemson brand — like Lamborghini and Ferrari — that is as luxurious as any other in the country, making Death Valley a favorable destination for any high school recruit.

Whether they reside in Central, S.C. (DeAndre Hopkins), Jennings, La. (Travis Etienne) or Bellflower, Calif. (DJ Uiagalelei) the Tigers have proven they can go anywhere and land any recruit they want. It’s an advantage not every program has, but it is earned, not given.

“When you think about it now, like DJ, for example, and we weren't even recruiting him," Swinney said, "his coach reached out to us and said, 'Hey, I've got a pretty good quarterback.' It's not like we're just going to go out there and say we're Clemson. We usually have to have some type of interest reciprocated.” 

It wasn’t that long ago when commitments from C.J. Spiller, Sammy Watkins, Tajh Boyd and Mackensie Alexander were perhaps more surprising. Fast forward a decade later and the Tigers are a fixture in the top 10 of not only recruiting but the AP and College Football Playoff rankings. 

Picking up commitments and from top-tier talent like Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence, Uiagalelei and most recently, Will Shipley, come as no surprise to most who have paid attention the last decade. Best has truly become the standard in Clemson.

“But I think when you think about it, (Uiagalelei) is a guy that since he was seven years old, he's been seeing this version of Clemson, whether it be through the media, TV, whatever, big games, and so I think that that resonates," Swinney said. "And so what happens with that, as our brand has grown through our consistency, kids want to come see Clemson. It's become a place — and what I already knew, what I knew when I took the job was that if we could get guys on campus, people were going to see what a special place this is. And that's what's happened. That's how we started the program.”

And not only can the Tigers apple pick who they really want these days, but they also aren’t forced to take more than they need. Clemson currently has just 10 commitments. Two teams ahead of them, Ohio State and Tennessee, have 18 and 19 commitments, respectively.

Quality over quantity is the name of the game.

“But now, 10 years, 11 years later, we signed kids from 14 states this year, and last year was like 14 or 15 or something. And when we've gotten one, we've signed back-to-back players out of California for the first time in the history of the school. We've signed Travis — he was my first guy from Louisiana," Swinney said. "Then we came back right here in Baton Rouge and got (linebacker) Bryton Constantin. Isaiah Simmons came from Olathe, Kansas. He was my first guy out of Kansas. Christian Wilkins came from Connecticut.”

In addition to getting some of those four- and five-star recruits, Clemson’s staff has also proven it can find those diamonds in the rough taking two and three stars and developing them into players who can compete at the highest level against the best players in the country.

Look no further than WR Hunter Renfrow (two-star), DL Grady Jarrett (two-star), QB Chase Brice, LB Isaiah Simmons, DE Shaq Lawson and DE Vic Beasley (all three-star).

At the end of the day, each school must find the players that best fit not only the scheme and system but fit the program and campus. Every five-star isn’t a good fit at Clemson and that is OK with Swinney.

“So you know, we have to be smart. The thing for us is the right fit — not the so-called 'the highest-rated player' but the best player in our eyes and the best fit for our program, and we always start inside out,” Swinney said. “We're always, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Maryland, that's our base, and then we try to scout out the best guys that fit our program from all over the country.”