Clemson Making Most of Unusual Circumstances on Recruiting Trail

The current dead period in recruiting mandated by the NCAA has put schools in a bind as they attempt to wrap up their 2021 recruiting classes and the unusual circumstances might impact Clemson more so than some other schools across the country.

There may not be another team in the country more negatively impacted by the current NCAA mandated dead period than the Clemson Tigers. How do you sell recruits on the program's culture if they can't experience it firsthand?

Coaches not being able to have any face-to-face contact with potential recruits means the Tigers have had to change the way they do things, and in a big way. Not only are they not being able to host recruits on campus but it also means the staff isn't able to go out on the road to evaluate high school prospects in person. 

"It is difficult for all the coaches who are used to that because there's no way to travel to go see these games," Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. "So that is a difficult situation. You're doing a lot more of, I guess you say the in person communication evaluation, and less of the actual physical evaluation that you would do in the spring or when you go out in the fall."

Not only does it make it tough on the schools, it also makes it tough on the high school players. The unusually long dead period has forced some into making one of the biggest decisions of their young lives without even getting to visit the colleges they are interested in. 

"Just unfortunate I think for the young men, you know the high school level," Elliott said. "Where they've got to make an informed decision because they're not granted access and I understand." 

All things considered, the Tigers have still managed to recruit at a high level despite the unusual circumstances. Clemson does currently have the third best class in the country, but Elliott says it has definitely had an impact on how they do things and that hopefully things will eventually be opened back up. 

Until then though, the Tigers are just trying to make the best out of a bad situation, and keep moving forward. Even if at a slower pace.

"So just going forward, kind of slowing it down," Elliott said. "Trying to see how all this is going to pan out because there's been rule changes with eligibility and roster management so there's a lot of things that are at play. So kind of slow things down so to speak from a recruiting standpoint."

"Hopefully things are trending in the right direction to where it is safe enough for for both universities and for the prospects to be able to travel without putting either one in in harm's way. Because ultimately, I think if we're going to get back to normal at some point then recruiting we'll pick back up but in the meantime we're just trying to do the best with what we got."

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