Why Clemson football and Dabo Swinney won’t ‘reach’ for a 2024 quarterback recruit

One by one, they’ve come and gone. DJ Lagway in December. Walker White in February. Jadyn Davis in March. Prentiss “Air” Noland in April.

All top 10 quarterback recruits in the Class of 2024. All recipients of a Clemson football scholarship offer. All, as of now, committed to other Power Five programs, which leaves the Tigers with no pledges at the game’s most important position entering the summer.

To which Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says: Relax.

“We’ve offered very few guys and offered a few guys that have decided to commit elsewhere, but we love where we are, man,” Swinney told The State. “I mean, we think we’ve got two future stars in Klubnik and CV. And so I think other people see that, too. So we’re not going to reach on a guy.”

Speaking at the Columbia stop of Clemson’s annual Prowl & Growl Tour, Swinney said his program continues to actively recruit Class of 2024 quarterbacks — a process that should ramp up with assistant coaches on the road recruiting this month and June prospect camps looming.

But the Tigers, Swinney said, also understand the presence of those two aforementioned quarterbacks — sophomore starter Cade Klubnik and freshman reserve Christopher Vizzina, both former five-star recruits — are making things a little different this cycle.

“We’ve got a kid that just got to campus that we love, and we’ve got one that’s gonna be a sophomore,” he said. “So we feel really good about our quarterback situation.”

The Tigers have offered four 2024 quarterbacks, starting with Lagway and Davis (who plays regionally at Charlotte’s Providence Day School) on consecutive days last summer; in interviews, both players spoke glowingly about the program and its culture. But Clemson’s momentum ultimately faded with both five-star recruits.

By the time Lagway committed to Florida in December and Davis committed to Michigan in March, national recruiting analysts were unanimously predicting them to choose those colleges.

Clemson also got strong early returns from Noland, a four-star recruit from Georgia who raved about new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley’s authenticity and transparency after a March visit, but found itself on the outside looking in when he committed to Ohio State on April 8.

The program’s closest shot at commitment came with White, a four-star recruit from Arkansas who visited Clemson’s Elite Junior Day a week before committing to Auburn in February. (Multiple 247Sports analysts had logged predictions for him to pick Clemson.)

White’s commitment to Auburn and Davis’ commitment to Michigan both came within two months of Swinney firing offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter after one season and replacing him with Riley in January.

White and Davis both had strong relationships with Streeter, which put Riley behind the eight ball a bit in their recruiting cycles (which are generally quicker for quarterbacks than other recruits given the singularity of the position).

But Swinney said he didn’t feel like his midseason offensive coordinator change slowed down Clemson’s quarterback recruiting.

“(Riley’s) got good connections already,” Swinney said. “And again, he’s on a couple of guys that he’s evaluating. And so we’ve got a long way to go. We’re not in any hurry at all.”

Earlier this week, TigerIllustrated.com and Clemson247 both reported that Clemson had been communicating with three-star 2024 quarterback Luke Moga.

Moga, the No. 32 QB in the class and a projected Oregon lean, recently delayed a scheduled April 28 commitment date.

The Tigers, of course, could also work to flip a committed quarterback or hang tight until the fall, when coaching changes and transfers prompt dozens of recruits to decommit and reevaluate.

Clemson has signed at least one quarterback recruit per class every cycle since 2014 under Swinney. That includes 2021 quarterback signee Bubba Chandler, who opted for an MLB career after getting drafted in the third round by the Pittsburgh Pirates and never made it to campus.

Swinney said Clemson still plans to sign a quarterback in the Class of 2024 — but, as the past two years have shown, it may end up being one out of the transfer portal.

“I mean, we’re going to continue to actively recruit a high school kid if we can find the right guy, but we’re not going to reach on a guy,” Swinney said. “Because we’ve proven that we can go get a veteran guy if we need one. We’ve done that in the past two years, going and getting Hunter (Johnson) and then getting Paul Tyson this year. So it’s not a real concern for us right now.”

Johnson, a former five-star Clemson signee who transferred to Northwestern, transferred back to Clemson ahead of the 2022 season and played a key development role in a quarterback room featuring DJ Uiagalelei and a true freshman Klubnik, Uiagalelei’s eventual successor.

And Clemson moved quickly in signing Tyson, a former Alabama and Arizona State quarterback, out of the portal last December after backup Billy Wiles’ transfer to Southern Miss and dropped the Tigers to three scholarship quarterbacks.

Tyson, who signed with the Tigers in the early period, enrolled in the spring and is expected to provide depth in a Johnson-esque role in 2023 behind Klubnik (Clemson’s unquestioned starter), Vizzina (the team’s four-star 2023 signee) and Hunter Helms, another backup.

Swinney said Clemson feels “really good about our quarterback situation” going forward, given the unquestionable talent Klubnik flashed as a true freshman and the depth Vizzina, Tyson and Helms provide.

And he’s working — but not rushing — to flesh that out with the 2024 class.

“Like I said, if there’s a (high school) guy out there that fits all the needs and criteria, great,” Swinney said. “If not, we’ll go get a guy later.”