Swinney Comments On National Signing Day
CLEMSON, S.C. (WOLO) — It’s hard to imagine a team that played for a national championship this year somehow improving. But on National Signing Day 2016, Dabo Swinney already thinks next year’s team will be better than the one that lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
“Just real simple, we got better today,” said Swinney at Clemson’s NSD press conference Wednesday. “That’s what we’re always trying to do as a program, and I thought we did that today.”
Clemson signed 16 commitments on Wednesday for a total of 23 signees in the Tigers’ 2016 recruiting class, currently ranked 5th by Rivals.com.
“This group is going to be special,” said Swinney. “I think this is a group from top to bottom that fills our needs.” One of the greatest needs filled was at the cornerback and safety positions, after the Tigers lost five players in the secondary from last year including Mackensie Alexander, Jayron Kearse and T.J. Green to the NFL Draft. “The interesting thing – defensive back wasn’t a need for us going into the season,” said Swinney. “We didn’t have a senior on our roster in the secondary. It’s kind of hard to go recruit when you don’t have scholarships for guys and you have to plan on all your guys to come back. We certainly knew we had some juniors that night go pro early but you don’t know. So we had to hit the ground running with just a couple of weeks to go get it done in January.” After Clemson’s loss in the National Championship, Swinney went to work right away to replace a depleted secondary. A little less than a month later, Clemson has replaced all five defensive backs.
The Tigers signed a near even class, with 11 offensive and 12 defensive signees.
The prize of the 2016 recruiting class could be Tavien Feaster, a four-star running back prospect from Spartanburg.
“I didn’t know if I’d ever see another guy like CJ Spiller, but he’s as close to Spiller as anyone I’ve seen out there in the recruiting process,” Swinney said of Feaster. “This guy is special, incredibly explosive and fast, and just a big-time talent.”
Tiger Tidbits
Technology Swinney was asked how the recruiting process has changed for his so far in his time at Clemson; the coach pointed to the increase in technology playing an enormous factor in swaying recruits’ decisions.
“What’s happened with the internet and social media, and all this information, there is no ‘long distance’ anymore,” Swinney said. “Everyone can travel wherever they want without leaving their room. I’m just now learning about this Periscope thing. I just went to Italy the other day with somebody (through Periscope), but I don’t know how I got there. It used to be that you had to go somewhere to meet somebody. Now, they all meet online.”
Former/Current Players Swinney was asked how much of a role his former and currently players had in the recruiting process.
“If you’re not doing a good job with your payers, you’re probably not going to do well in recruiting,” said Swinney. “That plays a huge role along with the production and success of your program.”
