Conn says picky coaches in recruiting build special Clemson roster

Andrew Mukuba is one of a number of talented safeties in the Clemson's roster.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sun Jul 30 15:00:25 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON - With nearly 14,000 schools across the country having an active football program, how and where recruiting is done has become increasingly important for college football programs and incredibly challenging.

In the 2023 recruiting class, 26 Tigers have enrolled now. To become part of that group coming to Clemson, players have to meet high standards, says co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Mickey Conn.

“We have to be extremely picky and choosy with who we get and who we take and their family dynamic, who they are, what their high school coach says about them,” Conn said. “It means a great deal to us at Clemson, and that’s how we get the Jalyn Phillips of the world and RJ Mickens of the world, Andrew Mukubas and those guys.”

This process is complicated even further with the addition of NIL and the vagueness of the rules surrounding it. Since it was initially put in place in 2021, the Division I board approved clarifications for the policy, including educating student-athletes in financial literacy so they can have more of an understanding of what they are signing. They have also clarified how coaches can get involved with NIL deals.

Still, this does not fix the problem of being able to recruit all of the available players adequately. A lot of attention goes to the larger schools and prominent high school teams. This perhaps has created an imbalance in how athletes are recruited.

“There’s a ton of high school kids that can play football, and a lot of these guys, they go to Rivals camps, they go to things, and a lot of people don’t go,” Conn said. “Those that don’t go are the ones that we got to dig and watch film, and we got to find and the ones that do go. We got to decipher through the ones that buy into the hype and the ones that don’t, and that’s what makes a great Clemson player.”

It is natural to ask why some players would not attend camps and other events to give them more visibility. However, players do not go to these things for several reasons, such as being unable to afford the travel. Further, players at smaller schools concern some head coaches because they may fear that players from smaller schools may be unable to develop on a prominent team like Clemson.

The Tigers are an exemption to this philosophy, however, with a number of their recruits coming from schools with under 1,000 students. Most prevalent of those athletes would be Bryan Bresee, who was just drafted by the New Orleans Saints at No. 29 overall back at the end of April. Maybe that means that Clemson has a leg up on other programs in how to navigate the ever-changing landscape of recruiting in college football. Or perhaps it simply means there are many talented high school football players in the South.