Meet the Freshmen: Notes from NIL event with the newest Tigers

Quarterback Christopher Vizzina uses his height to help fans take a photo.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Jul 24 12:30:31 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – Saturday was a chance for Clemson fans and media members to meet the freshman football class.

Dear Old Clemson held their second annual NIL event for the freshmen class Saturday at the Poe Indoor Facility. Fans lined up early to meet the freshmen, take photos and have their memorabilia signed.

As the fans worked their way around the field, offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin showed up to speak and sign autographs. Cornerbacks coach/assistant head coach Mike Reed and defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall also signed autographs and hung out during the session.

Dear Old Clemson is a NIL Collective, and for the second year in a row, every scholarship freshman football player has a NIL deal with the collective before they ever start camp. Over 60 football players have done NIL deals with Dear Old Clemson since it was founded. Over 115 student-athletes have signed since the inception, and individually, softball’s Valerie Cagle has sold more collectibles than any other athlete.

Goodwin had a message for the fans in attendance.

“Thank you for coming out to support our football players,” Goodwin said. “Kind of the cool thing in today’s college football world is we can participate in these opportunities to help retain the young talent that we have. I hope you guys have enjoyed getting to know some of the new faces in our program. We have some of the best young men in the country, and the cool thing is we get to coach them every single day.”

Clemson parted ways with redshirt freshman linebacker TJ Dudley earlier this week, and Goodwin told the media he doesn’t think he will have to make too many adjustments. He said that freshmen Dee Crayton and Jamal Anderson, Jr., will have to take up the slack.

“Now is your time. Take advantage of their opportunities,” Goodwin said before saying what he hopes to see out of his defense this fall. “Hopefully, a defense that’s fast and physical. Got a lot of experience coming back. Hopefully, that depth and experience shows.”

Riley said he was thrilled to be a part of the event.

“Happy to be here,” he said. “I want to thank everybody that was here to meet our players and support this organization. It’s a huge deal in this day and age of college football. I just want to thank you.”

Other notes

*Freshman offensive lineman Zack Owens said he showed up weighing 412 pounds but is now down to 372 pounds and has a target weight of 350. He told me he had moments where he didn’t think he could stick with the diet, but his teammates supported him and helped him, and now he feels better than ever.”

*Riley talked about the two freshmen tight ends, Olsen Patt Henry and Markus Dixon, and said they came in looking like grown men. “I see them walk in the room, and I want to say, ‘Yes sir’ to both of them.”

*Riley said he made a “bad decision” when he had all the offensive players over to his house to eat and only gave his wife one-day heads up. “I got a little grief over that one. But we had a great time, and our guys enjoyed it.”

*Goodwin said what we’ve known for a few weeks – the first practice of fall camp is August 4th.