Swinney Camp Insider: Dabo spends time with top running back target

Dabo Swinney and 2025 RB Gideon Davidson spend time talking at camp.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Jun 10 07:00:18 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – Friday’s evening session of the Dabo Swinney high school football camp saw even more campers walk through the door, and even better weather for the evening’s festivities.

Because I am always trying to put you in my shoes, I like to go through a list of visitors and people of note. There were several younger players participating in camp with Clemson connections, starting with former Clemson cornerback Chris “PT” Chancellor’s son PJ. PJ is one of the bright young talents in the Clemson area, and the 2027 prospect worked out with Mike Reed’s cornerbacks group.

PT is now a detective in the Clemson Police Department, so he was out there to watch his son.

Two of Dabo’s former teammates brought younger kids to the camp – David Bonamy brought his linebacker son (JD). Of course, JD’s older sister is MK Bonamy, who played for John Rittman in the softball program (she is the god daughter of Swinney), and his other older sister is Josie Bonamy, who is a member of the Clemson rowing team.

Prince Wimbley played with Dabo at Alabama and he had his son Prince “Trey” is a part of that Briarwood Christian program that produced current Clemson quarterback Christopher Vizzina. The 2027 prospect worked out with the older players, sent into that group by none other than Swinney himself.

*I was a little surprised when I went over to the back field and saw Byron Maxwell coaching the safeties. Maxwell won a Super Bowl title with the Seahawks in 2014 when they beat the Denver Broncos 43-8. Swinney joked that Maxwell was a “crock pot” player that just needed time to cook. Swinney said that so many players want to be microwave guys and do it all right away, but it takes other players time to get to where they want to be. Maxwell grinned at the crock pot comparison.

*Walking around but not working out was Easton Ware (6-5, 285), a 2025 offensive tackle out of Lynchburg (VA) Liberty Christian Academy. He has offers from Liberty, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Virginia Tech.

*Big-time running back target Gideon Davidson is a teammate of Ware’s, and he worked out in the afternoon session but spent part of the evening session watching CJ Spiller go through drills. It wasn’t long before Swinney drove his golf cart over to where Davidson was standing, and the two had an animated conversation before Swinney drove off with Davidson to have an even more private conversation.

As we detailed earlier, Davidson is set to announce his commitment on June 14, and from everything I heard out there, Clemson feels really, really good about its chances.

*Brayden Jacobs (6-7, 310) is scheduled to be in camp all three days. The 2025 offensive line prospect out of Alpharetta (GA) Buford is the son of former Auburn and New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.

Jacobs has offers from Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Florida State, LSU, Penn St., Ohio St., Tennessee, and Texas among others. He moves well, uses his feet and hands with the kind of athleticism that is hard to find in bigger players.