Clemson football's incredible journey to becoming Alabama's equal

Clemson football’s incredible journey to becoming Alabama’s equal

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Head coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers celebrates his teams 44-16 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide with the trophy in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

11 of 25

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

2014 National Signing Day

Clemson was full of great recruiters but they could never seem to land the top guy no matter how much they went after them. Todd Gurley chose Georgia, Jadeveon Clowney chose South Carolina, and Robert Nkemdiche chose Ole Miss.

But 2014 was different — it saw Clemson go out and sign one of the best wide receivers in Kyrin Priester and the top quarterback in the 2014 class in Deshaun Watson. They also brought in four-star receiver Artavis Scott, center Justin Falcinelli, linebacker Kendall Joseph and wide receiver Trevion Thompson.

Priester was booted off of the team not too long after signing, but Scott would go on to break Sammy Watkins’ freshman receiving record and play a huge role in key games in the 2014 season while Falcinelli and Joseph would go on to start in this past national title game.

Clemson would also find an answer in Mike Williams who signed in the 2013 class and reassured Clemson fans everywhere that they didn’t need Demetris Robertson (who had committed and went to Cal) because they had Mike Williams. The 2014 Class may have only been ranked No. 16 nationally according to 247Sports, but every player from Watson to Greg Huegel played a role for the Tigers that led them to where they are now.

Home/Clemson Tigers