Clemson Football: Takeaways from Tigers’ 2019 spring game
By Brian Miller
Incoming freshmen superstars
As with most spring games, the incoming recruits are one of the main attractions and this year’s batch of freshmen feels like a special one.
In fact, they’re already proving to be an unprecedented bunch, as they’re made up of 17 early enrollees which turns out to be a record-high for Dabo Swinney as a head coach. He was especially excited about his two new five-star receivers, boasting, “(Frank) Ladson and (Joe) Ngata are two of the most ready guys we’ve had.”
The two of them were so ready to make a big first impression with the 60,000 in attendance that they both managed to pull in over 100 yards receiving — not bad for a couple of guys who are technically still supposed to be in high school.
Throughout the broadcast Dabo spent a considerable amount of time speaking with Kirk Herbstreit, providing insights into his coaching philosophy, especially as it pertains to the recruiting process, claiming, “I’m not looking for good players, I’m looking for good people. I recruit people first, players second … we want young people of excellence.”
Swinney went on to say they’ve never had a No. 1 recruiting class and perhaps they’ll never have one because they won’t compromise on character.