Clemson football solves QB recruiting conundrum with 2025 commitment

The Clemson football team struggled to land a quarterback in the 2024 class, so they pushed for Blake Herbert in 2025 and landed him on Friday. 

It’s been surprising to see the Clemson football program strike out on quarterback after quarterback in the 2024 class, but that’s exactly what has transpired.

The Tigers have one of the best college football recruiting classes in the country at the moment. They are eighth overall and have 11 verbal pledges — nine of them are ranked as four-star recruits or better.

However, Clemson football doesn’t have a quarterback. It missed on targets such as Jadyn Davis, who wound up at Michigan; Walker White, who chose Auburn over Clemson, and also DJ Lagaway who went to the Florida Gators over Clemson.

Those weren’t the only misses. But it made you wonder if the Tiger were going to pursue another 2024 quarterback — one that wouldn’t be as highly ranked or set their sights on 2025?

Clemson football fans got their answer in recent days — weeks actually — as Dabo Swinney as the Tigers had focused in on four-star 2025 quarterback Blake Herbert.

That focus paid off with a verbal commitment from Herbert on Friday, which is frankly huge for Clemson football. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound quarterback is ranked No. 11 at the position in the 2025 class out of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Herbert had a bunch of other programs interested. The No. 171 overall recruit in 2025 via the 247 Sports composite rankings holds 16 offers total including from the likes of Notre Dame, Penn State, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Boston College, Pitt, Iowa, and others.

It’s a nice recruiting win for the Tigers and here’s the analysis from Brian Dohn of 247 Sports:

"“As a 2025 prospect, there is plenty of room for growth. He is an accurate thrower with arm strength and an effortless delivery. Clemson wants to build the class around Hebert, and it is easy to see why. He possesses a ton of talent with a nice upside.”"

Herbert threw 24 touchdown passes as a sophomore compared to one interception. He would have two more years of high school left. Clemson could still look to add another quarterback in the 2024 class, but it has to be the right evaluation.

With the transfer portal now, scholarship limits get pretty tight and if Clemson football is going to need to add a veteran with some starting experience down the line, it’s probably to save that scholarship anyway.

Now, Clemson can build around Herbert in 2025, which also puts an end to the worry about the QB recruiting for the Tigers in 2024.