Dabo Swinney on how COVID-19 year is impeding Clemson's recruiting

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney admitted Wednesday that Clemson’s signing class — and, by extension, it’s future recruiting classes — are in flux due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, during the 2020 season, most conferences ultimately decided that a conference-only, abbreviated schedule was the best way to proceed amid the pandemic.

Despite the conferences’ plans, a number of games were postponed or cancelled as a result of COVID-19, and several high-profile players opted out of the season, citing health concerns about playing during COVID-19.

The NCAA responded by giving all student-athletes an extra year of eligibility under its COVID-19 blanket waiver, which applied to players regardless of their opt-out status. Now, Swinney must tinker with a backloaded roster at Clemson, as is the case at any other school: The Tigers have more veteran players than ever before, and many young faces didn’t see the field due to unexpected returnees.

“You can’t do that anymore, either,” Swinney said, when asked whether he could begin discussing the 2023 recruiting class. “Not for a couple more years. Well, even then, there’s some changes and it’ll be a little difficult. But with the COVID year, you just don’t know. It’s hard to go to a young man right now and say, ‘Hey, can you tell me right now where you’re going to be thinking 14 months from now or whatever?’ It’s just not real feasible.”

Clemson’s 2022 recruiting class slotted in at No. 11 in the nation, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. It ranks second among ACC schools, trailing only North Carolina. Swinney suggested that Clemson’s recruiting is being impeded by the COVID-19 blanket waiver, and the trickle-down effect could impact the program’s recruiting efforts for years to come. However, he’s committed to giving recruits the Clemson experience he’s provided for years, and he hopes to continue top-tier recruiting efforts despite the difficulties.

“I’m committed to the kids here, always have been, so, we’ll figure it out,” Swinney said. “We can have a working base, and then obviously your roster can change, your current roster. That can change the number. It’s really, really difficult for anybody to predict what you’re going to sign in the class of ’23. So, it’s really kind of a month-to-month type of deal based on your current situation.

“And, again, with COVID, there’s no way to predict who’s going to want that extra year.”

Swinney used his placekicker, B.T. Potter, as an example. Potter just finished his fourth season at Clemson, and he’s started for four years with the Tigers. In a normal college football year, Potter would have exhausted his eligibility — but after his 2020 season didn’t count towards his eligibility, he wanted to return for a fifth year as starter.

“Like B.T., he walks in my office yesterday and says, ‘You got a scholarship for me to come back?'” Swinney said. “So, who is that next year? And we didn’t have a big group this year, so who is that next year? It’s a challenge for us in ’23 because we’ve got a little different roster makeup. And I can’t predict who’s going to want that extra year.”