Clemson football looks primed to bounce back from its down recruiting class in 2025.
The Tigers hosted their “Elite Retreat” this past weekend, one of their biggest annual recruiting events, and secured several commitments to boost their ranking to No. 2 nationally in the 2026 class behind Southern California, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
“We’ve got a huge recruiting day (on Saturday), so I’ll be here till about 9 (Saturday night),” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said during his spring practice availability on Friday.
Those pledges include four-star offensive linemen Adam Guthrie, Grant Wise and Chancellor Barclay; four-star wide receivers Naeem Burroughs and Connor Salmin; four-star safety Kaden Gebhardt and three-star cornerback Marcell Gipson. Clemson’s 2026 class is up to 13 recruits with eight four-stars, four three-stars and one player who isn’t rated.
This recruiting surge comes after Clemson’s 2025 recruiting class finished with 15 signees and ranked 26th nationally. It was Swinney’s lowest-rated cycle since his second full season as Clemson’s coach in 2010 and his smallest class since 2017.
Swinney anticipated his 2025 class to be small, though, because Clemson didn’t have the flexibility to add many recruits. It retained nearly every scholarship player who had eligibility remaining after the 2024 season, and roster and scholarship limits are going to change by the beginning of the season, thanks to the pending settlement of the House v. NCAA federal antitrust cases.
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