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1. The new recruiting cycle is technically less than two weeks old.
Yet in reality, it's already months in the making for Clemson -- if not years with some prospects who were lavished in their relative infancy with offers.
So we thought it would be interesting to juxtapose the Tigers to the field as the wheels move in motion toward their second junior day next month.
Clemson sits at one commitment: Miami (Fla.) Edison four-star receiver Nathaniel "RayRay" Joseph, who christened the class in mid-September.
Thus far, 31 of the 64 other power conference teams own two or more commitments.
Georgia, which crawled out of the gate last year, is off and running with nine pledges after its national title -- third-most in the country. You know Kirby Smart is accumulating the max and trimming fat later with this leverage.
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Baylor and Texas Tech, in an apparent ode to Mack Brown starting the early commitment trend while at Texas, are tied for most overall at 10 apiece.
Florida State has registered the most in the ACC with four, followed by Boston College (3), Miami and Duke (2). Excluding, of course, Notre Dame -- which, as with so many cases where new coaches want to create perception of momentum, has accrued early to the tune of nine commitments.
Has Clemson been slowed a bit by the impressions left by last season's substandard showing and big-name coordinator departures?
Probably a little bit. Brent Venables had a track record for taking a linebacker early. The Tigers often went into December with about two early commitments, then would add a couple more over December and through its January elite junior day.
But is Clemson far off its usual pace? No.
A case is also easily made that the Tigers don't necessarily need to be any further along yet, either.
Alabama, a notoriously slow starter, is also at one commitment. As are Florida, Texas, LSU, Oregon and Ole Miss.
To repeat our familiar refrains, this is a marathon and not a sprint. And what matters are the ones you end up with, not when you acquire them.
On to the show ...
2. A significant last week as far as offensive line developments.
A case could be made that the biggest came Thursday as we broke the news that Mount Pleasant (S.C.) Oceanside Collegiate four-star tackle Monroe Freeling had arranged to return to Clemson for its March 5 junior day.
Seven of the Tigers' eight offensive line offers are rated four-stars, so they're all about in the same ballpark as far as stature goes.
Yet we have long put Freeling (6-7, 275), ranked No. 108 nationally, on the pedestal.
Clemson made Freeling its first line offer last summer and has been at the front of his recruitment since. Yet while the Tigers have been in as good of shape as anyone, Freeling has been intentional in holding off advancing closer to a decision.
Last month, Freeling passed on Clemson's elite junior day and elected to go to Miami the week before -- wanting to check out schools he has yet to experience.
The target tends to float with Freeling, and we spoke with a source over the weekend who believes he now wants to delay rendering a verdict until during his senior season.
This offseason's considerable coaching turnover has influenced such thinking, we are told.
As we brought to light a month ago, Notre Dame is a serious threat and bolstered its standing upon promoting Marcus Freeman.
We don't know if Clemson might be better off getting Freeling back on campus later during spring ball to go into the spring evaluation period with more momentum.
But the argument can just as easily be made that it's best to get in front of him as soon as possible, as much as possible, and see if that leads him closer to making the call.
A recurring theme expressed by Clemson targets recently is the desire to observe this spring how various new assistants coach.
This is an area where the Tigers feel they distinguish themselves, and having Freeling coming to watch Thomas Austin right off the bat sets the bar.
3. Let's move next to Clemson's other in-state target, Roebuck (S.C.) Dorman four-star Markee Anderson.
We have fielded several inquiries regarding Anderson (6-3, 300), and here is what we'd share:
As you are aware, we passed along last month that Anderson had backed out of going to Clemson's elite junior day in order to go to UNC's along with teammate D.J. Geth, whose father Ed played basketball for the Tar Heels.
While there has been South Carolina buzz, we have been led to believe nothing is imminent there.
Yet let's just say things are starting to stack against Clemson.
