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1. Break time is over, and a significant few weeks begins.
Clemson's coaches dispersed last week with the team on spring break. Thus recruiting visits paused and are set to recommence this week in conjunction with Monday, Wednesday and Friday spring practices.
The Tigers will continue to host prospects next week, culminating in various notable names traveling to Death Valley for the April 9 spring game.
One of the biggest themes in recent weeks has been Clemson expanding its recruiting board at certain positions.
Offers are always dispensed this time of year. But after last cycle's shortfall at the December signing period buzzer, we wrote a lot about the Tigers perhaps needing to cast a wider net to create more options so as to have alternatives if necessary.
Let's lay out some figures.
Clemson has issued 75 offers this cycle.
For comparison, 86 went out all of last class. Eight of those came after the December signing period, five in the fall.
So the Tigers already have more on the table than they did for the previous class by summer's end, although we ought to include a caveat for 10-11 this cycle we'd classify as former targets exclusive to previous assistant coaches.
The numbers at the offensive skill positions are equivalent to last year's final totals.
The one position where Clemson has already substantially broadened the scope is offensive line, as the Tigers have conveyed 11 offers to last year's seven.
They project to take more offensive linemen this class, while the Tigers filled their two vacancies so early last cycle -- five months ago, relatively -- that there was no room or need for a bigger board.
The expired offers of the Brent Venables tenure make it difficult to draw apples-to-apples comparisons between the two cycles.
Yet combine those offensive line numbers with the fact Clemson has as many defensive end offers (14) to date as the entire 2022 cycle, and it seems like the Tigers at least recognize the importance of getting quantity with quality on both lines this time around.
2. Folks are getting antsy for commitments. We get it. There might even be some legitimate cause behind the anxiety, to be determined.
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Yet as circumstances stand, we believe patience is the main ingredient required in a bunch of cases.
With that, one example we've underlined has been Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian four-star quarterback Christopher Vizzina.
We expressed early last fall that Vizzina (6-3, 205) gave us Cade Klubnik vibes, then chronicled the emotional manner in which he gained his offer in November and have documented his connection to Dabo Swinney. Furthermore, Vizzina has been Clemson's exclusive target since five-star Arch Manning went off the table in January.
Now ranked No. 54 nationally by Rivals.com, his market has predictably expanded -- especially as quarterback dominoes have begun to be set in motion.
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Notre Dame has gone all-in on Detroit (Mich.) MLK five-star Dante Moore under the belief Clemson is favored with Vizzina, although the Irish do still communicate with Vizzina.
Ohio State brought Vizzina in for an extended visit to offer earlier this month as it seeks to create alternatives in case it misses on Moore.
Tennessee was arguably third for Vizzina before it was widely believed to have agreed to NIL terms with Long Beach (Calif.) Poly five-star Nico Iamaleava. (Remember when simply stuffing a few McDonald's bags with cash got its last coach fired? Times have quickly changed.)
Auburn attracted Vizzina for a visit a week ago and, like Ohio State, reportedly felt encouraged about its chances.
We wrote last month that we expected Vizzina to return to Clemson for a spring practice, and the later the better.
Allow him to take more visits elsewhere and advance the process. Then attract him back to remind him why Clemson has struck such a chord each time around.
We can tell you the annual Elite 11 quarterback competition will have its Atlanta event on Sunday, and that has presented the convenient opportunity to package travel with a Clemson visit the next day (Monday, April 4).
Vizzina thereby will get to observe a full Clemson practice and draw considerable individual attention.
Swinney will be personally involved, as he has been through the Vizzina recruitment.
Again, we would suggest there isn't one specific competitor that presents a threat to Clemson. The question remains more of, is there anything deterring Vizzina from choosing the Tigers?
We like Swinney's chances.
3. In our first item, we referenced Clemson already having as many defensive end offers as the previous cycle.
Well, there's also a decent chance that number grows by one more today.
The doors reopen today with a visit from Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence Central four-star defensive end Joshua Mickens.
We introduced Mickens (6-4, 225) as someone the Tigers were starting to get involved with in our Dec. 21 edition of the Recruiting Big Board series.
He attended a pair of Louisville games last fall as well as visited Michigan State and Iowa.
Clemson wasn't the only one whose interest was piqued by his size and potential.
LSU offered last month, joining Michigan, Michigan State, Boston College, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Louisville, Iowa State, USC and others.
As we've mentioned, it has warranted noting that his father, former NFL running back Arnold Mickens, died in January. So recruiting has understandably taken a back seat since, and we aren't sure how the tragic news might influence his eventual college decision.
UNC has joined Clemson in catching Mickens' eye, so he will visit those two along with UGA and Duke during this spring break week.
Clemson offered all four of the defensive ends who visited for its March 5 junior day, and we can tell you Mickens was invited to that function as well.
From a disposition standpoint, we would also frame Mickens as one of the more apparent fits with Clemson among the defensive end candidates, in our estimation.
So let's see where this goes.
