I found it super interesting. One topic that he covered was how does he continue to recruit guys with chips on their shoulders now that they are a destination for so many top recruits. Dabo basically said he recruits people. He said he in some ways tries to talk guys out of coming to Clemson. And by that, he meant he really vets them to see their desire, how much they love the game, are they willing to grind, do they feel entitled, etc. He runs weekly social media searches on his recruits. And if he finds red flags (social media posts, the recruit says something he doesn't like, someone on his team tells him something that happens during a recruiting trip, etc.), he said it is critical to have the conviction and fortitude to be able to walk away from ANY recruit. He said that is critical to what he has built and won't change. He said you need to ignore recruiting rankings and perceptions. You need to recruit people. And he said he has walked away from many top ranked recruits. And he also said even though he can get them, he chooses not to recruit Juco players. And then he talked about the 2 stars, not highly recruited juniors, etc. who have turned out to be key players on his team. He also talked about his commitment to players once they come to Clemson, even if they don't develop as they expected (unless the player screws up, etc.).
I found it all to be very fascinating. Sometimes we as fans get so hung up on the film, the offers, the rankings, etc. I know I do. And I'm not saying that stuff doesn't matter. If it didn't, I wouldn't be checking this website multiple times every day!
But it did shed a lot of light on how a top coach who is operating at the highest levels approaches recruiting. And I would bet the house Harbaugh approaches recruiting in a similar fashion based on many of the recruiting stories I've seen since he came here. Anyways, just wanted to share that because it helped me think of recruiting in a different light.
I found it all to be very fascinating. Sometimes we as fans get so hung up on the film, the offers, the rankings, etc. I know I do. And I'm not saying that stuff doesn't matter. If it didn't, I wouldn't be checking this website multiple times every day!
But it did shed a lot of light on how a top coach who is operating at the highest levels approaches recruiting. And I would bet the house Harbaugh approaches recruiting in a similar fashion based on many of the recruiting stories I've seen since he came here. Anyways, just wanted to share that because it helped me think of recruiting in a different light.
