January is a busy period on the recruiting calendar for college football coaches, and that is no exception for the Clemson Tigers.
After pulling off an aggressive move to hire Tom Allen away from Penn State to become their new defensive coordinator, it’s clear Dabo Swinney and the athletic department are doing whatever they can to ensure they are perennial contenders when it comes to the College Football Playoff.
Clemson has even dipped their toes into the transfer portal for the first time under Swinney, signaling some acceptance about the new era of the sport.
However, the bread and butter of this program is always going to be recruiting, and with February being a dead period on the calendar, the month of January became that much more important for the Tigers to continue establishing relationships and attempting to get some of their targets on board.
It’s still early in the process, but with just five commits in the 2026 class right now, Swinney and his staff would love to increase those numbers soon.
Someone they were eyeing was Tyler Merrill.
The four-star offensive lineman out of Pennsylvania had Clemson in his final four schools list, but unfortunately, they lost the battle to Notre Dame.
Ranked as the 82nd-best player in the 2026 cycle and No. 5 amongst interior offensive linemen by On3’s Industry Rankings, this is a tough pill for Clemson to swallow.
Prior to him announcing his commitment, he had positive things to say about the Tigers.
“Great relationships, great people, recent National Champions within the last 10 years. Still a contender and they made the College Football Playoff and still a powerhouse I’d say,” he said to Steve Wiltfong of On3.
But ultimately, it was the relationships he built at Notre Dame that got them to the finish line.
The Tigers will now have to look elsewhere for offensive linemen to add alongside current commit and three-star prospect Braden Wilmes.