These days there just isn’t a whole lot of excitement on Signing Day in Clemson.
The Tigers generally have their classes wrapped up pretty early and the 2021 recruiting cycle was no different. Clemson had its class wrapped up by Early Signing Day.
One of the crown jewels of the most recent recruiting class is Barrett Carter. While recruiting services all listed Carter as a linebacker, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says the dynamic player is so much more than that.
“Can do so many things, pretty good offensive player too,” Swinney said in an interview with Rivals. “He can just do so many things and everybody kind of wants to put him in a box and say, ‘Oh, he’s a linebacker’ and we never said he’s a linebacker. We’ve just seen him as a guy that can play.”
“He’s fast, he’s fast enough to play safety. He’s athletic enough,” Swinney said. “He’s certainly physical enough and big enough to play in the box but he’s dynamic to go play that Isaiah Simmons hybrid position too.
Swinney says that Carter brings a versatility to the defense that is rarely seen. And in today’s world of college football, that is geared towards the high-powered offenses, what Carter brings to the table is invaluable.
“He just brings a lot of versatility to the defense,” Swinney said. “And in today’s offensive football, and spread and all these different things, everybody’s looking for guys like Barrett Carter. I mean, he’s just, you just don’t find many guys like that.”
Swinney gave Carter some high praise during the interview, suggesting that the freshman is already further along than 2020 first round pick Isaiah Simmons.
“He’s very unique and gifted with a skill set to to do a lot of things,” Swinney said. “And Isaiah was that way. Isaiah was a big, old gangly safety and we just kind of figured him out as we went. And Barrett is, I think, further ahead as a football player at this stage than Isaiah. Hopefully he will develop like Isaiah, but he’s definitely a little bit ahead of him coming out of high school.”
