Clemson’s Newest WR ‘Not Near Finished Product’

Cut on the film and you quickly see Cole Turner isn’t your normal legacy recruit.

The younger brother of former Clemson S Nolan Turner, Cole was a late addition to the Tigers’ 2022 recruiting class. He had been on Clemson’s radar and after the transfers of Frank Ladson Jr and Ajou Ajou, the Tigers had the room and pulled the trigger on the offer.

Wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham was also sold after watching the film.

“Man, just watching his tape, you can quickly see that he has a great skill set,” Grisham said. “He’s 6-foot-2, 180-pounds with more growing to go. He’s a guy that’s always played basketball his entire life, but what you see is not near the finished product that you have in Cole Turner.”

Turner did not play high school football as a freshman or sophomore. In fact, it wasn’t until his senior season that he really started to show what he was capable of.

He was named first-team All-South Metro after catching 42 passes for 581 yards, with seven touchdowns. He also averaged 19.5 yards per punt return, 34.5 yards per kickoff return, and finished the season with 1,160 all-purpose yards.

“He’s got great speed, great length and so as an outside receiver, he can run past you and he can finish those 50/50 balls down the field. What I love most is that he’s tough, he’s gritty. He can return kickoffs and punts. He’s great with the ball in his hands. We’re thrilled to have him join our squad this summer and get rolling with us.”

Head coach Dabo Swinney was also sold after watching the film, also noting that Clemson wasn’t the only big-time program after Turner down the stretch.

“I knew if people watched his tape, he was gonna get a lot of opportunities and, that’s kind of what happened,” Swinney said. “He had a lot of people from Notre Dame to other schools reaching out to him as his name got out there and people started watching him.”

Clemson signed three wide receivers in the 2022 class, with Adam Randall and Antonio Williams both signing in December. Turner was the final piece at the position, with Swinney adding it was just one of those situations that, in the end, worked out for all involved.

“It’s just amazing, to be honest with you, how that all came about,” Swinney said. “All I can tell you is that’s kind of a God thing because that’s kind of how it happened for Nolan because we weren’t recruiting Nolan.”