More notes and nuggets from camp: Sammy Brown plays locally in August

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CLEMSON – It’s time to put a bow on the end of Dabo Swinney’s high school camp.

Swinney’s annual camps came to a close Sunday, and with the end of camp comes the start of downtime. We have 43 days or so until the ACC Football Kickoff. Until then, it’s going to be all about recruiting and with that said, let’s take a first look at some notes from camp.

I want to start with some of the underrated players I saw the past few weeks that have local ties. And this isn’t to intimate that these guys will wind up at Clemson or with Clemson offers – they just seem like guys that are undervalued at this point in their recruiting.

During the first two days of camp, 2025 Pendleton (SC) wide receiver Abijah Webb was one that stood out. He’s explosive and head coach Grayson Howell says Webb is going to play a big role for the Bulldogs and is poised for a huge season. Another local wide receiver that stood out is Jimmar Boston, a 2024 product out of Anderson (SC) Westside. He has offers from Appalachian State, Charlotte, James Madison, and others. And in a few years bigger schools will be beating down his door to get him to transfer.

Another 2024 standout was quarterback/linebacker/fullback Grayson White of Camden (SC). He stands 6-0 and weighs in at 235 pounds, and head coach Dabo Swinney was having a ball watching him throw. It wasn’t long before Swinney was calling White Pork Chop, but after a few more passes told him, “You’re not a Pork Chop. You’re a T-Bone Steak!” White threw a really pretty ball, and he told me he has offers from smaller schools to play linebacker or fullback, but Swinney told him he could go to Clemson as a walk-on and have a Hunter Renfrow story. Remains to be seen if Clemson offers a walk-on spot.

*Clemson players are coaches during the camp, and it’s interesting to see someone that might have been a camper this time last year coaching this year. During one of the Saturday sessions, a parent beckoned me and over pointed to three orange-shirted coaches that were Peter Woods, TJ Parker, and I think Stephilyan Green. He asked, “Are those three actual Clemson coaches?” I pointed to all three, and said, “No, those are freshmen. They’ve never played in a college game.” His mouth went agape, because Woods had a whistle and was definitely in charge, evoking images of Nick Eason when he made campers repeat drills.

“Those? Are freshmen? Oh wow,” was the response.

*In a camp setting, new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley is a study in contrasts to other quarterback coaches/offensive coordinators. He has his hands-on moments and his teaching moments, but when it comes time to evaluate a quarterback, he stands back, hands either on his hips or fingers resting on his chin, and is perfectly still and just watches. Others I’ve seen were always moving, always in teaching mode, but Riley knows when to step back and just watch, and let someone else do the coaching, like Cade Klubnik, Tajh Boyd, Cole Stoudt, or even Swinney.

*Still more camp notes, but we have a lot of time to fill so I will end this one on this note. Sammy Brown, the Clemson linebacker commit, will be playing in the Upstate to start his season. Jefferson plays at Wren on August 25th. Wren has a new head coach after longtime head coach Jeff Tate’s recent retirement. Wren hired Anthony Frate, the Hurricanes’ former defensive coordinator, away from Hillcrest, where he went 26-12. Frate’s first game and the opponent is a Georgia program that features the top linebacker in the country, so tickets might be a little tough to come by.

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