QB pledge talks Clemson, big official visit weekend: "It's just an amazing environment"

When it comes to the 2026 class, Tait Reynolds has been the leader of the pack.

Grayson Mann · Staff Writer · Wednesday, May 14 2025

When it comes to the 2026 class, Tait Reynolds has been the leader of the pack.

With an upcoming trip to Clemson booked on the calendar, he looks forward to building on that again.

Official visits are weeks away, and plenty of Tiger commits will be on campus once again.

Reynolds (Queen Creek, Arizona) recalled the memory of his first time at Clemson on the Orange Crush Podcast, providing the details from the summer camps with Dabo Swinney that provided a unique feeling he wasn't getting anywhere else.

He'd soon realize Clemson could be his second home, with that feeling translating to a commitment weeks after that June camp. With his unique skill set in recruitment, he was hearing pitches not just from Swinney but also from Tigers head baseball coach Erik Bakich.

"It's just been super awesome," Reynolds said. "Again, I'm just super blessed and there's a lot of prayer that went into it. It was just when I came out to camp, and I kind of just got that feeling. I was praying everywhere. I was going all sorts of different places, and I went out to Clemson, I heard Coach Swinney talk, and I saw Coach Bakich and everything, and I just got that feeling. I just felt it and I know this place I'm supposed to be."

Not only does Reynolds have strong feelings about his love for Clemson, but he also has a level of excitement for the class that is being built around them.

Currently, the Tigers have 14 pledges in the 2026 class, with many more expected to follow. He is looking forward to selling what Clemson is about on that trip to uncommitted fellow official visitors on May 30.

Reynolds feels like he won't need many words to express that sentiment, as what Clemson offers speaks for itself.

"There's really not a whole lot to not like there," Reynolds said. "Everything there is pretty awesome. It's just an amazing environment, and I just tell 'em that you come here with all of us, we're all going to be better together, we're all going to make each other better, and we're going to get after it. And I text all the commits. We have a lot, we talk to each other, we see each other's posts, and we're already making a connection, so it is pretty cool to see it's a brotherhood over here."

Clemson's staff's feelings on Reynolds' potential are strong as well, as the four-star signal caller's development has been on display back on the Arizona gridiron.

So much so that Swinney and Garrett Riley took a cross-country trip to see their four-star pledge on his stomping grounds.

Riley has been back since that early visit in January, which has continued to reinforce Reynolds' commitment to Swinney and the Tigers.

"It's awesome to see that they wanted to come down there and have a connection with everybody there," Reynolds said. "I brought a lot of people to come meet them and a lot of people that helped me out every single day, so it was really cool. They're flying all the way across the country like I did out there to see their place and I liked that they showed that back to me and they came out there first. Originally, Coach Riley came out here earlier last weekend, so it was a lot of fun to see him."

That added excitement will only serve to benefit Clemson for official visits, with the face of the class ready to build on an already strong foundation.