Turner doesn't listen to comparisons to NFL players, just wants to get better

Cole Turner redshirted but still managed to flash as a freshman.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun May 14 07:00:16 GMT-04:00 2023

Cole Turner doesn’t pay attention to the comparisons to certain former NFL receivers; he just wants to get better.

Turner arrived at Clemson as a 3-star wide receiver in the 2022 recruiting class. Turner grew up playing basketball as his first love and didn’t even try football until a high school coach told him he needed to give it a shot. It didn’t take him long to realize his future might be on the gridiron and not the hardwood.

“I was just naturally faster than everybody out there,” Turner said. “Not to sound cocky, but I just realized that, yeah, I could do this for real.”

Turner was able to redshirt last season, but earned playing time at the end of the season and caught eight passes for 161 yards in three games. His highlight came in Clemson’s win over North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game when he broke out for three receptions for 101 yards, the only Clemson receiver to top 100 yards in a game last season.

Clemson fans earned a glimpse of his potential on a 68-yard reception in which he tip-toed down the sideline after the catch and almost scored.

“That was surreal really,” Turner recalled. “It was all just like a blur. Obviously, it would’ve been better if I scored, but it was still a great moment for me.”

Turner continued to impress his coaches during the spring, and the comparisons were different depending on who you asked.

“I think what I really appreciate about him is it’s not too big for him,” wide receiver coach Tyler Grisham said. “He doesn’t even really understand the seriousness and importance of that play or that you’re at Clemson. He just goes out and plays ball, and I love that.

“That’s kind of like (Hunter) Renfrow. Renfrow was very similar. He came up to me before the (national championship) game (in 2016), and he said, ‘Hey coach, I’m nervous.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, you should be. This is the national championship.’ But that was foreign to him, and I can appreciate guys like that that are just smooth and collected. That’s who (Turner) is.”

Grisham smiled when he was told that one Clemson assistant compares Turner to DeAndre Hopkins.

“You’ve already heard that, huh?” Grisham asked with a grin. “I wasn’t going to say that here.”

Running backs coach CJ Spiller had yet another comparison – Ed McCaffrey, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos in the 1990s.

“But faster. That’s who he is,” Spiller said. “If he just puts his head down, he can be very special. But I can see Ed McCaffrey when you think about it. Very similar body types at this point.”

Turner doesn’t care about the comparisons and admits he hadn’t heard about any of them. He only wants to get better.

“I feel like I’ve had a good spring so far,” Turner said. “Just building confidence every day pretty much. Every day I get out here, I feel like I’m getting better.”