Clemson squarely in the mix for elite Tennessee lineman after visit

Tucker is shown here on a Clemson visit last fall

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Thu Jan 31 15:38:10 GMT-04:00 2019

Without an offer, Clemson was on the outside looking in of Bryn Tucker’s top-five. However, a trip to Clemson for its elite junior day put the Tigers squarely in the mix with Auburn, LSU, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech.

The 4-star Knoxville (TN) Catholic offensive lineman made the trip with his mother and picked up the offer that he’d been waiting on for a while.

“I kind of was expecting to get an offer and it did happen. It means a lot,” Tucker told TigerNet earlier this week. “A Clemson offer means that you're a great person character-wise, a leader and do everything you're supposed to do and you're a great football player. There are multiple reasons to get an offer from Clemson. It's very special to receive.”

Offensive line will be a position of need in the 2020 class and Tucker spent time with Clemson commits Paul Tchio, Walker Parks, and John Williams as well as 4-star Raleigh (NC) Leesville Road lineman Mitchell Mayes.

“It was good. Paul, Walker, John and Mitchell, we were together all day,” Tucker said. “All five us were in one shuttle bus. The five offensive linemen got their own shuttle bus with Coach Caldwell, our families, the graduate assistant. We all had a great time and we talked a lot.”

Overall, the visit couldn’t have gone any better.

“It was amazing. Clemson has a beautiful campus. They took us around and showed us the heart - the middle - of the campus and the library,” he said. “They showed us Tillman Hall. They took us over to the bell (Carillon Gardens) that's in the middle. I met the president of Clemson and shook his hand. Overall, the visit, football-wise, was good. Coach Caldwell was around me all day. We just had a good conversation with each other. My mom was with me so they talked with each other, too. Overall, there was nothing negative about the visit, so everything was good about it.”

However, the highlight of the day was the presentation by head coach Dabo Swinney.

“It (the presentation) means a lot. You also go to school for education,” he said. “Football is just a job. In the long run, you have to have something to do because NFL stands for 'Not For Long.' The average time in the NFL is two or three years, so you also want to plan out a business model. He told us the GPA and the graduation rate for the football players. 66 out of 77 players had a 3.0 or better that's tremendous. He told us about all the blocks and how to build character, be a leader. The list could go on and on. I paid attention to the whole entire presentation. It was awesome.”

Tucker has 17 total offers but hopes to trim the list to just three in the near future, with Clemson squarely in the mix.

“Clemson is definitely one of my top-three schools,” he said. “I'm going to Oklahoma for the spring game and once I make that visit I'm going to narrow it down to a top-three and Clemson is definitely up there.”