Clemson quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter knew right away that Taisun Phommachanh would be a perfect fit for the Tigers’ football program.
An exceptional talent with high character, Phommachanh checks all of the boxes that Streeter and the Tigers look for in a prospect, especially at the quarterback position.
“When I got to meet Taisun for the first time and/or talk to him on the phone for the first time, I could tell immediately how grounded he was and how he was brought up from his family,” Streeter said this week during his National Signing Day press conference. “He’s just a neat, neat family guy, and that’s what we’re about here obviously. So, that was the initial part.”
Phommachanh played his first two years of prep football at Harding High School in Bridgeport, Conn., before transferring to Avon (Conn.) Old Farms — an all-boys boarding school — for his final two seasons.
The No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the 2019 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Phommachanh signed with Clemson in December after committing while on campus for the Orange & White spring game last April.
“In the recruiting process, I was able to go up to Connecticut a couple times and watch him play basketball and get to know him a little bit,” Streeter said. “We got him down here early spring last year for the first time with his family, and then he came back for the spring game and that’s when he committed. It was a neat, neat day for him and for us, to get a kid like that.”
For his high school career, Phommachanh completed 339 of 556 passes for 5,224 yards and 46 touchdowns against just 12 interceptions. He also had 300 rushes for 1,264 yards and 25 touchdowns, giving him 6,492 yards of total offense and 71 scores.
Streeter said that he sees similarities between the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Phommachanh and Clemson legend Deshaun Watson, now a Pro-Bowl quarterback for the Houston Texans.
“When you watch the film, he makes every throw that you need to make, whether he’s in the pocket or on the run,” Streeter said of Phommachanh. “He escapes the pocket. He’s a great athlete. He’s 6-4, 200 pounds, and he’ll be 220 before long.
”So, he has all of those tools that you really love to have. He has similar things that Deshaun had coming out of high school as far as the athleticism and being able to throw the football. So, very excited about Taisun.”
The lone quarterback signee in Clemson’s 2019 class, Phommachanh enrolled early in January, joining Trevor Lawrence, Chase Brice and Ben Batson in the Tigers’ quarterback room.
“Number one – how I do recruiting with the quarterbacks – I want to make sure it’s the right fit,” Streeter said. “We all do as coaches here at Clemson – we want to make sure it’s the right fit. But I just want to be very thorough and make sure that they understand the process and they understand not just the football piece, but the things outside of football. I want to make sure that they have the character that can fit in our room … My quarterback room right now is as good as it’s ever been as far as the character and work ethic and just being great teammates.”
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