In late January, Clemson landed a commitment from Brentwood (Tenn.) Ravenwood four-star Jake Briningstool, the No. 1 tight end in the country and No. 79 overall prospect in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
The Clemson Insider recently caught up with Briningstool, who has been trying to stay in shape while away from school during the coronavirus pandemic and is taking advantage of the weight room he has in his house.
“I’ve been lifting in my basement. We have a bench rack and some dumbbells,” he said. “I’ve also been running on the track and on the hill.”
Briningstool stands 6-foot-6, weighing 213 pounds right now, and hopes to get a little bigger by the time his senior season begins.
“I want to play this year at 225,” he said.
As a junior in 2019, Briningstool racked up nearly 1,000 receiving yards and nine touchdowns while helping Ravenwood reach the Class 6A state championship game where it fell short to Maryville (Maryville, Tenn.) by a score of 42-21.
Briningstool hopes to help his team finish on top this coming season and has set goals high for himself as well.
“Some of my personal goals this year are to win the state championship,” he said, “set the school single-season receiving yards record and the receiving touchdown record.”
In the meantime, Briningstool is staying in regular contact with Clemson coaches during the coronavirus shutdown, including his future position coach Danny Pearman.
“I’ve been in good communication with the staff,” he said. “Coach Pearman and I, we talk on the phone a few times a week and text throughout the week, just checking in on each other and making sure that we’re staying healthy and staying busy.”
Briningstool is doing what he can to help the coaches recruit two of the Tigers’ top targets for their 2021 class, which currently ranks No. 2 nationally behind Ohio State, which has five more commitments at this time.
“Right now I’m trying to get (five-star running back) Will Shipley and (four-star wide receiver) Troy Stellato to join the family,” Briningstool said, “because I know those guys will fit in well with our class and have the ability to make a difference early on.”
Briningstool sees big things ahead for the 2021 class that the Tigers are building.
“Definitely this class has a lot of potential to be special,” he said, “and win a lot of games during our time.”
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