Clemson coaches have gotten an early glimpse of some of the early enrollees in the program’s 2023 signing class while working with them during bowl prep.

Thanks to an NCAA rule change allowing midyear enrollees who get on campus before a bowl game to travel with the team and practice on site, several Clemson newcomers in the 2023 class – offensive lineman Ian Reed, defensive linemen Vic Burley and Stephiylan Green, and defensive backs Khalil Barnes and Shelton Lewis – have been able to take part in practice with the Tigers in Miami ahead of their 8 p.m. Orange Bowl matchup vs. Tennessee on Friday night.

“It’s been great. It’d be really even better if they’d let them play,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Thursday during the Orange Bowl head coaches press conference. “That’d even be greater. So, it’s been fun having those guys.”

Swinney explained how he thinks the new NCAA rule is helpful for the aforementioned members of Clemson’s 2023 class who are getting to take advantage of it.

“I think it speeds up their acclimatization process and just kind of getting the feel of guys,” he said. “Most of the time they get here in January, they’re right into school and then they’re into offseason program, training and mat drills and spring ball. So, to be able to kind of have a visual – even though it’s not a normal game week – to just kind of be exposed to that a little bit. To be around some of the guys that aren’t going to be here when they get going I think is a unique opportunity as well. So, I think it’s been great. I’m glad they did that.”

Reed, Burley, Green, Barnes and Lewis are among the 26 high school players who signed National Letters of Intent to play at Clemson on Wednesday, Dec. 21, when the early signing period kicked off.

For those five, they’ve benefitted from how the Tigers structure their bowl practices.

“Part of what we have always done in bowl prep is we get a lot of work on Clemson – fundamentals, technique, kind of back to some basics. We get a lot of work on the opponent, and then we do a lot of JV work,” Swinney said. “We kind of create a JV season, if you will, and we have a couple scrimmages. We have a lot of fun with the young guys, and a lot of individual, a lot of that.

“So those guys, they couldn’t scrimmage because they couldn’t get to that point. But to be able to get to work with them in individual drills and technique and coach them is very beneficial for them and us.”

Seeing those newcomers work out in person during bowl prep has confirmed to Swinney that they’re the type of players the Tigers believed they were during the recruiting process.

“Again, it’s been a lot of fun,” Swinney said. “There are five of them that got the opportunity to come, and I think they’ve really enjoyed it. And they’re all what we thought they were off the hoof.”

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