It’s been a while for Clemson football since the days of “Wide Receiver U”.
The names of Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins and Mike Williams have echoed through Memorial Stadium over the last ten years, searching for that next boom of receivers that take the college football world by storm.
Despite it being dormant as of late, wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham is incredibly excited for a new season with the pieces that he has. With hopes to bring that “WRU” title back to Death Valley, this season might be his best opportunity.
“There’s a ton of excitement,” he said to the media on Tuesday. “I think there’s a lot of expectations that we have. We have got guys that are healthy.”
Tyler Grisham
Health has played a vital factor over the last few seasons for Grisham’s room. Most recently, it saw most of the wideouts nursing various injuries throughout the season.
Antonio Williams was the top name who missed almost all of the season, playing in only four games a year ago while fighting several injuries throughout the season. Over the last few months that the former Freshman All-American has been healthy, Grisham said that he has become a better leader and player in the spring.
“He looks better than ever and he’s one of the first names spoken of regarding guys excelling this summer,” he said about Williams.
The Tigers’ leading receiver last season, Tyler Brown, wasn’t injured during the season but has missed the spring due to a foot injury that required surgery. While watching the team in spring practices from the sidelines, Grisham recalls what Brown told him during a practice.
“I think for him, he’s hungry,” he said. “Because [he was] not practicing in the spring, he just voiced to me, ‘Coach, this is hard.’”
The most important factor heading into this season has been the buzz of incoming freshmen Bryant Wesco and TJ Moore. With the addition of these two top 10 receivers from the 2024 class, the competition has only risen in the room.
Starting with Wesco, who joined the Tigers in the spring and made an impressive grab in Clemson’s Spring Game in April, Grisham emphasized the competition will be exciting, also adding he does not know who will be the starters for their Week 1 game against Georgia.
““What he showed in the spring proved to us that he could really help us,” he said. “There’s going to be a competition for who runs out there first.”
On the other hand, Moore, a five-star recruit from Tampa who joined the Tigers in the summer, has had to make up for the last six months that he missed when compared to Wesco. However, the wide receivers coach noted that the wideout has done a lot with studying film outside of practice.
““I think he’s No. 1 right now as far as how much he has been watching film,” Grisham said. “He’s really hungry and he wants to play early.”
An interesting character in the competition for the receivers positions has been Adam Randall. The junior has been noticed with mentoring the two freshmen with their entrance into the collegiate level.
Grisham stated that Randall took Wesco under his wing in the spring, taking him to different places to train and get familiar with at the next level of the game. Many saw the same with Moore, talking to him throughout certain practices.
“That’s been really cool for me to see that there hasn’t been any animosity,” he said. “There’s a brotherhood that we have had and I think it’s even stronger this year.”
It’s not just the mentorship that has stood out for the Myrtle Beach native. Grisham believes that Randall could play anywhere at the receiver, whether playing on the outside or in the slot.
“He’s too good to put him in one place,” he said. “So, I’ve had him at both Z and X, and to be honest with you, I put him in the slot some too.”
Grisham also spoke about the growth of young receivers Ronan Hanafin and Noble Johnson, saying they have been “working their tails off.”
The depth that the Tigers have at the wideout position leaves a lot of excitement for the competition that it will bring, which Grisham said has driven all the receivers to play at their best.
“Guys have taken the next step,” he said. “They all want to play. They all want to be a starter. So, I think there is a little bit of, almost like there is a bear on your tail.. .and that’s made our room better.”
Only time will tell who Grisham chooses as his main receivers, as the Tigers will go to Atlanta to face the Georgia Bulldogs on August 31.
