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Will Clemson football's recruiting, transfer losses to Georgia Tech hurt in ACC opener?
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- Will Clemson football's recruiting, transfer losses to Georgia Tech hurt in ACC opener?
CLEMSON — Clemson football will reunite with familiar faces when the Tigers begin ACC play.
No. 11 Clemson (1-1) faces Georgia Tech (2-0) on Sept. 13 (noon ET, ESPN) at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets are in their third season under coach Brent Key, who has led Georgia Tech to a 2-0 start for the second straight season for the first time since 2015 and 2016.
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Georgia Tech has built its roster with former Clemson players and recruiting and transfer portal targets. A key addition was former Tigers edge rusher A.J. Hoffler, who Clemson coach Dabo Swinney "genuinely wanted to keep."
"A.J.'s a great talent. He's a great player," Swinney said Sept. 10. "He was, kind of, on his way, but that was a decision he made. ... Wish we could have finished the race with him here."
Hoffler is listed as a starter for Georgia Tech but hasn't played this season as he recovers from an injury. He was one of five players who exited Clemson in the winter portal, entering on Dec. 26 after two seasons. He did not record a start among his 21 games with Clemson, logging 16 tackles and one pass deflection in his limited snaps.
Hoffler's departure, 2025 four-star edge rusher Bryce Davis flipping his commitment to Duke and 2025 four-star signee Ari Watford tearing his ACL led to Clemson landing edge rusher Will Heldt from Purdue in the portal.
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Clemson will play against Georgia Tech starting right guard Keylan Rutledge, who the Tigers targeted in the 2023 winter portal. He earned All-America honors last season and made first-team All-ACC.
The Tigers looked at four linemen to boost their offensive line entering the 2024 season, but all chose different schools. Rutledge, who was transferring from Middle Tennessee State, never visited Clemson's campus and committed to Georgia Tech and Key, who has an offensive line background. This contributed to Clemson being one of four FBS schools and the only Power 4 team to not add a transfer in 2024.
Clemson will also play against four-star freshman safety Tae Harris, who was rated as the No. 49 player nationally and the No. 3 safety by the 247Sports composite rankings. He originally committed to the Tigers but flipped to Georgia Tech.
Harris was one of seven players to decommit from Clemson in 2025, joining safety Jordan Young ( Michigan ), quarterback Blake Hebert (Notre Dame), cornerback Graceson Littleton ( Texas ), defensive lineman Isaiah Campbell (Tennessee), offensive lineman Jaylan Beckley (Oklahoma State) and Davis (Duke).
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Those losses contributed to Swinney signing only 15 players and the class ranking 26th nationally. It was his lowest-rated cycle since 2010 and his smallest class since 2017.
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Clemson is having better success in 2026, having 21 commits and ranking No. 15 in the country. Four Tigers commits in the 2026 cycle posted "recruitment shutdown" posts on social media too, signaling they intend to sign with Clemson on national signing day and are no longer listening to overtures from programs hoping to flip their commitments.
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Clemson has landed plenty of more players than Georgia Tech, including cornerbacks Avieon Terrell and Shelton Lewis, linebacker Sammy Brown and wide receivers T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr.
The Tigers have finished above the Yellow Jackets in every recruiting cycle since 2020 except for 2025 (Georgia Tech was 21st, five spots above Clemson). Georgia Tech has ranked higher than Clemson in portal rankings, but Swinney's program doesn't use it often, landing its most players with three in last year's cycle.
The Tigers have been in a few recruiting battles with the Yellow Jackets, landing defensive lineman Kameron Cody in the 2026 class and running back Jay Haynes in 2023.
Haynes emerged as a end-of-year cobtributor for Clemson last season, rushing for 295 yards and three touchdowns on 43 carries. He would have been a candidate to start for the Tigers in 2025, but he tore his ACL in last year's ACC championship game and has not been active to start this season.
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Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Will recruiting losses to Georgia Tech hurt?
