New Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and receivers coach Tyler Grisham have been charged by head coach Dabo Swinney with improving the Tigers’ passing game. One way to do that is to bring in better receivers, and one the Tigers continue to pursue with heavy interest is Braylon Staley of Aiken.
“I’ve been talking to Coach Riley and Coach Grisham a lot,” Staley said. “They’ve been telling me I’m their guy. They want me. They’re telling me they are taking one out of my class and they want it to be me. I also got a text from Coach Swinney today (Tuesday). He was telling me that there are some good things going on now in Death Valley and he wants me to be a part of it.”
Staley has the kind of speed and athleticism as a track standout to add some pop to the Clemson receiving corps. From what he’s heard from Riley, going deep is going to be a regular route with his play-calling.
“He basically said they are going to air it out,” Staley said. “They want to get their receivers the ball. That’s really what they want to do. They want to have a balance, but they want to have more of an Air Raid type offense.”
Along with Clemson, Staley has also picked up offers from Tennessee, Northwestern, Miami, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, NC State, Alabama, Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech and others. He said one school in particular is making more contact with him than the rest.
“Going off the amount of contact, I’d probably say Tennessee,” Staley said. “Tennessee, I talk to them every day. They are asking me every day am I available to get on the phone at such and such time. They are really the ones that’s talking to me the most. I get a couple of other coaches that text me and see if I’m available to call, but I think Tennessee is the one that really contacts me the most.”
In January, Staley went to junior days at Clemson, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and North Carolina. In March, he plans to see Clemson, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Miami. Staley also said plans to take an official visit to Clemson the first weekend in June, the Tigers major visitation weekend for that month. He also wants to set official visits with North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
Staley said there are no leaders with him right now and he will drop a top 10 or top 15 in the near future.
