The new year is off to a busy start for Irmo OT Nate Carson. He opened January by playing in the Under Armour All-American Game in Deland, FL. Once back home, the in-person visits started with coaches.
USC head coach and new offensive line coach Randy Clements met with Carson at his school on Wednesday. That was the first time Carson had a face-to-face conversation with Clements, who just came on board last month.
“I felt he was a very good guy,” Carson said. “I’ve been communicating with him more now, but seeing him in person, he seems very cool. He means business. He’s going to play the best guys, no favoritism at all. He’s going to see what everybody is capable of doing, and he’s going to play who he thinks are the best people.”
Clements is the third different offensive line coach to recruit Carson for the Gamecocks, following Lonnie Teasley and Shawn Elliott. Carson said those changes will have no impact on his recruiting interest in USC.
“Not at all,” he said. “It doesn’t impact nothing at all. It doesn’t change nothing at all.”
Carson also spoke with Beamer, as he has several times throughout the process. The message to him was crystal clear.
“I know where home’s at.”
Clemson offensive line coach Matt Luke made a home visit with Carson on Thursday. Luke has been a constant voice in Carson’s ear as the two have developed a strong relationship.
“We were just mainly talking about personal stuff, and how the development is, and how Clemson is just different,” Carson said. “First thing he said was that he sees me playing tackle. Then he talked about development. He put Blake Miller in the NFL. He’s put all these people in college in the NFL.”
After these visits, Carson has set visits with the two programs. He will be at USC on January 25th, and he’ll head up to Clemson on March 7th. He has not set any other campus visits at this point.
The Gamecocks and Tigers are on the short list recently released by Carson. The others are Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, Ohio State, and Nebraska. He plans to visit them all, and he is still fixed on an announcement date of July 3rd.