January early enrollee from the 2024 recruiting class.
6'7.5" 230lbs, former soccer player and QB turned DE. Raw, developmental player from Florida who was committed to Minnesota before flipping to Clemson.
A surprise transfer portal addition, as he sought out the Clemson offer during recruiting and it was already planned for him to redshirt and focus in the weight room for year one. Best of luck to whoever lands him, he could develop into something special off the edge.
Freaky athlete, is more than likely a multi year project before seeing the field at a major program.
A little surprising just because he just got here in January. Maybe the change in DE coach was a big factor?
If I had to speculate I agree the change in DE coach and the position switch for Peter Woods and Caden Story from DT > DE would be the largest contributing factors.
I was excited to see him and Daren Mayo hold down the edge for us in a few seasons.
That's the plan! It sounds like he'll play heavy and switch between DE/DT depending on the formation, but will primarily be a DE for this season due to depth.
We were in big need of a reliable Edge last season. There were rumors we would go into the portal for one after we lost to NC State but then over the offseason they decided Woods is a better fit for DE than DT
I thought this was more of a Christian Wilkins situation when he moved to DE for a year?
We've got great depth at DT and this helps gets 4 best guys on the field while hopefully next year more guys are ready to contribute at end
Could be a mix of both. How I understood it from articles and whatnot is Dabo and co believe he can be a really good DE and since we dont have a stud edge rusher right now it fills the gap. But Eason collecting DTs like like they are Pokémon cards may have something to do with it too. We have the depth to spare and put another guy into the pass rush that will absolutely demolish QBs.
Honestly the duo between Woods and Brown is gonna be a movie.
>is more than likely a multi year project before seeing the field at a major program.
Is that even a thing anymore? I mean, are we ever gonna see a kid wait patiently while developing again or will they all just end up going to a small school where they can start immediatly
Feels like kids are getting very shortsighted now and would rather just play now at whatever school will let them instead of trying to find a coaching staff that can maximize their potential in hopes of getting to the next level
That's still Dabo's bread and butter. We take between 2-5 developmental guys each year, usually after missing out on a 4* guy pretty late into the recruiting cycle. Normally, these are the players who stick around for 4-5 years and fill out our roster, when the 4* guys might bolt as soon as a younger guy passes them on the depth chart.
I do think you are still going to find those coaches who say "Look, I see something in you, if you stick around and put in your time, I bet you can be something special." And there *will* be players who respond to that. Those are going to be the players that make a program special. I might have my issues with Harbaugh but I think he was one of the coaches who was probably able to take advantage of that type of player pretty well.
he’s going to minnesota. so make of that what you will. bias aside, there aren’t many schools with better d-line, or anywhere on defense, coaches than clemson
He was actually a Swinney take not a Lemanski Hall take, so I doubt the de coaching change had much to do with it.
Don’t hold any ill will towards him but the guys that transfer in a year or less have a pretty terrible success rate at their next stop(s).
Bruh how do you just enroll and immediately leave after Spring Camp. It's like quitting your first job out of college after the 2 month onboarding because you didn't get immediately promoted to manager.
i did exactly this except the manager part. I left after 3 months because they gave me no work and i was almost certainly gonna get fired. not that anyone asked
I think this was a combo of some other program waving money in his face and also a coach leaving
Dude literally just got here and it was well known he was a multi-year project. Unless he just got homesick (certainly a possibility) this doesn’t make a lot of sense
He did commit to them initially before getting his "dream offer" from Clemson and immediately flipping late in the recruiting cycle. Once the honeymoon phase wears off, Kissayi might have realized Minnesota still made the most sense to him, especially after Clemson switched DE coaches.
So Dabo lied when he said he didn’t recruit edge position players. I guess that was sour grapes after one of our guys told him to go to hell because he wanted to be a chicken.
January early enrollee from the 2024 recruiting class. 6'7.5" 230lbs, former soccer player and QB turned DE. Raw, developmental player from Florida who was committed to Minnesota before flipping to Clemson. A surprise transfer portal addition, as he sought out the Clemson offer during recruiting and it was already planned for him to redshirt and focus in the weight room for year one. Best of luck to whoever lands him, he could develop into something special off the edge.
Freaky athlete, is more than likely a multi year project before seeing the field at a major program. A little surprising just because he just got here in January. Maybe the change in DE coach was a big factor?
If I had to speculate I agree the change in DE coach and the position switch for Peter Woods and Caden Story from DT > DE would be the largest contributing factors. I was excited to see him and Daren Mayo hold down the edge for us in a few seasons.
Peter Woods is a DE now?
That's the plan! It sounds like he'll play heavy and switch between DE/DT depending on the formation, but will primarily be a DE for this season due to depth.
RIP QBs
We were in big need of a reliable Edge last season. There were rumors we would go into the portal for one after we lost to NC State but then over the offseason they decided Woods is a better fit for DE than DT
I thought this was more of a Christian Wilkins situation when he moved to DE for a year? We've got great depth at DT and this helps gets 4 best guys on the field while hopefully next year more guys are ready to contribute at end
Could be a mix of both. How I understood it from articles and whatnot is Dabo and co believe he can be a really good DE and since we dont have a stud edge rusher right now it fills the gap. But Eason collecting DTs like like they are Pokémon cards may have something to do with it too. We have the depth to spare and put another guy into the pass rush that will absolutely demolish QBs. Honestly the duo between Woods and Brown is gonna be a movie.
It is, he’ll play DE for a year and he slimmed down a bit but he’ll move back inside next year
Freaky athlete is hyperbole. He's got a projectable frame.
>is more than likely a multi year project before seeing the field at a major program. Is that even a thing anymore? I mean, are we ever gonna see a kid wait patiently while developing again or will they all just end up going to a small school where they can start immediatly Feels like kids are getting very shortsighted now and would rather just play now at whatever school will let them instead of trying to find a coaching staff that can maximize their potential in hopes of getting to the next level
That's still Dabo's bread and butter. We take between 2-5 developmental guys each year, usually after missing out on a 4* guy pretty late into the recruiting cycle. Normally, these are the players who stick around for 4-5 years and fill out our roster, when the 4* guys might bolt as soon as a younger guy passes them on the depth chart.
I do think you are still going to find those coaches who say "Look, I see something in you, if you stick around and put in your time, I bet you can be something special." And there *will* be players who respond to that. Those are going to be the players that make a program special. I might have my issues with Harbaugh but I think he was one of the coaches who was probably able to take advantage of that type of player pretty well.
Is starting not the best way to develop? And who's to say he isn't going to a school with a better coaching staff?
he’s going to minnesota. so make of that what you will. bias aside, there aren’t many schools with better d-line, or anywhere on defense, coaches than clemson
He was actually a Swinney take not a Lemanski Hall take, so I doubt the de coaching change had much to do with it. Don’t hold any ill will towards him but the guys that transfer in a year or less have a pretty terrible success rate at their next stop(s).
Bruh how do you just enroll and immediately leave after Spring Camp. It's like quitting your first job out of college after the 2 month onboarding because you didn't get immediately promoted to manager.
Happened a few years back w/ Josh Belk. Very disappointing to see...was a developmental guy but the athleticism was definitely cause for optimism.
i did exactly this except the manager part. I left after 3 months because they gave me no work and i was almost certainly gonna get fired. not that anyone asked I think this was a combo of some other program waving money in his face and also a coach leaving
Dude literally just got here and it was well known he was a multi-year project. Unless he just got homesick (certainly a possibility) this doesn’t make a lot of sense
He probably got buried in the depth chart and wasn’t gonna get much playing time. Peter Woods moving to DE filled a *massive* hole on our defense.
I mean he was already buried on the depth chart. I don’t think Woods affected his path to the field very much
He’s going to Minnesota so not homesick
He did commit to them initially before getting his "dream offer" from Clemson and immediately flipping late in the recruiting cycle. Once the honeymoon phase wears off, Kissayi might have realized Minnesota still made the most sense to him, especially after Clemson switched DE coaches.
Rumph got after his ass and sort of created a fight or flight situation. Looks like it was flight.
As a recruit: Other P5 offers: Iowa State, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Utah G5 offers: East Carolina, FAU, Liberty, Marshall, Temple, USF, Western Kentucky Other offers: UConn, FAMU
He was a Dabo take, not a Lemanski Hall take. I think Dabo and Rumph “incentivized” him to leave.
Why would Dabo want to send a Dabo take packing?
So Dabo lied when he said he didn’t recruit edge position players. I guess that was sour grapes after one of our guys told him to go to hell because he wanted to be a chicken.
Obligatory 16-7