Swinney sees right mentality with freshman, more receivers poised to break out

Bryant Wesco's talent pops, but it's also his mentality that shines for Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Thu Mar 07 12:30:08 GMT-04:00 2024

CLEMSON - The past few years have not been the best for Clemson's wide receivers corps.

It’s been three years since they have had a 1,000-yard receiver for the program that has declared itself “WRU.” Perhaps some of their recruiting prospects can return the Tigers to their former glory, however, and one who has made an immediate impact is freshman receiver Bryant Wesco Jr.

“He’s what we hoped he’d be. He’s a natural. Rarely, from a talent standpoint, are you shocked when they get here as far as running and jumping and athleticism, change of direction, all of that type of stuff. Usually, with as much recruiting as we do and evaluation and seeing them in person, you don’t miss often on that,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I think the biggest thing that’s a plus for him that’s not always the case with guys is that he’s got a mentality to go with it. He’s got a mindset that he’s very mature. He’s a very mature, young player. Got a lot to get better at and all that stuff, but he’s a natural at what he does and he likes to be coached. He likes to learn.”

Wesco comes to Clemson as one of the most highly sought-after receivers in his recruiting class. PrepStar ranked the Midlothian, Texas prospect as the nation’s No. 15 overall player and fifth-best receiver in the nation. He received offers from all around the country - from Southern California to Oregon to LSU, TCU and Miami, along with Penn State, Boston College and numerous others.

Wesco could be the next 1,000-yard receiver for Clemson with all of the talent that he brings, or maybe it will be one of the redshirt sophomore receivers, Cole Turner or Antonio Williams. Both are returning after suffering injuries last season. They are back in practice and excited to be playing again.

“(Cole Turner) and Antonio (Williams), it’s great to have them both. They look great. Cole had a big play today on third down, Antonio had a couple big plays. They’re happy, they’re excited to be back out there,” Swinney said. “We look different when they’re out there.”

While Turner and Williams may be returning from injury, other receivers are facing setbacks.

Adam Randall, whose freshman year was limited due to recovering from a torn ACL, strained a quad, and although it is not a serious injury, Swinney is taking precautions to ensure there are no lingering effects.

“He had three or four really good days, really pleased with him, kind of picked up where he left off. Finished the season with a lot of confidence and he’s carried that into the offseason and off to a really good start with spring ball and on the go ball the other day, just a little tweak in his quad, nothing serious,” Swinney said. “So, just trying to be smart with him so it doesn’t linger or lead to anything else. So, he’s kind of day-to-day.”

After finally getting some serious playing time last season, redshirt junior receiver Troy Stellato is once again injured. This time, it is a shoulder injury that will require surgery, although Swinney described the surgery as more of a “cleanup” since this is an injury Stellato could play through. His surgery will take place after spring break, allowing him to get about ten practices in during the spring before the surgery.

“Troy’s always banged up, always. I’ve never seen him when something’s not hurting on him,” Swinney said. “He got a hurt thumb or finger or something. But, he battles through. He’s a tough kid. He’s actually a guy that probably will not finish spring. We made a decision on him. He really needs a little cleanup surgery, but we made the decision that he really needed to get all the spring he could get before we did that. We didn’t want him to miss any of the summer, so that’s why we didn’t do it before the spring because if you know about Troy, he hasn’t really had a spring. He hasn’t really had much of a spring or a fall camp since he’s been here. So, it was really important for him.

“It’s not something that he can’t play with, but we need to get it cleaned up so he can be really 100 percent and just fully playing free there. He’s going to have a little cleanup on his shoulder. He’s played with, and he can keep going, but it’s just something for the season we need to get cleaned up. If he was a guy that had a lot more experience, we probably would have gone ahead and done it before spring. But, he needs the work and he’s practiced his butt off … That’s one thing you can say about Troy. He’s tough. He’s a tough, competitive dude, and if we can just keep him available, he’s going to be productive.”

Practice continues to intensify for the players. For the fans, they will get their first glimpse at the wide receivers and the rest of the Clemson offense in the spring game on April 6 (1 p.m.) before the start of the season against Georgia in Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 31.