Someone explain Clemson to me

It looks like they finished 10, 9, 10 despite signing the most commits of all the top schools.

There aren’t any stories about Dabo being a so-so recruiter. Maybe his recruiting is considered top heavy but he just put together arguably the most impressive postseason performance in college football history. And all the previous years he was #2 in coaching to Sabans #1.

How the hell is their class this low?

I'm also surprised. But it's still a Johnny-come-lately.

They've never really signed an elite class. Although they've had a couple of small classes that had outstanding average star rankings. (Maybe they could've taken on more four stars if they had room, but I don't know enough about the roster.) So you'd think that they'd be able to follow that up. There seems to be enough going for the school that it's about time they sign an elite class.

They have signed plenty of elite DL's

Some might contend that the super DL that they have is the key to their success.

And elite QBs *

And elite WRs *

The early signing day also probably played a factor.

Most recruits signed in December before Clemson’s rampage through the CFP field.

It should’ve had the opposite effect for ND, though (although it can be argued the full impact of our playoff run won’t be seen until next year’s recruiting class).