By Steven Bradley (Contact / Staff Bio)
February 8, 2008 - 12:06 a.m. EST

Wednesday was a great day to be a fan of the Clemson Tigers, or at least that was the word about town.

Pulling in three blue-chip prospects on National Signing Day, in addition to securing the signatures of each and every verbal commitment already on board, Clemson finished the 2008-recruiting season with a class that ESPN ranks as the No. 2 class in the nation.

Of course, signing day is always full of surprises, and the Clemson coaching staff got a very good one early Wednesday morning, when Fayetteville, N.C. tight end Dwayne Allen notified them he had backed out of his commitment with Georgia and had signed a letter-of-intent to play for the Tigers.

A couple of hours later, Clemson added another major piece to its puzzle when Anniston, Ala. offensive tackle Antoine McClain announced he would be playing his college football in Death Valley.

Shortly thereafter, Jacksonville, Fla. running back Jamie Harper ended one of the most ballyhooed recruiting sagas in recent memory, when he also picked the Tigers just after noon.

But even with those three enormous additions, why all the hype about Clemson’s 2008 haul?

The most striking thing about this year’s recruiting haul for Tommy Bowden and company, though, wasn’t that it featured some of the nation’s most elite talent – Bamberg-Ehrhardt defensive end Da’Quan Bowers is the highest-rated prospect ever to ink with the Tigers – or that it featured some serious signing day drama – how often do you beat out the nation’s No. 2 team the previous year for a top-notch target, pull a top prospect away from Alabama and Auburn and out of the state of Alabama, and pull the top running back in the state of Florida away from the Gators, the Hurricanes and the Seminoles, not to mention Ron Zook?

Nor was the most extraordinary thing about this class the sheer balance of the group – the Tigers pulled in two quarterbacks, two running backs, three receivers, a tight end, one offensive tackle and three guards, two defensive ends, a defensive tackle, three linebackers, five defensive backs, a kicker, a punter and a long snapper. Now, that’s balance.

And while in-state dominance is always important, as well as fun for the fans, it wasn’t what made this class truly stand out either – though the Tigers did land seven of the state’s top 10 prospects, while USC only signed two players that were actually offered by Clemson.

Perhaps even more impressively, Clemson went into schools that have long been Gamecock strongholds and pulled out top-notch talent. The Tigers pulled blue chips out of Bamberg, Cheraw, Pelion, Blythewood and Columbia itself. In fact, the only signee the Tigers actually got from the Upstate this season was Stanley Hunter from Duncan, who was actually a holdover from last year’s class.

Furthermore, Clemson filled some serious needs with this class. The class replenished a defensive backfield that was seriously lacking in depth, particularly at the safety position, adding five players including the top-rated defensive back in the state of North Carolina for the third year in a row. The Tigers also assured themselves of having one of the nation’s most potent offensive backfields even when James Davis and C.J. Spiller leave for the NFL after next season with the addition of the ‘Thunder and Lightning’ of the future in Harper and Andre Ellington. On a side note, the return of Davis for his senior season is about like adding a six-star recruit – if there was such a thing – to this recruiting class, given his talent, along with his experience and leadership abilities.

Back to the new Tigers, though, Clemson also gave offensive coordinator Rob Spence the big-play tight end he’s been lusting after – Allen averaged 18.5 yards per reception during his high school career. On top of that, the Tigers seem to have shored up their special teams units for years to come, especially bringing in a long snapper in Matt Skinner who is likely to start from day one.

And while we’re on the topic of special teams, the fact that Clemson brought in three special teams players actually hurt their overall ranking by some of the national services. Since those rankings are based largely on average star rating, having a three-star and a pair of two-star performers on special teams brings that number down considerably.

But all three of those guys have the potential to be very solid contributors for the Tigers, and what Clemson fan would argue that special teams are anything less than crucial to a team’s success?

Another position of great need was at quarterback, where the Tigers had only one quarterback on the roster behind Cullen Harper. The addition of Kyle Parker, who nearly everyone agrees would have been one of the nation’s top players if he was three inches taller, and Jon Richt have the Tigers set up with an impressive stable of young signal callers.

But, again, the fact that Clemson addressed all their needs in this class wasn’t what made it truly special either.

No, the single most remarkable thing about the Tigers’ 2008 signee class was that they accomplished every single one of these aforementioned things in one fell swoop.

And they did so coming off a fairly unremarkable 9-4 season that saw dreams of an ACC Championship go down the drain on a late dropped pass by their best receiver, the team needed a mini-miracle to barely survive an uninspired performance against its bitter rival and it all came to an end with a heartbreaking overtime loss in the bowl game.

On top of that, the Tigers weren’t selling a national powerhouse, like Southern Cal, or a sunny, glitzy locale, like Miami, or even a flashy, slick-talking new coach, like Alabama.

Let’s also keep in mind just how big of an upgrade in talent this class truly is. While recruiting rankings and star points is admittedly a hit-or-miss proposition, Clemson brought in two five-star recruits and a whopping nine four-star prospects, including three in the top 100 nationally, according to Scout.com.

The Tigers’ 2004 class, which will make up a majority of the team’s seniors for next season – guys like Cullen Harper, Aaron Kelly and Mike Hamlin, featured exactly one four-star recruit by the same service. That four-star recruit was Greenville High School offensive tackle Cory Lambert, a guy that hasn’t exactly dominated the ACC up to this point. Kelly was a two-star prospect, as were Chris Clemons and Rashaad Jackson, while Harper and Hamlin were three-star guys.

Since that last group of guys are all excellent players, it’s clear that the Tiger coaching staff found some real diamonds in the rough. And while the development of those players is a real credit to the Clemson coaches, it’s almost impossible to become a national powerhouse in that fashion. It’s more likely with the Da’Quan Bowers and Jamie Harpers of the world.

But as talented as those guys are, they weren’t the real stars of National Signing Day for the Clemson Tigers.

No, the real stars of the day were guys named Billy Napier, Dabo Swinney, David Blackwell, Brad Scott, Chris Rumph, Ron West, and yes, Tommy Bowden.

Let’s give credit where credit is due – and the Clemson coaching staff deserves plenty.