'A Billy Graham Revival, a Bunch of Baptisms': Young Tigers Emerge from Spring Battles
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Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney didn't hesitate when asked for an early assessment of his 2026 freshman wide receiver class.
"They are big, strong, athletic, I mean really fast," Swinney said on March 4. "All three of them can really run. We hit on them. It's an elite class."
The trio of early enrollees, Connor Salmin (6-foot-1, 190 pounds), Gordon Sellars III (6-3, 200), and Naeem Burroughs (5-11, 180), arrived in January and immediately found themselves immersed in winter workouts and spring practice.
Swinney's individual evaluations painted the picture of three distinctly different playmakers.
"Salmin can fly," Swinney said of the former Virginia track standout, whose personal-best marks of 10.44 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 20.97 in the 200 meters made him one of the fastest prospects in the country.
Sellars, a North Carolina product who recorded a 10.93-second 100-meter dash, impressed with his length and catch radius.
"Gordo [is] long, twitchy for a big guy," Swinney said. "He's flashed a bunch with just making some really extended catches."
Burroughs, who posted a 10.59-second 100-meter dash at Florida's Bolles School, drew perhaps the most versatile scouting report of the group.
"Naeem is just a special football player," Swinney said. "I mean, do anything, play anywhere, and he's a lot bigger than I thought he was, a developed lower body."
Despite the praise, Swinney emphasized that the four-star freshmen spent much of the spring simply trying to absorb everything being thrown at them.
"All three of them are just learning," he said. "The installations are piling up on them, and alignments. It's just a lot going on, but that's what spring's all about."
The learning curve was particularly steep because the freshmen were simultaneously adjusting to offensive coordinator Chad Morris' system while practicing without several of Clemson's established receivers. Returning stars Bryant Wesco, T.J. Moore, and veteran Cole Turner all missed spring action while recovering from injuries.
Their absence created challenges, but it also opened opportunities.
Instead of being buried on the depth chart, Salmin, Sellars, and Burroughs received extensive repetitions alongside redshirt freshman JuJu Preston and redshirt junior Tyler Brown, two players expected to play major roles in Clemson's receiving corps this fall. The additional snaps accelerated the freshmen's development and gave coaches an extended look at their strengths and weaknesses.
Not surprisingly, the adjustment to college football wasn't always smooth.
After the Orange and White Spring Game, Swinney delivered one of his more memorable descriptions of what the newcomers endured.
"It's been a Billy Graham revival, a bunch of baptisms on the field daily," Swinney joked, "Ashton Hampton just beat them up. Bless their hearts."
Swinney explained that the freshmen were suddenly facing a level of competition they had rarely encountered in high school.
"They've never had nobody walk up to them on Friday night and say, 'A dog, me and you all night,'" Swinney said. "That don't happen."
At Clemson, however, every practice became a trial by fire.
They routinely lined up against veteran cornerbacks featuring Hampton, Branden Strozier, Elliot Washington, and Corian Gipson.
"It was brutal at times," Swinney admitted. "But as we went through the spring, all those guys got better."
The experience left a lasting impression on the newcomers, who now understand the physical and technical demands of playing receiver in the ACC.
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"I promise you, they're all going, 'Thank God that's over,'" Swinney said. "Because now they know what they've got to do. I promise you, they'll be different when they show up in August."
The next step is a critical summer of strength training, conditioning, and film study. If that development continues, Clemson could enter preseason camp with one of its deepest receiver groups in recent years.
Wesco, Moore, and Turner are all expected to be healthy when camp opens in August. Additionally, Tristan Smith, who was sidelined this spring with an ankle injury, remains in the mix while awaiting a ruling on his appeal for a fifth year of eligibility after the NCAA denied his waiver request last November. Smith is expected to receive an answer on June 12.
Should Smith return and the injured veterans regain full health, Clemson could field a receiver room loaded with experience at the top and elite athleticism behind it.
