Dabo Swinney On Clemson Recruiting Dalvin Cook: ‘Didn’t Get Past First Base’
Dabo Swinney opened up Florida State running back Dalvin Cook and when the Clemson Tigers pursued him for their 2014 recruiting class.
Flashback to the 2014 recruiting cycle. The Clemson Tigers finished with the No. 17-ranked recruiting class, signing 20 recruits — 10 with four stars but none with five.
FSU pulled off the great recruiting heist of the year when it flipped two of the Florida Gators’ biggest verbal commits: Dalvin Cook and Ermon Lane.
Lane has only put up one receiving touchown in 11 games at FSU, but Cook has been as advertised. The star sophomore running back has rushed for 2,045 yards and 19 touchdowns in less than two years under head coach Jimbo Fisher.
Cook missed FSU’s game against Syracuse last week and is questionable for this week’s big matchup against Clemson.
When asked about almost landing a commitment from Cook back in 2014, Swinney didn’t dance around the topic.
“We didn’t almost sign him,” Swinney said. “We just dated him for a while … didn’t get past first base with him.”
For comparison’s sake, the Tigers’ sophomore running back, Wayne Gallman, has rushed for 415 less yards and eight less touchdowns than Cook has in the past two seasons.
Kickoff between the Seminoles and Tigers is set for 3:30 p.m. E.T. on Saturday.
