Dalvin Cook from Clemson ranked a Top 10 biggest recruiting flip of the past decade

Say what you want about Dalvin Cook as a Clemson fan; he’s one of the best running backs the ACC has ever seen.

Cook was a nightmare in his time with the Florida State Seminoles, putting up some truly ridiculous statistics when considering his situation. Cook, playing with poor quarterback play and behind some of the worst offensive lines the Seminoles have had, didn’t care and proved to be electric.

In three seasons at Florida State, Cook ran for 4,464 rushing yards and 46 rushing touchdowns, with 79 catches for 935 yards and two touchdowns through the air. There were few in the game at the time as exciting to watch as the FSU star running back , and I’m sure, even when he was tearing Clemson up (something Tigers fans likely remember well), it was difficult to not appreciate.

What flies under the radar when talking about Cook and Clemson is how major of a what if the program and the player are together. Cook was originally committed to Clemson in the Tigers’ 2014 recruiting class, later flipping to Florida and ending up with Florida State when it was all said and done. According to Fox Sports, it’s one of the 10 biggest recruiting flips of the last decade .

One of the most accomplished running backs in recent memory, Cook enjoyed a standout three-year career at Florida State, but the Seminoles were not always his top pick. Early on in his recruitment, Cook made a verbal pledge to Clemson, where he was set to join Deshaun Watson as a member of the Tigers’ 2014 recruiting class. However, the former five-star running back prospect decided to head to Gainesville and visit the University of Florida for the Gators’ annual spring game and made the decision to flip to UF. After the Gators finished the 2013 season with a miserable 4-8 record, including a 37-7 loss to in-state rival Florida State in the final game of the regular season, Cook flipped to the Seminoles in December 2013 and enrolled there the following week.

Cook shined at Florida State from 2014-16, rushing for 1,000-plus yards in all three of his collegiate seasons. He finished his college career with 4,464 rushing yards and 46 rushing touchdowns, while also adding 79 catches for 935 yards and two more touchdowns through the air. He was a two-time All-ACC performer and a two-time first-team All-American. Cook opted to forgo his senior season, leaving Florida State as the program’s all-time leading rusher.

Cook was an all-time great… but did he make a mistake flipping from Clemson? If you care about National Championship wins, then absolutely.

This is an all-time college football what if. Former Clemson starting running back Wayne Gallman was a beast in his own right and had some fantastic moments in a Tigers’ uniform. His three years at Clemson with 3,429 rushing yards on 676 carries, with 34 touchdowns is nothing to downplay; Gallman was a baller.

Like every sport and pretty much everything in life, there are levels to these things, and Cook is one of the best the ACC has ever seen—a Travis Etienne-level talent. Imaging that in Clemson’s offense at the time is a scary thing.

It’s tough to say Cook made a mistake because I’m sure he likely would if he could do it all over again. He just happened to help develop one of college football’s biggest what-ifs.