Haynes Talks Recruitment to Clemson, What Makes Tigers Different

CLEMSON- Jay Haynes was one of those under the radar recruits in the 2023 class.

Haynes was from a very small high school in Alabama called Handley and for that reason was being overlooked on the recruiting trail. Not by Clemson, though.

When the Tigers offered Haynes in October of 2022, it was his very first scholarship offer. Even after that, Haynes continued to go largely unnoticed, despite the fact that he was putting up monster numbers at the high school level.

“I was under the radar, at a smaller school,” Haynes said. “I knew I was going to play football, though. I was going to go play football regardless, if I didn’t get scholarships, because that is what I love to do.”

Haynes averaged an eye-popping 10.6 yards per carry across his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, he rushed for 476 yards in one game, the second-most in a game in Alabama high school history. He had five touchdowns in that game, scoring on runs of 96, 58, 52, 72 and 54 yards.

Had he not gotten any scholarship offers, Haynes insists he still planned on playing college football. Even if he had to go the preferred walk-on route.

However, things tend to have a way of working out. After the offer from Clemson, Georgia Tech and Washington State also offered. Auburn started to show some interest, as well.

After his first visit to Clemson, Haynes had a pretty good idea of where he wanted to play, with the Tigers’ fanbase playing a fairly big part in the decision.

“When I first came on a visit and seen it… I am from Alabama, I had been to a couple of Alabama games, a couple of Auburn games, but coming to Memorial Stadium was just this whole different feeling,” Haynes added. “And knowing I got an offer from there, I’m getting to see everything that is going on. Interacting with the fans and how the fans interact within the game, it’s just way different. Memorial Stadium is a great place with great fans.”

Haynes believes the fans at Clemson are just different.

“Just a lot of positivity going on in the stands,” Haynes said. “There’s bad plays in football but these fans don’t buy into the negative stuff. The fans are always there to support and that is how it’s different.”

An ankle injury limited Haynes to just 14 snaps across three games while redshirting a season ago. After once again being hampered by the same injury during the spring, Haynes is now fully healthy and he can’t wait to fully embrace more than 80,000 rabid Clemson fans on Saturday’s this fall.

“It’s great being here,” Haynes said. “It doesn’t get no better than Clemson. The best fans, it’s family. The coaches are like family. It just doesn’t get better than Clemson.”

A limited number of signed footballs from Clemson’s 2022 class are still available.  Get yours while supplies last!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!