ATLANTA, Ga. — It was rainy at the Georgia tour stop for the Under Armour All-America Game camp series. But that didn’t stop Oxford (Ala.) offensive lineman Clay Webb from dominating, just as he’s done in every setting for the past several years.
Alabama and Georgia stand out to Clay Webb, the No. 1 football center recruit
Webb tells SB Nation what his relationship is like with the offensive line coaches for the Tide and the Bulldogs.
Webb is a trim 6’3, 290, with great bend. Rarely are centers rated five-stars, but his ability to snap, move, and anchor makes him deserving of his lofty ranking. If he lost a rep on Sunday, I didn’t see it.
Before the camp started, Webb discussed his recruiting.
“I still plan to commit and sign on the same day in December,” Webb said. “I don’t want to commit to one school and then find out that I like another school better. I don’t want to go back on my word.”
However, some schools are standing out to Webb.
I asked Webb if he had to make a Top-5 today, which he does not plan to do, are there any schools he knows would be locks to make the list.
“Alabama and Georgia,” he answered without hesitation.
Webb is coming off a visit to Georgia for G-Day (Georgia’s spring game), where he was able to bond with UGA offensive line coach Sam Pittman.
Webb spoke about seeing the game through Pittman’s eyes, and it’s clear the Georgia coach made an impression.
“He’s just different than any other coach,” Webb said of Pittman.
Then there’s the school everyone expects Webb to pick: Alabama.
“It’s their professionalism,” Webb said as he spoke about how the Tide are run like a pro program. “It’s real strict, military like, and I like that.”
Webb recently visited the Tide as well.
“I got to talk to coach [Brent] Key a lot, see how he handles his athletes and watch their scrimmage.”
Asked to compare Key to Pittman, Webb said that Key is a “young, new kind of coach, a hoorah guy. Coach Pittman is more laid back, older, he says what he means.”
A third school is trying to join that group: the Auburn Tigers.
“I love Auburn, too,” Webb said of Auburn. He has reconnected with coach J.B Grimes, who initially recruited Webb when the center was in the 8th grade, but left Aubur after. Now back, Webb and Grimes are reconnecting.
“It’s the family,” Webb said of what makes Auburn stand out. It feels like I’m walking back into my own house.
Webb thinks he’ll take his official visits to schools outside the Southeast, since the local schools are all within driving distance and he’s seen them multiple times. It’s something some prospects elect to do, putting the cost of the cross-country visits on the tab of the schools recruiting him.
