Isaiah Simmons arrived at Clemson as a lightly-recruited safety.
He leaves as the most versatile defender in college football and now a first-round pick.
Simmons was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 8 overall pick in the first round of Thursday's NFL draft, the first Clemson player off the board.
The Kansas native was a two-year starter for the Tigers, leading Clemson in tackles in 2018 and 2019. In addition to tackles, Simmons also led Clemson in tackles for loss and sacks this past season.
Simmons redshirted in 2016 as the Tigers won the national championship and was a key piece of Clemson's 2018 defense as the Tigers won their second national title in three years. He was awarded the Butkus Award in 2019 as the top linebacker in the country.
Simmons almost never attended Clemson, as his dream school was Arkansas, but the Razorbacks declined to offer Simmons while he was on a visit there for a camp.
It appeared as though Simmons was headed to Nebraska or Michigan before Clemson got involved just a few weeks before Signing Day in 2016.
Clemson had three defensive backs leave early for the NFL draft about three weeks before National Signing Day, and Dabo Swinney and his staff were left scrambling to fill the spots.
Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables received a tip that Simmons might be a player worth looking at, and after watching Simmons' film, Clemson made a strong push for him. He committed to the Tigers the day before Signing Day in 2016 and the rest is history.
