As a Clemson fan, you can only imagine that I would take exception to the comparison between Ol' Miss and Clemson, LOL! Clemson's recruiting success started with James Davis... an Atlanta kid. HE convinced Spiller to go to Clemson. After Spiller got there it was "ride that pony as far a we can." i.e. Promote him for Heisman's, give him the ball 30 times a game, pad his stats, etc With Sammy Watkins, Clemson got a little lucky, but primarily Clemson outworked the instate Florida schools. Clemson had offered almost a year before the instate Florida schools even know who he was.
On top of all this, Clemson (Swinney) also hired high profile assistants. They were selling the history of getting guys ready for the NFL.
Lastly, and this cannot be emphasized enough, Clemson is one of the only schools that still conducts a real football camp for high school kids. Several hundred kids a year go to Clemson to actually learn the sport from the Clemson coaches. I have spoke to a few high school coaches from Virginia who traveled to Clemson because of the football camp reputation. Call Dabo all the names you want but he loves working the camp and this has paid huge dividends.