Clemson gets No.1 ILB Steward

I'm at ESPNU studios in Charlotte today, monitoring 10 straight hours of "National Signing Day" for a behind-the-scenes column for Thursday's newspaper. We're about 90 minutes in and one of the first surprises has gone in Clemson's favor.

Tony Steward, ranked by ESPNU as the No.9 overall player in America and the No.1 inside linebacker, picked Clemson over Florida State and UCLA. Steward announced his decision at his high school on live TV, and ESPNU's announcers have been calling it a "shocker" ever since. It prompted Urban Meyer -- the former Florida coach who's here today working for ESPNU -- to tell a story about a time he once thought he had another talented Florida player lined up only to lose him to Clemson.

That player? C.J. Spiller. Meyer still seemed a little sad about it.