Clemson Tigers College Football Pregame Quote, 12/26/2019

This kind of a place where your world has overlapped a little bit, he’s a low-key guy.

TREVOR LAWRENCE: He’s someone I started working with when I was probably in eighth grade. Started doing some off-season stuff. Since then, obviously it’s been a little less and less since I’ve gotten older, less time. But we still work together whenever I go home. And just ‚Äì we both utilized him a lot. He’s a great coach. We worked out one time together. Just through that and a lot of other things, we’re kind of connected.

What do you remember about that workout? He’s another highly recruited guy. You’reanother highly recruited guy. You’re looking at him a little bit?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Not really. We’re always working on technical stuff really, whether it’s feet, mechanics, whatever it is. Just little things.

Did you and Justin [Fields] have a workout this past spring? I thought Justin postedsomething?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: We might have. I can’t remember, honestly.

How many people were there?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Not many. It was just me, him, maybe one other QB I can’t remember, and a couple of receivers.

Can you walk me through the different camps where you guys might have run across eachother? I know there was a lot of rival scrimmages. Do you remember a few of those?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, there was probably more than I can remember, but at least one or two rivals camps. And then the opening, obviously. There was quite a few that we saw each other at.

What stood out about the skill set as you watched?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Just seeing him every year, he’s more and more polished as a passer. Obviously, he’s always been athletic with his legs. Just seeing how he’s adapted. He’s gotten so good at working the pocket. He really can be a pocket passer, too.

What is a big part of what you’ve done. What kind of fun have you had?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Out here? It’s been awesome. Just being somewhere new. Haven’t been out here before. Been to California a couple of times. Being in Arizona, it’s definitely different. Just being able to hang out with the guys and do something unique is always fun. The guys on this team are best friends. Just being able to hang out all week. You know, just cut up and get to do fun stuff. We went to Mastro’s the other night. That was really fun. We’ve had a couple of little events. So it’s been cool. Secret Santa, we do that every year. Usually we do it at Clemson, but it was cool to be able to do it out here. We go to the mall, get some gifts for whoever we had.

What did we get?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: I didn’t have a name. They ran out of names. But Michael Becker got me a little Yeti coffee mug.

Anything stood out to you about Arizona? Surprised you at all?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Lots of cactuses. People told me that, but it’s still weird seeing it. You never see that in Georgia or South Carolina.

Seeing Isaiah Simmons, how would you quantify the uniqueness of his skill set?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Just being able to cover the whole field, playing the box, cover, do anything. He can play safety. His versatility is what really makes him special. Even if he gets a little bit beat, he’s so fast, he can recover. So just his body type and how physical he is. And also being able to run and cover guys makes him really special.

Trevor, all of this, how normal is it for you at this point?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: This is a little different. I only do this, I guess, twice a year. Last year in the Cotton Bowl, won the national championship, and again here today. But I mean, we do media for Clemson every Monday. But it’s a much smaller scale. Definitely a little different. But it’s always fun.

You don’t look like a guy who really seeks the spotlight, Trevor. Have you enjoyed thisyear? Dabo [Swinney] says you can hide a little bit at Clemson. Not you, but 100,000 people coming for a game, and then it’s back to normal on Monday. How do you handle fame? Youhave to look at it pretty squarely in the eyes?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Kind of embracing it. Learned a lot from Coach Swinney actually, how mellow he is around that area at Clemson. Everyone sees him. I think just watching him, how he’s handled it, I learned a lot by just embracing it. You’re not hiding from it. Definitely got to pick the spots of where you want to go and when you want to go somewhere, but just embrace it and try to use it best I can.

Is part of that, you’re a quarterback. This is going to happen, you know, hopefully for adecade-plus?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah. I think it’s just part of it. It’s something I’ve gotten used to now. It’s better this way than the other way. I’m glad people know me, but it definitely can be trying sometimes. But for me, I just want to use it the right way and use my spotlight the right way.

What’s the right way?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Just to encourage and be a good example for people, whether that’s kids, adults, whatever it is. Just show people that you can do things the right way and still be successful and have fun doing it.

In your core, if you could choose A or B, you would probably choose -­

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, yeah, I would probably much rather not have the fame. That’s part of it. There’s a lot of good things that come from it.

Have you looked at NFL players, like Peyton Manning, and how they managed it? Going to press conferences or whatever.

TREVOR LAWRENCE: It’s hard to see ‚Äì I say Coach Swinney because I get to see him every day, how he lives and how he interacts with people. I don’t really get to see the other guys and how they do it. But just him, like I said, is mostly who I look up to the most in that regard.

What’s a trip to the grocery store, or to Outback or whatever, like for you?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Actually, just try to go late at night right before it closes. Go to the grocery store. Tried to go a couple times in the middle of the day. Didn’t get any shopping done. Just go right before something closes ‚Äì get in, get out.

Where do you go? Wal-Mart?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Publix, usually.

I’m going to flip around back to the Elite 11 experience. How intense is that competition? Would you describe it as a competition? Because that would be the one place ‚Äì I guess therewas a seven-on-seven tournament where you competed against Justin [Fields]?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, it’s pretty intense. Set up like a pro combine type of thing. They’ll do a pro day and have some seven-on-seven. But through the whole week, you’re competing in different things, whether it’s mentally with the playbook, learning that stuff and off the field. It’s a really cool experience.

The fact that Justin [Fields] won that, I guess what does it say – I guess he was the MVPthat week. What does that say about him? And again, from the competition standpoint, didyou find yourself identifying him as your main competition?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Not really. I don’t really look at competing against other guys. For me, it’s always been around whatever team I’m on, competing against other teams, and trying to be the best team. For him, obviously people have been putting us together and competing against each other for four years now. We’ve always been friends. It’s never been something that we focused on too much. I think he’s the same way. Just wants to win. Whatever team he’s on, he wants to win.

He mentioned friendly, but maybe not close friends. I wonder how you feel the relationshipis?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, that’s about the same. We haven’t hung out much. We’re both so busy. We weren’t from exactly the same area, but yeah, we were friends. If I saw him, obviously I would talk to him, catch up. We text each other every once in a while. But not super close friends.

I’m sure you’re locked in the moment here, but it’s very likely two kids from 20 miles apart,this rivalry is going to carry right through to the envelope. Have you thought about that at all? Conceivably the same draft class?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: I haven’t really thought about it too much. Now that you mention, it is kind of crazy how ‚Äì like I said on Tuesday, it’s his journey. Just kind of how we’re ending up in the same spot, just different teams, is pretty cool.

Do you mind if I touch on something. What’s different so far about this playoff versus theCotton Bowl last year?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: I think with every bowl, it’s just different, the experience and where you’re at. And obviously Arizona is different than Texas. It’s a cool experience. But for me, coming in to it with more experience and having done it before, as opposed to last year ‚Äì everything being new, not really knowing how the week was going to go and the schedule and all that stuff. This year, you have a better idea of media and practice, and just kind of staying out somewhere for the whole week, and getting used to it. So I was more ready for it in that way.

Did you go to Top Golf the other night? Who’s the best golfer on your team?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Hamp Greene is pretty good. I don’t know who has the longest drive, but Hamp Greene might be one of the better players.

Are you a slicer or a hook guy?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Both. Everything. I don’t even know where it’s going.

The team has been here five straight years, so it’s old hat for you. Is there any kind ofdifferent feel for you just because these two teams have been talked about so much this year?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah, I think every year it’s different with how the playoff works out. You hear about different teams and it ends up being someone else. But this year, I feel like for the most part, it’s been pretty clean and clear who it was, especially towards the end of the year. It’s just a little bit different. And obviously both of our teams have been talked about a lot all year in different lights. And they’ve done a great job of being consistent. And I think we’ve done the same.

When you heard your name against Ohio State, was it like “Ah-ha, this is going to be great” kind of feeling?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah. I mean, I’ve said it before. No matter who it was, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, we would have been excited whoever we got to play. Just being able to get to prove ourselves and play on the biggest stage is fun.

Do you feel like you have to prove yourself? Do you feel like you have something to prove,when you heard about the schedule?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: Yeah. I think just ‚Äì I mean, they put us at number three. So that’s what people think we are. They think we’re the third best team. So until we prove that, that’s what we are. So just having that opportunity to prove that we’re the best team is really more what I meant.

Is it the fact that you’re the defending champions, went undefeated. Do you guys take it askind of a slight?

TREVOR LAWRENCE: I guess maybe a little bit, but not really. We’re happy to be here. We’re happy to have this opportunity. As long as we’re in the top four, we’ve still got a chance.