Clemson Tigers College Football Pregame Quote, 12/27/2018

I know you guys have talked all year about just the strength and bond that you all have on this team. What do you think is the reason why you all have developed that close bond and friendship? Because before we step on the field we’ve been friends. I live with these guys every day and it’s not just about being teammates. As far as for us, we want to share a bond that’s deeper than that. That way we can translate it to the field and make them want to do more and be selfless on the field.

How would you, Clelin, describe the culture of the Clemson program? That’s a word that gets tossed around a lot. And we visit a lot of schools that talk about it but don’t see it, but at your place it’s pretty evident that there’s something special there in terms of culture. How do you describe it? I feel like it’s one of a kind. I tell people the story Dabo told us when he was interviewing for the job with the Board of Trustees. They said, Coach, how are you going to make us like the big programs like the University of Michigans and the Ohio State Universities and the Alabamas of the world. And he stood there and looked them in the face and said, I don’t want to be like them. I want those programs to be like the Clemsons of the world because we’re going to do things the right way, recruit good people first and win a lot of championships and graduate our players.

It starts with recruiting good people from the jump. That’s why you see things like Dexter [Lawrence] is going through, the love from his teammates, the way we talk about him and people interviewing and they’re asking us because we’re friends first. That’s my brother for life. My relationship with him is way deeper than football, you know what I mean? I couldn’t really care less if ‚Äì I care whether he plays or not, but that won’t change my thought process because he’s going to be in my wedding one day. His kids are going to be my nieces and nephews one day, because that’s the type of relationship we have. I feel like it starts with that. Anytime you really go out there and put your body on the line for somebody else, it has to come from a self love within. So that’s where it really comes from.

The last three trips, can you compare the bowl experiences between the three? Every one is very different because when you go through it, it’s a new team every year. You know what I mean? I can’t really compare. I mean, because the first two times I went, we had Deshaun [Watson] at quarterback. The last year was Kelly [Bryant], and this year is Trevor [Lawrence]. It’s a whole new scenery of people. And that’s what I remember the most, the people. Not so much this, who we’re playing or the bowl experience, stuff like that. But it’s always the people that I’m doing it with. It’s never the same, but it’s always a new experience, which is the best part about it.

Is it better being a veteran at the bowl now, you can show the other guys having a new experience what to expect? It’s always better because you want to become that, but a lot more comes with it, you know what I mean? You have to speak up, which I enjoy, but it’s a lot of times you kind of got to be the voice for the whole entire group, which you kind of got to get everybody ‚Äì formulate decisions as far as how you want to be represented. So it’s been good, man. I enjoy all of it. It’s the best.