CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Tim Boyd on Tajh: Cut down on interceptions, beat South Carolina
Can Tajh Boyd beat South Carolina this season and add to his college resume?

Tim Boyd on Tajh: Cut down on interceptions, beat South Carolina


by - Senior Writer -

Tim Boyd understands the season his son had last year was one that any parent or coach would be proud of, the kind of record-breaking season that will long live in the memory of college football fans.

As encore, all that Tim Boyd wants for Tajh BoydTajh Boyd
RS Sr. Quarterback
#10 6-1, 225
Hampton, VA

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is simple: to be even better this season, and to beat South Carolina.

I spoke with Tim Boyd at length last week about his expectations for the season, for both Clemson and for his son, and he said that priority number one is cutting down on Tajh’s interceptions – he threw 13 last season – because he believes that fewer interceptions means more wins. He believes that if you cut last season’s interception total in half, it could mean two more wins.

“I think there are things he needs to work on,” Tim Boyd told TigerNet. “He needs to cut down on his interceptions. I feel like if he has an interception number that is under double digits, you can most likely win a couple of more games. I tell him all the time that he needs to cut down on his interceptions, that 13 is too much. That takes away from all of the touchdown passes. If you have 36 TD passes and have six or seven interceptions and win a couple of more games, then you can get in the Heisman discussion and win a championship. He needs to work on continuing to make good decisions on and off the field and keep working.”

Boyd said he has always been a part of his son’s practice routine, and while he doesn’t want or need to take the place of Chad MorrisChad Morris
Offensive Coordinator / QBs
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, he feels like he knows Tajh better than anyone else and wants to help guide him through the off-season, to make sure he stays focused.

“I think about when he was little and he was playing little league football, I used to leave from work and go watch him practice,” Boyd said. “Now I find myself doing the same thing here in South Carolina. I know he has ‘Skills and Drills’ tomorrow, so I will be out there. I tell him it isn’t necessarily about how hard he works, but it is about the other players that are out there with you and how you develop that chemistry.”

Boyd then said that when it comes to that chemistry, his hope is that Tajh creates the same chemistry with Sammy WatkinsSammy Watkins
Jr. Wide Receiver
#2 6-1, 205
Fort Myers, FL

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that he had with DeAndre “Nuk” Hopkins in 2012.

“He has to make sure he is getting his chemistry down with Sammy. I think that is really important,” he said. “Tajh needs to try and do what he and Nuk Hopkins did last year. I have never seen a quarterback and wide receiver combo like Tajh and Nuk last year, right down to where each one knew what the other was thinking. I want him and Sammy to develop that kind of chemistry. I think not having that kind of chemistry cost them at times last year, where Sammy would stop on a route because of something he saw, and Tajh would see something else. They have to be on the same page on and off the field.”

I asked Boyd if Tajh is taking the same approach this off-season as he has the past two, when he has taken just one day off here and there, and he said the discipline is the same but the approach is different.

“I feel like he is taking the same approach, just in a different way,” he said. ”This year it is more about the mental growth and improving from a mental standpoint. It is more about that than the physical part, and what he did after his freshman year when he took just one day off because of the position he was in. I hear him talking to people and people tell me that he and Sammy went out and threw the ball yesterday. He is taking things into his own hands and working out on his own by going out to the field and by watching film. He came home yesterday and he had sweat on his sweatshirt, and I said, ‘What have you been doing?’ He said, ‘I had to work on some things this morning.’ I feel like he is ready to meet the challenge and this won’t be a letdown seasons. He is excited about the opportunity he has and he is ready to meet it head on.”

Out of all of Tajh’s accomplishments at Clemson, his father says there is one challenge that hasn’t been met that burns inside of his son – beating arch-rival South Carolina.

“I know he has accomplished a lot at Clemson, but he thinks all the time about what it would be like to beat South Carolina because he hasn’t beaten them since he has been here,” Boyd said. “That is one thing he keeps mentioning over and over that he has to do, because he hasn’t done it yet. I feel like if they just take it one game at a time this year, this season could be special. I was telling my wife this morning that Clemson could win the national title. I don’t know about him winning the Heisman, but I feel like he has a great shot at a title. But he really wants and needs to beat South Carolina. To me there is one thing left that he has to do, and that is beat South Carolina.”

Boyd said that Clemson hasn’t approached the family about a potential Heisman campaign for his son, but then said that he is more than fine with that decision because he doesn’t want anything distracting his son or the team from team goals.

“Dabo is putting it on hold, which I understand. I feel like things like that don’t really impress me,” he said. “You see a lot of guys get all that publicity and then they don’t win it at all. All of that stuff will take care of itself if he does what he needs to do on the football field because of the guys he has on his team. That stuff just doesn’t mean much to me. I think more about winning games and trying to win games. Tajh has done a lot and won a lot of games, and you sit here and you think, ‘What else can he do?’ What I think about is that he lost two games last year. Tajh has gotten better as a player ever year, so if he is to get better this year he needs to win 12 or even 13. Those are the things I worry about. What can he do to get better, even after two awesome seasons?”

If all goes as planned, Tajh could be a high-round draft choice in next year’s NFL Draft, and his father says that questions about his son’s height shouldn’t be as prevalent considering what Russell Wilson did with the Seattle Seahawks last season.

“I just think that since Russell Wilson did what he did last season, that is putting a lot of that stuff to rest. I think that helps out Tajh a lot,” Boyd said. “You look at Russell Wilson and what he has done and that proves a lot to NFL scouts, and I think that helped out Tajh a lot with NFL teams. Teams are looking for those kinds of quarterbacks. I think Tajh is actually taller than Russell Wilson. You look at what he did with Seattle and you see what Colin Kaepernick did, and I think the NFL is changing now and I feel like Tajh will be a hot commodity for an NFL team next year.”

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Subject (Replies: 25) Author
spacer Front Page Story: Tim Boyd on Tajh: Cut down on interceptions, beat South Carolina
TigerNet News®
spacer Had we kept running the ball like on that pic we win
Drobins
spacer Morris likes to keep it 50-50
nick0104
spacer Re: Morris likes to keep it 50-50
attheesso®
spacer Re: Had we kept running the ball like on that pic we win
Motor City Bengal
spacer Re: Front Page Story: Tim Boyd on Tajh: Cut down on interceptions, beat South Carolina
74TIGER
spacer The numbers say you are right, but Fuller/Butler get my vote***
CUTIGR69
spacer Trying to remember an interception that cost us a win.
apextiger
spacer There were 2 interceptions that cost us
milerock
spacer Exactly ... we couldn't stop them and they stopped us.
apextiger
spacer had a pretty big one late in USUC game with us only down 3
jgtiger
spacer also, didnt he have one late against FSU that gave them
jgtiger
spacer 94 yard KO return was the nail in coffin vs FSU.
apextiger
spacer agree that they were not solely on is shoulders
jgtiger
spacer Re: agree that they were not solely on is shoulders
Bulldogpaw
spacer Re: Had we kept running the ball like on that pic we win
clcox1018
spacer Game plan
clcox1018
spacer game plan, so we can pin that on the coaching staff....I do***
ragtop
spacer I think a 3-1 TD-INT ratio is pretty good. You'd always like
acevans
spacer Re: I think a 3-1 TD-INT ratio is pretty good. You'd always like
capcit
spacer Re: Front Page Story: Tim Boyd on Tajh: Cut down on interceptions, beat South Carolina
deleted
spacer Re: Front Page Story: Tim Boyd on Tajh: Cut down on interceptions, beat South Carolina
deleted
spacer Run the football, beat South Carolina. Our coaches lost that
tigerdrummer®
spacer Re: Front Page Story: Tim Boyd on Tajh: Cut down on interceptions, beat South Carolina
OldTig
spacer +1.***
SOLOS®
spacer Better footwork---his back foot throws keep going high
coachmac