Alexander: Clemson doesn't "recruit boys. We’re going to recruit men.”

Alexander talks to the media Saturday (Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski, USAT)

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Feb 28, 2016, 8:01 AM

Mackensie Alexander had a captive and captivated audience Saturday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, and he didn’t disappoint.

The former Clemson cornerback out of Immokalee, Fla., rarely spoke with the media during his time at Clemson. Instead, Alexander spent his time perfecting his craft and trying to figure out how to get the best of his next opponent.

On the rare occasion he spoke with the media, he was always entertaining, never boring and everything he said was worth the listen. Saturday’s session at Lucas Oil Stadium was no exception, and he spent part of the session answering questions about how Clemson’s defense will fare next season after another round of early departures that includes Alexander and safeties Jayron Kearse and T.J. Green.

Alexander says Clemson will be just fine.

“My two years on the field at Clemson, we always heard about guys leaving and how we weren’t going to be the same because Vic Beasley left or Stephone Anthony left,” Alexander said. “For two years guys left and we replaced them. In the world of college football, you really can’t say they’re not going to be ready because they recruit really well. It’s big time business and they’re going to be good. They’ll be fine. We heard it for my two years and I’m sure they’re hearing it now. That’s going to motivate them, especially at Clemson because we get the kids, we work hard, we push ourselves to know what we’re doing on defense. It’s big for us and they’ll be fine.”

Alexander said Clemson succeeds because of recruiting.

“They’ll be fine. We always say and Coach (Dabo) Swinney always preaches to us that we’re going to play Clemson 15 times,” he said. “That’s what we did this season and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. It doesn’t stop because guys left and talent left. It’s a recruiting world. You have to recruit and we do that. We’ve got a great coaching staff that knows what they’re doing.”

Clemson’s defense will be young this season, but Alexander said youth doesn’t matter when it comes to the Tigers. Why? Because Clemson doesn’t recruit boys, it recruits men.

“We played a lot of guys this year that were young. We heard it all year, ‘Oh, you’re too young. You don’t have this or you don’t have that,' but we came out and proved it – a top 10 defense for three years straight,” he said. “It’s a blessing. Coach V (Brent Venables) really knows what he’s doing. He’s a very intense guy. He’s passionate. He gets us corrected and we know what we’re doing. We’ve got a lot of mature men at Clemson. I don’t think we’re going to go recruit boys. We’re going to recruit men.”