Big brother Clelin Ferrell is delighted by his little brothers’ performance

Clelin Ferrell doesn't want the Clemson defense to get complacent

by Hannah Rogerson - Correspondent - Mon May 07 07:01:03 GMT-04:00 2018

CLEMSON- Big brother Clelin Ferrell is delighted by his little brothers’ performance.

Junior defensive end Clelin Ferrell knows that the 2018 season is likely his last in a Clemson uniform and he’s making sure that the new wave of defensive linemen will be ready to take over when he leaves.

Following the spring game, Ferrell discussed how satisfying it was to see his “younger brothers” perform on the big stage in Death Valley.

“Justin (Foster) had a really good day out there, Xavier (Thomas) did as well, so did KJ (Henry) so that was really a test for the work that they’ve put it. It’s been a really hard grind since they’ve come in,” Ferrell said. “College is a lot different for them, and they’re supposed to still be in high school, so it’s been a really tough process for them. But to see them go out there and have success out there on the big stage, as a big brother to them, that was really great to see.”

Ferrell also commented on star freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s performance during the spring game.

“I mean it’s really impressive. I was on the orange team so it was really good to see him out there having success, and it was also great to see Tee Higgins out there having success with him,” he said. “That was really nice to see because people think it was just really easy for Trevor when he came in, but he had some struggles. He would come into practices and throw some picks, but it was really great to see him go out on the big stage performing. I was really impressed, I knew that he was a guy, just from his personality, that’s not going to get too excited and it’s not going to get too big for him. He’s not a guy that’s going to hold on to any mistakes, he has a very short memory.”

Ferrell said the spring meant something to the players who will leave after this season, including Kelly Bryant, Christian Wilkins, and Trevion Thompson.

“We have a lot of seniors on this team, I’m a redshirt junior, but for me, this is the last time I’ll be playing in the spring game with a lot of these guys,” he said. “I just had to go into this mindset that any time I get to play in the valley, with the game day uniform on, just not to take it for granted.

“You need to have an impact or some kind of force on the game. Regardless if I’m making a lot of plays or not, I need to be out there having fun with enthusiasm. You don’t get that many chances so I was just trying to fun.”

With many seniors returning and star freshmen arriving it would be easy to get comfortable with the upcoming season, but according to Ferrell, that’s just not how this Clemson defense works.

“I try not to, you can’t really do that too much, because that can cause you to get the word complacent,” Ferrell said. “You really just got to focus on your weakness, put your head down, and go to work. Nobody in this game is going to give you anything or roll over. There are some good players, especially in the ACC, that are going to try and come here and dominate us. That just makes me want to go to work every more and hold the guys up and have guys hold me accountable.”