CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Korn Enjoying Being Healthy, Being Back Out on the Field
Photos by Fotoman [

Korn Enjoying Being Healthy, Being Back Out on the Field


by - Senior Writer -

CLEMSON – Willy Korn said he has been waiting for this moment since the final gun sounded the end of the Gator Bowl, and he now feels like this is his time.

Korn said he has headed into fall camp with one thought – that when the Tiger offense finally takes the field against Middle Tennessee in less than a month, he will be under center.

”That has been the biggest thing on my mind since the Gator Bowl,” Korn said after practice this week. “Every night when I go to bed, that is what I think about. It has been a long road back, but you have to experience all of the bad stuff in order to appreciate all of the mountain tops.”

Korn, a redshirt sophomore, is in a highly-publicized quarterback with redshirt freshman Kyle Parker for the starting job, and even Michael Wade and true freshman Tajh have played well early in camp, but he said the important thing to do is to have fun every time he takes the practice field.

”I am really excited to be back out on the football again, and the goal is just to have as much fun as possible,” Korn said. “As a college athlete, sometimes you tend to put too much pressure on yourself, so I am going to try and have as much fun as I can. There are thousands of people that would like to be in my position, playing football for Clemson University.”

Korn suffered a shoulder injury against Georgia Tech last season in his only collegiate start, had shoulder surgery in December, and said it took a while for him to feel like Willy Korn again.

Following the surgery, Korn’s throwing motion had altered, causing him to drop his elbow before releasing the football, and the result was weakened velocity and accuracy. Immediately after spring practice, Korn went back to work with his father on correcting the flaw and quickening his release, and then engaged former NFL player and coach Jerry Rhome for further mechanic tinkering, and Korn said that it was early in the summer workouts when he began to feel normal, like Willy Korn again.

”It was probably a week or so into the summer workouts, the first organized ones when you had the linebackers and the corner backs out there, that I first noticed how good it was feeling,” Korn said. “The ball was coming out of my hand really good, and I was whipping the ball into tight places. I felt like me again. I’m feeling like it’s the best I’ve ever thrown. It is 10 times better than it was in the spring.”

Korn’s battle for the position, however, has not caused him to shy away from Boyd, the highly-touted quarterback out of Virginia. In fact, it’s just the opposite as Boyd said that Korn has been like a big brother to him since the moment he stepped on campus.

Korn said it’s just the right thing to do.

”If I was a freshman, that is the way I would want to be treated,” Korn said. “I’m not going to go too much into my experiences my first two years here, but I wish I would have had someone to take me under their wing and explain everything and try to help me out. I know how Tajh feels coming in here with a lot of hype with the recruitment, and he has a lot of pressure on him. I just want to be there for him any way I can. He is a good player and a good person.”

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