Plyler Interview: Nick Watkins

by TigerNet Staff - Sun Jan 19 21:15:24 GMT-04:00 2003

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Have you made a decision?

"I committed to Clemson a couple of mins ago. I told Coach (Burton) Burns to call me after my Tulane visit. He called me and I told him I was going to commit."

Are you going to take any more visits?

"I was supposed to take one but I’m going to cancel Indiana and Ole miss."

What are some of the numbers like height and weight and some stats from this season?

6-2, 215, run a 4.5 in 40. I made like 160 tackles this year with 7 sacks and 5 ints. I’m like the top weight lifter at my school. I bench 350 and power clean 300 and squat 400."

Tell us what kind of linebacker you are.

"I like to blitz and drop off into coverage. I’m an outside linebacker. I’m versatile so I can do a little of everything."

What position are the Clemson coaches looking at for you?

"They told me they were going to put me at the outside position. They think I can play better on the outside."

What do you need to work on for college?

"Well, the thing I need to work on is I need to get a little faster. Gain 5-10 more pounds. I think if I go there and perform the way I think I can I should have a shot at playing early."

How was your visit to Clemson?

When I got there the whole thing was nice. I’m not used to seeing mountains. The campus and the visit was nice. The players treated me real well. Everything was just nice."

Who recruited you for the Tigers?

Coach Burns recruited me from Clemson.

How did your team do this year?

"We lost in the third round of the playoffs. We were like the top defense in our area. We gave up like 5 points a game. That was the average during the season."

What attracted you to Clemson?

"Clemson is a nice university. You can get a lot of publicity and play in front of 80 thousand people."

What other schools offered?

"I had offers from Auburn, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, La Tech, La-Monroe and that’s about it. Indiana too."

How hard of a decision was it?

"It wasn’t that tough. Out of the rest of the schools I was looking at, I looked at what they had to offer and what Clemson had to offer and they were the top."