Ingram embraced role as mentor for Clowney
After their first football practice in preparation for the Capital One Bowl, defensive linemen Melvin Ingram and Jadeveon Clowney headed to the Colonial Life Arena.
The men’s basketball team was partially through the first half when Ingram and Clowney arrived together, standing in the tunnel and watching USC put together an impressive first half against the No. 2 team in the country.
During a media timeout, the duo joined offensive lineman Rokevious Watkins on the court as the announcer read off the accolades that each player had received over the course of the previous week.
The list was lengthy, especially in the case of Ingram and Clowney.
Ingram is only the third consensus All-American in USC history, being named to four of five All-America lists, as well as reaping All-SEC honors. Clowney was named to most All-Freshman teams, being honored as the SEC Freshman of the Year by the SEC coaches and the FoxSports.com Defensive Freshman of the Year on their All-America squad.
And though Clowney’s season was an impressive one for a freshman, he knows he has Ingram to thank for pushing him and being a mentor, just as Ingram can point to Clowney for creating opportunities for him on the defensive line.
“Melvin (Ingram) was a great mentor for [Clowney],” said defensive line coach Brad Lawing. “Any time you can have an older player that can impact a young one with something he says and how he works, that’s always a positive, and I think Melvin did a real good job of that.”
Early in the season, Clowney hit a low in his practices. It began to feel like a job for him and it was a new experience for the highly touted player out of high school to have to go through. Ingram was there to encourage him, though.
“Melvin Ingram and a couple guys talked to me,” Clowney said. “They were like, ‘Hey man, it happened to me, too. You have to pull through and it’ll be good for you in the end.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’m with you. I have to step it up.’”
Clowney, who thinks he’s a better football player since August, said he didn’t perform as well as he would’ve liked to this season, though he knows he’ll be ready in the future. He looked to Ingram to help him through the growing pains early in the season.
“I do play behind him so I learned a lot from him,” Clowney said. “He taught me most of the plays I didn’t know so he did pretty well helping me.”
Lawing said that Clowney was able to play a lot off his athletic ability as a freshman. For Ingram as his mentor, it was about developing him past that point.
“I’ve mentored him by trying to help him make the transformation from high school to college and showing him that it’s more than just athletic ability,” Ingram said. “You’ve got to use talent, technique, and all of that. You’ve got to go hard every play.”
Ingram has been able to reap the benefits of Clowney’s successful year. Against Vanderbilt, the defensive line held the Commodores to just four rushing yards and just 77 yards of total offense. Clowney caused a fumble that Ingram fell on in the end zone.
“I thank him every weekend in the hotel,” Ingram said of Clowney after that game. “We talk about it every weekend. If it weren’t for him, there’d be no me so I feel like if there were no me, there’d be no him. We’re like brothers. I feel like he came here and is like my little brother. I love him to death.”
The bond between the two was evident as each was getting honored for their season throughout the break before the bowl practices. Even through that, the two didn’t talk any more than usual because that would be a difficult thing to accomplish.
“No matter if we were getting honors, we talk every week and most everyday,” Ingram said. “That’s like my little brother, we’re always talking about football and just life, so we talk a lot.”
Standing in the tunnel at the basketball game, the two looked to each other as to where they should go before taking the court. Ultimately, Ingram took the first step.