USC defensive end dealing with spotlight
When sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney first got to campus, he and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier had a conversation about the inevitable.
“It was like, ‘These guys are going to come in and blow you up and make you into this big shot and stuff. Don’t let that get to your head,’” Clowney said. “I just said, ‘Yes, sir.’ That’s all he was telling me.”
Through the first half of Clowney’s second season as a Gamecock, he’s already receiving ringing endorsements from national media, like Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel, for the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the country’s top college football player. Defensive line coach Brad Lawing doesn’t believe Clowney has a finish line, and as the 6-foot-6-inch, 256-pound star continues to learn and improve, the spotlight will only shine brighter.
“He’s gotten a lot of attention and he’s handled it well, handled it very well,” Spurrier said. “We all know he’s a three-year player, which is fine. At Kentucky (for basketball), they only get them one year and they’re happy with one-year players. At least in college football, we get them three years, those guys you know are first-round picks. That’s pretty good, really. You get them for three.”
Lawing said he tells Clowney all of the time that it’s up to him whether he’ll be a first-round NFL draft choice or the first overall draft pick, already suggesting having a Senior Day for him after his junior season because it’s no secret he’ll want to declare for the NFL early with his unique talent. It’s Lawing’s way of challenging Clowney.
So far this season, Clowney has 25 total tackles, with 11.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Though Clowney came to USC with a talent Lawing didn’t want to keep off the field, Lawing promised Clowney when he was recruiting him that if he became a Gamecock, Lawing would coach him and correct his bad habits. Lawing’s kept his promise, defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said, calling him the “bad cop” because he’s hard on Clowney in practice. Ward said he’s the “good cop,” always encouraging Clowney.
“I think in [Clowney’s] mind, sometimes he thinks I’m harder on him,” Lawing said. “I learned a long time ago that’s the way you’ve got to train defensive linemen. You’ve got to be tough and hard on them, and all of the good ones, they all appreciate it because it’s a hard position to play.”
Lawing knew Clowney had the ability to make plays on the field, but he said someone always had to spoon-feed Clowney the plays when he was in last year because he didn’t have enough knowledge of the defense. It hasn’t been an issue for Clowney this year.
With better comprehension of the plays, Clowney can notice more during a game. He was able to pick up on Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray tapping the center’s leg before the snap last Saturday, getting a jump on each snap because he knew when it was coming. Clowney said he probably would’ve been too wrapped up in thinking about what he was supposed to be doing on the play last year instead of just instantly knowing.
He’s also using his hands more because when he was in high school, he was much bigger and stronger than everyone around him so he could only use his shoulders. But now he said he needs his hands to create separation since “they don’t call holding penalties.”
“His knowledge of the game is at a higher level than what it has been,” Lawing said. “He’s just getting smarter and smarter. ... He’ll have a busted assignment every now and then like they all do, but that’s a lack of concentration and not a lack of knowledge.”
No one can know for sure if Clowney will be the first overall draft pick or just a first-round pick, but just as his knowledge of the defense has improved, so has his understanding of how to handle the hype surrounding him and the No. 3 Gamecocks. There are also people to coach him through that as well.
“[Lawing is] always preaching that,” Clowney said. “He says, ‘Don’t listen to the media. Don’t listen to nobody. Just come out here and play and keep taking it one day at a time and one team at a time.’”