South Carolina junior defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is a head coach’s dream.
Clowney is a loyal teammate and a freak athlete (the 270-pound lineman allegedly ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the end of summer practice) who instills fear in the hearts of his competitors.
“I would like to see [Clowney] come out early, before our game,” said Florida coach Will Muschamp at the Southeastern Conference Media Days in Hoover, Ala. “He’s an outstanding player. He’s a guy you better account for every snap.”
But what truly separates Clowney from other elite college football players is his ability to stay out of the limelight.
In an era when it seems more and more players are finding themselves in trouble with either their teams or the law, Clowney has become a beacon of hope for coaches and fans wanting future players to avoid such mishaps.
In 2012, he was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous All-American and the recipient of the Ted Hendricks Award for the top defensive end in college football.
Many expect him to have similar success in 2013 — if not more — and to possibly compete for the Heisman Trophy.
Despite all of this fame that many claim 18- to 20-year-olds can’t handle, Clowney has maintained a spotless record since arriving at South Carolina.
What is his secret? How has he been able to succeed where other great college football players have failed recently?
“Just stay out of bars and stay off Twitter,” Clowney told reporters Tuesday.
It really is that simple.
Bar fights and questionable tweets are easily two of the most prominent mistakes we see made by these athletes.
Of course, this is much easier said than done — we are talking about college students, after all. A vast majority of them will go to bars because “it is part of the college experience,” and Twitter and other social networks have been around for a significant portion of their lives.
Clowney is a loyal and humble player as well. He immediately denied any speculation that he considered sitting out his junior year to prepare for the NFL draft, and when asked about being a possible Heisman winner, he seemed indifferent.
“The Heisman is not a big deal to me,” he said. “Winning the SEC championship is a big deal to me.”
But just because he is humble doesn’t mean he isn’t a fierce competitor. He told reporters that he can tell when a quarterback is afraid of him, pointing at Clemson quarterback Tahj Boyd as a prime example.
“I can tell Tahj Boyd is scared back there,” Clowney said. “… You can look at a guy and tell that he is scared. If he’s staring at me before the ball is snapped and he’s staring at me every play before the ball is snapped, oh, we got him. I tell the player that he’s shook.”
But, to be honest, inferring that some college quarterbacks are afraid of Clowney simply is not true.
All quarterbacks are afraid of Clowney.
Tyler Nunez is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Lake Charles.