Deon Cain was not satisfied with the way he and the rest of the offense performed in last week’s scrimmage.

“I just felt like we were not focused going in and throughout the whole scrimmage,” the Clemson wide receiver said. “We just have to bring that spark back. I just think when we come back we just need to be consistent and stayed focused.”

The Tigers will get back to spring practice on Monday after having the last week off for spring break. When they get back, Cain hopes the offense can learn a lot from the film of the first scrimmage and focus on getting better in the last seven practices.

Over the first half of spring, Cain’s name came up several times by both head coach Dabo Swinney and co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Jeff Scott as a guy who is really leading, not just the wide receivers, but the offense as whole.

It’s just another sign of Cain’s maturity over the last 15 months, and proves how far he has come since his freshman season when he was suspended twice, including once for a failed drug test prior to the 2016 Orange Bowl. Cain says he thinks about how far he has come from time-to-time.

“I just want to keep on bettering myself every day,” he said. “Really just let the past be the past and just make up for the future.”

The future is now as a starter and as a leader on the offense, a role he has familiarity with from his high school days.

“Being a former quarterback from my previous experiences and just having that leadership role is something that I am used to,” Cain said. “I just want to show my team that I am a leader. I just know with me being out there with my skill set, I have shown them what I can do. I’m leading them in the best way I can, and it makes me feel good as a person.”

Cain said the thing he has noticed the most this spring is how it is not just one guy leading the team. He said there are at least eight guys who have stepped up and are trying to be better leaders. Guys like Ray-Ray McCloud, Kelly Bryant, Adam Choice, C.J. Fuller and Mitch Hyatt to name a few.

“I think everyone is stepping up because they see that role that we need to play,” Cain said. “It’s not just the first five, six, seven or eight people. We need everybody, backups included. Now to just have everybody in that zone and focused, it is a good thing.”

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