The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Friday the 28 student-athletes selected by its members schools to attend the 2018 ACC Football Kickoff July 18-19 at the Westin Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C.
No real surprise Clemson will bring All-American defensive end Clelin Ferrell to the media event to represent the Tigers’ defense. Ferrell is one of the more engaging and biggest personalities on the team. He was made for moments like this.
Though I am not surprised Kelly Bryant is representing the offense, for obvious reasons, the offense’s representative is a head scratcher. All-American offensive tackle Mitch Hyatt will represent the Clemson offense.
Nothing against Hyatt personally, he is a good kid, good student, good teammate and he deserves any honor he gets. He is a great representative from that standpoint. However, Hyatt is not exactly Clelin Ferrell when it comes to being around the media.
Unlike Ferrell or Christian Wilkins, he is not going to come into a room and steal the attention. Hyatt is not much of talker. He is the guy that kind of likes to sit in the back and observe. Obviously, we, the Clemson media, have spoken with him several times in media settings and you can just tell he is not comfortable in those environments.
Learning Friday Hyatt is going to represent Clemson at an event where more than 200 members of the media are going to flock to the Clemson table and ask all sorts of questions, mostly about the quarterback situation, doesn’t seem like a good idea. Or does it?
Actually, it is pretty genius of Dabo Swinney. Hyatt is not going to say much. Swinney knows that as well as anyone. What better way to keep the quarterback talk to a minimum then bringing a guy who will not give the media much to begin with.
If Clemson brought Bryant or even wide receiver Hunter Renfrow for a second straight year, because of how engaging they are, they would probably give their opinion on the situation. At first they might say all the right things, but when you are hounded over and over again with the same question by different members of the media, eventually, you could slip up. You could say something controversial or something that is perceived to be controversial and that is all the media needs … just one sentence to run with. Trust me, I know.
By bringing Hyatt, the chances of that are very low.
What about Ferrell? He could say something?
Possibly, but it is not likely. Though Ferrell will be asked about the quarterback competition between Kelly Bryant and Trevor Lawrence, it is easier for him to blow those questions off because he doesn’t work out with the offense.
Most of the questions to Ferrell will be centered on him, the defensive line, the Clemson defense and the Tigers’ chances of winning another national championship.
So bringing Mitch Hyatt to represent the offense makes sense. He is an All-American after all. He is one of the best players on the team. He is a good guy, and most importantly, he is quiet. That is exactly what Dabo Swinney wants.
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