Clelin Ferrell has no issue telling people why he decided to return to Clemson for one more season last January.
Ferrell joined his defensive line teammates, Austin Bryant and Christian Wilkins, back in January when the three announced their return to Clemson. A lot of people thought the trio returned to school because their grades from the NFL Draft Advisory Board were not where they wanted them to be.
And though that might have played a role in some way, at least in Ferrell’s mind, that’s not why he returned to Clemson.
Ferrell told ESPN’s College Game Day last week that Clemson was the reason he came back to school.
“It is the type of atmosphere where you can be there year around and you will enjoy yourself if you really like the college experience,” the All-American defensive end said.
Ferrell says he sees other guys leave other schools and he wonders what the reason might be. He has learned in some cases guys are leaving school early because they are not happy where they are at.
“You see juniors declare early and you wonder why they do that,” he said. “You don’t really understand. For a lot of the guys, the schools that they are at, they don’t really like being there unless it is football season.
“That is what it is about at Clemson. It is not just football. It’s the people, the food …the food! Don’t let that fool you. The culture, the place where we are living, you can go out on the lake. We are two hours from Atlanta if you want to go to the city. It is a great place to be at just to have a good time as a young person.”
Ferrell also said it is the culture at Clemson and the type of players and coaches they have there. They all just love to play there.
“It just speaks to the type of players that we bring in. It speaks to the type of coaches that you have there. I talked to a couple of people about this,” he said.
For Ferrell, there is just a great comfort at Clemson, a sense of home.
“It is not like you are going back to school. I decided to come back home,” he said.
What makes #Clemson special?
Glad you asked…Cle you wanna take this one?👌 pic.twitter.com/i89J1t69cl
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) July 25, 2018
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