He is now a Raider. No longer is Clelin Ferrell the vocal team leader of a Clemson defense that dominated college football the last three years.

On April 25, Ferrell became on Oakland Raider when they selected him with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. One of the reasons general manager Mike Mayock and head coach Jon Gruden selected the two-time consensus All-American was due to his leadership, something that set him apart from the other defensive ends in the draft.

“The thing with Clelin is he’s just a very welcoming guy,” said Clemson teammate Hunter Renfrow to Raiders.com, who was selected by Oakland in the fifth round of the draft. “He brings people together, and obviously he has a lot of talent, but what makes him special is being able to rally the guys in the locker room, and rally his teammates, and say, ‘Alright, come with me. This is how we’re going to do it. This is how we’re going to have success.’

“I’ve had a first-row seat of it the past four years at Clemson, and I’m just so excited for Raider Nation to see what he has in store.”

As Clemson fans all know, Ferrell helped the Tigers win two national championships in the last three years, while becoming one of the greatest defensive ends in school history. In his three years as a player, Ferrell finished with 27 career sacks and 50 tackles for loss.

In all three seasons, Clemson’s defense ranked in the top 5 nationally in total defense and led the country in scoring defense this past season. The Tigers have also ranked in the top 5 or led the nation in sacks and tackles for loss in each of the last three years.

And though Ferrell was an All-American on the field, it was his leadership that always shined through the most. After the Tigers lost to Alabama in the 2018 Sugar Bowl Classic, Ferrell went up to long-time Clemson Sport Information Director Tim Bourret and volunteered to talk to the media.

Bourret said it was the first time in his 40 years at Clemson that a player volunteered to speak with the media following such a difficult loss.

That kind of selflessness and understanding is why Clemson’s local media voted Ferrell as the first recipient of the Bourret Award at Clemson’s Football Banquet this past January.

“It’s all about perspective,” Ferrell said. “For me, I hear people talking about how they want guys to be vocal leaders. Well, for me, I’ll just be Clelin, and Clelin just happens to be a guy who is highly motivated, highly energetic, very communicative, is a vocal guy. It’s not really me trying to be something, it’s really just me being myself, and that’s all that Mike [Mayock], and Coach Gruden, and Coach (Brentson) Buckner have asked of me. I guess they just see those qualities in me, so it’s just a blessing, man.”

“I’ll just always be myself, and I just know that whatever situation, I’m just a guy who wants what’s best for the team, and wants what’s best for me and my teammates,” he continued. “Those characteristics just come out in me, but I’m always trying to be myself, and not try to be something I’m not, for sure.”