CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clelin Ferrell. Christian Wilkins. Austin Bryant. Kendall Joseph. Mitch Hyatt.
These are just some of the players who at the end of the 2017 season had to decide whether to stay at Clemson for another year, or further their football careers in the NFL.
Every single one of them chose Clemson.
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That’s nearly a miracle in today’s game, where players like Christian McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette and Denzel Ward have skipped bowl games to ensure they weren’t injured ahead of the draft (their decisions to make, and not without good reason).
Look at Houston defensive lineman Ed Oliver, one of college football’s top defenders, who declared for the 2019 NFL Draft — in the spring.
Even Nick Saban at Alabama encourages players to leave early for the NFL if they receive a good enough grade.
And yet, here are five teammates who all spurned that opportunity — one some people would argue is prudent to take.
Why?
“It just shows the culture at Clemson,” Hyatt said at ACC Kickoff on Thursday. “Just players wanting to end on a good note. They want Clemson to be good.
"They weren’t pleased with last year, and they wanted to come back and do something about it.”
That 24-6 Sugar Bowl loss to Alabama may have had something to do with it, but Tigers coach Dabo Swinney doesn't believe it's that cut-and-dried.
“The biggest thing, it’s who that person is, what their personal goals are,” Swinney said. “And it is culture. It is the experience that they’ve had.”
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There’s that word again: Culture. It’s a word quickly becoming synonymous with the Clemson program, almost akin to the “Process” at Alabama.
It’s culture — namely, the one Swinney has instilled — that most people credit for the Tigers’ incredible retention of talent in 2018.
But what is it? Simply put, it’s a people-first philosophy that results in a permeative desire to be great and dissatisfaction with anything less.
That loss to Alabama may have swayed some players’ decisions, yes, but Swinney also mentioned how many didn’t like their projections in the NFL Draft even after their great seasons.
“The thing I like about these guys, they wanted to know why they weren’t rated as a top-10 pick,” Swinney said. “And I got them the information, and they’re like, ‘All right.’
"They didn’t get mad, they were like, ‘I’m fixing to go work on that and get better.’”
That’s bad news for teams playing Clemson this year. The Tigers boast four of Sporting News’ top 25 defensive players of 2018 and lead all college football programs with three first-team preseason All-Americans.
It’s not something that’s limited to upperclassmen, either. Ferrell has said he has seen “young guys stepping up” and embracing the culture as well.
“(Swinney) preaches that the best teams are player-led,” Ferrell said, “and I feel like that’s what we are.”
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That may be true, but that’s only after years of careful cultivation by Swinney and his staff. The Clemson coach doesn’t just hire great talent (though defensive coordinator Brent Venables’ new contract might suggest it); he hires people whose philosophies align with his own.
With that, they carefully, meticulously instill that drive with every new class to come through Clemson. And when the results started showing up — the 101-30 record since 2009, three consecutive ACC titles, three trips to the College Football Playoff and the 2016 national title — it became that much easier to preach.
The only thing left to do is watch it unfold all over again in 2018.
“With all the talent we have this year,” Hyatt said, “I mean, we’ve just got to go out and perform now.”
