It was a season to remember for Clemson football’s vaunted senior class. Now the Tiger upperclassmen will pass the torch to a host of talented underclassmen.
Watching the emotions of Christian Wilkins following Clemson football’s win over Alabama is where it really hit home.
We will never see Wilkins, Hunter Renfrow, Kendall Joseph, Mitch Hyatt, Justin Falcinelli, Clelin Ferrell (most likely), Austin Bryant, Mark Fields and many others ever again.
With the 44-16 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide, the senior class finished tied as the winningest class in College Football history.
That senior class has been a part of four-straight ACC Championships, two National Titles and four CFB Playoff appearances. They led the Tigers this season to a perfect 15-0 record, which is the first time any team has done that in modern history of College Football.
Now, it’s time for those seniors and graduates to pass the torch on to the young, but very talented underclassmen.
Passing the torch…
It’s now time for a lot of the younger guys to step up and take leadership roles in this program. They’ve been taught the way.
Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant showed the young defensive linemen the way to success.
Mitch Hyatt and Justin Falcinelli taught the young offensive linemen. Hunter Renfrow was a leader in that wide receiver corp.
Now it’s time for new guys to take on those roles. Outside of talent and depth, the reason this team was so good in 2018 had to do with leadership.
It had to do with the veteran presence. Now, these young guys have to step up and become veterans and follow in the footsteps of guys like Wilkins, Ferrell and Renfrow.
That’s how elite programs stay elite.
It’s time to pass the torch and I think we’ll be very happy with the results.