Former Clemson DB Andrew Mukuba says he wasn't "pushed enough" ahead of transfer |
Andrew Mukuba started strong at Clemson and looked to be on the track for an NFL dream as a freshman.
But after three seasons, Mukuba felt he wasn't in a position to do that and ended up returning home by way of the transfer portal to the Texas Longhorns this offseason. He recently went on Behind The Facemask podcast and offered his reasons for the departure. "My freshman year, obviously I was the man. Freshman All-American. ACC defensive rookie of the year. Third-team All-ACC as a freshman. All these accolades, I was getting honors and accolades I hadn't heard of," Mukuba said. "It was shocking to me. My sophomore year was kinda rough. I was going through a lot of things my sophomore year. Didn't play my best football. I feel like that impacted me a lot, but then I doubled-back my junior year and had a good year. My time there at Clemson, I felt like I wasn't really getting better. "I wasn't being pushed enough to where I could reach my potential and my peak. I feel like the program wasn't where it needed to be for me and the whole team to be successful. So I felt like after my junior year, I felt like it was always the same thing. After that, it was only right for me to transfer..." As Mukuba rattled off, he was a freshman All-American with 576 snaps over 13 games (10 starts), tallying 54 tackles (two for loss), a sack, nine pass breakups and a fumble recovery. He started the opener with Georgia to be the first freshman Clemson DB to start in records going back to 1973. With some position switches along the way, Mukuba was credited with 50 tackles (0.5 for loss), four pass breakups and an interception in 580 defensive snaps over 12 games (11 starts) as a sophomore. Injury limited him to ten games as a junior, credited with 45 tackles (2.0 for loss), seven pass breakups and a fumble recovery in 578 snaps over 10 games (all starts). Mukuba gave some insight into his conversation with Clemson's coaches before exiting. "Obviously, no coach wants to hear one of their players is going to leave, for whatever reason, but I felt it was a conversation that needed to be had," Mukuba said. "This was my future and something that was going to affect me, but I don't think they really see it from that perspective. But I understand the coaches obviously want me to stay there and help win ballgames and do all that other cool stuff. But I feel like it was time for me to make a decision for myself, which I know it was best for me. At the end of the day, they were still understanding. "They still supported me through the whole thing. I still have a relationship with the coaches. Ain't like there no bad blood or anything." Mukuba looks to wrap his college career in style. "I'm looking to have a big year, and there's nothing better than to do it in a big league like the SEC," Mukuba said.
New Texas safety Andrew Mukuba shares pictures in Texas gear ahead of the season 🤘
— OnTexasFootball (@ontexasfootball) July 26, 2024
📸 via drewkubz IG@Andrewmukuba2 pic.twitter.com/ERolW2sKbk
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