My daughter went to the youth football camp in May

Nov 9, 2015, 2:03 PM

While I was there I got to see some of the reason we have such a great program. So many current and former players involved and an attitude that it's one big family. Dabo had presentations for the kids about life, faith, hard work, and perseverance; the things that have gotten him and his players to where they are now. Two motto's really stand out in what we have: "Best Is The Standard", and to quote David Saville quoting Dabo, "The only handicap in life is a bad attitude".

I got to talk to a lot of the players and was very impressed with the type of young men the program brings in. My daughter now has 3 favorites, all from camp, Collins Mauldin, Jabril Robinson, and Chris Register. We always get big smiles and a lot of thanks when we see them. Got a bro hug from Chris after the game Saturday. Deshaun, Travis Blanks, Martin Aiken, and Adrian Baker are some others who've really impressed me. All great young men with a lot of character and class.

Can't forget the coaches. Coach Smotherman and his wife are just awesome. Very humble and intelligent man. I think my daughter likes to see him as much as she does the players. The GT game was her 8th birthday and Coach Smo took us in the weight room for a tour. He also gave her a hat as a present. Coach Streeter and family are great too. His daughter and mine were 2 of 3 girls out of a few hundred boys at camp. Found out that Mrs. Streeter's father was an Air Force officer and we were all at the same base in England during the Gulf War. Got to meet the whole family this past weekend.

While my daughter was getting Dabo to sign her football at camp, I told him some special things would be happening with him at the helm, I could just feel it. I got a big grin and thank you, he knew it too. Now it's all coming to fruition. It's a great time to be a Tiger and after many years I'm just as excited about Clemson football as I was 34 years ago at 10 years old. We've got something great in our tiny little town. Can't wait to see what the next few weeks and then the next few years hold for us as a family.

Go Tigers!