Jason Flanders on Committing to Clemson December 19, 1996 **Excerpts from a phone interview with Phil Kornblut Jason Flanders: Why did you go ahead and commit early? "I wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the holidays. I meet with Coach Moody and everything from then on was real positive. I thought Clemson would be the best thing for me." What is height, weight, and 40 time? "6-4, 197, 4.7" What do you do well as a quarterback? "I think I have a strong arm and I can thread it in there when I need to. I can put it in the best place where the offense can catch the ball and not let the defense have a shot at it. I think I throw well on the run. The biggest thing is going to be the transition to the speed of the college players and of course the mental game which I will have to learn. Do you need to do anything to improve your arm strength or overall strength to get ready for the college game? "I think so. I am going to work real hard in the offseason. Of course no matter how hard you work, I've heard when you get to college you feel out of shape. I'm going to do all I can to put myself in the best position." What are your early expectations? "I just going in there and do the best that I can. The coaches will know what's best for me. They have a very smart coaching staff up there. I might get red-shirted and I might not. They have already signed a quarterback and they have some good quarterbacks up there. We will just see how it goes. You also can punt. Can you do that at the college level? "I went to camp at Clemson during the summer. Coach Bisaccia stayed a little with me after practice watching me punt. I think that is an option as well."