-- The news that D.J. Reader is taking a leave of absence was quite a shock to anyone who was familiar with his progress over the past few months. At the end of May he was at 352 pounds and the coaches were not happy with him. He got the message and managed to get down to 317 as of a couple weeks ago when I last spoke with him.
Reader was positively jacked about this season, and the coaches were very impressed with the determination and leadership he had shown since the start of August camp. He was frequently disruptive, and he was a big reason the staff was so high on the interior defensive line even after losing Grady Jarrett, DeShawn Williams and Josh Watson.
I asked Reader to reflect on what fueled him to transform not only his body but his mind as he prepared for his final season at Clemson.
"I think I had the mindset of win today each day, and I can't let people get to me. I just know that coaches are going to be coaches. They're going to coach me hard, and I've just got to learn to take criticism. So I've been focusing on that, and just not letting them get into my game. I've been using a flip-the-page mentality.
"I'm definitely mentally stronger this year. More in shape. I can go longer. But for the most part, just mentally stronger. I believe in myself. I'm confident."
Reader had to deal with losing his father before the 2014 season, but from the outside he seemed in a really good place recently. He told me how his mother helped him lose the weight by participating in a weight-loss regimen herself and losing 26 pounds.
This is bad timing for Reader given that he was entering this season on the NFL radar. We're told he is remaining in classes at Clemson.
-- Dabo Swinney answered a few questions about Reader after today's practice but made it clear he didn't want to talk much more about it beyond the prepared statement that was released earlier today.
I asked Swinney if Reader is being disciplined.
"No. Again, this is a decision that he made for some personal things he's dealing with. And there's nothing else to say."
A few moments earlier, Swinney was asked about "a rough three or four months" in relation to the attrition that's hit this team: Ammon Lakip, Ebenezer Ogundeko, Isaiah Battle, Korrin Wiggins, Korie Rogers, and now this.
"I think it's been a great three or four months," he said. "You've got a guy that gets in trouble that gets kicked off the team out of 115 players. You've got a guy that goes pro. ... You've got another guy who gets in a bad situation. We've had a lot of guys that have had great summers, a great three or four months. ...
"We've had a great summer. This football team is focused. This football team is ready to play. My job is to always maintain discipline in the program, and I'll do that. If it means letting a guy go, if it means sitting a guy down, we'll handle that. And I'm the only one that can make those decisions. And I'm very confident where we are from that standpoint."
-- Swinney said the decision on Reader was made over the weekend. He said he visited with Reader and his mother. Asked if he has a gut feeling on when Reader might return, Swinney said: "It doesn't have anything to do with me."
-- Eric Mac Lain told me the team was informed of the news today.
"Coach announced it and let us know he'd be releasing that statement. His message was just 'Next man up.' That's been a theme throughout my career here. It's been kind of a focal point when guys do get hurt. Nothing is going to change."
All that said, Reader was in a prominent position of leadership this season. The coaches were certainly counting on him to be. I asked Mac Lain if it's a significant blow from that perspective.
"It's always bad when you lose a leader, a guy that's a senior on the defensive line. But like I said, we have tons of leaders on this team. Throughout this summer, Ben Boulware has been a leader. B.J. Goodson, Rod Byers, Jayron Kearse. All these different guys have put into the leadership role, so now they're going to be asked a little bit more of and I don't think it'll be too much of a worry."
Mac Lain said it's a good thing the loss of Battle and Reader happened before the season instead of in the middle of it. He said Christian Wilkins has been getting a lot of work with the first team and is ready to shine.
"We have a ton of studs. All we do at Clemson is reload. It's going to be just like 2011. We have a bunch of freshmen nobody knows about who are going to take the league by storm."
Reader was positively jacked about this season, and the coaches were very impressed with the determination and leadership he had shown since the start of August camp. He was frequently disruptive, and he was a big reason the staff was so high on the interior defensive line even after losing Grady Jarrett, DeShawn Williams and Josh Watson.
I asked Reader to reflect on what fueled him to transform not only his body but his mind as he prepared for his final season at Clemson.
"I think I had the mindset of win today each day, and I can't let people get to me. I just know that coaches are going to be coaches. They're going to coach me hard, and I've just got to learn to take criticism. So I've been focusing on that, and just not letting them get into my game. I've been using a flip-the-page mentality.
"I'm definitely mentally stronger this year. More in shape. I can go longer. But for the most part, just mentally stronger. I believe in myself. I'm confident."
Reader had to deal with losing his father before the 2014 season, but from the outside he seemed in a really good place recently. He told me how his mother helped him lose the weight by participating in a weight-loss regimen herself and losing 26 pounds.
This is bad timing for Reader given that he was entering this season on the NFL radar. We're told he is remaining in classes at Clemson.
-- Dabo Swinney answered a few questions about Reader after today's practice but made it clear he didn't want to talk much more about it beyond the prepared statement that was released earlier today.
I asked Swinney if Reader is being disciplined.
"No. Again, this is a decision that he made for some personal things he's dealing with. And there's nothing else to say."
A few moments earlier, Swinney was asked about "a rough three or four months" in relation to the attrition that's hit this team: Ammon Lakip, Ebenezer Ogundeko, Isaiah Battle, Korrin Wiggins, Korie Rogers, and now this.
"I think it's been a great three or four months," he said. "You've got a guy that gets in trouble that gets kicked off the team out of 115 players. You've got a guy that goes pro. ... You've got another guy who gets in a bad situation. We've had a lot of guys that have had great summers, a great three or four months. ...
"We've had a great summer. This football team is focused. This football team is ready to play. My job is to always maintain discipline in the program, and I'll do that. If it means letting a guy go, if it means sitting a guy down, we'll handle that. And I'm the only one that can make those decisions. And I'm very confident where we are from that standpoint."
-- Swinney said the decision on Reader was made over the weekend. He said he visited with Reader and his mother. Asked if he has a gut feeling on when Reader might return, Swinney said: "It doesn't have anything to do with me."
-- Eric Mac Lain told me the team was informed of the news today.
"Coach announced it and let us know he'd be releasing that statement. His message was just 'Next man up.' That's been a theme throughout my career here. It's been kind of a focal point when guys do get hurt. Nothing is going to change."
All that said, Reader was in a prominent position of leadership this season. The coaches were certainly counting on him to be. I asked Mac Lain if it's a significant blow from that perspective.
"It's always bad when you lose a leader, a guy that's a senior on the defensive line. But like I said, we have tons of leaders on this team. Throughout this summer, Ben Boulware has been a leader. B.J. Goodson, Rod Byers, Jayron Kearse. All these different guys have put into the leadership role, so now they're going to be asked a little bit more of and I don't think it'll be too much of a worry."
Mac Lain said it's a good thing the loss of Battle and Reader happened before the season instead of in the middle of it. He said Christian Wilkins has been getting a lot of work with the first team and is ready to shine.
"We have a ton of studs. All we do at Clemson is reload. It's going to be just like 2011. We have a bunch of freshmen nobody knows about who are going to take the league by storm."
