Lawson loves playing defensive end

CLEMSON – Clemson appears to remain undefeated in ACC play as it finishes 10th^ThThe top-ranked Tigers travel to Wake Forest to face the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Defensive end Jahiem Lawson spoke to the media earlier this week to discuss his progress and more.

–Lawson didn’t always want to play football, basketball was his first choice growing up. “I always thought I was going to be a basketball player until my freshman year. Then one day Swinney came up to me and said, ‘You’re not going to be a basketball player,’ and finally I realized how hard it was and that’s how I started to love the game of football.”

–Lawson, who grew up in the Clemson area, played running back and wide receiver. After realizing that basketball would not be his future, he joined the football team but wanted to continue playing those positions. He said: “I have always loved catching the ball and scoring touchdowns. I always thought it was more fun than tackling. I learned that it’s a lot more fun to hit people than to score touchdowns.”

– In the five games Clemson has played so far, Lawson said, “I think as a group we still have a lot of work to do, but I think we’re going to be great.” I think we’re going to be a really good unit going forward .” When asked about the performance in the game against Florida State, he said, “I thought we played well, we definitely could have done better.” Definitely, we could have done a lot of technical things better.”

– Growing up in the Clemson area and his brother Shaq Lawson played at Clemson, he always knew he would definitely become a Tiger. “Seeing the environment, seeing the people in this place, everyone is great.” He added that having his brother around was “extremely fun to watch him play.”

– The redshirt sophomore talked a lot about what defensive ends coach Chris Rumph has brought to his game. “More swagger,” Lawson said. “He is a high, intense person. He will attack you if he needs to attack you, but he is a loving trainer. That’s what I think our group needs… I love him, he’s a good guy.”

Clemson plays at Wake Forest on Saturday (noon, ESPN).