The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mcclendon continuing family legacy
Warren Mcclendon is a man of few words. But when asked about his family’s legacy at Georgia, the redshirt freshman offensive lineman perks up.
Uncle Willie Mcclendon earned AllSEC honors as a running back for the Bulldogs in the late 1970s, and cousin Bryan Mcclendon was a wide receiver on Georgia’s 2005 SEC championship team. Bryan, now the passing- game coordinator at Oregon, also worked as an assistant under Mark Richt and was Georgia’s interim head coach in 2015 after Richt’s departure.
Warren said his family members didn’t pressure him to choose Georgia during his recruitment, but it’s clear he knew that if they got their way, they wanted him to be a Bulldog.
“They told me to just go where I felt home,” Mcclendon said Wednesday. “Georgia felt ( like) home. They didn’t really try to push Georgia on me. They said it was my recruitment process, and they said go wherever you want. ... My
family, they wanted me to go to Georgia, but they didn’t want to push it on me. To them, it was a big deal. I was just happy to be coming to Georgia.”
Mcclendon enrolled early in January 2019 and redshirted last season while working behind the likes of Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson on the depth chart. To open this season, Owen Condon got the start at right tackle against Arkansas, but Mcclendon soon heard his name called for his first collegiate playing time.
The following week against Auburn, Mcclendon got the start, though Condon replaced him in the second half when Mcclendon left the game with a cramp issue. Since then, Mcclendon has been the starter and has played every offensive snap in the past four games.
“( I’m) just taking it week by week,” Mcclendon said. “Just getting better every week. In Arkansas, Owen started. When ( coach Kirby Smart) called my name, I had to be ready.”
Mcclendon said he didn’t think much last year about when he’d get the starting nod, but it seems likely that he didn’t expect it would be this soon. But Georgia had to replace four starting offensive linemen this season, and Mcclendon was in position to step into the starting spot at right tackle.
“I didn’t think about ( starting),” Mcclendon said. “I just went out there to get better and just learn from the older guys. When my name was called, I was ready to go.”
Looking ahead to next season, Mcclendon has already identified that he wants to improve on his run blocking and keeping his pad level low when going up against defensive linemen. As one of the youngest starters on the offensive line this year, Mcclendon will have plenty of time to continue to improve.
And as he does t hat, he’ll also be cementing the Mcclendon family legacy at Georgia.