Lawrence’s ascension mirrors past success
CLEMSON, S.C. – Both guys played at first, the veteran getting most of the time but the precocious freshman seeing plenty of action. Then four games in, the coaches had seen enough. It was time, they determined, that Trevor Lawrence became the starter.
“It was easy to see,” says Miller Forristall, adding that he’d seen the moment coming for months, ever since a lanky kid with a buzz cut had begun working out with Cartersville High School’s varsity players. So when the coaches called Forristall, a talented junior quarterback, into a meeting, he understood.
You know Lawrence as Clemson’s true freshman quarterback, a longhaired phenom with a rocket arm who has elevated the Tigers’ offense since supplanting senior starter Kelly Bryant in late September. Clemson coaches say they just knew.
“This guy is the best guy,” says cooffensive coordinator Jeff Scott, recounting the conversations among the coaching staff before making the change. “He makes us different.”
And their move this season is very similar to the scenario that unfolded four years earlier, when Cartersville coach Joey King called Forristall, a talented junior, into the office. Forristall knew, too.
“They’d talked about how good an eighth-grader was,” Forristall says, “but you take that with a grain of salt, because how good could the kid really be?
“The kid was pretty good.” Forristall was pretty good, too, but he’s now an Alabama tight end. He is not surprised at all about how things unfolded this season at Clemson. And he figures anyone who’s somehow missed the developments will soon understand.
“People will see,” says Forristall, referring to No. 2 Clemson’s matchup with No. 3 Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl. “He’ll play on the largest stage.”
Lawrence enrolled last January and, according to coaches and teammates, quietly got to work. Teammates say there was no hubris from the high school hype.
“I felt like he did a good job, since day one, of earning the respect of his teammates,” says Christian Wilkins, Clemson’s senior All-American defensive lineman. “It was easy for guys to believe in him and get behind him. You’ve got to respect a guy who comes to work every day.”
When Lawrence was named the starter in September, Wilkins took him to breakfast. Well, Lawrence took Wilkins, who doesn’t have a car on campus. But it was the upperclassman’s idea — and it was not because, as he jokes, “I was hungry, and I like breakfast.”
Turning serious, Wilkins says he understood at least some of the pressure Lawrence was facing, as a freshman suddenly thrust into a leading role on one of the nation’s best teams. And not insignificant, Lawrence was replacing a well-liked and respected leader who was suddenly not a part of the team.
During that breakfast at SunnySide Cafe, Wilkins was impressed with how Lawrence was handling the situation and says he has only grown more impressed in the weeks since.
“(It’s) just how mature he is for a young guy,” Wilkins says. “He has the right mind-set. He’s going to do great in life and dominate this world.”
Scott had been angling for Lawrence since his freshman season, when he visited Clemson with his family. When Scott saw the big kid who was just beginning to grow into his frame, his first thought was, “That’s what a future NFL quarterback looks like, right there.”
He’s now 6-6 and 215 pounds, with more growth possible — both in his stature and his game — but the talent is already undeniable. It was evident during practices last spring, when Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told reporters Lawrence had “every tool you could possibly want in a quarterback.” And it was obvious during the Tigers’ first four games, when he shared time with Bryant.
“It was a unanimous decision,” Scott says of the decision to name Lawrence the starter. “That’s what we wanted to wait on. It would have been very easy to see what was coming and make a move early. ... We said, ‘We’ll know when it was time.’ ”
Lawrence was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s rookie of the year after throwing for 2,606 yards, with 24 TDs and only four interceptions.
Swinney gets more than a little riled at the suggestion the move was made with an eye on the playoffs. But Lawrence obviously helped elevate the offense. Clemson averages 45.4 points, and while running back Travis Etienne has led a dangerous running game, Lawrence’s abilities opened up previously unseen possibilities in the passing game.
Swinney does not shy away from expectations, or from setting them. He says Lawrence could become the Tigers’ first Heisman Trophy winner.
“If the good Lord keeps him healthy,” Swinney says, “he’ll have as good a shot as anybody.”