Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 0 1 9 S E A S O N P R E V I E W CAREER OPPORTUNITY Q U A R T E R B A C K S Sean Clifford has always thought of himself as Penn State's starting quarterback. With a new season drawing near, reality might be catching up to his vision N ot long after the news came, Sean Clifford decided something needed to be said. It's always been easy for Clifford to address crowds when the urge comes to him in the mo- ment – when the passion within the mes- sage is real, not manufactured. So when Tommy Stevens decided he would transfer out, only a few months before what many Penn State football fol- lowers had assumed would be his ascent to the starting position, Clifford put those oratory skills to use. "I just wanted to really make sure that everybody was on the same page," Clif- ford said. "That one person isn't going to determine the success of the team. I just made a vow that the quarterback room that we have currently will work our tails off to make sure that we're put in the best position to help the team." This was not the kind of heroic, pre- battle speech you might see in the movies, Clifford said, so any comparisons to William Wallace's soliloquy at Stirling Bridge will have to wait. Instead, it was a landmark first act for Clifford as the favorite to succeed Trace McSorley as Penn State's starting quar- terback. Yet to Clifford, there was no landmark, no point of entry, no coming out party. Because in his mind, he was al- ways the favorite. The context surrounding Clifford could not be more different than it was a season ago, when he was the third signal-caller in line. But the context doesn't matter when you think the way that Sean Clif- ford thinks. And his thoughts, unlike almost every- thing else, haven't changed. "My approach has been the same ever since I stepped on this campus," Clifford said. "It's been to treat my situation as if I'm the starting quarterback. When Trace was here, Tommy was here, in my mind, I was getting ready each and every week to become the starting quarterback [in case] some fluke happens. I just never wanted to put myself in a position where I had to step out on the field and not be ready in my mind." Sounds mentally exhausting, right? Not for Clifford, even as the day-to-day grind churned forward with no on-field reward in sight. With his family and the community driving him, it would have been more difficult, he said, to stop grinding away. But that isn't an attitude that is unique to Clifford, at least not if James Franklin has his way. Franklin's affinity for com- petition is well-documented. It's why he avoids attaching "starter" labels when- ever possible. So Clifford, despite how some choose to interpret the tea leaves, is not Penn State's starting quarterback — at least, not yet. Because Will Levis probably thinks that he is, and so on down the line inside Penn State's quarterback room. "Obviously, when a guy leaves and there's one less guy that's part of the equation, it magnifies it," Franklin said. "There's no doubt, it magnifies his op- portunity, it creates more reps, and all of those types of things. But I actually think that Levis, that Sean, and that Tommy were all going into it feeling like they were going to have to compete and that they were competing for the starting job. I would hope that they're approaching it that way. What it does is, it doesn't really change the conversation, but it does magnify it." But Clifford holds what could very well become the trump card — nearly an entire off-season full of practice reps with Penn State's first-team offense. That's what everyone asks about when Clifford does interviews. He's got the re- sponse down pat. "It's pretty much as valuable as you would think it is," Clifford said. "You're going against the fastest guys on your team. And I think that you know, our de- fense is one of the top [defenses] in the country. So, it really helps development when you can go against the best guys. And so yeah, it's as good as you think it is." Those precious hours on the practice field have helped Clifford develop all-im- portant chemistry with his wide re- ceivers, but they've also stimulated him intellectually by enabling him to study as a starting quarterback would. Offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne, |