Blue White Illustrated

THE FINE DETAILS Junior QB Sean Clifford sees incremental gains as a pathway to big accomplishments O F F - S E A S O N R E P O R T S ean Clifford is easy to spot in the Elite 11 group photo for its class of 2016. One of the nation's top 24 quarter- backs, the future Nittany Lion is pictured sitting on the left end of the middle row, grinning widely, surrounded by the faces that will come to define major college football in the years to come. Alabama star Tua Tagovailoa sits in the front, Georgia's Jake Fromm is just a few spots over from Clifford, with Texas's Sam Ehlinger bookending the row. One of the instructors shepherding Clif- ford and his classmates through the process, quarterback guru Quincy Avery, came to know the young Ohio prospect and was initially impressed by what he saw. "I thought he was good," Avery said. "He could always throw the ball really well." Clifford's skill set wasn't what grabbed Avery's attention, though. It was his competitiveness that stood out. "He would jump the line," Avery said. "You hear about kids doing that at a nor- mal camp, which is one thing, but to do it at the Elite 11 where you really have the best of the best kids across the country, and he's setting himself apart as out- working the group, that is different. That is something I think is really special and unique to be that type of person." The nation's top personal quarterback trainer, Avery is the founder of an elite in- structional organization, Quarterback Takeover, that has blossomed in recent years. A premiere teaching group for quarterbacks throughout the high school and college ranks, Avery and his staff have served as mentors to some of the game's best at every level, with a star alumnus in DeShaun Watson, an expected first- round NFL Draft selection in Jalen Hurts, an odds-on 2020 Heisman favorite in Ohio State's Justin Fields, and Penn State's returning starter, hungry for an even bigger and better redshirt junior campaign than his sterling debut in 2019. Wanting to train with Avery as much as possible, Clifford most recently spent his spring break with the QB Takeover staff and a handful of other top college quar- terbacks. It turned out to be the last for- mal, in-person training Clifford would experience before the COVID-19 pan- demic and its fallout prevented all Penn State students from returning to campus and, by extension, short-circuited the football program's spring practices before they got started. Back at home in suburban Cincinnati, Clifford was blindsided by the abrupt shutdown, but it didn't knock him off- course. Rather, the sense of determina- tion that Avery saw years prior simply reasserted itself, even in the face of these unusual global circumstances. "What makes Cliff so special is that he is uniquely focused on the details, finding the little things, finding out ways to work. | LION LEADER Clifford was fourth in the Big Ten in pass efficiency last season. Photo by Steve Manuel

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