The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1451622
MARCH 2022 THE WOLVERINE 35 2022 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY JOHN BORTON P lenty of freshmen enter Mich- igan Stadium in awe the first time around. Darrius Clemons won't likely number among the knee knockers in the Class of 2022. "Oh, no," cautioned Larry Clemons, the new Wolverine's father and a former Florida wideout. "He scored two TDs in the Cowboys' stadium in fourth grade." That would be AT&T Stadium, the retractable-roof football palace hous- ing the Dallas Cowboys. It wasn't the younger Clemons' only taste of big are- nas during his childhood. "We did offense-defense camp every year — third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade," Larry Clemons expounded. "He had a chance to play at the Dallas Cow- boys' stadium, the Houston Texans' stadium and the Citrus Bowl. I did that to get him out of the region, and let him experience a bigger atmosphere. "When he got to bigger stadiums, he wouldn't be big-eyed. He'd be used to it." Darrius Clemons wasn't likely shaken by his January move from Portland, Ore., to Ann Arbor, either. It completes the circle for someone who consistently demonstrated a love for football and a willingness to pack up and go in order to compete. Born in Michigan, he lived in the state until entering the sixth grade. Larry's work took the family to Portland, a tough uprooting for his son. As always, football became the salve. "It was hard," Larry Clemons noted. "It's easier to move a kid before they get into high school, while they're young. But I'll never forget. He was in tears. He had a lot of friends here. "But we got to Portland, and when we got there, the youth football league was starting their season the next day. He started football, and he forgot all about leaving Michigan. It was an easy transi- tion, once we got there." The younger Clemons didn't ap- proach the 6-3, 205-pound stature he'll bring to Michigan Stadium, not until a growth spurt between eighth and ninth grades took him from 5-8 to 5-11, and then another prior to his junior year brought him to his present height. In fact, his dad described a young Darrius as "undersized" — not the big- gest, not the fastest, but carrying a burning desire to play ball. "The one thing he always had was the work ethic and the smarts for football, and he loved the game," Larry Clem- ons said. "When you put those together — the smarts, loving the game and the work ethic — you find your way. He was never the superstar of the team, either. He was just that guy that got in." LOCKED IN EARLY Aaron Woods can vouch for the younger Clemons' want-to, without flinching. The trainer in charge of the Grind Time conditioning operation in Portland encountered Darrius and Larry when the former reached seventh grade. Woods has worked with athletes at all levels, including professional. He's never encountered anyone more com- mitted to trusting in the process pre- sented. "If I'm telling him to eat this, do this, conduct yourself like this, by far he's been the one to really lock in with that," Woods assured. "That's been his best quality, that character. "Getting people to be fast and strong, that's pretty easy. It's that mindset, that mental aspect that you've really got to train with these kids. When you change that mindset, you change everything. He really bought into that, and it's the main reason he's having success right now." Woods concurred with the elder Clemons that Darrius wasn't the most naturally athletic young man he'd seen. Darrius struggled to execute a 20-inch box jump early on in their training and fit the description Woods uses with many of his young trainees: noodle bodies. "You're like, 'Okay, so you don't nat- urally have the little bounce,'" Woods recalled. "But he's one of the kids who hit me up: 'Hey, can I get a 7 a.m. work- out, 6 a.m. workout, before I get to school?' He's the kid that asks, 'Hey, can I get some extra receiver work after we're done training?' "He is not the most naturally ath- letically gifted kid from the jump, but by far, hands down, he's the most commit- ted and hard working." He needed to be, starting at the bot- tom. "He's benching the bar," Woods re- called. "I think we have a film of him benching 10s on each side and getting excited about it. "But that's the commitment, and trusting the process. It doesn't matter where you start. If you have that vision, you see where you're going to go. Sev- enth grade, eighth grade, he was bench- ing maybe 85, 90 pounds. I remember when we hit 100 pounds — 'Oh, you're in the 100-Pound Club.' "It was just chipping away. Then he got into the 200-Pound Club. Then he hits 225 for the first time, as a freshman. Then he's repping 225. Then 235, and 285. Throughout the six years we were together, nothing happened overnight. It was every day, grinding." Westview High School coach Ryan At- kinson noticed the gains, all along. "Yeah, he had an early natural work ethic that was pretty strong," Atkinson said. "First of all, he loved the game, but he had an off-the-charts work ethic as a youth player. He started training early and just loved it. He really developed his body over time. Clemons' father, Larry, played wide receiver at Florida and purposefully traveled his son across the country to play in the big- gest stadiums as a youth. That way, in the future "when he got to bigger stadiums, he wouldn't be big-eyed. He'd be used to it," according to his father. PHOTO BY CHAD SIMMONS/ON3.COM NO STAGE TOO BIG Darrius Clemons Prepped For The Big House From The Beginning