How road less traveled guided former Clemson WR Beaux Collins to Notre Dame football

“The world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going.” —James Allen, “As a Man Thinketh.”

SOUTH BEND — Just because Beaux Collins was unable to take the field with his new teammates during spring practice for Notre Dame football, that doesn’t mean he was just spinning his wheels.

The graduate transfer used that time to finish up his last three online classes at Clemson, where the lanky wide receiver earned his degree in management.

After piling up 91 receptions for 1,290 yards and 11 touchdowns in three seasons for the Tigers, Collins immersed himself in a new environment, surrounded by unfamiliar faces and determined to master Mike Denbrock’s complex playbook.

“It was a great time for me to just sit and reflect on all the things that I wanted to do going forward,” Collins said after officially enrolling last month. “Making the decision to transfer in December was a big decision, for sure. Having the time to sit back and reflect … I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

At 6-foot-3 and 202 pounds, Collins cuts an imposing figure when matched up against opposing cornerbacks. A former top-60 recruit out of St. John Bosco High School, the prep football power just south of Los Angeles, Collins is in many ways still trying to live up to his vast potential.

Rather than let prior setbacks and disappointments define him, Collins remains a seeker at heart. The path to wisdom, he has found, is often lined with inspirational writing.

“My girlfriend, she reads a lot of books, but they’re like mystery books and things like that,” Collins said. “I might dive into one of those with her. I’m definitely on the lookout for a new book for this upcoming season to guide me through it basically.”

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Ancient tome proves a 'guiding light' for Beaux Collins

“All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.” — James Allen

Last summer Collins shared publicly his affinity for the work of James Allen, a British philosopher of the late 19th and early 20th century. Known as one of the founders of the modern self-help movement, Allen wrote “As a Man Thinketh.”

Published in 1902, a decade before his death at age 47, Allen’s long-ago work struck a chord with Collins as he entered what became his final season at Clemson.

“It’s still a guiding light for me,” he said. “I pick it up every now and then and just read a page.”

Whenever Collins finds himself at a crossroads, whether it be of the physical or mental sort, he finds strength in Allen’s words.

“Something he talked about in that book was healthy mind: ‘Treat your mind like a garden,’ “ Collins said. “You don’t want any weeds in there or anything like that.”

So much is at stake this season, for Collins personally and for his new team in general — everything from NFL futures to a potential run at a long-overdue national championship — but what good is there in letting the possibilities overwhelm rather than inspire?

Asked specifically what part of “As a Man Thinketh” could prove helpful in his new surroundings, Collins didn’t hesitate.

“I’d say going into every situation with a clear and healthy mindset,” he said. “Going into a new space like this where there are guys that I’m going to be competing with and even the teams that I’m going to play this year that are pretty good teams, just going into those situations with, ‘All right, man, I know I’m prepared.’ “

He paused before driving his point home.

“There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind,” he said. “I’m either going to do good, and even if I fail, all right, you just keep going.”

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Beaux Collins and his 'Jerry Rice vibe'

“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” — James Allen

Amid a whirlwind of turnover in early December, Marcus Freeman was able to connect with Collins.

Three young wideouts had hit the transfer portal in the wake of Chansi Stuckey’s dismissal as their position coach, but former Wisconsin assistant Mike Brown was on his way to South Bend and soon so was Collins.

Recalling his “non-sales pitch” to Collins during a media session in late May, Freeman said it centered around the vision he had for a talented senior with significant untapped potential.

“You have a chance to be a part of something special,” Freeman recalled saying. “And that’s this university. That’s this football program. You have a skillset that I think is different than what we have in this room currently.”

Collins had already faced Notre Dame twice, gaining his revenge last fall in Death Valley after a 2022 hit from Cam Hart sent Collins to the sideline with a left shoulder separation that would nag him for months.

“No hard feelings or anything,” Collins said of Hart. “He’s a cool guy. We’re all good, man.”

A gritted-teeth attempt to return three weeks later against archrival South Carolina ended when the shoulder popped out of place again. Even so, after making five catches for 55 yards in two cracks at the vaunted Irish secondary, Collins carried great appeal in the portal.

“We’ve tried to defend you,” Freeman told him. “You’re a really good football player. And if you’re a really good football player at Clemson, I think you’ll be a really good football player at Notre Dame.”

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Former Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins, a first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens, raved about Collins at the NFL Scouting Combine in late February. According to Wiggins, Collins is “really explosive out of his breaks” with the ability to give off a “Jerry Rice vibe” in those vital first few seconds after the ball is snapped.

“You don’t know what type of route he’s running,” Wiggins said.

As one of three experienced transfers added to the receiver group this offseason, including spring-game sensation Kris Mitchell and speedy Marshall transfer Jayden Harrison, Collins might be the one with the highest ceiling.

“I have high expectations for him,” Freeman said. “The length, the experience that he has, the skillset. Is he going to be the No. 1? I don’t know. That’s to be determined. We’ll see when he gets out there in fall camp.”

Beaux Collins and his personal quest for self-improvement

“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances but are unwilling to improve themselves.” — James Allen

Even if Collins’ academic responsibilities had been completed, he still would have needed the spring for his foot to heal.

A torn plantar fascia in November against North Carolina left him facing a typical recovery period of up to five months. Surgery wasn’t required, but that was only because the tear was nearly complete.

“Since I completely tore two out of the three bundles in my foot, there was no surgery needed,” Collins said. “If I just ripped it, they would have to snip it anyway. It kind of did it itself, which was actually crazy. It kind of worked out like the best case possible for an injury like that.”

Limited to 32 games (27 starts) over his three-year Clemson career, Collins knows the biggest question he must answer this season for NFL scouts regard his ability to stay on the field.

He also missed time with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder during fall camp in 2022, and a broken foot hobbled him during his first spring as an early enrollee in 2021. There also were nagging groin and hamstring injuries along the way.

Now listed eight pounds lighter than his playing weight at Clemson, Collins seems to be thriving in football performance director Loren Landow’s individualized conditioning program.

“This year I’m definitely locking in on my physical health, mental health, all of the above,” Collins said. “Eating right, getting great sleep. I did a little research. Nothing too serious.”

And the findings?

“I know guys in the NFL, they get like 12 hours of sleep a night,” he said. “I’m not there yet. I’m close. Like eight, maybe 8 ½ if I get to sleep in on a Saturday. I just try to focus more on things like that. Taking amino acids, things that will help my body repair itself after beating it up in fall camp or a game.”

“Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power.”

All these tweaks are designed to help Collins wring the last drops of productivity from a college career that has brought him back to the site of one of his most painful exits.

“When we came up here my sophomore year, we got spanked,” he said. “I just loved the atmosphere. It was my first game up here. Playing them, it was kind of crazy that I chose to come here. But I’m grateful for my decision, and I love it up here.”

Like Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard, who signed on with the same program that effectively wrecked his junior season last fall, Collins has joined forces with a fellow ACC survivor of the Notre Dame defense.

“It has to be meant to be,” Collins said. “That’s all I can think of, man. Just thinking of stuff like that, how it all aligns. It’s wild, for sure.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.