Freshman Defensive End is Coming Along

CLEMSON — Standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing 266 pounds, some wonder just how good Darien Mayo will be at the college level.

“You walk past him in the hallway and say, ‘Wow! That’s a big dude,'” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

A former four-star defensive end, Mayo was ranked as one of the top 150 players in the country coming out of high school. At Good Counsel High school in Maryland, he tallied 78 tackles, including 25 tackles for loss and 13 sacks, while earning All-American honors along the way.

“He is a ball player,” fellow Clemson defensive end T.J. Parker said.

Parker, who was a Freshman All-American last season, says Mayo is still learning how to play at the college level, but he has made huge strides since getting to Clemson earlier this summer.

“Man, he can make plays,” Parker said. “From what I saw in the scrimmage, he made like three tackles in a row, or something like that. He is such a freak athlete.”

It is not hard to find Mayo. He towers over everyone on the practice field behind the Allen Reeves Football Complex.

Mayo uses his size as his advantage, using his long arms to get around tackles and then uses his speed to chase down quarterbacks and running backs in the backfield.

As Parker said, at times he was very disruptive in last Saturday’s scrimmage at Memorial Stadium.

“I love to see what he is going to do, and I am going to help him as much as I can,” the sophomore said.

Mayo committed to Clemson last June and is considered to be one of the tallest players to ever play football at the school.

“Big Mayo, he’s going to be a good one,” Swinney said.

However, like Parker said, the freshman is still learning and has some work to do. After Saturday’s scrimmage, Swinney gave an example of how he is still growing as a college player.

“When he’s got a peel call, he’s gotta cover the back. He gave up about a 40-yard play today,” the Clemson coach said. “He’s just out there flying around. He’s a big, good-looking kid, but you’ve gotta have your eyes on your work, right.

“You’ve got to know the call, you’ve got to know what you’re doing, but that’s what you go to practice for. He’s a guy that just got here, and he’ll learn from that. So, you’ve got to know the call, you’ve got to know what your assignment is to be able to get on the field.”

The Tigers, who landed No. 14 in the Associated Press’ Preseason Poll on Monday, will continue fall camp on Tuesday, as they continue to prepare for their season against No. 1 Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta on Aug. 31.