Clemson's Will Shipley Admits Moments Were 'Too Big' at Times During Freshman Season

Will Shipley admits the moment was at times too big for him as a freshman and is determined to not have a repeat performance during his second season at Clemson.

CLEMSON, S.C.- Will Shipley has quickly become a bonafide leader in the Clemson locker room. 

It's a role he has not only embraced but has excelled in since the moment he stepped foot on campus. However, despite making an instant impact as a freshman, Shipley enters his second season knowing there are areas he must improve in.

One area he is intent on improving is the mental aspect of his game. As a leader, Shipley knows that when he does make a mistake, he needs to be able to quickly flush it and move on to the next play. Something he did not do at times last season, including after failing to catch a perfectly thrown ball in a loss to Pitt.

"I was just always dwelling on the past," Shipley said. "The one thing I can truly think about is that play against Pitt. I dropped the ball, and literally, the rest of the game, that's all I can think about. That's a huge mistake on my part.

"I let my teammates down, not only in dropping that pass but not being locked in for the remainder of the game. That's something that can't happen. As an elite athlete, I want my teammates to trust me when my number's called. I've got to be ready to go, regardless of what happened in the previous play. I've definitely improved in that sense. You know, just my mental game has gotten so much better this offseason so that's something I wanted to improve on, and I have."

Pass-catching is something that Shipley has really worked on during the offseason. He wants his coaches to be confident in his abilities as a receiver out of the backfield and he wants DJ Uiagalelei to know that he will catch the ball when it is thrown his way.

"I want the coaches to have full trust in me to be out there and throw me the football," Shipley said. "Not only that but the quarterback. I want DJ to trust me to go out there and catch the football, whenever it needs to be caught." 

For Shipley, improving as a receiver is more mental than anything, and now that he has that season of experience under his belt, he is fully confident in his ability to play a productive role in Clemson's passing game.

"My hands have never truly been a question to me," Shipley said. "I think last year, it was more of an attention thing, an adrenaline thing. The moment was sometimes too big for me last year, you know, and I'm not afraid to admit that. I watched a lot of film and it's just me taking my eyes off the ball or being too jittery out there for whatever reason. It's something that comes with experience, age. Me being a sophomore, I can really just feel it today. Everything's a lot slower than last year."

Clemson is listed at +800 to win the national championship, according to odds on FanDuel Sportsbook. 

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