Wallace Is Ready to Lead

Even though the secondary is being looked at to carry the torch for the defense in 2019, there is still some youth in the back seven.

CLEMSON—The Clemson Tigers' defense has been led, for seemingly, the last 10 years by a bunch of studs on the defensive line.

Whether it was Gaines Adams, Daquan Bowers, Grady Jarrett. Vic Beasley, Shaq Lawson.and Kevin Dodd, just to name a few from the year's past, or Christian Wilkins, Austin Bryant, Dexter Lawrence and Albert Huggins off of last year's team, the line has been the leaders of the defense. 

Until this season.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney believes that the back seven could not only be the strength of the Tigers in 2019, they could be the best group ever.

But if the Tigers are going to live up to the praise, and expectations, they understand that "everything matter."

"It means a lot. We work super hard to be in this position," safety K'Von Wallace said. "We do everything we can to gain his trust and Coach (Brent) Venables' trust. I feel like we're that way because we are unselfish. Everybody matters and is accounted for. We just hold ourselves to a higher standard.

"There's nothing that can stop me from being an All-American this year. Nothing that can stop me from being the top safety in the NFL Draft. I believe in myself."

The script has flipped for Clemson in the defensive backfield, where a year ago the Tigers were in search of depth at safety to match the team’s experience in the front seven. Now, the Clemson defense is led by a pair of senior safeties in Tanner Muse and Wallace (Richmond, Va.) who have played in a combined 88 career games with 45 combined starts.

Behind that duo, the Tigers return senior Denzel Johnson and junior Nolan Turner, both of whom answered any questions about the team’s safety depth by emerging as reliable contributors in all 15 games in 2018.

While the Tigers will have to lean on the secondary this season, Wallace understands that he, and the rest of the secondary, cannot worry about the youth and inexperience upfront.

"I just feel like everybody has to do their job," Wallace said. "That one moment when you try to do someone else's job, that's when a running back hits the gap and is gone. We blow a coverage on the back end thinking that we can make a run stop or whatever. It comes with trust. Trusting those young guys. We gotta trust whatever the d-line is doing that they're doing it right. Pulling those young guys into the film room. Pulling those young d-linemen that are hungry into the film room.

Even though the secondary is being looked at to carry the torch for the defense in 2019, there is still some youth in the back seven. But the benefit to those younger players is that, much like the defensive line of previous years, there is a group of veterans ready to help them learn the ropes.

"All of them, man. Ray (Thornton). Jalyn (Phillips) came in and made a big tackle for loss and got the whole defense jacked up," Wallace said. "That's probably one of the highlight plays of today's scrimmage when he made that tackle. Those freshmen are letting us lead them. They're always on us, wanting to watch extra film, wanting to be a top-tier player. It's humbling to see. It makes me better. When I teach it, then I've got to go do it. It holds me accountable. Everything that we do, they look up to.

"I want to leave a legacy that the safeties that come behind me are 10 times better than me."