James Skalski will soon begin life after Clemson, but the Tigers’ former linebacker has some words of advice for the younger players at the position on his way out.
“You don’t want to emulate me,” Skalski recently told The Clemson Insider. “I think you want to be yourself as much as possible. I live by the saying, comparison is the thief of joy. For any young player who envies me maybe or wants to be the next me, don’t. Because you’re not.”
Skalski said he learned that from another former Clemson linebacker, Ben Boulware, a starter on the Tigers’ 2016 national championship team. Then a true freshman, Skalski looked up to Boulware as a similarly undersized player at the Mike linebacker spot – both are 6-foot – but Skalski said Boulware taught him a valuable lesson.
“I was one of those guys that wanted to be like him, and I kind of took his advice of just making (the position) your own,” Skalski said. “He kind of made it seem possible to me, seeing a guy like that do it.”
Skalski eventually morphed into the heart and soul of one of the country’s top defenses as Clemson’s starting Mike linebacker the last three seasons. He led the Tigers with 100 tackles last season and finished with 310 for his career, which spanned 69 games over six seasons. It’s tied for the most games played in program history.
Now Skalski is hoping to hear his name called during this week’s NFL Draft while his former teammates began competing to be his successor this spring. Rising juniors Lavonta Bentley and Keith Maguire and sophomore Jeremiah Trotter are vying to fill the void left by Skalski and exited the spring essentially deadlocked at the position, though Maguire and Trotter got the starting nod for each defense in the spring game (Bentley repped at Will ‘backer).
Maguire paced the Orange team with seven tackles while Trotter had three stops and a pass breakup, but the competition will start up again in earnest this fall. And there are a few things Skalski wants all of them to remember when it does.
“You’re never going to be me, but you can be the best you. And I think that goes way further,” Skalski said. “Just completely believing in yourself and your ability and making the position your own and making it unique in your own way. I think I’ve done a good job with that, and I think a lot of players that have come through have done a great job with that. So any young guy who‘s looking to do the same, just be yourself. Be your own.”
Staffer Mary Dentremont contributed to this story.
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