Following St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.) four-star David Ojiegbe announcing his commitment to Clemson Wednesday, The Clemson Insider spoke with his defensive coordinator Mike Ward.
Ojiegbe will be the second player that Ward, who also serves as the associate head coach at St. John’s, will help send to Clemson. He previously served as the defensive line coach for eight years and actually recruited Tré Williams out of Windsor (Conn.).
He’s also coached players like MJ Sherman (Georgia) and Greg Hudgins (Purdue) and Ojiegbe is the latest great defensive lineman to come out of St. John’s.
“I’ve had the opportunity to watch Clemson a couple of times and he asked my advice and I told him that Clemson would be the perfect fit just because they’d be reloading,” Ward said. “They’ve got a lot of dudes, but a lot of those dudes will be leaving, so the opportunity will be there.
“Coach Lemanski (Hall) will do a great job with him. When I talked to David, I think the thing that also stuck out to him was how Clemson kind of develops guys whether it be the P.A.W. Journey or other things. They kind of develop guys for after football too, which I thought they do that as good, if not better than anybody in the country. I told him I thought that was a big aspect that a lot of universities are missing.”
When Ward watches Xavier Thomas play, it reminds him a lot of Ojiegbe. Obviously there are some things that he needs to work on and Ojiegbe knows those things, but Ward thinks he’s just scratching the surface on how good he can be.
“That coupled with the way he works and the work ethic he has, the sky’s the limit for him,” Ward added. “From a football player aspect, you’re not gonna get a better leader. You’re not gonna get a more invested player into your program. He’s gonna do whatever it takes to win. He’s gonna do whatever the team’s needs.”
That’s why Ward views Ojiegbe as the perfect fit for Clemson.
“There is the comfortability factor coupled with the opportunity and I think it’s just a match made in heaven,” Ward said. “Tré’s a very good recruiter. He did some recruiting while he was here for us too. He’s a phenomenal recruiter, but I also think Coach (Dabo) Swinney does a good job and the program somewhat sells itself.
“I think from a fit standpoint, Clemson’s DNA and his DNA are exactly the same. All of the things that he’s about they’re about. It’s just a great fit. The first time he went down there, he tried to talk himself out of how much he liked it and then the second time he went down there, he was like there was no doubt in his mind.”
Last, but certainly not least, we asked Ward to give us a breakdown of who Ojiegbe is as a person and what his character is like. He didn’t mince words.
“I would say first and foremost, there’s no one who expects more from David than himself,” Ward said. “His mom, his family, his support system is great. His why is what has allowed him to be so successful thus far. I would say that is probably his most powerful asset and really what drives him. I’ve been around a lot of really good players, he’s up there with the best leaders we’ve ever had. More so than that, he’s a great person, he’s a great teammate, he’s just a great human being.”
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