Ruke Orhorhoro has to give some credit to a couple of former Clemson offensive linemen, too.
The Tigers’ junior defensive tackle initially arrived at Clemson as a defensive end in 2019. That’s when John Simpson and Jackson Carman were still members of Clemson’s offensive line.
He got his share of reps against Carman, an all-ACC tackle during his time with the Tigers. But when injuries to some of the Tigers’ interior defensive linemen forced Orhorhoro to move inside, he also also went up against Simpson at guard. It was a humbling experience for Orhorhoro, who first arrived at Clemson when he was just 17 years old.
“John Simpson and Jackson Carman on one side, they’re just humongous,” Orhorhoro said. “I don’t even want to talk about it.”
Yet it’s not one Orhorhoro said he would change. It was the reps against those linemen, who are now playing in the NFL, that helped Orhorhoro start taking his future in the game more seriously.
“That’s when I was like, ‘All right, I’m really playing football now,’” he said. “Going against guys like John Simpson and Jackson Carman, it took my game to a whole other level. That’s when I started taking my body seriously and what I put in my body, what I ate and how I slept.”
The latter is something Orhorhoro said he didn’t do much of as a youngster. He lived in the African country of Nigeria as an infant and then moved with his parents to England at the age of 2. He arrived in America when he was 9 years old.
He estimated he averaged about five hours of sleep during his early years. Sometimes it was less than that in high school, where basketball was the sport he first played at River Rouge High School in Michigan.
“I was so antsy,” Orhorhoro recalled. “Before games back during my basketball career, I was always so antsy, so I’d be up until 3 a.m. just watching basketball. And I realized that wasn’t good.”
Orhorhoro said he got some mid-major scholarship offers in basketball, but the big ones came in football once he started playing the sport as a junior. Ultimately, he picked Clemson, becoming the Tigers’ first football signee from Michigan since 1975.
And it was during some of those first practices going up against Clemson’s next-level lineman that he realized he was going to need more shut-eye if he wanted to keep up in the trenches.
“Even though I had the energy, maybe if I slept more, I’d have 10 times more energy,” Orhohoro thought at the time. “So I started sleeping more, and I started seeing the change in my body.”
That along with his natural development at his position in recent years have helped his performance. Orhorhoro is No. 3 in Clemson’s defensive tackle pecking order behind Davis and Bryan Bresee. When Bresee went down with a season-ending ACL injury early last season, Orhorhoro stepped in to start the last nine games and had a breakout year, finishing with 42 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks for college football’s No. 2 scoring defense.
With Bresee’s availability uncertain for Saturday’s game against Louisiana Tech following the passing of his sister this week, Orhorhoro could be needed to fill in again. He has recorded four tackles and a sack so far this season.
Orhorhoro’s development is at a point where Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has said he believes the 6-foot-3, 295-pounder could be drafted into the NFL within the first four rounds whenever he decides to leave Clemson. For now, Orhorhoro is busy helping the Tigers, a process that includes catching some extra Zs when he can.
He said he now makes a point to get at least eight hours of sleep each night and doesn’t hesitate to take a nap or two during the day if he can find the time. Asked how he makes sure he meets his daily sleep goals, he responded with a relatable answer.
“I try to put my phone down,” Orhorhoro said. “Once I put my phone down, I turn it off. And once I feel tired, I turn it back on so my alarm rings. But when I put my phone down and stare at the ceiling, I fall asleep.”
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