The 315-pound Clemson offensive lineman, Mitchell Mayes, sat down with the media on Monday and spoke about his past, present and future.
Mayes joined the Tigers in January 2020. He entered his third season with the program this year after playing 164 snaps over 12 games across the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Despite his late start at the offensive tackle position in high school, Mayes feels like he has grown and developed a lot as a player over the last three years at Clemson, and hopes to one day be among the starting five offensive linemen.
Mayes actually played defensive tackle during his freshman year and was eventually moved to offensive tackle in his final three years of high school.
“I didn’t start playing offensive line until my sophomore year,” Mayes said Monday. “I feel like I was kind of behind technique wise, and I definitely learned that even more when I got here freshman year. Just knowing really what to do and knowing offensive line plays.”
As a result, Mayes says he continuously tries to prove he is ready and prepared to be in the starting five, and that his preparation weekly helps him feel ready to go into a game whenever he is needed.
“It’s up to me to prove that I am here to play,” he said. “Monday through Thursday, it’s up to me to prove that I can go in there and be just as good…so I’m working through it every day.”
With most players around Mayes’ age focused on the future and life after Clemson, Mayes is no different. Mayes is a health science major and completed two internships with Adobe and Cisco this past spring. Mayes spoke highly of his experiences at each internship, and how it has prepared him for the real world.
Mayes made it clear that he expects to be successful in whatever he does leaving Clemson, whether it involves football or not.
“I think that it is extremely important — football is going to end for everybody, and I’m going to have so much more life outside of football, and it’s just so important to me that I’m prepared outside of football,” Mayes said. “My mom always told me that I am so much more than just a football player. Outside of it I’m a brother, I’m a son… and I want to be successful, I want to have a great job one day and a great family. My internships have really helped set me up for success.”
