Clemson RB Phil Mafah is pumped up about the 2024 Tigers & has a calm about him that's inspiring

I'm Roy Lee Lindsay with the North Carolina Port Council and I want everyone to remember bacon makes everything [Music] better hey folks David Glenn of the North Carol Sports Network coming at you from the 2024 ACC kickoff event in Charlotte a guy we've seen on the field a lot over the last three seasons for the Clemson Tigers we're going to get to see even more often here in 2024 he's from Loganville Georgia he had against Notre Dame last season 36 carries for 186 yards that's just in one outing he also had a Clemson bowl record four rushing touchdowns in the Tigers comeback victory that we watched against Kentucky in the Gator Bowl Phil mafa welcome to the David Glenn show how are you I'm doing great and yourself I'm doing well it's great to have you with us in part because as much as I love watching you run and and this guy's about 61 230 in a bowling ball uh I learned that you graduated from Clemson in three years man congratulations how did you pull that off while being a full-time football player um just knowing what I wanted to do uh that's one of the reasons I chose to come back was just to graduate that's one thing I it's really important to me and my family and you know I just wanted to do that we know the NFL is interested in you uh how did you handle that decision when when you had to make it at the end of last season basically making the NFL wait one more year that was a tough decision but I knew you know in my heart and after I prayed about it I knew that's where I wanted to I want to leave my Mark at Clemson have one more year with my teammates one more year of growth and uh just to really be able to graduate all so I wanted to graduate we got to know your former uh running back mate I think you guys may have even roomed together at some point will Shipley he's a state of North Carolina guy our show is in North Carolina so we got to chat with him a few times uh he's off to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL I heard coach Sweeney say something like we're going to give Phil as many uh carries as he can handle I don't know if that's his exact words but did your eyes light up when you heard him say that or or what have what conversations have you had about maybe a little bit more often seeing the kind of workload you had against Notre Dame um you know I my eyes did light up because you know it's just excitement you know the opportunity the opportunity to just to be able to represent Clemson as a running back you know it's amazing and it's something that I've been you know if I was younger my younger self if I could tell my younger self what I'd be doing now you know I wouldn't be able to believe it so I'm just living the dream and just taking advantage of the opportunity there's a lot of schools here here at the ACC kickoff event that if they won 10 games that would be like one of the best seasons in the history of their school at Clemson it's like the bar is set in a higher place but you guys have averaged 10 wins during your freshman sophomore and junior year how do you all look at that is it is it disappointing to say that you your time at Clemson has not included you know the national championship or the top five finish that maybe the Tigers did back when you were in high school uh um yeah I would say it's definitely something I've been looking forward to especially when I was in high school but I would look at our Seasons coach weeny like to say it was good we had good Seasons but not great and you know that's something I really want to be a part of also another reason I chose to come back it's because I just want to have a great season with my teammates make it memorable not only for myself and my teammates but for the Clemson Nation how about one more reason to come back I want you to try to describe even though you've lived it a bunch of times try to describe to somebody who has only watched Death Valley on television what you feel uh as a guy who has played those home home games at Death Valley for the Clemson Tigers for three years now going on four you know it's one of the most amazing feelings I ever felt honestly just loading the bus and just knowing all the fans are just waiting for you inside the stadium you know you can hear them chanting you know your blood is just boiling and you're you're just ready to go you're amped up adrenaline pumping and get to the top of the rock you can just see the whole stadium looks beautiful um when they set the fireworks off you know it's just amazing D it's an amazing feeling it's unmatched and I'm glad I get to be a part of it Clemson star running back Phil mafa is joining us here on the David Glenn show when the stadium was empty and I was a younger guy I got to run down the hill and all that stuff and and I actually thought to myself you're an amazing athlete but do you ever have to be like careful as to how quickly going down because at some point man it looks like somebody's going to fall right does that ever cross your mind oh yeah for sure it crossed my mind all the time I usually just Trot down it's because I know like I don't want to pull a groin or a Hamming just going down the hill so I just try to trot down enjoy the experience for what it is and you know get down safely we've watched kid Club to grow up at quarterback just like we've watched you grow up for now it's going on our fourth year uh for you as a running back back how have you seen cage grow as a quarterback maybe through this past spring practice compared to he was already a good quarterback prior to now um I just see him taking action you know he was in the back seat before just learning last year being his first year in that offensive system also I see him grow growing especially second year in offense he's more confident um he's become more of a vocal leader you know he's been trying to grow uh after being challenged by our coaches and play players you know he wants the best for this team and you could tell you know he does things like this past off season you know we meet more um player Le meetings you know you can just tell that he cares about our team and wants us to succeed as a running back and even at 61 230 are you allowed to describe how your body felt the day after 30 plus carries in 186 yards or you is it is it like taboo for a running back to admit that his body hurts the next day uh no not I mean I I know a lot of guys bodies her after but I mean after that game in particular it wasn't too bad just cuz I didn't take any big shots I feel like but there's definitely some games where I've taken less carries but like the hits just hurt more just cuz it's either cold or you just get hit in a particular place but as a guy who played high school ball in Georgia were there either running backs that you watched colleger Pro as a young man that you liked their style or maybe even today as a clunch star is there anybody that we have watched on TV that maybe you like their style as a fellow running back I love the way Adrien Peterson ran you know I used to watch him all the time growing up um I love the way niji Harris runs Bree Hall I feel like they all they're all very patient um bigger guys so I just I just love the way that they can um take advantage of the game and I can when I see them do that I I have confidence in myself that I can do it I'm old enough that I and a lot of my audience got to see your position coach CJ Spiller play in a Clemson uniform and otherwise two-part question what what are the most important things you have learned from him as your position coach and does he force you to watch old Clemson video of CJ Spiller running for the Tigers uh the first thing is um the most important thing that he preaches to us is keep God first keep Christ first you know he's a Christ centered man and he shows us that every day we are always doing a devotional before meetings so that's one thing I love about Coach Spiller and um another thing would probably be um just not just having a core you know core people you go to and having those relationships that you have in order to you know stay connected stay grounded he says that's really important especially in the world we live in being a college athlete everyone wants your attention but you have to be grounded in who you are and one thing I would say nah one thing about Coach Spiller he's a really humble guy like you wouldn't know that he's CJ Spiller unless like he told you but um yeah that's one another thing I love about him but we definitely he brags about throwing a touchdown so that's one clip that he has shown Us Michael barard managing director Investments with the founders group at steel works with a select group of high net worth individuals and institutions to to develop and Implement investment plans tailored to their specific objectives and risk tolerances if you are interested in highly personalized well-researched guidance and outstanding personal service you can contact Michael at 984 36422 that's 984 36422 steel Nicholas Company Incorporated member sic and NY E I want you to get your thoughts together on your head coach Dabo Sweeney because I want to tell you something quick and then you get get your thoughts about what makes him a special person special coach I'm not exaggerating Phil when I tell you I have covered this league for 37 years I have interviewed hundreds of coaches and athletes coach Sweeny I'm not around him obviously nearly as much as you are he's one of like the 10 Most Fascinating People I've ever interviewed in a 37e career so I'm an admirer of your head coach how do you describe what makes him special as someone who's about to play for him for the fourth year in a row uh what makes coach swen special is the way his coaching philosophy and just the way that he runs the program you know he really runs it off belief and family and you know and um Faith you know he loves he loves the people he works with he cares about the relationships and um he really cares about your growth not only as a football player but as a man and he wants everyone to succeed um and once he always talks about the 30 version the 30y old version of ourselves and wanting that guy to be successful because football doesn't last forever so he's he's really uh a cultivator of men you know he wants men to be great he wants us to be great great fathers great leaders that's what makes him differ have you played the College Football 25 video game if so what do you think of your rating did they make you look the right way and and what do you think how do they represent the Clemson Tigers overall um I thought they did a pretty good job uh for myself personally I know I'm 88 overall I was hoping at least a 90 I think I think it's good I think it's good but um I feel like my speed could have been a little faster you know but I hopefully they got updates during the season hopefully that's one thing I've been working on this season so um I'm just excited you know just to be able to even be able to play the game you know it's just an amazing opportunity and some I don't take for granted as we let you go and thank you for this extended visit Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta your home state August 31st essentially everyone who cares about college football is going to be watching that game do you as star players have to be careful about getting overhyped when you know it's going to be a chaotic environment against obviously you might know this but there's only three active head coaches who have national championships one's back Brown of UNC the other two are the guys on opposite Sidelines when your Tigers take on the the Georgia Bulldogs um you seem like a lowkey guy um I guess that could be a strength when the world is spinning a thousand miles an hour but how do you approach that and as a a a guy with a diploma already as a senior at clemon what's the message you try to send to younger guys who might be so hyped that they uh hype hype can be good as you know but hype can also make mental mistakes and other bad things happen I would just say stay focused um the way I do it I just got to be mentally prepared you know I got to make sure I know what I'm doing day in and day out just have the same routine so that I know that that consistency will go into the game go into the season um and my message to guys is just to be prepared like I said be prepared and you know you've been playing football since you're so young you know this is just another game you got to lock in focus and just make it about someone else make it about your teammate and wanting to do good for them let me squeeze one more thing I don't know how far Loganville Georgia is from Atlanta Georgia but will it I guess a lot of f family and friends can make an easy trip to Death Valley but Atlanta do you expect uh a long request list maybe you've already dealt with ticket requests oh yeah I definitely know a lot of people want to come out we have limited tickets but I'm still trying to get as many as I can uh in order for my family to come his name is Phil mafa he is one heck of a run running back for the Clemson Tigers thanks for this visit I've enjoyed watching you for 3 years good luck to the Tigers in 2024 thank you I appreciate it [Music] I'm [Music] to [Music]