By Will Vandervort.

Jadar Johnson admits it. Last year he played like a guy that viewed football as a hobby. He was a back up to Robert Smith. He knew he wasn’t going to start. All he had to do was come in and play the game he loves to play.

“The defense went out there and got things heated and I was coming in when it was already hot so I really did not have that much pressure on me,” the Orangeburg native said following Friday’s practice.

But Johnson is feeling the pressure now. He is one of three players rotating time at the strong safety position. Korrin Wiggins and freshman Van Smith are the other two.

Johnson has a little bit of an edge over the others thanks to his time at the strong safety position as Smith’s backup. He played in all 13 games last season while recording 13 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and two interceptions.

“It was real important. Last year was my most important year because I got to learn more while still playing,” he said.

When the 2014 season wrapped up, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and defensive coordinator Brent Venables met with Johnson and gave him a list of things they wanted him to accomplish this spring.

“They want me to be more assertive. They want me to talk more, communicate more and be more of a leader,” the redshirt sophomore said. “Last year, I just kind of sat back and took the backup role. I did not really talk a lot. I did not try to lead. Now that I am fighting for a starting spot they said they want me to be a little more vocal.”

Though he is feeling the pressure of being the starter, Johnson says it is positive pressure.

“It actually drives me to go a little harder,” he said. “I watch film more because I was really lacking with the playbook. Now that I know I have a shot, I go in and watch film on my free time. It is more like a job to me now.”

Johnson says he is trying to improve on his open-field tackling this spring and has to be more aggressive, too.

“I feel like I was pretty good in coverage last year, but to be an over-on-run safety I have to work on my tackling a little more,” he said. “Coach Venables and Coach Swinney are putting the pressure on me. Last year, I did not have to worry about going out and starting the game.

“Now that I am fighting for a starting spot, (I’m getting) the pressure from the coaches.”