GREENVIILE — Last Saturday the Clemson football program held its annual awards banquet to honor the 2015 football team, on Tuesday they started 2016.

The Tigers officially opened the new season with mat drills – the first of their many off-season conditioning drills as they begin preparations for spring practice which will begin in March.

“It’s great. We all know what we did (last year) and where we want to go, but now we have to finish,” Watson said on Wednesday during a press conference honoring him as the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame’s Player of the Year. “For us to finish, we have to start all the way over. We are starting from scratch. We know what we did last year is not going to win games this year so we have to go two times harder than what we did last year and have the right mindset.”

That mindset allowed Watson, not only to earn the SC Football Hall of Fame Player of the Year Award, but also countless others as he led the Tigers to 14 straight wins and to the national championship game against Alabama.

Watson was named as a consensus All-America quarterback, was third in the Heisman Trophy balloting, was the Most Valuable Player of the Atlantic Coast Conference and was the MVP of the ACC Championship game and the Orange Bowl.

He also was named the winner of the Davey O’Brien and Manning Awards as the nation’s best quarterback as well as the Archie Griffin Award as the nation’s best player.

Watson’s 478 yards of total offense against Alabama set a record for a national championship game.  The Tigers signal caller completed the season with 4,104 yards passing and 1,105 yards rushing and became the first player in FBS history to have at least 4,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in the same season.

Watson completed 333 of 491 passes for 4,104 yards and 35 touchdowns.  Rushing, he had 207 carries for 1105 yards and 12 scores.  His 5,209 yards of total offense and his 47 total touchdowns set ACC records.

But like they have to do as a team, Watson says there a lot of things he can do to get better.

“I can improve on my whole game. I’m not a perfect player. I make mistakes,” he said. “I watch film on myself. I grade myself. That is what I have been focusing on. I scout myself on what I did wrong and what I did right and what I can work on in this off-season to get better.”

If you haven’t already order your copy today of Guts & Glory – Tales of Clemson’s Historic 2015 Football Season to help you celebrate and remember this special season.