After Clemson’s loss to Alabama in the College Football Playoff championship game last January, several Clemson underclassmen faced decisions on their future, whether they would return to the school for another season or declare early for the NFL Draft.

While most of the group wanted to mull the decision over during the six days after the game leading up to the NFL’s deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft, Clemson tight end Jordan Leggett was not one of them.

In the immediate aftermath of the game, Leggett was ready to tell reporters that he planned to return for his senior season.

The fact Leggett made his mind up so quickly and with conviction shows just how much he wasn’t satisfied with Clemson simply making it to the title game.

He wants to win it all, and he’s excited for another opportunity to get it done.

“I’m really excited to have one more chance at this,” Leggett said Wednesday after Clemson’s second practice of fall camp. “We were so close in the national championship, and with all the guys coming back, I feel like we have the opportunity to do it again.”

Now that Clemson has experienced the journey to the top of the college football mountain, Leggett believes the Tigers are ahead of where they were at this time a year ago.

“I think we’re a whole lot smarter, just with the young guys catching on and learning all the plays and stuff like that,” Leggett said. “I feel like we’re way ahead of where we were last year, and we’re out there making plays. We look good at every position. We just have to build depth and bring these younger guys along.”

When it comes to the tight ends, Leggett is the unquestioned leader.

The senior has come a long way from the player who was looked at as a lazy freshman in 2013.

“It’s just a whole new mindset for me with the role that I have in the offense and being the oldest guy in the room,” Leggett said. “I realized I had to be more mature and I had to grow up.

“So, going all the way through last season, listening to Stanton Seckinger, who was a senior last year, and learning from him as much as possible really brought me along and let me know I have a chance at being good at this game of football.”

That Leggett has the chance to be good again is an understatement.

Last year, after catching 40 passes for 525 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 starts, Leggett was a first-team All-ACC selection by the coaches, a second-team All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation and one of three finalists for the Mackey Award that is given annually to the nation’s best tight end.

Leggett’s five consecutive games with a touchdown reception in 2015 set a Clemson record for consecutive games with a touchdown by a tight end, and his eight touchdowns overall tied Dwayne Allen (2011) and Brandon Ford (2012) for the school’s single-season record by a tight end.

A preseason first-team All-American by Athlon Sports heading into this season, Leggett said he’s not paying much attention to the high expectations.

“I try not to think about it because I think that’s a little bit too much pressure,” Leggett said. “I’m just excited. Just listening to Coach (Danny) Pearman every day, doing what I have to do, and hopefully we can just go out there and make it happen.”

Over the offseason, Leggett focused on becoming a better a better leader. Now, after returning to Clemson for one more campaign, he’s hoping to help lead the Tigers to the goal they fell just short of reaching last season.

“I want to leave Clemson better than I found it,” Leggett said. “I’m just trying to teach these young guys whatever I can and help them with whatever I can, and I’m working on my blocking to be that dominant, four-down tight end.”