Although he earned second-team All-ACC honors last season, and has been named to the Jim Thorpe Award preseason watch list, Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick still feels he has something to prove entering the 2020 season and is working hard as he tries to take his game to another level.

“It doesn’t matter what position, starting or just sitting on the bench, it doesn’t matter – you always have something to prove,” Kendrick said following the Tigers’ practice on Monday. “It’s always something that you have to do or that you’re going to do. So, I always have something to prove. I’m always trying to get better, always trying to take that next step.”

As for being named to the watch list for the Thorpe Award, which is given annually to college football’s top defensive back, Kendrick doesn’t care about having his name on the list – he wants to take home the actual hardware.

“It really means nothing. Anybody can be on the list, depending on what they did the year before or whatever,” he said. “You’ve just got to be motivated, keep going, keep getting better. My goal is to win it, so I’m not really trying to be a list player. I’m trying to win it, so it’s not really about being on the list. I’m just trying to get better each day.”

Kendrick, who began his Clemson career as a wide receiver in 2018, transitioned to cornerback on an emergency basis in the spring of 2019 and immediately impressed, earning the starting role. The former five-star recruit from South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, S.C., recorded 51 tackles (3.0 for loss), six pass breakups and two interceptions (including one returned 38 yards for a touchdown) while starting all 15 of the Tigers’ games last season.

Heading into his junior campaign, Kendrick said he is focused on getting better with his technique and also improving his knowledge of the playbook and understanding of what everyone on defense around him is doing.

Kendrick is motivated to show he is not a one-dimensional cornerback but that he can do it all from the position.

“Man-to-man, zone, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Just trying to complete my game as a whole cornerback, not just trying to be labeled as a man-to-man corner or none of that. Just trying to be the best corner I can be.”

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