FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Clemson received great news right before Christmas with safety RJ Mickens announcing his return for a fifth year with the Tigers.

With the decision made, Mickens spoke to the media following Clemson’s bowl practice at Fernandina Beach High School. He gave a long-winded answer about all that went into the decision, and ruled out the option of the transfer portal quickly.

“It was definitely between coming back to Clemson or declaring for the draft. Those were really my two options. I don’t really stand on transferring and stuff unless it’s really the right situation and everything. I really just felt like it was the right decision for my future and just knowing how this season went and what we were capable of and what we are capable of doing next year. I just felt like we had unfinished business like I said, and I mean, I just want to go out the right way and I just love Clemson so much. I mean, I’ve been here for years, I got great relationships with everybody here and I just couldn’t imagine being anywhere else so I just thought it was the right thing and I prayed about it, talked to my family about it, talked to coach about it and put that out there”

For Mickens, it was clearly between returning and going to the NFL, and he received feedback from the NFL during his process. During his senior regular season, Mickens finished with 41 tackles, three for loss and three pass breakups.

With the depth in the secondary, Mickens also spent a lot of time rotating and moving up into the box when Wes Goodwin opened up the bag of tricks for the Tigers’ impressive defense.

Mickens said he received “day three grades” from the NFL, and that’s not the goal that he set for himself. That was a large part of his decision to return, and Mickens plans to “maximize his potential” during his fifth year at Clemson.