Kids from all over the country flocked into this year’s Dabo Swinney Football Camp, seeking improvement in their technical skills, working with Clemson coaches and players, and getting themselves out there to lurking eyes. 

While most campers had experience as high school students and players, many came as early as possible, straight out of middle school. That is the case for rising ninth grader Adam Watts.

A freshman at Henderson High School in Hendersonville, N.C., Watts is no stranger to football. He has primarily found himself on the offensive line. This past season, however, Watts tried his luck at running back and dominated, scoring 11 touchdowns in six games.

His dominance is no surprise, considering his athletic build and shifty speeds. His strength is no laughing matter, as he benches 205 pounds as a freshman. As a former guard, he has the arm and core strength to ward defenders away and fight for scores.

As it was Watts’ first time at the camp, he was eager to share his many thoughts from his experience, which sounded excellent and well-taken advantage of.

“I thought it was great. It taught me so many new things I had never been taught before,” Watts said. “It helped me learn new things and tell other kids at my school, to teach them and help them fix things.”

Watts spoke about his favorite drills, which are the running back route drills, which provided high-quality training and practice in a foundational part of the position.

“I really liked how they ran routes with us,” he said. “Now, running backs run a lot of routes, and I really liked how they focused on routes a lot.”

While so much of the camp for so many is getting attention as an older high school student, it is essential to remember one of the primary purposes of camps. It is to improve and build on skills and seek counsel from others to become the best one can be.

Watts’ talents speak for themselves on the field, he displays the hard-working and determined mindset and intention that the Dabo Swinney Football Camp is about.

“One of the most important things I learned at camp was to give it your all. Dabo talked about it. ‘Best is the standard,’ I like that a lot,” he said.