CLEMSON — Turns out, Ronan Hanafin was born to play defense.

After beginning his Clemson career at receiver, Hanafin made the move to safety last season. However, he was basically thrown into the fire, seeing as he had no offseason preparation at the position.

Now, all that has changed. Hanafin now has a year under his belt and appears primed to make an impact on the Tigers’ defense this season. While there are times that he does miss being a wideout, the skills he learned while playing receiver should serve him well as a safety.

“A little bit, I grew up playing that, so it is always one of those things where I love to play it,” Hanafin said. “I am on the jugs every day, catching balls still, so I like to think I am the best catching DB. I do miss it, but at the same time, I feel like safety is more my position.”

In fact, in a way, Hanafin has been preparing to play defense since he was a child. Being one of five boys and having a father who is a SWAT Team commander, the family worked on tackling from a young age, and they did it in a rather unique way.

Hanafin’s father also served as the starting quarterback for Boston University in 1997, so football is in his genes.

“We did this thing we called hurricane drills,” Hanafin said. “Coming from the other room, you got to the other room and just tackled them as hard as you can and he would rate us on the hurricane scale 1-5. It all kind of started there.”

One of Hanafin’s best assets is his physicality, something that traces back to those hurricane drills, and now that he’s had a full offseason working as a safety, his opportunities should increase dramatically.

“I like to say I play physical,” Hanafin said. “I think I play fast, and just being able to have the knowledge now, having a full offseason, being at safety for that long now, has really helped me speed up my game from a mental standpoint.”

Photo by Bart Boatwright