NEW ORLEANS – A little motivation from Todd Bates is all it took for five-star defensive tackle Demonte Capehart to get right in the classroom.
Capehart, who signed with Clemson on Dec. 18, was struggling from an academic standpoint when he was a rising high school freshman.
Bates, the Tigers’ defensive tackles coach, could see Capehart’s potential, on and off the field. So, he gave Capehart a wake-up call and made him realize that without sufficient grades, he would not be able to play football at the college level.
“I love Demonte,” Bates told The Clemson Insider on Saturday during the Tigers’ media day for the national title game.