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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL AT THE CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: CLEMSON VS OKLAHOMA

December 28, 2015

Shaq Lawson

Miami Gardens, Florida

SHAQ LAWSON: I wasn't really thinking about a championship. I know I didn't win any championships in high school and I played with a couple teammates that went to Clemson so our goal was to come back and play with each other and try to win a National Championship at Clemson, so that was the reason why I came to Clemson.

Q. Has it been kind of surreal to you to get to this point?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, yes, sir. It's been a special season for us, me just enjoying the journey and all the hard work paying off for us.

Q. What was different about this season for you? Obviously you were more productive this season. Did something click or did they use you differently or more pressure to be the guy more?
SHAQ LAWSON: I'd say playing more. I played behind Vic Beasley last year so my snaps was limited. But after I did what I had to do this year, I just stepped my leadership role up and just got better every week, and my game got better. That's pretty much what I learned from them guys like Vic and guys that's been in the program longer than me, how they had to sit there and wait their time, so that's pretty much what I had to do.

Q. You guys obviously have a lot of talent but there was also a lack of experience. At what point along the process, whether it's spring, fall, X number of games in, at what point did you say, wow, we're up to this task?
SHAQ LAWSON: I'd say after the Notre Dame game, after we got the two-point conversion stop, and that really defined where our team was at and how good we really was after that game. The games before that I couldn't really tell where we was at because we hadn't played nobody good like that, but after that Notre Dame game, I knew our team was where we needed to be.

Q. What do you like about this defense?
SHAQ LAWSON: We're hungry. We like getting better every day. We're all brothers off the field, so that just makes us play better on the field together with each other.

Q. What has Brent Venables done for you just as an influence in your life to help you develop?
SHAQ LAWSON: He helped me develop a lot. If you see him every day as a coach, he's just excited about defense, and he just helps put us in the right position to make plays. Our defense is so good, and our scheme -- the scheme he's got for us makes the players that much better.

Q. What did you learn from Beasley and those guys in terms of your off-the-field work? Did they show you how to practice?
SHAQ LAWSON: No, sir. Really I always liked to practice starting in high school. They just told me how to lead on the field and off the field. They were just giving me examples how to lead, and you don't always got to lead by always saying something, so stuff like that.

Q. Why do you love practice? I think most people would probably say I don't like practice, I just like the games?
SHAQ LAWSON: Because you've got a chance to get better every day, just waking up knowing you can go do what you love to do and practice, that makes us better.

Q. Where else were you looking in high school?
SHAQ LAWSON: Tennessee, University of Tennessee. I was about to go there, but I'm glad I stayed at home and everything.

Q. What changed, because you are a local guy, so was that difficult to potentially leave the state?
SHAQ LAWSON: I'd say my family reason, after my pops died, I just wanted to be closer with my brothers and little sister, so that pretty much changed my decision.

Q. You guys have played some mobile quarterbacks. What do you have to do differently against Baker because he's run so much and scrambled and taken off?
SHAQ LAWSON: We can't let him hit us with the ball fade. We've just got to make sure we contain the ball at all times. The kid is fast, unbelievable when you watch him on film. We've got to be on edge every time.

Q. You mentioned a minute ago that it takes a certain kind of patience to play here. Did you know that going in or was it a bit of a shock that you were going to have to wait your turn?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, I knew that going in I'd have to wait my turn, coming in late because I had went to Hargrave and all that, and I knew Vic was there, and I knew I had to wait, and I knew I had to just be patient and my time was going to come.

Q. Was waiting difficult for you?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, no. I had to wait -- I didn't qualify out of high school coming into Clemson. I had to go to Hargrave for a semester, so I'm used to waiting and that kind of stuff. So that really helped me in that process from going to Hargrave to Clemson and waiting to get my chance to play.

Q. Hargrave is kind of a humbling experience, isn't it?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, yes, sir, it is. It makes you a better person, a better man, just gives you instruction in life and everything. I'm really glad I experienced it, to get to go to Hargrave. It's part of the change in me, and I'm really kind of glad I went to Hargrave. At first I didn't want to go, but I got used to what I had to do and stuff, and it wasn't that bad at all.

Q. I heard you had to walk like a mile or a half a mile to practice. What was that like?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, that was bad. You had to walk up a dirt hill, rocks, past a graveyard. That's why they called it The Grave, all the way to practice, pushed sleds 500 yards during practice. It was a tough experience for us. It just made me better and made it more easier when I got to Clemson.

Q. When did you lose your dad?
SHAQ LAWSON: I'd say going into my senior year, my junior year, as a matter of fact, during spring football, high school, I had lost him to a car accident.

Q. That made you want to stay in South Carolina?
SHAQ LAWSON: Yeah, that situation, I always wanted to be away from home, so I probably wouldn't have changed things, but God had a plan for me, and it all played out.

Q. You were looking at Texas early on?
SHAQ LAWSON: Tennessee.

Q. Your mom and sisters want you to stick around?
SHAQ LAWSON: That didn't really matter. It was just the best fit for me and best fit for the school, what they bring to the program.

Q. Generally what's it been like to be a part of this defense? You've seen it go from getting 70 points four years ago to what it is now.
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, it's a crazy change. I remember seeing then in junior year of high school watching -- giving up 70 points to West Virginia, and the change over the years came, just different players developed for us and started it for us like Branch and all those guys, Brandon Thomas, they started it for us and made the defense that much better and we've just been following up with it.

Q. Did you grow up a Clemson fan?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, yes, I used to work at a concession stand when I was younger, used to sit in and watch the games and jump over the stands and try to get some gloves from anybody. That was pretty much what I did growing up as a Clemson fan. I used to watch back when Kevin Youngblood and all those guys played and Charlie Whitehurst and all them. So I've been looking at Clemson since I was younger.

Q. Could you see the field from the concession stand?
SHAQ LAWSON: Oh, no, not really. I used to try to get a break, sneak down there and try to get the coach's attention. I used to play video games and act like I was -- when I was playing with Clemson, I used to commentate like I was a commentator out there and everything. It was just crazy that now I'm playing for Clemson.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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