Jordan McFadden speaks to Sky Sports about his time at Clemson, playing with Trevor Lawrence, the influence of his late father and his role at the next level
Jordan McFadden enters the 2023 NFL Draft primed to offer a team a born leader as one of the longest-serving and most highly thought of members of Dabo Swinney’s Clemson setup.
The offensive line prospect spoke to Sky Sports about his time at Clemson, playing under coach Swinney, blocking for Trevor Lawrence, overcoming the death of his father and moving from offensive tackle to the interior at the next level.
McFadden believes he has been slept on during the pre-draft process, but understands why and is keen to assert himself as a trusted stalwart for whichever team that decides to pick up the phone.
Who is the NFL player you look up to, perhaps an offensive lineman you watch and would love to emulate?
“I would say over the past couple of years I’ve studied Trent Williams, I feel like that might be an easy answer but just the way he plays, how athletic he is and how strong he is. I like the confidence and swagger he plays with, I love watching him play and he’s one of the greatest left tackles to ever do it.”
Which player would you love to play with in your NFL career?
“I wouldn’t mind being in Jacksonville and teaming up with Trevor and Travis Etienne (his former Clemson teammates), it would be super fun and bring back old memories. An offensive lineman I wouldn’t mind playing with would be John Simpson or Tremayne Anchrum, my older brothers if you will. Reuniting with those would be really fun.”
How about a player you cannot wait to face?
“Honestly, KJ (Henry) or Myles (Murphy), somebody I played with. We go against each other in practice but I feel like game situation is so different to practice. I know I can’t give up a sack to those guys, it would kill me inside. I would be excited to play them. I know for sure Myles would talk and especially KJ, if I gave up a sack to him he would never let me hear the end of it.”
It could be a screen play, a pin-and-pull scenario or merely just kicking outside to play as a lead blocker – who would you love to pancake most?
“Maybe Isaiah Simmons, I was here with Isaiah and he can talk too. He’s a great player, to be able to do that would be super fun for me, a moment where I’m like ‘okay let’s go’.”
You have been at Clemson for five years and seen multiple players come and go to the NFL, now it’s your turn, is there a sense from your former teammates of ‘finally you’re coming!’?
“Yeah, the way I look at it is everybody’s journey is different, mine is just a little bit longer. My time at Clemson was great that’s why I found it hard to leave, I certainly had opportunities this past year to leave and pursue the NFL.”
Off the field, what’s your thing? Who is Jordan McFadden?
“I’m into clothes, shoes, fashion, hats stuff like that. I like shopping for things like that. I probably have about 50-55 pairs of shoes, it’s growing each year, I’m excited to see where that can end up in the future.
“Outside of that it’s really just being with family and friends, that’s what I’m doing usually. People who just love me and support me and have been with me since the beginning.”
That shoe collection is about to grow I imagine, is there a pair you’re looking to buy once you get to the NFL?
“I would say the Jordan Bred 11s and it’s not exactly like a super expensive shoe, it’s just been hard for me to find. That shoe or the black Air 4s which are like super expensive now. Whenever I do get a little bit money they’ll be getting purchased for sure.”
The gameday arrival is a huge thing in the NFL now, a chance for players to show off their fashion sense, how much are you looking forward to that?
“I’m super excited, since I’ve been at Clemson Covid happened and a lot of my classes happened online so I wasn’t able to go on campus to put the clothes on, I felt like I was wearing basketball pants and sweatpants everyday. And then on Clemson gamedays we had to wear suits most days so to be able to switch it up, maybe wear a suit or jeans I’m super excited about it.”
Who had the best dress sense in the Clemson locker room?
“Darien (Rencher) can definitely dress, but I’ve got to give it to two of my close friends in Malcolm Greene and Tre Williams, they’ve got tonnes of shoes and clothes, they know how to put it together.”
Where did football begin for you?
“My father always grew up as a football and Clemson fan, I’d always watch football with him whenever it was on. I really wanted to try it out, started in fifth grade and kept getting better and now we’re here today. I would say probably about 10th or 11th grade was when I fell in love with the game.”
How dominant were you back in your youth football days?
“I’ve always been a big dude so going to games parents would be like ‘where is his birth certificate?’. It was definitely fun using my size to dominate at that young level.”
You were only 11 when your father passed away, what are the traits you feel he left you?
“Just what man he was, he was a man of Christ, good father, good husband and just watching how he treated people, my family and other people. Everybody in the community knew my dad and loved my dad so to have so many people speak highly of you is something I envision for myself in the future, leaving a good impression and treating people right.
“Obviously he’s not here for me to share the experience with but I know he’d be so happy for me. That moment would have been super exciting for me, he’s always on my mind anyway but especially that week.”
How much did losing him accelerate how quickly you grew up?
“After that, at that point it’s me, my mum and sister, I’m the youngest but had to grow up and be the man. It definitely helped me mature faster. I don’t want to say it was a blessing but maybe a blessing in disguise with how I grew up, I had a great support system around me to help me deal with that and made it a lot easier. It definitely helped speed up my growth process.”
How would friends and family describe you?
“Everybody would say he’s quiet and laid back, loyal but fun to be around. Once I get comfortable with people I’m always joking, never take anything serious, I like to have fun and joke around.”
Clemson clearly had a lasting impression on you, take us inside the locker room of one of college football’s biggest programmes, what is it like to be part of that team?
“It’s crazy, there are so many good dudes, you really become brothers in that locker room. My best man at my wedding one day and best friends will have come from playing football here, there are tonnes of great people. One of my best friends is from Connecticut, the other is from Virginia, one from Georgia, so it’s like you meet people from everywhere and become best friends. I didn’t think it would be this hard to leave this place. When I was out in Texas training once the season was over I get a call and I’m like ‘bro I miss you all’, I’d only been gone two months. With that said, the locker room is special and it’s tough to leave.”
What’s your fondest memory from your time at Clemson?
“I won a National Championship which being able to win at the highest level of college football is such a special moment. Outside of that it’s the locker room, winning games is fun but what I truly remember is all the dumb stuff we did in the locker room or outside if we’re just at each other’s house playing a game. That stuff will stay me.”
What’s it like on campus after a home win?
“Especially being in a place where there’s no NFL team so Clemson football is such a big thing around here and everybody loves it. After a win you can just feel a sense in the air, everybody is happy, super excited, fans rush the field and then when I’m making my way back to the house I can feel a good vibe in the air, everybody is super excited. After a win at Clemson nothing is better than that.”
Coach Dabo Swinney is one of the unique characters in college football, what has it been like to play under him?
“It’s great, he’s super loyal, he’ll go to war for anybody in that locker room. One thing I can always respect about Coach Swinney is you might not always like or agree with what he says but he means what he says, he’s not a fake person, he treats everybody the same. Really just the way he leads us, he’s a perfect example of what a husband and father should be. Being able to look at him and see this is where I want my life to look like down the road is great.”
What’s it like to watch Coach Swinney sprinting down the hill at Death Valley before every game?
“I didn’t even know early in my career that he jets down the hill that fast, there’s the video that went viral and when I saw that I was like ‘woah I didn’t know he could move that fast!’. I would be scared, I never sprint down the hill, it takes a little bit of a skill to get down the hill as fast as he does.”
There was a great video that came out from your Pro Day of you bulldozing KJ Henry on the pads, how did you get him to agree to that?
“He was a good sport about it! To this day he’d be like ‘I’d do it again!’. I appreciate him, the coach I was working with was like ‘you got anybody that can go on the bags?’ and I was like ‘I trust you KJ, I feel like you’d do a good job’. It was the last rep and I was like ‘I’ve got to finish well’, he was good about it, we laughed about it, I appreciate him for doing that.”
One of your standout plays at college came against Boston College when you kicked outside as a lead blocker and flattened the incoming defensive back, how much pride did you take in an opportunity like that?
“It was like a little reverse we ran, I’m creeping down and trying to get lost in the crowd a little, the reverse is coming back so I’m getting out to be the lead blocker. That’s super fun for me, getting in space, show my athletic ability and ultimately finish people on the ground. As a lineman and getting in space and putting a DB on the ground, there’s not much better than that. To be able to do that I was really hyped. DBs always talk!”
You were part of the Clemson team that won the National Championship at the end of the 2018 season, what was the driving force behind that side?
“That group knew what they wanted to do, that was a group that all came back to school and knew they wanted to win a National Championship, Christian Wilkins could have left, Clelin Ferrell could have left. With that amazing defense with Dexter Lawrence, Isaiah Simmons as well, so many players playing in the NFL now. And then a good offensive line and a quarterback like Trevor Lawrence with so many pieces around him like Hunter Renfrow, Justyn Ross, Tee Higgins, it was a special team, they knew what they wanted to do, they wouldn’t let anyone or anything get in their way. Being around a group like that I witnessed how I wanted to learn and lead by example. It was a great older group for me to be around.”
You blocked for Trevor Lawrence in college, how pleased are you to see him thriving in the NFL now?
“I don’t think I appreciated how good he was until he was gone, I felt like Trevor was such a good player, we all knew that playing with him, but watching so many different quarterbacks around the country you don’t realise how special he was. We went back and watched highlights and I’m like ‘man, he was special’. We all knew he was good but we didn’t know how good he was. To be able to witness that and block for him was special, it’s something I’ll always be able to tell my kids and family and stuff like that.”
What would you say sets your apart from other offensive lineman in the class?
“I think just to begin with I played at Clemson for a while, started 39 games, played almost 3,000 snaps and never missed a game because of injury so that speaks to my availability. I played both sides on right and left, I can play guard, I can snap, being able to play every position on the offensive line adds value and then if they want to move me inside I think my feet help me, I don’t think many defensive tackles are used to playing guys that move as well as I do. I think I bring a lot to the table, wherever an organisation wants to put me I think I’ll have a lot of success.”
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Do you feel you’re being slept on?
“I know what it is and I understand it. I’ve played tackle here and a lot of teams aren’t projecting me to play tackle in the NFL which is fine. I guess it’s tough because I don’t have any game film, I practiced at guard a bunch but I don’t have game film at guard which obviously if you’re a team you’re like ‘we haven’t seen you play guard’. To play at tackle at such a high level at a university like Clemson, I feel confident in my abilities to get the job done at the next level. I think teams are starting to wake up a little bit. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter when you’re called, it matters how long you can stay in the NFL and what you can do when the opportunity presents itself.
“Luckily I was able to get some good reps in at guard in my time here and then over the past two months I’ve been training at nothing but guard and center. Just obviously training and playing football in a game situation is different but I feel confident and I’ve been working my tail off and I’m excited for the opportunity.”
Your teammate Myles Murphy is coming into the NFL as one of the top defensive lineman in the class, what he is bringing to the team that drafts him?
“He’s a dog, he’s big, fast, physical, strong and what a lot of people don’t know is he’s a really smart football player, he understands the game and that’s half the battle, understanding why you’re doing what. He has all the intangibles and I know he’ll make a team happy, he’s a dominant player and will continue to get better, I expect big things from him in the NFL.”
What will it mean when you hear your name called?
“I don’t even know how I’d feel in that moment, I have no idea but I’d be excited, some tears probably shed, it’s been a long time coming, a lot of hard work has been put into this moment. A lot of people don’t hear their name called, I’m going to cherish it and take it in.”
