Ben Boulware is ready to be the face of Clemson’s defense

Ben Boulware had to take a back seat to other stars on Clemson’s defense his first three years with the Tigers, but after patiently waiting his turn, the senior is ready to step into the limelight this fall.

Boulware’s first opportunity to showcase himself as the face of the Clemson defense came Friday at ACC Media Days, and he’s embracing the chance to be a leader.

“It’s definitely my role now to bring the other guys along,” he said. “I’m embracing the role. I’ve been through a lot of roles since I’ve been here, and I’m embracing this one more than any of them.”

Despite playing behind Stephone Anthony early in his career, and being overshadowed at times by Vic Beasley, Shaq Lawson, Mackensie Alexander and others the past couple of years, Boulware has certainly already made a mark at Clemson.

The Anderson native was named first-team All-ACC last year after starting all 15 games and playing his best football in the biggest situations.

Boulware made 12 tackles and forced a fumble in the win against Notre Dame, and recorded a team-high 14 tackles with a forced fumble and a crucial fourth-down stop in the victory over Florida State.

“He is loud about how he plays and loud just about how he leads. He has a great personality. He is funny. He is intense. He hates to lose,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “It doesn’t matter if it is a drill in practice, he hates to lose. He’s just one of those guys that has a chip on his shoulder, one of those guys that we have to sometimes channel the right way, but I’m proud of Ben. He is just relentless to get his job done. He is relentless to get to the ball.”

Boulware caught the attention of media present and a small corner of the internet with a look that included a loud patterned shirt, pink tie, pants rolled up to the middle of his shins and a large beard.

This offseason, Boulware was given the task of being in communication with defensive coordinator Brent Venables about how offseason workouts were going.

Venables came away impressed by how engaged Boulware was and how seriously he took the responsibility.

“He understands what our expectations are as a staff. He understands the kind of feedback that I’m looking for, the urgency, the effort,” Venables said. “It’s never going to be like if us coaches were there holding them to the fire every snap, but you want maturity and guys that care. When it gets a little bit lackadaisical guys are pulling them back in line.”

Boulware is repaying the favor for his coach after Venables was there for him during tough times early on in his career.

“He helped me out when I was struggling my sophomore year. I was wondering if this was right for me and if Clemson was the place I wanted to be,” Boulware said. “He kind of took on that father role, just kind of talking to me and giving me the advice that I needed.”

Clemson returns four starters on defense from last year, but the goal remains to help lead Clemson to another ACC title and berth in the national championship game.

“We reload every year. We maybe had a little more experience last year, but I think the talent’s going to be there and the experience will come as these games go on,” Boulware said. “We reload every year, so I think we’ll be fine.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 7:33 PM.