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Clay Fact: ACC Defensive Lineman-of-the-Week for his 13-tackle performance against #13 Georgia Tech in 2006.
Years Lettered: 2005,06
Years Starter: 2006
Bowl Participation: Reserve linebacker in the 2005 Champs Sports Bowl against Colorado; reserve linebacker in the 2006 Music City Bowl against Kentucky.
Fall 2007 Depth Chart Position: Reserve middle linebacker
Overview: Starting middle linebacker during the 2006 season who took advantage of an opportunity created when Anthony Waters suffered a torn ACL and was lost for the season...has played 25 consecutive games over his two years and started 11 of the 13 games in 2006...had some outstanding games in 2006, highlighted by his 13 tackle-performance against #13 Georgia Tech when he was named ACC Defensive Lineman-of-the-Week...had to deal with a family tragedy during the season; his sister and her child were killed in an auto accident in early September; he was not in school for the spring semester of 2007 while he dealt with the death; he returned to Clemson for the first summer session of 2007...highly-recruited player out of Twiggs County High School in Jeffersonville, GA; he narrowed his choices to Clemson and Oklahoma out of high school...SuperPrep All-American coming out of high school...coached by Dexter Copeland in High School, the same high school coach for former Clemson All-American Leroy Hill at Baldwin County High; Clay wears the same number as Hill, now a starter for the Seattle Seahawks...backup to Anthony Waters as a first-year freshman in 2005 when he had 27 tackles and helped the Tigers to a top-25 final ranking.
2006: Clemson's third-leading tackler with 95 stops, including 9.5 tackles for loss, third-most on the team...started the year at outside linebacker that had been held by Tramaine Billie, who was also injured...had just one tackle in the opener when he played outside, then had 12 tackles in 60 plays at middle linebacker at Boston College; he was Clemson's leading tackler in that game; he played that contest with a heavy heart, as his sister had recently been killed in an automobile accident near his home in Georgia...had eight stops in win at #9 Florida State, including 1.5 tackles for loss...Clemson's leading tackler in three games, Boston College (12), Georgia Tech (13), and Virginia Tech (15)...named ACC Defensive Lineman-of-the-Week in Clemson's 31-7 victory over #13 Georgia Tech; he had three tackles for loss, including a sack; among his 13 tackles in that game were 11 first hits...23rd in the ACC, including sixth among sophomores, in tackles per game...defensive player-of-the-game against Boston College and #13 Georgia Tech according to the Clemson coaches...had a streak of four straight double-figure tackle games from the Georgia Tech through N.C. State games...second on the squad in first hits (66), trailing only the 72 by Nick Watkins...missed starting only the N.C. State game during the regular season, but he played 62 snaps in that victory and recorded 10 tackles.
2005: Played on defense in every game; the Temple game was his only start; he had a team-high nine tackles...had three tackles at Maryland and four versus #25 Boston College...one of the many bright spots among young players on the defense...played 185 snaps, fourth among first-year freshmen and seventh among all freshmen...14th on the team in tackles (27)...had at least one tackle in every game but the Georgia Tech game when he played just 10 snaps...had one tackle in six snaps against Colorado in the Champs Sports Bowl.
Before Clemson: SuperPrep All-American who ranked as the 28th-best linebacker in the nation...ranked as the ninth-best overall player in Georgia by SuperPrep...had 136 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and six sacks as a senior at Twiggs County High...second-team All-South by Countdown to Signing Day...#26 linebacker in the nation by Scout.com and #24 by Rivals.com...preseason and postseason Super 11 pick as a senior by Atlanta Constitution...ranked among the top-100 players in the Southeast...all-state linebacker across all classifications in Georgia...first-team All-Middle Georgia...among the top-100 players in the South by Atlanta Constitution...Macon Touchdown Club Super 7 pick...played in the Georgia High School All-Star Game; had six tackles and an interception in his team's 13-0 win...first-team All-Middle Georgia defensive end as a sophomore...first-team All-Middle Georgia and first-team all-state as a junior...three-sport athlete who was the 300m hurdles AAAA region champion (36.2)...qualified for the state meet as a junior...lettered twice basketball...coached by Dexter Copeland, who coached former Tiger All-American Leroy Hill at Baldwin County High...chose Clemson over Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma...born Antonio L. Clay on Jun. 19, 1987...majoring in sport management.
