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CLEMSON –- Last January, the returning seniors on Clemson’s defense gathered to discuss the future. But the pain of the recent past was still strong and overwhelming.

The 2015 defense was so good in many ways, yet so dysfunctional in others. An inability to stem a flood of big plays was the difference in a close loss to Alabama in the national title game, and the returning players were pretty darned convinced that not everyone was totally focused on the moment in Glendale.

That’s when Ben Boulware spoke up, according to Clemson senior safety Jadar Johnson.