Clemson QB Deshaun Watson didn’t have much time off this offseason

Deshaun Watson’s goal isn’t to be the best quarterback in school history or ACC history. It’s to be the best quarterback of all time.

“He’s not just saying that, he works at it,” Tigers quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter said. “He takes every day and strives for that goal to be the best ever, and he very well can be that because of his drive and his work ethic.”

Watson’s drive and work ethic were on display all summer as the junior attended the Elite 11 and Manning Passing Academy camps, put on 15 pounds of muscle and took 17 hours of summer school to move within five hours of finishing his degree entering his junior season.

While most college students spent their summer vacation by the pool or at the beach, Watson spent almost all of his time on the football field, in the weight room or in the books.

“I was on a plan to make sure I got everything done when I needed to get it done,” he said. “When I have to do something, I do it. I don’t wait until the last minute to do it. That’s just the type of person I am.”

It would be understandable for Watson to be somewhat complacent, or at least deserving of a break, after a record-setting sophomore season in which he was a Heisman Trophy finalist and became the first player in FBS history to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.

But after coming close to delivering Clemson its first national title since 1981, Watson’s more driven than ever to lead the Tigers back to the national championship game and finish the job this time.

“We have to start over. Last year’s wins, touchdowns or stops isn’t going to do anything for us this year. We know we have a target on us, and we have to go 10 times harder to get where we want to go this year than we did last year,” Watson said. “We just got to take it one day at a time and make sure everybody is on the same page. Know and understand that nothing is going to be given to us. We have to go earn it.”

Clemson’s offense has the potential to be even better than the one that averaged 39 points and more than 500 yards per game in 2015. But just because the Tigers return eight starters, and get back 2014 leading receiver Mike Williams from injury, doesn’t mean Watson is taking it for granted that success will be easy to come by.

“On paper, it’s there. But it’s something that we have to go and earn. They’re not just going to give us 40 points every Saturday just because of the talent we have on our team,” Watson said. “We have to execute and perform at a high level. That’s going to start by preparing and grinding throughout the week, each and every day at a high level so we can go out there on Saturday and execute and show what we’ve got.”

Watson finished third in Heisman voting last year and won the Davey O’Brien Award, presented to the best quarterback in college football.

He’s considered by most to be the Heisman favorite entering the 2016 season, and while others might downplay the talk or try to tune it out, Watson doesn’t mind it one bit.

“I embrace it,” he said. “God put me in this position for a reason. This is what I work for. I understand that I have to go earn it. No one is just going to give it to me in the preseason. They don’t give out awards for having the No. 1 team in the country or being the Heisman preseason winner.”

Watson spent this summer positioning himself to accomplish the goals he set out for his college career, not just on the field, but also off. He’s set to graduate in December with a degree in communications after three years at Clemson.

“It’s very important to have a background in something that you can fall back on. You can’t play football for the rest of your life, so you’ve always got to have a backup plan,” he said. “It’s something that no one can take away from you. You can’t take away the knowledge or anything like that. You can take away football in a heartbeat.”

Ideally, he’d like to lead Clemson to a national title and win the Heisman Trophy before likely beginning his NFL career.

After being limited in the 2014 preseason with a broken collarbone and spending the 2015 preseason recovering from an ACL injury, Watson enjoyed his first offseason in college fully healthy.

“I was able to do everything from the get go,” he said. “I can do the full workouts and really train like I want to.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Clemson QB Deshaun Watson didn’t have much time off this offseason."