Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

Clemson receiver breaks through

CLEMSON -- Since the dust has settled from the "craziest" week of his life, Clemson receiver Xavier Dye said he has been seeing things a lot clearer.

Dye admitted that before the demotion that led him to briefly quit the team this season, he hadn't shown the consistent work ethic necessary of a starting player.

In hindsight, the one thing Dye cannot rectify is why, upon his return to the team, coach Dabo Swinney commented that he figured Dye already was off surfing in California.

"You might find me out on the lake tubing, but I don't like ocean water," Dye said. "I don't know where that came from."

The 6-foot-5 junior from Greenwood likewise has surfaced from the depths to emerge as a pass-catching threat, riding a wave of momentum that peaked during Saturday's 40-24 triumph over Florida State.

Dye had three catches for a career-high 68 yards and a touchdown, the second consecutive game in which he has made a touchdown catch. He scored on a 23-yard pass from receiver Jacoby Ford on a trick play against Coastal Carolina.

At Miami the week before, he hauled in a tough 15-yard catch on third-and-9 during Clemson's opening possession.

The sum total beats the unreliability Clemson was getting from receivers not named Ford during the first four games. And Dye, who played 65 of 72 offensive snaps against Florida State, is just glad to have moved past the frustration that led him to quit for nearly two days leading up to the Boston College victory.

After backing up Aaron Kelly the past two years, Dye thought he was due for a bust-out season as the next in line at the tall flanker position in Clemson's lineup.

He had one catch for 4 yards in the opener against Middle Tennessee State, but he dropped a pass on the opening series. While Ford had three drops, Dye was demoted by Monday night's practice, behind sophomore Brandon Clear.

Dye said he was told he and Clear would split snaps at Georgia Tech, but Dye did not see action.

Either the following Tuesday or Wednesday, Dye met with coach Dabo Swinney - his former position coach - and informed Swinney he was quitting the team.

"I was just sick of everything, and nothing was going my way like I expected it to," Dye said.

Dye spent the next 24 hours responding to a flood of messages from concerned teammates, even getting calls from defensive coaches Chris Rumph and Kevin Steele.

But the more Dye mulled his decision, the more he considered how much he had invested at Clemson and that quitting on teammates was wrong. He asked Swinney to be reinstated on Thursday and apologized to the team that afternoon, and to coaches and receivers in separate meetings.

When Dye returned, coaches banished him to the scout team for a day to help the defense. The next week, he was enlisted to stay after practice for extra work.

Dye said he later learned he was benched because his practice focus had not been up to standard leading up to the Middle Tennessee opener.

"He's learned some valuable lessons about life and learned a lot about himself. He's a great example to other people out there that you don't quit. You keep believing in yourself, you go back to work and eventually you'll break through."