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Paulson Adebo went into the 2020 college football season with plenty of hype behind him: he’s an athletic prototype at 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds with ballhawk skills, but Adebo saw his stock plummet when he opted out amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But he stayed busy — in lieu of playing his final season at Stanford, Adebo flew home to Texas to train fastidiously with a familiar face: defensive backs specialist Clay Mack, a Dallas-based skills trainer who specializes in helping prospects transition to the NFL.

An industry leader who applies a scientific approach to training through functional movement, Mack has worked with multiple first-round draft picks including Jeff Okudah, Jamal Adams, Bryon Jones, and Marshon Lattimore. Past the refining of technique and body control, Mack works to instill perhaps the most important quality in a defensive back — a competitive mentality.

“If my passion is more than yours, we’re going to have a problem,” Mack told me. A former defensive back himself at Mississippi State, he turned to coaching after suffering a career-ending injury: “I’ve always been in leadership type roles. I think that breeds that alpha quality. That’s why I took it so hard once I got hurt, and those dreams kind of dissipated.”

An All-American at wide receiver his junior year of high school, Mack transitioned to cornerback his senior year – where he made All-American with seven interceptions. He also led his basketball team to its first ever state championship at point guard. Sound familiar?



Adebo and Mack are near-kindred spirits: the Saints rookie was a small forward on his varsity basketball team, member of the third fastest relay quartet in the 2017 Texas state championship, and starting wide receiver until his junior year of high school. They happen to be from the same suburb in Midlothian, Texas. Mack has known Adebo since high school.

“I knew his (defensive back) coach, Duane Akina, from when he was at University of Texas,” Mack noted. “That was a natural connection for me. Akina asked me about Adebo back when he was in recruitment, so I was one of the phone calls his coach made in regards to that.”

Mack continued: “I just knew watching him, if you look at his disposition and the whole nine, the way he’s built, he’s a natural defensive back in my opinion. He’s lengthy, has good size. Very explosive and calculated with his movements. When I come across multi-faceted athletes that play multiple sports, they’re typically skill players. But just watching (Adebo), his disposition, his demeanor – it just had defensive back written all over for me.”

His approach to training is two-pronged: fundamentals and mentality. Mack finds with certain players, he needs to infuse a “pro dog mentality” he considers paramount to skillset. Marshon Lattimore didn’t need it. This may come as a shock, but neither did C.J. Gardner-Johnson, another former client and one of Adebo’s new teammates. The aspect of mental toughness is critical to Mack’s evaluation of defensive backs.

“I don’t care how athletic you are, how fundamentally sound or skillful you are, someone’s going to catch a ball,” Mack said. “You’re going to get beat deep, you’re going to get beat for a touchdown and on some critical plays. It’s not about how you get beat, but when you get beat, and how you bounce back from that.”

Mack continued: “The higher the level, the better the quarterback, receivers, offensive line – the execution of schemes from an offensive perspective is going to get better. Guys are going to beat you, it is what it is, right? Are you going to go in the tank? Pout? You have to have selective memory and line up for the next play.”

Aspects of mentality and toughness interplay when it comes to a player’s ability to tackle. “The thing about tackling is it’s a want, not a skill,” Mack told me. “It’s not necessarily a skill, although there are some skill elements on the way you approach and angle tackles. At the end of the day, you need somebody to want to tackle. You have to want to go in and execute that technique to make a tackle.”

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jeanpierre

If we sign Dre Kirkpatrick, fine, I'd rather move Gardner to SS or find a SS that can cover better than Malcolm Jenkins...

But really like Adebo, thought he was excellent value for a round 3 pick, and believe he can, and should, be starting by mid-season...

K Major

Mr. Mansfield is a ball hawk & notorious for breaking up pass attempts @ Stanford. I hope he takes his lumps early. Lots of talent, speed (4.42) & confidence. Definitely a boundary guy.

Byron Jones, Byron Maxwell (Seattle days) & Awuzie all improved under Coach Richard.

I'd still prefer Richard Sherman as a mentor for the rookie.