How two years of adversity molded Clemson receiver Joseph Ngata ahead of senior season
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney knocked on the table four times with both hands simultaneously March 2.
He readied himself to say the words he’d uttered all too often over the past two years, fully knowing how it ended the other times. This time will be different — he hopes.
“Ngata has been amazing,” Swinney said with both confidence and reluctance in his voice as spring practice began.
Ever since Joseph Ngata arrived at Clemson in 2019, Swinney has praised the Reno, Nevada native as a pro with the hopes of being another addition to the program’s “Wide Receiver U” reputation. Ngata earned his spot that year among such talented players as Justyn Ross, Amari Rodgers and Tee Higgins as the sixth-leading receiver with 240 yards and three touchdowns on 17 catches.
That was the last time he was at full strength.
“It’s been a long time where he’s really, really flying around with no issues,” Swinney said.
Ngata ‘everything I’ve hoped for’
The next two years were marred by a series of unfortunate events.
Ngata played in a combined 16 games with 11 starts after playing 15 games as a freshman. As a sophomore, an abdominal strain that required surgery limited him to seven games and 83 receiving yards. He then suffered a hamstring injury during the 2021 fall camp before injuring his knee and going into COVID-19 protocol this past season. That resulted in him missing the final three games of the regular season but returning for the Cheez-It Bowl victory.
Still, he had his best season with 438 yards on 23 receptions, which included a career-high 111 yards on four catches in a 19-13 victory over Boston College on Oct. 2.
Ngata started this spring drawing praise from Swinney and wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham.
“I think this is the most technically sound Ngata’s been, which is exciting,” Grisham said. “I’m not having to correct nearly as much, so that’s great for your senior, your leader, your boundary receiver. … This is the best he’s led, most verbal he’s been on field, and in the meeting room, he’s great. He’s like another coach that can help me out. He’s been everything I’ve hoped for up to this point.”
Whether it’s leadership through words or action, will this be the year that Ngata breaks through? For the receiver, it has to be, and he’s not taking that for granted.
One of the toughest
Having so many injuries is a relatively new experience for Ngata. During his four years at Folsom (Calif.) High School, he never missed a game. Even if he had a bruised thigh or banged up his shoulder, he’d play through the pain. Missing time on the field wasn’t an option in his mind.
Former Folsom head coach Kris Richardson called Ngata one of the toughest players he’s ever coached. It’s high praise from someone who also had former Alabama and current Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Jonah Williams under his tutelage and moved to coaching at the collegiate level in 2019.
“I remember having to, in practices, tell him to back off taking as many reps because I needed him full speed come Friday night,” said Richardson, who is now the assistant head coach and offensive line coach at Sacramento State University. “He was the guy that would do all the extra work before the practice. He would stick around with our our receiver coach, Doug Cosbie, and (quarterbacks coach) Bobby Fresques. Doug Cosbie was an NFL player. We were lucky enough to have him coach receivers for us and (Ngata) would do countless hours of extra time with Coach Cosby.”
Much like Swinney, it didn’t take long for Richardson to point Ngata out as one that would be special from the moment his high school career began. That manifested in the former five-star recruit being named the No. 4 player and fifth-best receiver in the state of California, and No. 21 player in the country by Rivals.
At his best and healthiest, Ngata is a dominant, do-it-all player.
“We would run reverses, he would throw trick plays. We moved him all over the field,” Richardson said. “We also obviously put him at the point of attack on perimeter runs because he was such a dominant blocker. But, I think you asked anyone around the northern California region, and they would tell you, he was the best player around in 2017 and 2018.”
Richardson found Ngata’s injuries at Clemson to be uncharacteristic of his experience at Folsom, but not uncommon at the college level. Plus, Ngata has what it takes to use that as motivation.
“Part of football sometimes is playing through and dealing with injuries,” Richardson said. “I’m sure he’ll do everything in his power to be ready because I know he’s hungry to to do what he feels like he can do and he hasn’t had that opportunity due to the injuries at this point. In my opinion, there’s not a tougher, more competitive guy out there.”
Keeping a positive outlook
True to Richardson’s belief, Ngata is indeed doing all he can to make sure he can play a full season for the first time in three years.
His morning regimen this spring started with a 7 a.m. wakeup time, taking care of his Pomeranian named Dougie, then heading to the training room for about 45 minutes of preventative rehabilitation at Clemson’s facility. He then has breakfast — a meal of eggs, toast and avocado on March 28 — before heading back to the training room, going to meetings and finishing his day.
Ngata has prioritized his health more these days, cutting out red meat and pork. He’s lost some weight but maintains a healthy body fat percentage. He’s always taken the weight room seriously but has a stronger intensity when it comes to the time he spends there.
“(Getting injured is) inevitable for some people, but I gotta get over it,” Ngata said. “I’ve got to do more, got to be in the trenches way more than I’m doing right now. I’ve just gotta keep going.”
What he’s been through with health and injuries hasn’t been frustrating to the point of giving up. The first time around as a sophomore, Ngata said it caused him to feel “a little broken,” but he recovered both physically and mentally. Although being out wasn’t ideal when he injured his foot as a junior, the emotional pain didn’t hurt as much.
“It’s not what I wanted, but it’s molded me into a tougher person, I guess, to have a better outlook on life and practice and everything,” Ngata said. “I’ve always had a good outlook on those things, but I just feel like I’ve grown through the injuries. I’m grateful for the injuries.”
Grisham would agree. The more he talked about Ngata, the more he realized that the time the rising senior receiver was out might be correlated to his growing voice on the team.
“Maybe it set him up for now as a leader, a more vocal leader because he couldn’t play. He just had to communicate with the guys,” Grisham said. “I think he’s done a better job, I really do, of communicating and being a vocal leader.”
Both his intangibles of leadership and on-field talent will be needed this season as he leads one of the deepest group of receivers Clemson’s had in some time. That includes two highly-touted freshmen in Adam Randall, a midyear enrollee who missed the spring game with a torn ACL; Antonio Williams, who arrives this summer; and Brannon Spector, who returns to the field after battling the lingering effects of COVID-19.
Ngata started that process with 50 yards on four catches for the Orange team in the Tigers’ spring game on April 9. Wherever there is wood available, Swinney, Grisham and Ngata will be knocking and doing all they can to ensure Ngata’s health for what they hope to be his breakout season, sans injuries.
“That’s everybody in the program trying to keep these guys encouraged and continue to try to get them to believe in the vision that’s in front of them,” Swinney said. “Just everybody doing everything we can to get him healthy. He’s just been one of those guys that have had a couple tough breaks, but we’ve seen a lot of guys over the years that you look up and you go, ‘Wow.’ Just a matter of him being on the field.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How two years of adversity molded Clemson receiver Joseph Ngata ahead of senior season."
