Jeremiah McClendon is inspired to strive for greatness by his son, Jeremiah Jr.
- Tom Weber
- 20 hours ago
- 7 min read
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Jeremiah McClendon is having one of the best seasons by a cornerback in Southern Illinois history, consistently locking down wide receivers and ranking among the nation’s leaders in pass breakups.
Everyone calls him by his childhood nickname, J. Black, and while the Florida native is having an elite senior season, the road he’s taken to greatness is an even more remarkable story.
The youngest of 14 siblings, McClendon had a difficult family life as a child and was having trouble in school. He was about to enter the foster care system before he was adopted by his aunt, who helped guide him down a better path.
The football field was his refuge, where McClendon developed into a three-star safety at Atlantic High School. His indirect route to Southern included stops at Marshall, Charleston Southern and Florida International.
He said a major turning point in his life took place two years ago with the birth of his son, who has inspired him to achieve greatness on and off the field.
StrongDawgs Conversation with Jeremiah McClendon
SD: So everybody calls you J. Black. Where did you get that nickname from?
JM: It was a name that my friends back home gave me. I was bad growing up.
SD: Do you mean “bad” in a good way?
JM: Oh, no, in a bad way. Trouble. I used to get in trouble in school, in the neighborhood. It wasn't anything crazy. I was the class clown, being a kid, doing things you might have done, like ding-dong-ditch. Nothing too crazy.
SD: What was your childhood like, growing up in Florida?
JM: I was born in Boynton Beach, but I grew up in Delray Beach. My dad passed when I was four. I don't really know the cause of death. Growing up, my mom wasn't really in my life, she was going through things herself. My aunt wanted to keep me with the family instead of foster care, so she adopted and raised me.
SD: Tell me more about your aunt.
JM: Her name is Marsha McClendon. She's the anchor, she's the backbone of the family for real. My siblings, my cousins, everybody loved coming over to her house. Including me, she has five kids — three boys and two girls. From my mom and dad, I have 13 siblings — 11 sisters and two brothers. They were always around my aunt’s house. My aunt loves helping kids. She opened up a daycare about four or five years ago.
SD: After your sophomore season in high school, you posted on X, saying, “I have 0 offers. I have 0 stars, I have 0 rankings, but I have a 1000 different reasons to ball.”
JM: Yeah, I posted that going into my junior year. I had seven interceptions my sophomore year and made first-team all-state. I was a top-5 player in my county. I was kind of frustrated with football because it seemed like everybody else was getting offers. Where’s mine? There were nights I told my aunt, like, what's going on? Right after that, I got my first offer from Toledo. I remember it like it was yesterday. After that, the ball went to rolling. Other schools started offering me, and I'm like, yeah, it's finally happening.
SD: Your biggest offer came from Indiana, but you ended up at Marshall for your freshman year in 2021?
JM: Yeah, Indiana was my biggest offer. I actually wanted to go there, but COVID happened, and a lot of scholarships weren’t available because so many older players were coming back. I ended up signing a gray-shirt deal with Florida Atlantic, where I would have to wait until the next year for a scholarship. So I got a job at a warehouse, working for US Foods, to help take some financial pressure off my aunt and to stay doing something so I’m not sitting around.
Then the safeties coach at FAU ended up going to Marshall. He contacted me that summer about coming to Marshall. It was an out of the blue phone call and I felt like that was just God's blessing for me, so I got there literally two weeks before fall camp. I ended up playing five games that season.
SD: What led you to transfer to Charleston Southern after your freshman season and the switch to corner?
JM: I transferred to Charleston Southern because I wanted to be closer to home and because my high school head coach, TJ Jackson, got a job there. I mostly played safety in high school but played a little bit of corner my senior year, so he knew I could play corner.
SD: You had a great year there with 35 tackles, seven breakups, and made some future SIU connections.
JM: I felt like I was starting to get back to myself, because I didn't play much my freshman year at Marshall. But as a team, we didn't do well that season and the whole staff got fired. I met Vinson Davis there and then Coach (DJ) Davis was the running backs coach there, too.
SD: So VD went straight to Southern, but you took a redshirt year at Florida International in 2023?
JM: It was crazy because VD actually put the word in for me at SIU and I met with Coach Hill and Coach Terry Hawthorne. But it was my second time in the portal, and it wasn’t clear if I would be eligible to play that season, so I ended up walking on at FIU. After the season, I contacted Coach Terry to see if they needed any corners here. He and Coach Hill took the chance on me, and that's how I ended up coming here last season.
SD: You finished the 2024 season strong, starting the last four games, making some impact plays. What was your mindset heading into 2025?
JM: I told myself right after the season, this might be your last year, it's time to be the person that I know I am and show the coaches they didn't make a mistake. I hit another gear to show I'm that dog and I'm going to be that top corner they need me to be. Having my son was my biggest motivation, though. That’s what just took me to a whole different level, to a whole different space.
SD: Tell me about your son.
JM: He's Jeremiah McClendon Jr. I love him to death. Having him just made me think about life and made me slow down, because most people don't have kids at a young age. I was 20 years old, and when I first found out that I was having a son, it just pushed me to be the best father I can be to him, because I didn't have my dad in my life. I want to be able to give him the life that I never had growing up, to make things easy on him and my family.
SD: How have you been able to elevate your game to an elite level this season?
JM: I’m gonna speak from a team standpoint, first. As a team, we're going where we need to be. Individually, I feel like I’ve shown Coach Hill, Coach Pron (Pronschinske), Coach (Eriq) Moore the type of player I am. I'm an aggressive player. I can do different things. I could be in a run fit. I can be on a boundary. I can guard, win one-on-one opportunities. I feel like my teammates are also helping me and the coaches put me in great spots.
I’m doing that extra work, late at night watching extra film, knowing the playbook. I don't really watch TV except for college football games and NFL games, watching what other players are doing, how they’re doing it. I feel like I’ve added to my bag of knowledge of football, and that's what's helping me play at the level that I'm playing at right now.
SD: What have you learned from your new position coach, Coach Moore?
JM: He’s helped me get better technique-wise, added more tools to my toolbox. Our relationship is great. I wouldn't want any other coach. I mean, he understands me.
SD: Is your goal to keep playing football after the season?
JM: My goal is to make it to the NFL and continue to chase my dreams. SIU has DBs in the league, like Jeremy Chinn, Ryan Neal, PJ (Jules). I did my research on those guys, how hard they were, what they did to get there. I have to try to follow their footsteps and put in the work they did. Look where they're at now and that’s where I want to go.
SD: And you’ve reconnected with your mom?
JM: Yes, like I said, she was going through her things early in my life. We talk a lot now. She just came to one of my games. She's that proud mom, posting on the internet, this is my son, this my son. She’s another person that I'm pushing to help. I want things to be better for her, to provide for her. I'm the last child out of 13, the youngest one. I'm just trying to make her proud.
SD: When you think about all the twists and turns in your life, do you ever think how it's all worked out for a reason?
JM: That’s an every-day thing. Every day I think about my life. My life was tough growing up, not having a dad, mom not really there early in life, raised by my aunt. I never thought I'd be able to go to college, play D1 ball. The majority of my friends didn’t get the chance to go to college for free, play football, and have a chance to chase their dream.
God put me here, and I feel like I'm fortunate, so why not give it my all? My name is Jeremiah for a reason. Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you…plans to give you hope and a future.” He's going to get me to where I want to go, that’s the type of mindset I have.