If Bronco Mendenhall wants his defense to be more physical? He's in luck, because Antonio Clary says he's there to be physical.

“I just run and hit,” Clary, a third-year safety at Virginia, told CavsCorner this week. “I find the ball. That tenacity that comes with the defense, I play with that attitude. I’m gonna bring it every play.”

Mendenhall mentioned this offseason that he didn’t think the Hoos played with enough physicality on defense last year. It was a point of emphasis for the head coach coming out of spring ball.

Over that same span, Clary has rebuilt his confidence as he has recovered from a knee injury that cost him the final five games of his freshman season and lingered into last year. His strength and conditioning are back to where they were pre-injury, according to safeties coach Shane Hunter.

“That’s allowed him to be more physical. That’s one of the things that he does really well,” Hunter explained. “He likes to come up and he wants to hit people.”

"I think he likes to hit. A little too much sometimes,” said senior safety Joey Blount with a wide smile. “But he’s a ball hawk for sure, and he’s definitely gonna run that alley and make sure you remember him.”

A three-star athlete coming out of Jacksonville in 2019, Clary enrolled early at UVa that spring and appeared in five games as a true freshman that fall. His first year ended abruptly in the late-October loss at Louisville. Clary said he felt his left knee pop after getting pushed as he tried to avoided a punt returner who had signaled for a fair catch.

He was back in time to appear in nine of UVa’s 10 games last fall, though, including his three starts at the Sabre safety spot. He had seven tackles in his first career start at Miami then matched that career high two games later against Louisville. He finished the year with 24 tackles, including two for a loss, and a pair of pass break-ups.

But Clary admits that he never quite felt like himself last fall. He wore a brace on his knee for the first three games “and even after that, it was still not as strong as my right leg.

“It would still hurt here and there, and I didn’t have my confidence the way I wanted it,” he recalled. “It lingered a lot during the season, but I tried to play through it just to help my team as best I can.”

Clary felt that confidence start to come back late in the season. He felt great in winter workouts and spring practices—where he spent most of his time at free safety after playing primarily at the Sabre spot through his first two seasons—and then through summer conditioning and into camp.

“It feels like I never had surgery,” he said. “I got my confidence sky high right now. It’s definitely way better than it was last season.”

Healthy again, Clary has been seeing time at both the Sabre and free safety positions this preseason. After spending the spring at free safety, he feels comfortable at either spot. Coaches have complimented Clary for the way he pushed himself this summer to improve his coverage and, yes, his tackling.

“In the secondary there’s opportunities to be physical,” Mendenhall said after last Friday’s practice, “when you’re in the alley and limited spaces, and then there are just situations when you have to get someone down or you have to take the worst of it, quite frankly. And he has the capability for both. His strength is his tackling and a natural feel through his eye control and his keys for putting himself at the ball.”

Hunter also praised Clary for his ability to communicate and knowledge of the entire UVa defense. The Sunshine State native admits that when he first got to school he was a little too eager to hit someone and often got caught reading the wrong keys. He believes he’s now a more mature player, and more patient with those keys going into his third season.

“I’ve been doing it since I was little. Just find the ball, play football,” said Clary, adding that he tries to bring a "dog mindset" to the defensive backfield. “I’m hunting for the ball. I want to be around the ball wherever it is.”

Clary is part of a veteran safety group that is led by ‘super seniors’ Blount and De’Vante Cross. Coen King started four games last year, capped by a 10-tackle performance in the season finale at Virginia Tech, while fellow junior Joseph White has appeared in 19 games the past three seasons.

Less-experienced players like sophomore Chayce Chalmers, redshirt freshman Donovan Johnson, and first-years Jonas Sanker and Lex Long have had stand-out moments in camp. Coaches have tried to rotate a variety of players at the safety spots to get those younger guys reps while keeping the veterans healthy.

On a defense that is striving to be more physical than it played a season ago, Clary’s goal is to bring a physical edge to the UVa secondary and “intimidate others just by the way I play.”

“I’m excited, man,” he admitted. “I’m excited to see what goes on and how it unfolds. I’m gonna run and hit and play ball and it’s gonna be fun.”

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