C.J. Spiller ‘Was Born to Come to Clemson’ - Former Tiger, now RBs Coach will be inducted into school’s Ring of Honor on Saturday

I remember the first big play of C.J. Spiller’s Clemson career. I am sure a lot of you out there still do.

It was on September 9, 2006, at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Clemson was playing Boston College and it was midway through the second quarter when Spiller took a swing pass from quarterback Will Proctor around his own 20, went up the far sideline, cut inside, while making the entire BC defense miss and raced into the open field for an 82-yard TD.

It was the beginning of things to come and something all of us got accustomed to.

Spiller was fun to watch, still the most electrifying player I have ever covered.

“C.J. is one of a kind,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “He is a remarkable human being, first of all. And even as a young player, he was incredibly wise way beyond his years. He had a great vision for what he wanted to do.”

What Spiller did was change Clemson.

Before Spiller, the Tigers just could not quiet land that five-star caliber player like they used to back in the Danny Ford years.

From 1977-’91, Clemson was a power in college football, similar to the way the program is now. Players were not classified as five stars back then put look at the lineage that came through the Clemson Football program in those days – Jerry Butler, Dwight Clark, Jim Stuckey, Bubba Brown, Jeff Davis, Cliff Austin, Kevin Mack, Perry Tuttle, the Perrys, Terrence Flagler, Kenny Flowers, Levon Kirkland, Ed McDaniel, Terry Allen, James Trapp, Check McGlockton and of course the guy that started it all, Steve Fuller.

Spiller was like Fuller. He changed the program.

Before Fuller, Clemson was stuck in mediocrity. With him, and after he left, the program hit heights it had never seen before.

Fuller came to Clemson in 1975. By 1977, the Tigers were back in the bowl picture and in 1978 won their first ACC Championship in 11 years at the time.

Three years later, the Tigers won their first National Championship and went on an unprecedented run throughout the 1980s.

Unfortunately, things cooled off after Ford’s departure in January of 1990, leaving Clemson to wander in the desert for almost 20 years.

However, that all changed when Spiller came to Clemson.

“C.J., I think, was born to come to Clemson,” Swinney said.

And thank goodness that was the case.

Spiller broke countless records as a player, and still holds ACC single-season and career records for all-purpose yards, posting 2,680 in 2009 and finishing his career with 7,588, which was second-most in FBS history at the time of his graduation.

In 2009, his senior season, Spiller finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting after winning ACC Player of the Year honors and being selected as a unanimous first-team All-American. He became the first college football player in the history of the Walter Camp All-America team to be first or second-team All-American at two positions in the same year.

He recorded 21 career touchdowns covering at least 50 yards and had an ACC-record eight kick returns for touchdowns in his career, which at one point was an NCAA record.

To put it mildly, Spiller was special.

“He was my first five-star here. He was my first first-rounder. He was my first Pro Bowler. He was my first College Football Hall of Famer and now the first Ring of Honor guy,” Swinney said. “I am really excited for him.”

Since Spiller, Clemson has enticed great players like Tajh Boyd, DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, Mike Williams, DeShaun Watson, Christian Wilkins, Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and Tee Higgins to come and play.

Spiller took Clemson to its first ACC Championship Game in 2009 and though the Tigers did not win it, he was still voted the game’s MVP. Two years later, Clemson won its first ACC Championship in 20 years and five years after that it won its first National Championship.

How much does Spiller love Clemson?

After his NFL career came to an end in 2017, he returned to Clemson. He eventually joined Swinney’s coaching staff in 2020 and now serves as the Tigers’ running backs coach, where he is guiding and directing young men to become, not only great football players, but great men, too.

“Our relationship is like a father and son. I mean I love him like a son,” Swinney said. “He is special in every regard, and it is awesome to just watch him become a great father… A great husband… He is just awesome. He is the epitome of the Clemson Spirit. He is a guy that walked away from a lot to come Clemson.”

When I think of Spiller, I think of two plays that define what kind of player he was. The first was in 2006, when he took another Proctor swing pass near the far sideline and did something I still have not seen repeated, cutting outside to make one Georgia Tech player miss and then back inside to make another before hitting the burners down the sideline for a long touchdown.

Spiller made Clemson Football fun to watch again, and like Swinney said, “C.J. was born to come to Clemson.”