The American Football Coaches Association announced today that Clemson running back Darien Rencher has been named to the 2021 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team for his service work in the Upstate South Carolina community.
Rencher becomes the eighth member of the Clemson program all-time to earn an AFCA Good Works Team distinction, joining Robert Carswell (1999), Nick Eason (2000), Xavier Dye (2009), Deshaun Watson (2016), Sean Pollard (2018), Dabo Swinney (2019) and Trevor Lawrence (2020). This marks Clemson’s fourth straight year with an AFCA Good Works team selection.
The Good Works Team selection adds to Rencher’s growing list of community accolades. Last year, he earned the 2020 Disney Spirit Award for his leadership amid college football’s push to overcome social injustice and mobilize the #WeWantToPlay movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, he was named as Clemson’s 2021 Community MVP as nominated by Dabo Swinney at the South Carolina Coaches for Charity event benefiting the Fisher DeBerry Foundation.
The accolades for Rencher — a native of nearby Anderson, S.C. — honor his distinguished service record in his six years at Clemson. In addition to becoming an in-demand public speaker, he has volunteered to benefit underserved local youths at “Kicks, Cleats, Kids,” served Golden Harvest Food Bank and Anderson Interfaith Ministries, conducted classroom readings at Clemson Elementary, visited seniors at a local retirement community, volunteered with pediatric cancer patients, participated in the Call Me MISTER program and more.
The full 2021 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team is included below.
Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
Darien Rencher, Clemson University
Camren McDonald, Florida State University
Harry Miller, Ohio State University
Mac Brown, Ole Miss
Sean Clifford, Penn State University
Nakobe Dean, University of Georgia
Kenneth Horsey, University of Kentucky
Cal Adomitis, University of Pittsburgh
Mo Hasan, University of Southern California
Race Porter, University of Washington
Elijah McAllister, Vanderbilt University
Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III, and NAIA
Austin Phillips, Ashland University
Jaran Roste, Bethel University (Minn.)
Chibuike Odo, Davidson College
Deven Osborne, Dixie State University
Alnazir Blackman, Farleigh Dickinson University-Florham
Philip Green, Minot State University
Jessie Malit, North Carolina Central University
Alex Shillow, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Hunter Rodrigues, UC Davis
DeValon Whitcomb, University of South Dakota
Julius Wilkerson, Wayne State University
Honorary Head Coach
Matt Wells, Texas Tech University
To learn more about the 2021 AFCA Good Works Team, including stories surrounding players’ accomplishments within their communities, visit ESPN.com/Allstate.