A tragedy heard around the college football world today hit close to home at Clemson.
A few hundred miles away in Charlottesville, Virginia, three University of Virginia football players were fatally shot Sunday night while returning from an off-campus field trip. The university went into lockdown mode at the time as law enforcement searched for the gunman.
That hunt ended this morning when UVA police announced that a suspect, Chris Jones Jr., had been taken into custody. Jones is a former UVA football player.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all who are involved with that,” Clemson defensive coordinator Wesley Goodwin said this morning. “Just incredibly sad.”
UVA’s football program is in its first season under the direction of Tony Elliott, who’s in his first head coaching job after spending the previous 11 seasons on Dabo Swinney’s staff at Clemson. Elliott spent the last seven as the Tigers’ offensive play caller and was co-offensive coordinator for Clemson’s 2016 and 2018 national championship teams.
Elliott’s successor in that role, Brandon Streeter, worked alongside Elliott for those last seven seasons. Streeter, who initially joined Clemson’s staff in 2015 as a quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in December following Elliott’s departure, said he exchanged some text messages with Elliott after learning of Sunday’s shooting.
“Just said we’re praying for him, his program and obviously the families that were affected,” Streeter said. “Just a really, really tough situation.”
Having worked with him extensively, Streeter said he believes Elliott’s ability to connect with people is exactly what the Cavaliers’ football program needs to heal amid a time of immense pain.
“I know Tony is there for a reason,” Streeter said. “God put him there for a reason, and he has done an unbelievable job wherever he’s been just dealing with people. He’s a people guy, and he knows the right thing to say and how to move forward. But our thoughts and prayers are up for those families that are affected and obviously the program and Coach Elliott.”
Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.
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