From his days when he was a young recruit coming out of Lake Butler, Florida, to his time now as the running backs coach, Clemson always pulled at C.J. Spiller’s heart.
“This place is just special,” Spiller said on Tuesday.
Spiller first fell in love with Clemson on a recruiting trip in January of 2006. A month later, Spiller stunned the college football world when he announced he was going to play his college ball in Tigertown. His visit to Clemson came after he promised a young wide receivers’ coach named Dabo Swinney, that he would at least give Clemson a look.
Swinney, of course, was recruiting former Clemson linebacker Kevin Alexander at the time when Spiller approached him. A friendship was formed and the two have been close ever since.
There were times when people thought Spiller was going to leave Clemson. There was a threat of a transfer following his freshman season after he and teammate James Davis hardly got any carries in the 2006 Music City Bowl.
But Spiller came back.
The Clemson faithful thought they would lose Spiller again after the 2008 season, this time to the NFL Draft. But remembering what his late grandmother said and wanting to set an example for his little sister and anyone else watching in his hometown, Spiller again stunned everyone when he announced he was returning to Clemson for his senior year.
Spiller graduated from Clemson in December of 2009, while becoming one of the greatest overall players in the program’s history. He ended his college career as the 2009 ACC Player of the Year, while also setting the conference’s all-time mark for all-purpose yards, a mark he still owns today with 7,588 yards.
He was picked No. 9 overall by the Buffalo Bills in the 2010 NFL Draft. Spiller played eight seasons in the NFL, while earning Pro Bowl status in 2013.
When his NFL career was over, Spiller once again came back to Clemson.
“I always knew I wanted to do something with Clemson, I just did not know what it was,” he said. “Obviously, this place is just special. I think it is the people. I don’t think, I know it is the people who drew me back.
“When I was deciding if I was going to live here or live down in Tampa, Florida because that was the other destination I was thinking about moving to once I got done. But the [Clemson] people just always came back in my mind. Just how special they were. Not only during my time of playing, but every time I came back while I was playing in the National Football League. It was always a warm reception if that makes sense. That meant more to me than anything else.”
Because of the Clemson people, Spiller always wanted to pay them back. He said they always kept him connected to the university which is why he always wanted to be an ambassador or a spokesperson for his alma mater.
“That is what I was willing to do, because I just knew that this place was special,” Spiller said. “I just knew, and not only athletes, but if kids in general just came here to visit our campus, they would see how special it was and I wanted to be an advocate for that.”
Last year, Swinney made Spiller a part of his staff as an offensive analyst and this past January, he moved him to running backs coach. On Saturday, at halftime of the S.C. State game, he will slip away from his coaching duties for a few minutes to be honored as Clemson’s newest inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Spiller will be enshrined in December.
But despite all the accolades he has received as a player, the 2009 Unanimous All-American says it all comes back to one thing … Clemson. And he loves to tell anyone who will listen just how special Clemson is.
“With me having the opportunity to be the running backs coach here, I am able to go share that message with young athletes across the country,” Spiller said.
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