C.J. Spiller Joins Clemson's Staff

Clemson great C.J. Spiller will be working with Tony Elliott and Dabo Swinney this fall as a graduate assistant coach, Swinney announced Tuesday.

Tony Elliott's running back room just got a lot stronger, if that's possible.

While the Clemson offensive coordinator and RB coach already has one of the best rushers in the nation in Travis Etienne, now he will be helped this fall by legendary Clemson rusher C.J. Spiller, head coach Dabo Swinney announced Tuesday.

Spiller, an All-American in football and track and field who played from 2006-09, enrolled at Clemson to get his masters in athletic leadership and work as a graduate assistant under Swinney and Elliott.

"Oh by the way, we just added another pretty good unpaid grad intern today named C.J. Spiller," Swinney said. "Pretty excited about having him join us. He told me on Sunday that he was beginning his coaching career at 33. He's 33 now. It blows my mind. He actually joined us today." 

Spiller was a unanimous All-American selection in 2009 and was also named ACC Player of the Year that same season. He holds the ACC record for all-purpose yards with 7,588 yards, and when he finished his four-year career, his 3,547 rushing yards ranked fourth in school history. He's also a member of the 2020 Clemson Hall of Fame class.

He'll get to work with as good a backfield as there is in college football. Spiller spoke Monday about Etienne and how good he thinks he'll be at the next level. Spiller, who was a first-round draft pick in 2010, spent eight years in the NFL and will be able to use that experience to get Etienne ready for the pros. 

"Really excited about having that guy joining that that running back room," Swinney said. "Tony's got it. He's got a pretty good squad and he's done a great job."