Clemson QB Taisun Phommachanh's Mindset, Faith Help Lead to Fast Recovery

Clemson backup quarterback Taisun Phommachanh is back and ready to go if needed against Georgia just 22 Saturdays after fully tearing his Achilles tendon.

When Clemson's D.J. Uiagalelei dropped a little nugget during ACC Kickoff in July that backup quarterback Taisun Phommachanh was aiming to come back from an Achilles injury by Week 2 of the regular season, it sounded preposterous. 

It turns out, that timetable was wrong. Phommachan, the Bridgeport, Conn., sophomore, is back this week against Georgia, just 22 Saturdays removed from completely tearing the key tendon in the Tigers' annual spring game. It's nothing short of a miracle.

"My mindset was, this ain't nothing but a sprained ankle," Phommachanh said Tuesday. "That's how I treated it. That's how I went about it. I knew I was going to be back. I knew it would take a tough mindset, lots of prayer and I knew it was going to be rough. I wanted to keep my head down and just work."

That he did. Phommachanh suffered his serious injury during the final drive of the spring game. He threw a pass to keep the possession alive, and when he got up to run to the next play, he felt a pop and like someone "kicked" him in his leg. 

At the time, doctors told him he'd be out an entire year, a typical timeline for this injury. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney didn't sound optimistic in April about Phommachanh returning during the fall, and the Tigers had to get walk-on Hunter Helms ready to back up Uiagalelei. 

But Phommachanh had other plans. He said as soon as he heard his prognosis, he thought "no way" and went to work to beat that timetable by more than six months. 

I had to put in the hard work, the extra work," Phommachanh said. "It took a lot of strength work, a lot of treatment, a lot of rehab."

He said he went to treatment twice a day and did even more rehab on his own. When fall camp kicked off Aug. 6, Phommachanh was running around with the quarterbacks like nothing had ever happened, and Swinney was talking positively about an in-season return. 

Then, about three weeks later, Phommachanh was fully cleared by Clemson's medical staff, and if the No. 3 Tigers need him against No. 5 Georgia on Saturday, he's ready to go. 

"It was news to everybody, but I knew," Phommachanh said. "I knew I was going to be back."

Phommachahn found an incredible amount of inner strength. He felt bad about it when first learning of his initial prognosis, but then woke up the next morning and turned his mindset around. For him, this was nothing compared to the tragedy his family suffered last December when their home burned down. 

Phommachanh was actually "grateful" for the adversity in April and said he used the rehab process to sharpen himself and become a better man, relying heavily on his faith in God to get him back on the field physically. 

"Growing up, my mom, my dad, my whole family, we're very spiritual people," Phommachahn said. "It was never having no doubt in God. I always had faith in Him. I always had trust in Him. I knew it was going to work out."

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