Clemson Spring Practice: Will Shipley Looking to "Add Whole New Dimension" to Offense

Entering his third season, Clemson running back Will Shipley is looking to put his full skillset on display.

Will Shipley is a known commodity. One of the top returning backs in college football, Shipley has certainly lived up to his 5-star rating over the past couple of seasons, but now he faces a unique challenge. For the third time in as many seasons, Will Shipley will be working with a new offensive coordinator. Brandon Streeter took over for Tony Elliot in 2022 following Elliot taking the Virginia head coaching position. That lasted just one season. Now, Garrett Riley has taken over and Will Shipley is learning how he fits in.

“I think just being used in different ways,” said Shipley following Monday’s spring practice. “Kind of what I came here to do, and just being able to expand the offense. I think that there are not very many players like me. To be able to see that and already have coach Riley set me out [at receiver] and try different things, as we’re still trying to learn a new offense, has been pretty cool for me. I think I can add a whole new dimension to this offense.”

Will Shipley enters 2023 with 2,279 yards from scrimmage in his career

That dimension would seem to be a running back that doesn’t come off the field. Shipley expanded on the thought of seeing his receiving numbers go up. “No doubt. We’ve already seen it so far in spring. Excited to see how it kind of expands as we learn the offense and grow… I’m not worried about how many rushing yards I have, just how many opportunities I get, and how much I can help this offense.”

This isn’t to say that Clemson is going to abandon the run. While at TCU in 2022, Riley’s offense averaged 37.7 rushes for 193.3 yards per game. For reference, Clemson averaged 177.9 yards per game on more carries. “I don’t see it as any air raid offense,” said Shipley. “We’re out there running outside zone, inside zone, counter. Everything we did last season, it’s just a different dynamic.”