Clemson's Other Running Backs Take Back Seat Again

With Travis Etienne, Clemson’s all-time leading rusher and two-time ACC Player of the Year, back in the captain’s chair, it set back six other scholarship players who weren't planning to take a back seat to the Tigers' star for another season.

CLEMSON — Clemson coaches and fans celebrated the decision Travis Etienne made to return for his senior season earlier this year.

That sense of joy, however, likely wasn’t felt among the rest of the Tiger running backs.

Even if Etienne had left for the NFL, there was going to be a bit of a logjam at the position where only one player can get on the field at a time.

But with the Clemson’s all-time leading rusher and two-time ACC Player of the Year back in the captain’s chair, it set back six other scholarship players who weren't planning to take a back seat to the Tigers' star for another season.

“For some of those younger guys, they had to make a decision,” Clemson offensive coordinator and running backs coach Tony Elliott said. “A lot of those guys came here probably saying, ‘Hey, (Travis) is probably going to transition (to the NFL) after three years and I’m going to get an opportunity.’”

It won’t happen in 2020, barring something unforeseen. Etienne, who decided to spurn the NFL after receiving a draft grade he didn't like, returns as one of the best backs in all of college football. 

That means another year of second-string reps for Lyn-J Dixon, who’s heading into his junior year with 1,182 rushing yards combined the last seasons.

“I think he was hopeful (Etienne would go pro) in a way, but not in a bad way,” said Elliott, who was in a meeting with Dixon when Etienne called to say he was coming back. “It's nothing personal to Travis. They've got a great relationship, but he was kind of hopeful when Travis was going to move on so that he could naturally step to that.”

You can be rest assured others had similar thoughts. Clemson brought in two running backs in the 2019 class: Chez Mellusi and Mickey Dukes.

Neither redshirted last fall. Mellusi had 276 yards on 44 carries while Dukes rushed for 150 yards on 32 carries and helped out a lot on special teams.

Darien Rencher, a former walk-on, has another year left after earning 26 carries for 135 yards last season.

Then there are two freshmen, neither of who are on campus yet, joining the room this summer. Florida native Demarkcus Bowman is a five-star speedster who’s drawn comparisons to C.J. Spiller, a former Tiger great from the Sunshine State. Kobe Pryor is a four-star prospect with a bowling-ball running style.

As of right now, Elliott feels like the window for defections has closed, but in this era of the transfer portal, you can never say never.

However, the message Elliott has sent to the backs behind Etienne is to stick it out. fight it out, “especially with younger guys,” and see what happens.

“They all want their touches,” Elliott said. “Whenever you go to the fish pond to go feed the fish, you’ve got the pellets, but there's not enough pellets for every fish in the pond right? You drop the pellets and whoever gets to the top. So I said, ‘Fellas, don't worry about how many reps, just worry about the quality of your reps. We've proven over the years that we're going to play four or five guys and we'll try to get you opportunities. So just go compete. And you never know. You never know. You're one snap away.

“Biggest thing for me is having them ready to play, but then also getting the production out of them with special teams, too. I think they can really, really impact us there.”