Clemson’s ground game didn’t always have much room to breathe in 2025, and running backs coach C.J. Spiller knows it. With a new offensive coordinator in Chad Morris, a new starting quarterback and the end of the Adam Randall experiment at running back, Spiller sees 2026 as a fresh start - one with a different look, but the same demand for efficiency.
Spiller framed it the way he often does: like an artist stepping up to a blank canvas. Each season brings its own picture, and this one comes with a different set of tools than last year.
“I think it’s just been a bit more urgency that you got to have,” he said last week during Clemson’s media day, “and I think these guys, they have responded really well so far when it comes to execution of it all.”
That urgency is tied closely to the quarterback competition between redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina and true freshman Tait Reynolds. Spiller doesn’t view either player as the kind of quarterback who can carry the offense alone, but he does see a chance for the run game to benefit from what both bring.
“I mean, obviously, the quarterback run game helps the run game,” he said. ‘So, that’s something that’s always been a big emphasis for Coach Swinney since he’s been here as a head coach: having a quarterback that can run it.”
Last season, Clemson was too often stuck in one gear. In five of its 13 games, no Tiger rushed for more than 50 yards. That’s the kind of stretch Spiller wants to leave behind, and he believes the answer may come through a committee approach featuring sophomore standout Gideon Davidson and SMU transfer Chris Johnson Jr.
He isn’t locking himself into a rigid split. For Spiller, the rotation will be shaped by health, rhythm and the way each game unfolds.
“The biggest thing when it comes to playing this running back position is you want to keep guys healthy throughout the whole season,” he said. “I don’t want to say, ‘Hey, it’s going to be one guy going to get it 60% of the time, another guy going to get 40%.’ It just depends on the flow of the game.”
The quarterback run element matters for another reason, too: it can keep defenses from pinning their ears back and attacking Clemson’s backs downhill.
“It keeps defenses honest, and you know, obviously as a running back, it helps you put out those defenses,” Spiller added, “then they just can’t come off the edge, teeing off on you because they have to respect a guy that can pull the ball and get positive yards.”
For Clemson, the pieces are there to build a much better run game in 2026. Morris has brought a little more emphasis to that part of the offense, and Spiller is ready to see what comes out of the process.
“He’s got a new canvas, and [he’s] got to see how he painted, and that’s what I’m looking forward to, seeing how this art turned out,” the running back coach said.
Now it’s a matter of whether Clemson can turn that new look into something far sharper than what it showed a year ago.
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