The 2025 college football season is on its way, and there could be a new feature back in play for Clemson football.
Following the Tigers’ win over Southern Methodist University for the ACC Championship, head coach Dabo Swinney took notice of how well wideout Adam Randall does with the ball in his hand. The junior returned a kick for 41 yards, setting up the Tigers for the game-winning field goal and a bid-in to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020.
“The best thing he does is run with the ball,” Swinney said after the ACC Championship. “So hey, let’s see if we can create a little role for him and see how he looks, and he looked great in practice.”
During Clemson’s first-round College Football Playoff matchup against Texas, Randall lived up to Swinney’s words and showed off his versatile skill set in the backfield, recording a career-high four carries for 44 yards. In a time when Clemson needed a spark in the game, the junior broke out for a 41-yard carry, proving his worth in the Tigers’ backfield.
While the Tigers would lose the contest 38-24, Randall’s impressive performance at running back sparked interest in Swinney immediately.
“He did some good stuff, man,” Swinney said. “He is a natural, and that’s something that we want to try to grow this spring.”
“We talked about maybe trying to transition him there and see if we can kind of rebrand him a little bit,” Swinney added. “Let’s see what he looks like as a 230-pound back that can fly and got ball skills. We’ll see how that works out for him.”
With Randall receiving career-low snaps — 242 in 2024 — he’ll look to take increasing snaps at running back next year.
That said, the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, native is no stranger to the position. Randall helped his high school team make big plays as a running back.
The 6-foot-2 receiver came into Clemson as a four-star prospect and a top 20 wide receiver nationally after posting 2,493 receiving yards and 28 receiving touchdowns in his three-year varsity tenure at Myrtle Beach High School.
However, most don’t know he also saw a good bit of snaps out of the backfield.
As a junior in 2020, Randall was used at the position in four separate games, carrying the ball 11 times for 78 yards and one touchdown, previewing his adaptability and out-of-position strengths.
His best year at the position came in his final year, where he would reach a career-high in all running back statistics. The 225-pound receiver was utilized in eight games and racked up 45 carries for 325 yards and seven touchdowns with zero fumbles.
His best performance came in the 2021 4A SCHSL Playoffs against Beaufort High School, where he ran for 68 yards and two touchdowns on 12 touches. The performance included a massive 43-yard gain.
Unfortunately for Randall, the Myrtle Beach Seahawks would live and die by the strong run game led by Randall. Head coach Mickey Wilson used his four-star wideout as a powerback for a two-point conversion on the potential game-winning play but fell short of the goal line, losing 20-19 and ending Randall’s high school career.
Swinney seems to have laid the groundwork for Randall to excel at the position next year but only time will tell how he progresses. With the departure of Phil Mafah, the starting running back spot is wide open, and the rising senior may throw his helmet in the mix of potential takers.
