Today, Clemson wideouts Troy Stellato and Adam Randall were interviewed following their fall camp practice. Stellato and Randall discussed their relationship with their starting quarterback and their respective states of health. Stellato also mentioned his versatility as a wide receiver, and Randall emphasized his development as a leader within his position group.
Healthier than ever
The Clemson receiver room has been riddled with injuries over the past couple of years and the junior receiving duo of Stellato and Randall have seen it first-hand since arriving at Clemson.
Stellato arrived at Clemson in 2021 and had his first two seasons derailed by multiple injuries, including an ACL tear in fall of 2022. He was finally able to post a breakout campaign this past season, recording 39 receptions for 337 yards and one touchdown.
While he managed to play through the entire season, Stellato came out and said that he tore his labrum late in their home game against North Carolina, resulting in him having to get surgery on it in the off-season; still being unable to get rid of that injury bug.
However, he seems to be in high spirits and healthy as can be, expressing how ready he is for the season to begin and shaking off comments about him being “injury prone.”
“I don’t want to miss anymore time man. Like I’ve missed my first two years here and it’s like sitting from the sidelines, obviously being a highly-recruited guy coming out of high school and not playing for two years was super hard on me. If my legs not snapped in half… I’m getting back up and I’m going out there and I’m playing through it.”
Troy Stellato
“Yeah I don’t really understand that [injury prone comments], I’ve seen that a little bit. Obviously I was injury prone for the first two years…and then freshman year I had all these little injuries… so it’s managing that and everything. But I didn’t miss a game last year and I try to take pride in that because I believe with some of the things I had to deal with, maybe even would’ve missed a game or two but I didn’t want to, I wanted to play through it.”
Troy Stellato
While Randall has managed to play in every game of his Clemson career, he’s still dealt with his fair share of injuries as well, tearing his ACL in spring of 2022 and dealing with small, lingering issues over time.
But, this year he appears to be healthier than ever and is poised for a possible breakout campaign this upcoming season after posting 22 receptions for 250 yards last season and getting an increase in starting reps.
“It’s [trusting his knee] definitely an element to it when you get injured, you don’t want to go out there and play fearful, but you know you can say that all you want but until you go out there and do it, it means nothing. Being able to go out there and have some confidence and some leadership skills… it drives me every single day. I wake up to come live and see the wide receivers in the room, see the offense, because I love playing with those guys and I want to play for those guys, lay my life on the line for them everyday.”
Adam Randall
“It really means a lot that people have a lot of confidence in me but off the field it means nothing because people label you a breakout candidate one week and a bust the next week, so you got to have your own why and your own reason to come out here everyday. I mean I don’t go read Twitter comments every single day to go out here in this 95 degree heat and practice. I wake up everyday and want to fight for my teammates and fight for these coaches… not because of Twitter and fans, even though I do love our fans, they’re great.
Adam Randall
Chemistry with Cade Klubnik and WR Depth
Now that the position group is fully healthy and ready to go this season, their chemistry with starting quarterback Cade Klubnik has gone through an improvement too. Randall mentions how close he is with his quarterback off the field, while Stellato expressed his excitement for the versatility there’s access to due to their position depth.
“Me and Cade have lived together for two years and our off the field relationship is really strong. We’re just working every single day to get our on the field relationship very strong, like me knowing where he wants me to be at the right time… When we’re on the same page it’s like night and day, we’re just going back and forth, back and forth, so I just want us to be on the same page at all times and we’re going to have that this year.”
Adam Randall
“It’s [WR health] huge because we got 5-6 guys this year that I view all as starters, we got a lot of talent, it’s a deep room this year. Everyone’s been available for the summer and TJ [Moore] just got here, he looked great. [Bryant] Wesco had a great spring so having them two now too in the mix, it’s been huge for us as a cohesion. We can throw in guys… We’re going to be flexible.”
Troy Stellato
In 2023, Klubnik threw for 2,844 yards, 19 touchdowns, and nine interceptions with a completion percentage of 63.9%. Additionally, he ran for 182 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
The junior Quarterback had a good first full season at the helm of the Clemson offense but looks to take the next step this upcoming season.
Randall has become a leader in the WR room
There must be a leader to follow and a tone set as more young wideout recruits like Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore enter the Clemson locker room. With that being said, it looks to be Adam Randall taking ahold of that role this year, speaking a lot about his influence and approach to the young guys.
“I’ve been here the longest other than two other receivers so I felt like it was my time to step up and take that role as the leader in the room and one of the leaders on the team. I just want to show it in my daily commitment to lead within the room and with on the team. I want to be the example for my teammates, especially in the wide receiver room, of a guy that’s just going to come in and work day in and day out and be vocal when I need to be vocal.”
Adam Randall
The Myrtle Beach native even went out of his way to buy his entire position room “WRU” shirts back in the spring, instilling confidence in his teammates.
“It was something that I had on my bucket list when I came to Clemson. All the receivers had those cool Wide Receiver U shirts on when I was a kid…but it kind of got discontinued when I got here so I wanted to bring that element back into the room and instill confidence in the room. I just want them to go out and be Wide Receiver U like I know they can be, we got the players, we got the personality, we just got to go out there and do it.”
Adam Randall
Wide Receiver Coach Grisham gave high praise to Randall, comparing his leadership traits to former Clemson standout receiver, Amari Rodgers.
“Me and Amari kind of have had a close relationship since I’ve been at Clemson. He’s a really great guy, everybody has their own leadership styles, I just really enjoy watching Amari and I take some wisdom from him. I watch a lot of his clips, especially on the field, and we talk off the field so he’s been a good mentor, getting back and instilling that into me. I just kind of want to leave in my own way and make my mark on the receiver room and at Clemson.”
Adam Randall
