Clemson walked off the field of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, disappointed with a 38-24 loss. A self-described roller-coaster of a season came to an end.
However, there were positives to take from the bitter defeat at the hands of the Longhorns. Junior wide receiver Adam Randall entered the game with just 15 receptions on the season, totaling 154 yards and two touchdowns.
Dabo Swinney had different ideas for how to utilize Randall.
“[Phil] Mafah couldn’t go,” he said. “At halftime we knew that was probably it for him. We slipped Adam in there, played a little running back for us today and popped some runs.”
The much-speculated move to running back for the Myrtle Beach, S.C. product was deliberated by Swinney after the Tigers’ ACC Championship victory over SMU on December 7.
“After the championship game, we were just like, you know what, the best thing he does is run with the ball,” he said. “Let’s see if we can create a little role for him and see how he looks. He looked great in practice. I’m sure y’all knew that. Y’all know everything.”
Building on his high-impact kickoff return in the ACC Championship, Randall showcased his versatility with 44 yards on four carries, including a 41-yard burst on his first attempt. These were the first rushes of his college career.
“He did some good stuff,” Swinney remarked. “He’s a natural [at running back], and that’s something that we want to try to grow this spring. We’ve talked about maybe trying to transition him there, and see if we can kind of rebrand him a little bit. Let’s see what he looks like as a 230 pound back that can fly and has ball skills. We’ll see how that works out for him.”
Randall wouldn’t be the first collegiate running back to transition from receiver in recent history. Just this season, SMU’s Brashard Smith rushed for 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns. Coming out of high school, Smith was one of the nation’s best wide receivers, and ranked as a four-star prospect.
Randall began his career at Clemson with excitement for the player he could become. However, he’s tallied just 48 catches for 533 yards and two touchdowns over his first three years at Clemson. Seeing that he hasn’t been as big of a piece in the receiving game, as well as freshmen wideouts T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco making waves as true freshmen, a move like this makes sense.
The main difference between Randall and Smith is that Smith came into SMU’s program as a wide receiver, but transitioned to running back under head coach Rhett Lashlee’s system. Randall already has three seasons under Clemson’s scheme, so the learning curve should be quicker under offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
Looking forward to Clemson’s running back room, the future remains somewhat in flux. The likely departure of Phil Mafah for the NFL Draft leaves the starting job up for grabs. After him, it’s a battle between Keith Adams, Jarvis Green, and David Eziomume.
Though it feels likely that Adams would take over for Mafah, there’s the possibility that Randall could be a dynamic change-of-pace back for the Tigers in the 2025 season. It will certainly be interesting to see where the rising senior finds himself on the depth chart by the time Clemson’s spring game is played in 2025.
