2009 Clemson Tigers football
ACC Atlantic Division Champions Music City Bowl Champions
ACC Championship Game, L 39–34 vs Georgia Tech
Music City Bowl vs. Kentucky, W 21-13
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic
2009 record	9-5 (6-2 ACC)
Head coach	Dabo Swinney
Offensive coordinator	Bill Napier
Offensive scheme	Various
Defensive coordinator	Kevin Steele
Base defense	4-3
Seasons « 2008 2010 »

The 2009 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson University in the 2009 college football season. The Tigers were led by head coach Dabo Swinney, who was in his first full season as head coach. The Tigers played their home games in Memorial Stadium. The Tigers won the ACC Atlantic Division title and the Music City Bowl.

[edit] Notable

In the Tiger's 40-24 victory over the Florida State Seminoles on November 7th, 2009, running back C.J. Spiller and wide receiver Jacoby Ford became the leading all-purpose yardage duo in NCAA history (a record previously held by Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott of San Diego State).

On November 23, 2009, C.J. Spiller was named as one of the three finalists for the 2009 Doak Walker Award. Spiller, along with Mark Ingram of Alabama and Toby Gerhart of Stanford, was selected by a vote of the 130-member Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee. The Committee will cast a second vote to determine the recipient of the 2009 Doak Walker Award. The recipient will be announced live on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards at 7:30 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, December 10. The award will be presented at the 2009 Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet in Dallas on Friday, February 19, 2010.^[1]

On December 2, 2009, Spiller was voted the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. The all-purpose threat was named as the league's top player following a vote of 40 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Spiller received 29 votes to outdistance Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who had eight. Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams, the league's rookie of the year, had two votes and Yellow Jackets defensive end Derrick Morgan had one. Spiller was the nation's only player this season to account for touchdowns five different ways - rushing, passing, receiving, and on kick and punt returns - and had passing, rushing and receiving TDs in one game, a victory against North Carolina State. He returned four kickoffs and a punt for scores this year and has eight total returns for TDs during his career. He scored at least once in every game this season while leading Clemson to the Atlantic Division title and a spot in the league title game against Georgia Tech. Spiller led the ACC with an average of nearly 184 all-purpose yards and was the league's fourth-leading rusher, averaging 76 yards. Spiller is the seventh Tiger to be named player of the year and the first since Michael Dean Perry in 1987.^[2]

[edit] Incoming Recruiting Class

• Malliciah Goodman (DE; Florence, SC; West Florence HS)
• J.K. Jay (OL; Greenville, SC; Christ Church Episcopal School)
• Jonathan Meeks (S; Rock Hill, SC; Rock Hill HS)
• Tyler Shatley (FB; Valdese, NC; East Burke HS)
• Brandon Thomas (OL; Spartanburg, SC; Dorman HS)
• Bryce McNeal (WR; Minneapolis, MN; Breck HS)
• Roderick McDowell (RB; Sumter, SC; Sumter HS)
• Tajh Boyd (QB; Hampton, VA; Phoebus HS)
• Spencer Shuey (LB/DE; Charlotte, NC; South Mecklenburg HS)
• Quandon Christian (LB; Lake View, SC; Lake View HS)
• Corico Hawkins (LB; Milledgeville, GA; Baldwin HS)
• Darell Smith (TE/BAN; Gadsen, AL; Gadsen City HS)
• Taylor Ogle (QB; Gatlinburg, TN; Gatlinburg-Pittman HS)

[edit] Transfers & Departures

[edit] Rankings

[edit] #17 Jersey

on July 25, it was announced that sophomore linebacker Stanley Hunter was forced to quit playing football due to medical reasons. Hunter, who lead the 2008 team in fewest plays per tackle, was suffering from an increase in seizures due to epilepsy. ^[3] On August 18, Coach Swinney announced that several players would alternate wearing #17 during the season as a way to honor Stanley Hunter. ^[4]

List of Players wearing #17 during the season:

• LB Brandon Maye (Middle Tennessee)
• QB Willy Korn (Georgia Tech)
• FB Chad Diehl (Boston College)
• WR Xavier Dye (TCU)
• WR Marquan Jones (Maryland)
• S DeAndre McDaniel (Wake Forest)
• RB Jamie Harper (Miami)
• S Sadat Chambers (Coastal Carolina)
• S Rashard Hall (Florida State)
• CB Crezdon Butler (NC State)
• LB Kavell Conner (Virginia)
• WR Jacoby Ford (South Carolina)

Three of the players who will wear #17 (Korn, Diehl, and Dye) were also teammates with Hunter at James F. Brynes High School in Spartanburg, SC. Stanley Hunter remains a member of the Clemson team, serving as a student-coach this season for the Tigers.

[edit] #6 jersey

Cornerback Chris Chancellor, whose normal number is #38, wore #6, the normal number of wide receiver Jacoby Ford, for the Miami game. (Under college football rules, two or more players on a team can wear the same number as long as only one is on the field at a time.) Chancellor, a native of Miami, made the change with the blessing of both Ford and Swinney in memory of his former high school teammate Jasper Howard, a cornerback who wore #6 for Connecticut and was murdered in the early morning of October 18 following UConn's game against Louisville.^[5]

[edit] Schedule

[edit] Depth Chart

These are the starters, primary backups, and key reserves as of September 2009.

[edit] Coaching staff

• Dabo Swinney - Head Coach
• Billy Napier - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
• Kevin Steele - Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
• Charlie Harbison - Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs
• Danny Pearman - Assistant Head Coach/Tackles & Tight Ends
• Brad Scott - Associate Head Coach/Offensive Guards and Centers
• Dan Brooks - Defensive Tackles
• Andre Powell - Running Backs/Special Teams
• Chris Rumph - Defensive Ends
• Jeff Scott - Recruiting Coordinator/Wide Receivers

[edit] Sources