Note: The following appears in the Furman football gameday program.
An old adage says, “If the shoe fits, wear it.” For Clemson running back Adam Randall, though, the phrase might more accurately read, “If the shoe breaks, run the ball back to the 45-yard line.”
For the senior and team leader, a move from wide receiver to running back mirrored the unconventional arc of his career, and it all started with a broken shoe in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, N.C. against SMU last December.
“(Former running back Phil) Mafah’s shoe actually got blown out,” recalled Randall with a laugh. “So I said, ‘Well, I can at least go fair catch the ball on the kickoff. That’s pretty good field position anyway.’”
Midway through the fourth quarter, his fellow returner on a kickoff, Jarvis Green, did just that, and Clemson took over on the 25-yard line. But soon, with a tie score and time running down, the Tigers needed more than decent field position, they needed a spark.
Randall provided it.
With the score tied and 16 seconds remaining in the game, the Myrtle Beach, S.C. native fielded the kickoff at the four and sliced through Mustang coverage players for 41 yards before finally being brought down at the 45. Suddenly, the Tigers were just one completion away from a game-winning field goal and a College Football Playoff berth.
“Coach (Dabo) Swinney said, ‘As long as you don’t fumble, there’s nothing that can really go wrong here, so take it out.’ Thank God the guy kicked it right into the place where the return was going, and instincts took over.”
Thanks in part to those instincts and a completion to Antonio Williams, Nolan Hauser drilled a 56-yard field goal, the longest game-winning field goal in school history, to send the Tigers to their seventh CFP appearance.
“It was a storybook ending.”
And like any good storybook, movie or mythical tale, the ending marked a new beginning, with a new hero donning orange and purple.
The next day, a conversation with Swinney changed the trajectory of Randall’s story, and his position, for good.
“I was talking with Coach Swinney, and he brought it to my attention, ‘Would you like to switch positions?’ I said, ‘I’ll do anything to help this team.’ So we started that day, and the next practice I was at running back, learning the position. Then at Texas, I had a big run, and it boosted my confidence knowing that I could actually make a switch and be successful at it.”
That “big run” against Texas was a 41-yard burst that sparked a touchdown drive and confirmed what Swinney had imagined on the way home from the ACC Championship Game.
“We talked about trying to transition him there and see if we can rebrand him,” said Swinney ahead of the Texas matchup. “Let’s see what he looks like as a 235-pound back who can fly and has ball skills. We’ll see how that works out for him.”
Through spring, summer and fall, #8 dedicated himself fully to his new position. As quickly as the change was thrust on him, it paid off. In the 2025 season, he has started every game and trails only his former roommate, quarterback Cade Klubnik, in total touchdowns.
But the struggles of taking on a new role paled in comparison to the adversity the former five-star recruit already fought.
After enrolling early, he suffered an ACL tear in April 2022 that sidelined him for that summer. He fought back (in only 169 days) to play 12 games his freshman season, but more injuries quickly followed. A broken hand in 2023 and stress fractures in 2024 limited Randall to sporadic action during his sophomore and junior seasons.
Still, Randall appeared at practice every day, running routes with a club on his hand to avoid more missed time.
“I realized that football can be taken away from you at any moment. I had to find other ways to relate to the world other than being a football player, and luckily I was at a place like Clemson, where you’re so much more than a football player. You’re a part of a family. When I got hurt, so many people reached out to me and showed me that Clemson was the place I needed to be.”
That love for Clemson kept him from entering the transfer portal, filled with hundreds of athletes in similar positions.
Even Swinney knew leaving was a possibility.
“Let’s rebrand you,” said Swinney to Randall. “And if it doesn’t work out, you can leave in May and I’ll do everything I can to help you get in the right spot.”
But Swinney’s backup plan did not account for Randall’s mindset.
“Having all those setbacks and my career not going as planned in my first three years, it gave me the right mindset that if this is something that is going to be good for me, I’m gonna have to put my all into it. I have to make sure I’m fully committed to making this transition. During those setbacks, it showed me how much I needed to work and the commitment that I needed to have to be successful at this level.”
Now as a senior, he stands as a mentor, leader and testament to resilience.
“We’re trying to leave our mark on the younger guys so that they have the great experience we did.”
While his time as a Tiger is closing, one thing is certain. When the shoe broke, Randall was a perfect fit, and he ran straight into the storybook of Clemson history.
