On more than one occasion, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has compared freshman running back Demarkcus Bowman to Tigers legend C.J. Spiller, citing their similar track speed, explosiveness and playmaking ability.

Spiller – who accounted for 7,588 all-purpose yards and 51 total touchdowns during his college career from 2006-09, earning unanimous All-American and ACC Player of the Year honors in 2009 – spoke about Bowman earlier this week at the Sharone Wright Benefit Golf Tournament at the Walker Course in Clemson.

Spiller has only been able to watch Bowman on film so far but has high expectations for his fellow Sunshine State native.

“I’ve only seen his high school highlights, honestly,” said Spiller, who will be an unpaid graduate assistant on Swinney’s staff in 2020. “I haven’t been to any practices this year yet, so I haven’t seen him in person. But from what I understand, he’s very fast. Any time you run track and you run a 10.4, you know you have speed. Then also, he’s a Florida boy. C’mon now — it’s the Florida connection. So, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Bowman played in a slow-paced, huddle offense at Lakeland (Fla.) High School, so he is having to get adjusted to Clemson’s no-huddle, up-tempo attack. But Spiller sees a bright future ahead for Bowman once he gets the system down.

“I bet the biggest thing for him is just learning the playbook, honestly, coming from the style of offense that he ran to the style that we run here at Clemson,” Spiller said. “It’s totally different, so the biggest thing for him is just getting into that playbook and just trying to learn as much as possible and learn the protections and all that stuff. But I’m pretty sure he’s going to be a very unique talent when it’s all said and done.”

When he enrolled at Clemson this summer after signing in December, Bowman became the first five-star running back from Florida to join the Tigers since Spiller in 2006.

Spiller is glad Bowman chose to be a Tiger and looks forward to seeing what he does in orange in the coming years.

“I’m excited about him, happy that he’s here,” Spiller said. “(He is) the second five-star running back that we’ve gotten out of the state of Florida, so it’s always good to see those guys come up here.”

— Photo courtesy Clemson Athletic Communications

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