Clemson’s Tony Elliott thought this Gamecock defender had a future on offense
At some point on Saturday, Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott will try to catch up with South Carolina senior safety R.J. Roderick.
The relationship between the two goes back to Roderick’s prep days when Elliott tried to recruit him as a running back out of Cane Bay High School in Summerville. Roderick was a quarterback for Cane Bay and managed to rush for 1,778 yards and 23 touchdowns during his junior season.
At the time, Elliott was also recruiting tailback Zamir White, who ultimately chose Georgia. That resulted in the Tigers looking at and signing Lyn-J Dixon, who spent four years at Clemson — then, in September, he announced a decision to transfer.
Back for the 2018 class, Elliott wanted to make sure he checked all the boxes when it came to running backs, so he went to visit Roderick.
“When I went down there and spent some time with him and talked to him and his mom and his coach, (he was an) unbelievable character kid, very, very humble,” Elliott said. “I just felt like I saw something there watching him practice and run around that made me believe he could play running back.”
The Tigers coordinator compared Roderick to former S.C. Mr. Football Tramel Terry in that he ultimately chose to play defense in college instead of sticking with the running back position. Terry went to Georgia as a cornerback as part of the Class of 2013, then switched back to offense after he transferred to Jacksonville State University in January 2016.
Roderick, however, signed with Will Muschamp’s staff, went into college as a safety and has stuck with playing on the defensive side of the ball since his arrival in Columbia in 2018. He started in 22 games over 31 played during his first three seasons. Now a senior, he’s totaled 52 tackles, fourth-most on the Gamecocks’ squad, and has forced two fumbles and recovered one in 10 games played.
“I thought he was a running back, but he’s turned out to have a great career as a safety down there,” Elliott said. “Very, very good kid and I enjoyed getting to know him. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to see him and just tell him how proud I am of him.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Clemson’s Tony Elliott thought this Gamecock defender had a future on offense."
