2009 Clemson Tigers football
ACC Atlantic Division champion
Music City Bowl champion
Music City Bowl, W 21–13 vs. Kentucky
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
DivisionAtlantic Division
Ranking
APNo. 24
Record9–5 (6–2 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBilly Napier (1st season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorKevin Steele (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
(Capacity: 81,500, grass)
2009 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Atlantic Division
No. 24 Clemson x  6 –2   9 –5  
Boston College  5 –3   8 –5  
Florida State  4 –4   7 –6  
Wake Forest  3 –5   5 –7  
NC State  2 –6   5 –7  
Maryland  1 –7   2 –10  
Coastal Division
No. 13 Georgia Tech * x$  7 –1   11 –3  
No. 10 Virginia Tech  6 –2   10 –3  
No. 19 Miami (FL)  5 –3   9 –4  
North Carolina *  0 –4   0 –5  
Duke  3 –5   5 –7  
Virginia  2 –6   3 –9  
Championship: Georgia Tech 39, Clemson 34
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • North Carolina vacated 8 wins, including 4 ACC wins.
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2009 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS 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, but after securing the title lost to in–state rival South Carolina in the Palmetto Bowl 34–17,[1] before losing for the second time in the season to Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game.[2] Clemson closed the season with a win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

In the Tigers' 40–24 victory over the Florida State Seminoles on November 7, 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).

C. J. Spiller was named as one of the three finalists for the 2009 Doak Walker Award. Spiller, along with Mark Ingram II of Alabama and Toby Gerhart of Stanford, was selected by a vote of the 130–member Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee. 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.[3]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 56:00 p.m.Middle Tennessee*
ESPN360W 37–1478,371
September 107:30 p.m.at No. 15 Georgia Tech
ESPNL 27–3052,029
September 1912:00 p.m.Boston College
RaycomW 25–777,362
September 263:30 p.m.No. 15 TCU*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC (Football Reunion Weekend)
ESPN360L 10–1471,869
October 312:00 p.m.at Maryland
ESPNUL 21–2446,243
October 1712:00 p.m.Wake Forest
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC (IPTAY Day)
RaycomW 38–374,298
October 243:30 p.m.at No. 8 Miami (FL)
ABC/ESPNW 40–37 OT43,778
October 311:30 p.m.Coastal Carolina*dagger
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC
ESPN360W 49–374,429
November 77:45 p.m.Florida State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC (rivalry, Solid Orange Day)
ESPNW 40–2476,656
November 1412:00 p.m.at NC StateNo. 24
RaycomW 43–2357,583
November 213:30 p.m.VirginiaNo. 18
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Clemson, SC (Military Appreciation Day)
ABC/ESPNW 34–2177,568
November 2812:00 p.m.at South Carolina*No. 15
ESPNL 17–3480,574
December 58:00 p.m.vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech*No. 25
ESPNL 34–3957,227
December 277:30 p.m.vs. Kentucky*
ESPNW 21–1357,280
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP———RV————RVRV24181525RV24
CoachesRVRV——————RVRVRV1916RVRVRV
HarrisNot released———RVRVRV251917RVRVNot released
BCSNot released————2318——Not released

Jersey numbers

The Clemson Tigers take the field during the 2009 Music City Bowl.

#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 led the 2008 team in fewest plays per tackle, was suffering from an increase in seizures due to epilepsy.[5] On August 18, Coach Swinney announced that several players would alternate wearing #17 during the season as a way to honor Stanley Hunter.[6]

List of Players wearing #17 during the season:

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

#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.[7]

#28 jersey

At the end of the season, Head Coach Dabo Swinney announced that they would retire the #28 jersey worn by C. J. Spiller at a ceremony when the Tigers play Maryland at home on Oct. 16, 2010.

Personnel

Incoming recruiting class

  • Malliciah Goodman (DE; Florence, South Carolina; West Florence HS)
  • J.K. Jay (OL; Greenville, South Carolina; Christ Church Episcopal School)
  • Jonathan Meeks (S; Rock Hill, South Carolina; Rock Hill HS)
  • Tyler Shatley (FB; Valdese, North Carolina; East Burke HS)
  • Brandon Thomas (OL; Spartanburg, South Carolina; Dorman HS)
  • Bryce McNeal (WR; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Breck HS)
  • Roderick McDowell (RB; Sumter, South Carolina; Sumter HS)
  • Tajh Boyd (QB; Hampton, Virginia; Phoebus HS)
  • Spencer Shuey (LB/DE; Charlotte, North Carolina; South Mecklenburg HS)
  • Quandon Christian (LB; Lake View, South Carolina; Lake View HS)
  • Corico Hawkins (LB; Milledgeville, Georgia; Baldwin HS)
  • Darell Smith (TE/BAN; Gadsden, Alabama; Gadsden City HS)
  • Taylor Ogle (QB; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Gatlinburg-Pittman HS)
  • Octavius Lewis(SS;Orlando, FL Maynard Evans HS)

Depth chart

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

Coaching staff

2010 NFL Draft

Clemson had five players selected in the 2010 NFL Draft. C. J. Spiller went in the first round as the ninth overall pick.

PlayerTeamRoundPick #Position
C. J. SpillerBuffalo Bills1st9thRB
Jacoby FordOakland Raiders4th108thWR
Ricky SappPhiladelphia Eagles5th143thDE
Crezdon ButlerPittsburgh Steelers5th164thDB
Kavell ConnerIndianapolis Colts7th240thLB

References

  1. ↑ South Carolina Dominates Clemson, 34–17
  2. ↑ Yellow Jackets' late touchdown sinks Tigers for ACC crown
  3. ↑ "C. J. Spiller Named 2009 ACC Player of the Year". Atlantic Coast Conference. December 2, 2009. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  4. ↑ "2010 Clemson Football Media Guide" (PDF). Clemson University. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  5. ↑ Melton, Kevin (July 25, 2009). "Clemson's Stanley Hunter forced to quit football". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Archived from the original on July 31, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Clemson Football Practice Report: Day 13". Clemson Athletics. Archived from the original on August 22, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Chancellor to wear No. 6 as tribute". ESPN. Associated Press. October 20, 2009. Archived from the original on October 23, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
  8. 1 2 "2011 Tiger Football - Clemson Post-Spring Depth Chart" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2012.
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