One-on-one with Will Shipley, top Clemson signee: Why this class has chip on shoulder
Weddington High School (NC) running back Will Shipley signed with Clemson on Wednesday morning as the headliner of the early signing period for the Tigers’ 2021 recruiting.
The five-star prospect chose Clemson over Notre Dame. He also held offers from most of the top schools in the country, including Alabama and Georgia. 247Sports lists him as 5-foot-11, 198 pounds and the No. 1 all-purpose running back in the nation.
N.C. high schools didn’t have a fall 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shipley as a junior rushed for 2,066 yards on 188 carries (11.0 yards per rush) and scored 31 rushing touchdowns. He had 4,173 yards on 503 carries (8.3 yards per rush) in his three-year high school career. He scored 80 touchdowns in his career — 55 rushing, 23 receiving and two on defense.
Before making his decision official on Wednesday, Shipley spoke with The State about a variety of topics, including Saturday’s ACC championship game. Shipley’s two finalists will square off in the game, with the winner clinching a spot in the College Football Playoff.
What are your emotions like as you sign with Clemson?
Shipley: This is a dream come true for me. I’ve wanted to do this since a really young age. To finally put pen to paper and make it official, go to the best university in the nation, I’m very, very excited.
What was it about Clemson that put them over the top and made them your choice?
Shipley: Just the family culture, the fact that they incorporate God. They all have their priorities straight. You’re not going to find a group of better people. I think that it’s going to make me the best person that I can be on the field, as well as off the field. I don’t think there’s any other place that would be able to do what Clemson’s going to do for me. It’s the best place for my family and I. It’s made up of great people.
What are your expectations for your freshman season and how do you feel like you can help right away?
Shipley: One thing I take pride in is being versatile, being able to do whatever the coaching staff, whatever my teammates need me to do, whether that’s on special teams, scout team, helping people out. My expectation as a very competitive football player, very competitive person, is to go in and compete for the job from Day 1. I want to go in there early and just compete, make my peers better, and I know in return they’ll be making me better.
How would you describe yourself as a running back? What is it that makes you so good and so versatile?
Shipley: I think one thing that helps me out on the field is I can be split out and put against a cornerback or a nickel or a safety and still be productive, still be successful. Any time I’m lined up on a linebacker, I’m 100 percent confident that I’m gonna win that battle every single time.
So I think I create mismatches that it’s gonna be hard for the defense to game plan against. And with all the other weapons that we have at Clemson, that just adds another level to it and makes it easier for coach Elliott, for D.J. or hopefully Trevor next year, makes it easier for everyone on the field.
What’s your relationship like with some of the other members of the recruiting class?
Shipley: We’re all really close. Ever since I committed on Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, I’ve gotten a chance to talk with every single one of them and become really close with them. I couldn’t be any more excited to go in with a group of people like they are. I’ve gotten really close with Phil Mafah, Ryan Linthicum, Marcus Tate, Troy Stellato. I’d say those are a few that I’ve gotten really close with, as well as Barrett Carter. Those are the guys that I’ve gotten to speak to most.
That’s just a small list of names. That’s the group that I’ve gotten to know the best now. I think that this class could potentially just continue to make Clemson better. I know how successful they are, but just continue to make us more successful and hopefully win a couple rings.
This class doesn’t have a top 5 or top 10 ranked guys the way last year’s did, and there are two five stars this year as opposed to five last year. Have you all talked about that at all, and do you feel like there is anything to prove?
Shipley: There’s jokes thrown around all the time, five-star this, blah, blah, blah about all the rankings. But at the end of the day, we all know that it goes a lot further than that. This class is really, really special.
Just having to go through all of the things that we’ve had to go through, not being able to do the things that other classes were able to do, I think that that added a little bit of an edge to us. We’re going in there with a chip on our shoulder and ready to make this team the best that it can be. And we’re ready to do whatever it takes to do that.
With this class, how were y’all able to get so close with the pandemic and not being able to take official visits and how weird this year was?
Shipley: Social media was a huge part of that. Having group chats and being able to communicate through social media and all of that stuff. There was one weekend, the Miami game, where we got to go down there and I got to go to the game with Ryan (Linthicum), Marcus (Tate), Bubba (Chandler), Dacari (Collins) and that was huge. Just being able to meet those people in person, getting to create those relationships. I haven’t been able to do that with all of the commits but just being able to talk to them on the phone or through social media. ... Right when we get on campus we’re gonna click. I think one underlying factor that we all have is we want to work. We want to keep our heads down. We want to work. And we want to do whatever it takes to be the best.
How much did getting to play for Tony Elliott factor into your decision?
Shipley: It was huge for me. Coach Elliott, just being able to create a relationship with him, being able to speak with him from time to time, it’s such a blessing. He has so much knowledge. Not only the game but everything else. He’s not afraid to speak his thoughts, and that’s really something that stuck with me throughout the recruiting process is you get what you see. You get what you hear. He’s gonna be straightforward with you. He’s going to tell it how it is.
And I know he’s the same way on the football field. He’s not gonna sugarcoat anything. He’s not gonna try to lead me one way or another. He’s going to tell me how it is, and he’s gonna push me to be the best person I can be on and off the football field. There’s no other person in the country that’s better at it than he is.
Your high school coach was telling me he feels like you were overlooked and underestimated early on because of your size. Is that something you noticed and do you agree with that?
Shipley: I definitely noticed, ever since freshman year. Other people around me were getting offers that I knew I was better than. It’s just something that comes with it. I got down on myself at an early age, but having to go through that and having to pick myself up, keep my head up through all the obstacles, it’s made me a stronger person on and off the field.
It’s gonna continue to be that way throughout my whole career. So just knowing in the back of my head that I’m going to have to do more. I’m always gonna have eyes on me, and that has to bring out character. I’ve gotta do everything the right way 100 percent of the time, whether or not I think people are watching me or not. That makes me a better person.
Do you feel like now being ranked as a five-star and one of the top backs in the country that you’ve gotten respect, or do you think when you get to college it’s going to happen again?
Shipley: I think there’s a sense of respect that comes with it, but at the same time I also know that when you get on campus, all of that goes straight away. I know that, and it’s very clear to me. I’m not afraid to compete. I’m not afraid to work. So when I get on campus, my No. 1 goal is to work my way up the totem pole, gain that respect from my teammates, first of all, coaches, and anything else that comes with it.
I’m ready to work. I’m ready to show everybody that it isn’t a fluke. What these rankings show or stats in high school or any of that stuff, that it’s true. And I’m just gonna try to continue to build off of that and get better and better each day.
Are you going to go to the ACC championship game this weekend, and what are your thoughts on it? I know both of those teams recruited you really hard.
Shipley: I don’t think we’re gonna be able to make the game. We’re only about 15 or 20 minutes from Charlotte, so I think we’re gonna go downtown and try to catch some of the College GameDay stuff, that environment.
And the Notre Dame-Clemson thing, I was recruited heavily by both. And it was my top two schools when I got down to it. So to see the Fighting Irish beat the Tigers last time hit me, and I was getting a bunch of backlash on social media and all that. But I’ve got so much confidence in them that they’ll go out there this weekend and do their thing. There’s no doubt in my mind they’ll handle their business and we’ll be in the College Football Playoff.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 8:41 AM.
