How charm and character fueled Darien Rencher’s growth into outspoken Clemson leader
Darwin Rencher was sitting in a meeting in 2007, planning out an event to be held at the former Bi-Lo Center in Greenville. A potential client had some hesitations about whether or not the event would work when Darwin’s youngest son, Darien, interjected.
“We can promote better than anyone around here,” Darien told the man. “We’ve been outside this building many times. ... Who do you think helped sell out Tyler Perry for you?”
Indeed, Darwin and sons DeAvin and Darien promoted a play for Tyler Perry when he came to Columbia and in Greenville at what’s now the Bon Secours Wellness Center. The client on this day didn’t know, but Darien had no problem going over his family’s success with events — and perhaps he was most surprised that Darien was only 9 years old, speaking boldly and without fear.
“Darien’s probably 4-foot-2,” Darwin recalled. “The little shiny, bright face was looking up at a man that was almost 6 feet tall, (saying), ‘That was us.’ ”
Fourteen years later, not much is different.
Darien hasn’t changed as much as he’s evolved, learning discernment from his mother, Tara Moss Sally, and people skills from Darwin, who now lives in Clinton, while picking up other life lessons from mentors and peers along the way. He won the 2020 Disney Spirit Award for “college football’s most inspirational player,” was named to 2021 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team for his service work in the Upstate and is one of 20 semifinalists for the 2021 Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award.
After this year, Darien is out of eligibility. The Anderson native leaves behind one of the most unique legacies in recent program history that was greater than what happened inside the hash marks. He’ll be known for his locker-room leadership and off-field impact.
It all began with a flyer.
You can’t say no to kids
Whenever a party needed to be thrown, Darwin Rencher was the go-to for his Clemson fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi. He’d made connections with musical artists from his travels to Atlanta, so if someone needed an entertainer, they’d go to “Rench.” The East St. Louis, Illinois, native and former Tigers track-and-field athlete parlayed a hobby into a career after college. When he and then-wife Tara had their two sons, DeAvin and Darien, Darwin’s event promotional team grew.
In fact, it became even better.
Before concerts and parties were promoted on social media, paper flyers were posted at barber shops, passed out to people in parking lots or put under cars’ windshield wipers. That was the job of the Rencher boys.
“My dad learned quickly — sometimes a grown man passing out flyers to another grown man may not go as smoothly,” Darien said. “If you’ve got two cute kids out there, me and my brother used to work it. My dad used to give us our little paychecks or whatever he would break us off, give us a little allowance money. ... They see a cute little kid and I’m like, ‘Hey, here’s this flyer. My dad’s doing a concert’ — and a lot of people used to come. Looking back, my people skills came from that because I used to do it all the time.”
Darwin didn’t believe in babysitters. Whenever he had business meetings, he’d bring his kids to those, too. Sometimes they’d play with their Nintendo Game Boys, but Darwin noticed that sometimes Darien’s thumbs wouldn’t be moving. The normally rambunctious younger Rencher was paying close attention to the conversation — “ear hustling,” as Darwin called it — than his game.
The reward for sitting through meetings and passing out flyers was getting to attend the concerts they promoted. As a result, Darien met artists such as Angie Stone, Keith Sweat, Kirk Franklin, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Rick Ross, Trina, Three 6 Mafia and Morris Day, among others.
“People always tell me I have an old soul and I think it’s just because I got exposed to a lot when I was little,” Darien said.
The not-so-fun aspect of that exposure was spending summers in East St. Louis where his paternal grandmother, who was like a schoolteacher, would give him, DeAvin and their cousins homework. They’d have vocabulary lessons, exams and writing tasks before they could go shopping.
Darien found a hustle in that, too.
“Whoever got finished faster got more attention,” Darwin said, “so he would do his assignments and he would get more stuff out of my mother.”
Networking into Clemson
For as savvy as Darien was, his life wasn’t immune to struggle. His parents divorced when he was in middle school and, though his first love was basketball, his high school football career at T.L. Hanna High School was overshadowed by injuries.
He tore his left ACL during his freshman season, then damaged multiple ligaments in his right knee, resulting in a full reconstruction as a junior. He had some scholarship offers, but the injuries made many of the college recruiters gun-shy.
Darien had narrowed his top two schools to Stanford and Clemson. When he was unable to go to a football camp at Stanford, he and Darwin turned their attention to the home-state Tigers.
The Renchers had started attending Newspring Church shortly after the separation. Darien was invited by a middle school football teammate of his. The youth service captivated him, causing him to become involved in church activities and be attentive during service. Fired up about his rejuvenated faith, Darien would often invite others to go with him. Darwin, who was “Uber before Uber” and drove everyone to church, took notice of the impact Newspring had on Darien. The elder Rencher decided it was a good time for him to get more involved in church.
It all came to a head in 2014 when the father-son duo got baptized together, along with about 20 others.
“To do something like that with your child, you really can’t put words to it,” Darwin said. “It was genuine. We hugged. We looked at each other. It was just a proud moment. Most parents are, at that age, getting their kids out of trouble. I’m sitting up here getting baptized with mine.”
Going to Newspring also opened up an opportunity for Darwin to bump into Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, a member of the church. Darwin cornered Swinney one day and asked about a possible scholarship offer for Darien, but Swinney said there wasn’t room for another running back in the Tigers’ recruiting class.
Darien had planned on going to Clemson anyway and got in on his academic merit. In April 2016, Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables reached out to Darwin to see if Darien was interested in a walk-on opportunity.
Venables expects a father to give a shining recommendation for his son, but he took more notice when the accolades came from someone whose last name wasn’t Rencher. Former Clemson Tiger linebacker Ben Boulware, who graduated from TL Hanna three years before Darien, and Bruce Ollis, Darien’s high school football coach, also advocated for the running back.
That stood out to Venables because those are two people he holds in high regard, and it was also different because it wasn’t the usual “he’s a good kid” type of comments.
“It’s a different conversation when somebody lays their neck on the line for somebody’s character and making a locker room better,” said Venables, who added that Boulware was the most relentless in trying to get Darien to Clemson. “Those were consistent comments about (how) this young guy will bring out the best in so many people, not just that he’s a good kid, he’s got talent, things of that nature, but he’s a leader. He’s got something to him. He’s got a light inside of him that you can’t go to the Dollar General store and buy.”
Darien walked on Clemson’s football team in the fall of 2016 and earned a scholarship in 2018. Little did he, Venables and Darwin know that it would be just the beginning of an eventful career at Clemson.
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Rencher uses his voice
The COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down, but only to a certain extent.
Over the span of about three months, the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery stunned some and frustrated others. While the deaths of unarmed Black Americans by police enforcement has been a hot topic issue for decades, it wasn’t until Floyd’s murder was filmed and went viral during the pandemic that the country, as a whole, stopped and took notice.
Darien was one of those people.
As a member of Gen Z, he didn’t see racism the same way as Darwin and other older generations. Seeing it in 2020 was a sobering moment.
“I was at my mom’s house back in Anderson and I just remember crying, being frustrated because I didn’t even know how to process it myself,” Darien said.
The moment generated conversations between him and his friends of all races, which included quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The two had become best friends during the summer of 2018 after Lawrence had arrived at Clemson, bonding over their shared beliefs and values. The one thing that separated them, though, had come to the forefront.
Darien said he and Lawrence had a healthy dialogue, which was followed by a call to action. Sitting in Lawrence’s house, Darien and now-fiancee Makenzie Wilburn began to brainstorm a plan with Lawrence and his now-wife Marissa. On top of the issue of social injustice, the college football season was in jeopardy due to the still-ongoing pandemic.
Between Lawrence’s connections with high-profile college football players and Darien’s network of leadership organizations, the Tigers duo began to collaborate on a plan to raise awareness for both causes — thus began the #wewanttoplay social media movement and organizing the Clemson Community Peaceful Demonstration on campus.
The Tigers’ program also had its own fire to put out when it was revealed that then-assistant Danny Pearman had used the n-word while speaking with a player.
“There’s going to have to be a lot of love, a lot of understanding to really reconcile what’s happened in our country,” Lawrence said during an appearance on ACC Network’s “Packer and Durham” show. “I think we can do it, and that’s why we’ve taken some time to try to organize this the right way, what we feel is the right way. We think it’s going to be awesome. We have a great community that’ll stand behind us.”
The reactions were mixed but Darien said he just focused on the positive ones. What touched him most were those who had thoughtful responses and had healthy conversations of their own — the people who became more open-minded and receptive to the proverbial other side.
For as many as were enlightened, even more were proud of the work Darien and Lawrence were doing. No one was prouder than Darwin.
At first, he had reservations and wanted his son to be careful like any father would. Darien assured Darwin, though, that he’d covered all of his bases by speaking with Clemson President Jim Clements, athletics director Dan Radakovich and Clemson’s police department.
“Being a Clemson graduate, it was a groundbreaking experience to know the child, let alone be my child,” Darwin said. “To just witness something that nobody in my era would’ve thought could happen in Clemson, South Carolina, it was a big tear-jerker.”
The fight for social justice might be a never-ending battle, but Lawrence and Darien did pick up a win by getting what would be their last football season playing together. Clemson won a sixth-straight ACC title with a sixth consecutive College Football Playoff appearance.
Lawrence became the Tiger’s first-ever No. 1 NFL Draft pick, while Darien would soon become the face of another cause: the name, image and likeness era.
Cashing in on NIL
When Gov. Henry McMaster came to Clemson for the ceremonial signing of South Carolina’s name, image and likeness bill in June, Darien was one of a handful of student-athletes present for it. He was the only one to speak to reporters afterward.
“This entire country is built on capitalism,” Rencher said that day. “So you can have an opportunity to make a wage, to make more than you have.”
The law wasn’t set to go into effect until 2022. With the NCAA implementing an interim policy on July 1, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson certified the state’s bill to go into effect that day as well.
Once South Carolina student-athletes were given the green light, Brandon Wimbush knew he had to connect with Darien Rencher. At the beginning of the year, the former Notre Dame quarterback had started a company called Mogl, a minority-founded and impact-focused startup designed to empower athletes and the local community in the name, image, and likeness era, according to the company’s website. While the Fighting Irish played Clemson in the College Football Playoff in 2018, the two didn’t meet until about a year later through mutual associates while shooting around and playing basketball at Pepperdine University.
“I just knew he was a good-spirited guy with a good heart,” Wimbush said. “Very well-spoken, intellectual guy who cared about people, was well-connected himself.”
It made Darien the perfect person to host a podcast. New York-based Embassy Row, an American television, global-based format and digital production company, reached out to Wimbush because the company wanted to tap into the college football space and produce a podcast. The company asked Wimbush if he knew anyone; Darien was the first person to come to his mind.
He’d seen firsthand how personable Darien is during a trip to House of Athlete in May. Wimbush was at the Miami-based facility, owned by former NFL player Brandon Marshall, to work out when Darien came for a visit.
Then something unusual happened.
“Brandon Marshall’s one of the busiest guys ever and doesn’t typically have more than 30 minutes for people, and Darien stole an hour of his time,” Wimbush recalled, “literally after the work day or something to ask a variety of questions. I think that’s just his ability to be curious and learn and willingness to learn is kind of what has got Darien to this point.”
That charm is what made Wimbush confident in recommending his friend to be the voice of a new podcast. Once Embassy Row agreed to move forward with him for the podcast, Wimbush made the call with the good news. It just so happened that Darien was researching equipment to launch his own podcast, a step toward his career goal of becoming a sports broadcaster.
Now he’d get a podcast through Embassy Row and not have to pay for equipment: a win-win situation.
Darien is responsible for securing guests, which have so far included college football TV analyst Kirk Herbstreit; current teammates like Justyn Ross and Xavier Thomas; former teammate Chase Brice, who’s currently the starting quarterback at Appalachian State; and rivals like South Carolina graduate assistant-turned-quarterback Zeb Noland.
He normally records on Tuesdays using a software called Riverside. Producers, located in New York and Los Angeles, handle the technical aspects of recording. The only responsibility Darien has is to let the producers know when he and his guest are ready to record. The podcast, titled “The Players Club Podcast,” comes out two days later.
“It looks legit,” Darien said. “That’s the biggest thing is, I didn’t want to do anything that looked bad. It looks legit. I think they make it look smooth.”
The reception to “The Players Club” has been positive with the YouTube page tallying 560 subscribers as of Tuesday evening, in the two months since it launched.
In total, Wimbush estimates Darien has close to 10 to 12 NIL deals that range from local companies and the podcast to national companies like Athletic Brewing.
“I’d say half of his deals have been driven through him reaching out via social media,” Wimbush said, “and the following obviously helps but his ability to connect even via social media goes a long way, and the ability to be proactive and not be shy about potentially being neglected or being turned down has led to him being able to be pretty fruitful in terms of NIL deals.”
What the future holds
Darien hasn’t played a ton during his collegiate football career — he entered 2021 having recorded 74 carries for 375 yards and three touchdowns in 150 snaps over 35 career games — but saw more playing time on Nov. 13 against UConn. He totaled 37 yards on 14 carries with one fumble in the contest. He wants to play football professionally and believes he can “sneak into the NFL” as a special teams player.
Even if that doesn’t happen, Darien, who is working on his master’s degree, will have plenty of options and opportunities for work. He’s already had companies reach out to him about potential jobs, and he’s considering each opportunity.
The only thing he knows for certain is that he’s getting married to Wilburn in April. After that, everything else is up for grabs. No matter what, though, Darien knows he’ll be OK. The same 9-year-old that had no problem speaking up during an adult meeting is still who he is today, just with a little more height and facial hair.
“I want to do something I’m passionate about,” he said. “I know the money will come. I’m making money now with NIL, so I just feel like it’s something the Lord will have to give me a strong passion about and the opportunity will present itself.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
