The future continues to look bright for Clemson’s running back room in 2023.

While the room experienced some minor attrition this offseason with the departure of veteran Kobe Pace, who announced his intentions to transfer to Virginia for his senior season back in December, the Tigers welcome back a mix of seasoned playmakers in Will Shipley and Phil Mafah as well as three freshmen backs, one of those being Georgia native Peyton Streko.

Streko, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound running back product out of Cumming, Ga. (West Forsyth High School), joins third-year running backs coach C.J. Spiller’s room as a preferred walk-on despite having several FBS scholarship offers coming out of high school, bringing what Spiller describes as “a little bit of Will” in his mindset this spring.

“He has kind of like that mindset that Shipley had when he came here,” Spiller said on Monday. “Just really eager to learn, takes tons of notes in the meeting room, but at the same time, he’s still a freshman. He’s still trying to just learn his way around, but that’s kind of similar to what I see from that standpoint is like he’s kind of got that Will in him a little bit.”

Streko’s eagerness to learn the playbook and master the Tigers’ offense quickly is what reminds his coach so much of a young Shipley, who saw a highly successful rookie season for Clemson back in 2021.

“Just really eager to learn the offense and try to master it as quickly as possible as he can, so he can go out and play fast,” Spiller said. “That’s kind of where he’s at right now in this stage going through the spring is just really trying to learn the terminology and really soak it all up so he can go out there and play free, and then when he is able to do that, his skill set is able to be showcased.”

Though Streko still has a lot to learn, Spiller is more than confident that the Peach State native will make himself right at home with the help of guys like Shipley and Mafah along with bringing his own type of flair to Clemson’s running back play this fall.

“He’s going to be a really good running back here for us for a long time,” Spiller said. “Right now, he’s just a freshman trying to just figure his way around and figure it out, but that’s what you have two older guys in there for, to help bring those guys along, so he’s going to be good. I’m glad that we were able to get him because he brings a nice, little different pace for us in the room.”

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