Clemson is still in the market for a running back in the 2026 recruiting class.

The only player at the position to hold an offer from the Tigers came off the board over the weekend when 4-star Jaylen McGill announced a commitment to Rutgers.

One back worth keeping an eye on is 3-star CJ Givers (Fellowship Christian, Roswell, GA). The 5-foot-11, 195-pound back has visited Clemson on more than one occasion and last week running backs coach CJ Spiller was by his high school to visit with him and his family.

It was a meeting that lasted about 90 minutes and allowed Givers to learn more about what Dabo Swinney’s program offers.

“Just telling me a little more about Clemson,” Givers told The Clemson Insider. “Answering some of the questions that me and my parents had about the school. Because my parents set in on the meeting with me as well. Just telling us about their schedule. How Coach Swinney works things there at the school.”

While Clemson has yet to extend an offer, Givers is hopeful one is on the horizon.

“He said that I check all the boxes athletically, academically and everything like that,” Givers added. “He just wants to go back and check with the offense coordinator (Garrett Riley). So, hopefully, a potential offer comes soon.”

Over the last several months, the relationship between Givers and Spiller has only grown stronger. With Spiller being a former first-round NFL Draft pick and spending eight years in the league, the young running back believes there is a lot to be learned from the Tigers’ running backs coach.

“You can really tell that he is a genuine guy,” Givers said. “You can tell he cares a lot about the player development part of it. Obviously, the end goal is to get to the NFL. And having a guy like that, that did spend time in the NFL is huge. It’s really cool just to listen from his perspective. What he thinks about everything. How he is really passionate about developing guys and coaching guys so they can hopefully get to the next level.”

While he may not have an offer from Clemson yet, Givers remains patient. He is fully aware that the Tigers are very meticulous in how they approach the recruiting process.

“I understand it,” Givers said. “You never want to be in a situation where a coach won’t take you because they give out uncommittable offers. That’s really important to me. I mean, I really appreciate the fact that they don’t want to give out uncommitable offers. That’s a huge thing. That’s what makes me not be as impatient with it. Because I know that if they do offer me, it’s committable.”

Givers visited NC State last Saturday and will be at Georgia Tech this weekend. While nothing is set in stone just yet, he’s hoping to get back to Clemson at some point in the spring. He last visited for the blowout win over App State in September. Boston College and Wisconsin are both recruiting him hard, as well.

As for making a decision, nothing is imminent, but Givers would like to have one made by the start of his senior season. He plans to take some officials in June and go from there.

Until then, he remains patient, hoping he gets that call from Clemson.

“That would be huge obviously,” Givers said. “Clemson is a great school and even better football program. I mean, that would be huge. Just to have that opportunity to go play in one of the best programs in the country. I mean, that would be really cool. I would seriously consider Clemson for sure.”

Photo courtesy of CJ Givers on X (formerly known as Twitter)