When Boston College head coach Steve Addazio ran into Richard Yeargin last Sunday night. He asked him how he was doing.
Addazio was not asking him how he was doing physically, though with Yeargin’s background it would be understandable. Instead, he meant how he was doing emotionally, knowing his defensive end was about to play his old team Saturday when the Eagles take on No. 2 Clemson at Death Valley.
Yeargin told him he was pretty fired up.
The former Clemson defensive end will return to the place he graduated and helped the Tigers win two national championships as a player and as a student coach. Yeargin transferred to Boston College in May as a graduate student.
“What he has brought is great maturity to our program. He is a wonderful guy,” Addazio said. “Dabo (Swinney) said he is a wonderful guy and he is about the right stuff.
“He loves his teammates. He loves being around the coaches. He loves coming up to the offices. He is fun to be around. He is fun to talk to. He is a very high character guy and is a terrific person.”
Yeargin’s story is also a wonderful story.
In June of 2017, a car wreck nearly took his life, and nearly took his ability to walk. The 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive end underwent surgery and spent almost a year in a neck brace while doing physical therapy in hopes of getting back to play football.
“It was an unfortunate situation for him. He was going into his fourth year. He was really primed to be a big factor for us, and he had that car wreck,” Swinney said. “He is lucky to be alive, really and he knows that, it is amazing.”
Yeargin was hopeful to return to the Tigers last season, but he suffered a setback and was unable to play after having another surgery. He stayed on the Clemson team as volunteer coach in 2018 and at one point thought his football career was over.
“He was done,” Swinney said. “He was done with football and was a student coach for us last year. But I do think that is one of the great things the NCAA has allowed is that sixth year. If you were redshirted and you had another year you lost, then you can get that year back.”
Yeargin got it back, but he had to clear some hurdles first. His own doctors worked with Boston College’s and they slowly brought him along to where he is today, a Division I athlete starting at defensive end for a Power 5 Conference team.
“He went through some really tough stuff for a couple of years,” Addazio said. “Little by little he has chipped away at that and each week he gets a little better. Each week he gets a little bit more confident.
“Sometimes it is hard to put yourself in that situation on what that must be like. That had to be very difficult. But he has himself there now.”
And now he is going back to Clemson where he will start at defensive end for the Eagles on Saturday. Prior to his injury, Yeargin was a steady reserve for the Tigers, including 29 tackles, five tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and five quarterback pressures in 336 snaps over his 22-game career.
Yeargin has played in all seven games this year for the Eagles, including a start last week against NC State. He has eight tackles, four TFLs and half a sack so far this season.
“He certainly loved Clemson. He loved his teammates and he loved his coaches,” Addazio said. “I guess, there is some excitement about going back. That is where he graduated from. They treated him great. He has a lot of respect and love for those people. I’m sure he has a mixed bag of emotions going back there. But he is pretty fired up as you can imagine he would be.”
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