CLEMSON — Willie Anderson, the only person in Clemson football history to both earn first-team All-ACC honors as a player and serve as a full-time assistant coach on a Clemson national championship team, passed away in Sumter, S.C. on Wednesday. He was 72.

The native of Mayesville, S.C. arrived at Clemson in 1971 and was a three-year starter at middle guard and linebacker across the 1972-74 seasons. He started 31 of Clemson’s 33 games over those three seasons.

His most memorable game of his playing career took place in his final game in 1974 against South Carolina when he had 17 first hits and 21 total tackles in a 39-21 win over South Carolina at Memorial Stadium. He was named the National Player of the Week by Sports Illustrated and the National Lineman of the Week by the Associated Press for that performance. The 21 total tackles still rank as the most in Clemson history in a single game for a defensive lineman.

At the conclusion of the 1974 season, Anderson was a first-team All-ACC selection at middle guard. He signed a free agent contract with the Oakland Raiders but played the 1975 season with the Birmingham Vulcans of the World League of American Football. He helped that franchise to a league best 9-3 record.

Anderson went into coaching in 1976 as an assistant coach at Chamblee High School in Chamblee, Ga. On Dec. 21, 1976, he was named a graduate assistant on Charley Pell’s first Clemson staff. He remained a graduate assistant and head junior varsity coach for the 1977 and 1978 Clemson teams.

In 1979, Head Coach Danny Ford elevated Anderson to a full-time position as his tight ends coach. Anderson moved to the other side of the ball as a defensive ends coach in 1980 and also handled that position on Clemson’s first national championship staff in 1981. He coached the defensive line along with coordinator Tom Harper in 1982.

Anderson was hired as an assistant coach by College Football Hall of Famer and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson at Oklahoma State in 1983. Anderson remained at Oklahoma State through the 1985 season and later coached at Langston University in Oklahoma.

Additional information on Anderson’s passing is available here, per the Sumter Item.

–courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications