Former Clemson star, now coach, indicates if NIL was a thing when he came out of high school, he likely would not have picked Clemson because of his circumstances at the time

CLEMSON – DeAndre McDaniel did not hold back.

The former Clemson star, now the Tigers’ senior defensive assistant coach, says his decision to come to Clemson might have been affected had name, image and likeness been a thing when he came to Clemson in 2007.

“I probably would have been a player that would have been chasing money,” McDaniel said honestly.

Which means McDaniel likely would not have come to Clemson.

McDaniel was a highly touted safety from Tallahassee, Fla. The former four-star recruit chose Clemson over his childhood team, Florida State.

However, McDaniel admits, like most of us, he was a different person and was going through different circumstances when he came to Clemson. He had not yet seen there was more to life than playing football.

He gets it. He feels the kind of life-changing money some young men and women are being offered in this day and age of collegiate athletics would be hard to turn down.

“I think sometimes that money, you feel, can change the circumstances, and I feel like in the situation that I was in, I think money would have helped me,” he said.

This is why McDaniel says people should not be too hard on the young men and women who are having to make these very tough decisions. Do they choose the school they really like and really feel they can grow and mature at, or do they take the money and attend a school they don’t like as much, but the money could really help their families?

“I was raised by my grandmother, and she wanted me to do the right thing,” McDaniel said. “She let me make my own decision. She had input, but she allowed me to ultimately decide.

“However, if a school offered me the opportunity to make $500,000, she would have told me, ‘You have to go there.’ She would have understood that kind of money, given our circumstances at the time, was too good to turn down. So, I think I would have chased the money.”

Luckily for Clemson, there was no NIL during McDaniel’s playing days. Instead, he had a stellar career at Clemson, where he was a two-time All-American, including a First-Team selection in 2009.

McDaniel tied a Clemson record with eight interceptions in 2009, as he helped the Tigers to their first ACC Championship Game appearance. He played in 53 games in his four years at Clemson, while tallying 15 career interceptions and 20 passes defended.

He is considered one of the greatest safeties in Clemson history, as acknowledged by his induction into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023.

After giving professional football a try for a few years, McDaniel returned to Clemson in 2015 and joined Dabo Swinney’s staff as a graduate assistant coach. He has since worked his way up to senior defensive assistant coach.

Obviously, McDaniel is glad things worked out the way they did, and he did not have to make such a tough decision at such an early age in his life. That’s why he listens to his players when they talk to him about a decision they are making or something they are thinking about doing.

“I speak differently on the NIL than I would have back then,” he said. “So, I listen to them and tell them to do what is best for them, not anyone else, and not to chase the money.

“I want them to make the best decision for themselves, not me, not Coach Swinney and not mom and dad. I tell them, ‘Hey! Don’t chase the money.’”

McDaniel’s advice to young athletes is to try and not to look at just the money but instead consider everything in a decision.

“I tell them, ‘I know you want to chase the money, but it is not all about the money.’ I think that is why I am here. I am at a different place in my life, and I can speak to them through my own experiences.

“I also know at Clemson, we have our own way of doing things and I think the guys that went through our program is the proof and I think we can speak from experience and like, ‘hey, this guy and this guy came from your situation, look at him now.’ So you kind of wanna tell guys to trust you with their development.”

And what better guy to trust than DeAndre McDaniel, a guy who understands their situations because he was in that same situation.