Clemson Football Coach Tony Elliott Shares Inspirational Story with Greenville Students

March 14, 2018
Tony Elliott’s early life didn’t exactly read like a storybook.

At least not an enchanted one.

He was hit by a truck at age 4. Survived.

His parents separated at age 5. Survived.

Tony’s mother was killed in auto accident when he was 9. Tony survived.

At age 11, he joined a gang. Survived.

Lived on the streets in Anaheim, California. Survived.

Notice a common thread here?

“There’s no shine without the grind,” Elliott says, often enough that it has become his mantra.

After grinding more than anyone should have to, Elliott is shining brightly, thank you, as co-offensive coordinator for a Clemson University football team that has become a perennial contender for national titles.

Not bad for a guy who strolled onto Clemson’s campus 19 years ago equipped only with a trash bag of clothes and an alarm clock.

“I had $4,000 I’d saved from working a construction job, but didn’t know how I was going to finance my education,” Elliott said. “But I was going to figure it out.”

Good grades, financial aid and ultimately a scholarship followed.

Tony Elliott not only survived, he flourished, and he made that the crux of his message Tuesday night at the quarterly Coaches 4 Character program at Greenville’s Redemption Church.

“When I look out, I see me at your age,” he told several hundred young students from Greenville County schools. “I want you to know that each one of you matters.”

Elliott encouraged an attentive audience to “find something to hold onto right now and just keep working.”
“There’s hope for the future, regardless of circumstances,” he said.

For Elliott, that hope came in the form of an aunt from Charleston. A school principal, she took young Tony into her home and challenged him and taught him the value of an education.

“This was where my life changed,” Elliott said. “She knew that I loved to play ball. It was the only place where I felt like I had a family.

“But she had a rule – she said, ‘Hey buddy, if you don’t have a B-plus in all your classes, you’re not playing.' ”
Elliott took the message to heart and wound up being a three-sport standout at James Island High School. He later walked onto the team at Clemson, where in his senior season he was a co-captain and played under the guidance of a first-year wide receivers coach by the name of Dabo Swinney.

Eight years later, Swinney hired Elliott as running backs coach.

Since Elliott was promoted to co-offensive coordinator three years ago, the Tigers are 40-4.

It all seems so simple now, looking back, Elliott says, but it took years for him to get the message.

He hopes his audience Tuesday night has a shorter learning curve.

“Embrace the adversity, surround yourself with good people and eventually you’ll change the way that you think,” Elliott said. “You’ll start to value different things, which will lead to success.”

By any measure, that’s a storybook with an enchanted ending.

By: Scott Keepfer -- Greenville Online

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