It's been a tough week for the running back position at Clemson. On Wednesday, the Tigers missed out on their top 2026 running back target, Jae Lamar, to Georgia and before that, Dabo Swinney dismissed four-star freshman Marquise Henderson after he enrolled early in January.
After losing Phil Mafah to the NFL, any more hits to the running back position are just adding insult to injury.
Mafah was a 1,000-yard rusher for the Tigers this past season and he was giving way to a roster full of inexperienced rushers. There is one fan favorite, Gideon Davidson, who is considered to be the next star running back at Clemson but he's just a freshman and it's difficult for first-year players to come in and be workhorse backs right away.
Davidson had some help in the form of a fellow freshman (Henderson) but that help has moved on. Just last week, Henderson was dismissed from the team for unspecified reasons and he entered the transfer portal shortly after.
Now, Henderson has already picked a new home.
Next chapter… LLGD!! @rblackstonbhp @CoachBallenger @CoachColtonKorn @LibertyFootball @CoachChadwell pic.twitter.com/sCSh8ljZB2
— Marquise Henderson (@quisehenderson) June 25, 2025
Former Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell, who is now at Liberty, wasted no time getting Henderson to commit to the Flames less than a week after he was dismissed from Clemson.
The fit makes sense as Henderson will be one of the more talented players on the roster and he goes from a faith-based program like Clemson to a Christian university like Liberty. It just makes sense.
Clemson fans are going to miss Henderson and they'll definitely wish him well (as they have been for the past week), but now he's playing for one of the top Group of Five teams in the country.
Imagine a Liberty vs. Clemson playoff matchup this year with Henderson getting meaningful running back snaps. Cinema.