Coaches visit with Trevor Etienne, cover NIL effect as Etiennes call Clemson 'family'

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Clemson coaches Tony Elliott and CJ Spiller were in Louisiana Monday night to visit with 4-star running back Trevor Etienne, and the message from the coaches to the family was educational, while the family reiterated to the coaches that Clemson is family.

Etienne is a 2022 running back out Jennings (LA) who is the younger brother of former Clemson star Travis Etienne. The younger Etienne announced his top three schools on Twitter Monday, naming LSU, Clemson and Florida as his top three schools. Alabama and Georgia had been in his previous top five list.

Donnetta Etienne, the matriarch of the family, told TigerNet about the visit and its educational aspects.

“The visit was great. And their message was very educational because now you have NIL (Name, image and likeness third-party compensation) and money on the table to try and pay to kids while they are in college,” Etienne said. “You have different aspects of the program that are changing, and the college coaches are keeping the new recruits informed of all these new gadgets added to college football that weren't there when Travis was in college. It is totally different. I guess you could almost call them bonuses now.”

Elliott explained how NIL can benefit student-athletes, but only a few.

“Tony explained it and said you have the top one percent, or one player on that team in that position, who is really going to be able to capitalize on the NIL,” Etienne said. “And then you have another two or three percent that can work some deals in their hometown or around the school, but then you have 85 percent of the team that probably won't get looked at because they don't have that type of recognition. It breaks it down to the players and the parents, and it says that not only do you have the opportunity to make money, but you have to still go to class and study because you are a student-athlete. And then you might have to worry about taxes if you reach a certain tax bracket, so it prepares you more for the world before you graduate college.”

Elliott also made it a point that he wanted what was best for Trevor.

“We are family. No matter what happens, we are family. Coach Tony took off his coach's hat and put on his big brother hat. The big brother hat says that no matter who you choose and what school you choose, I want you to choose what is best for you,” Etienne said. “But as the big brother, I am not going to let you choose anything that won't be good for your future. And then he had some input on all of the recent coaching changes. Coaches are switching and staffs are switching and players are in the transfer portal and things of that sort all over the country, and he was making sure that Trevor had the right information and was educated on all of the possibilities in making a decision that was best tailored for Trevor. Because even though Trevor is Travis' little brother he still is Trevor Etienne and he wants him to make the best choice and the best fit that he feels right with him.”

LSU is one of the three finalists and they announced Tuesday that Brian Kelly will take over as the head coach. Billy Napier is the new head coach at Florida, but Etienne said the decision won’t come down to coaches.

“We really can't look at coaches. If you look at it, you really can't look at a school because of the coaches because the coaches could be gone at any minute,” she said. “You have to pick a school because of the culture and their economic and educational backgrounds. There are so many facets in picking a school besides football for us. We look at the overall picture. Is the school the best fit for our culture? The Etienne name is a household name so you don't want to put just anything with it. We have certain morals and standards that we stick to. For us, it's all about the culture and good people.”

What keeps Clemson in the mix? Family.

“Clemson is family. I can't say it any other way. There is nothing like Clemson because Clemson is family and we have spent the last four years with those guys and we know and love them and their families,” Etienne said. “All of us still reach out to each other. We built a family.”

LSU on Sunday lost a commitment from four-star running back TreVonte' Citizen on Sunday. Citizen was the Tigers' lone running back commitment in its 2022 class. Clemson also does not have a running back commit in its 2022 class, while Florida has four-star recruit Terrance Gibbs, the No. 21 player at his position in the nation.

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