Countdown to Kickoff: With 93 days to go, remembering the late, great Gaines Adams

Adams takes off for a touchdown against Wake Forest.

David Hood · Senior Writer · Thursday, May 29 2025

We are at 93 days and counting until the Tigers kick off the 2025 football season (7:30 p.m. on ABC, Aug. 30), and the number 93 and Clemson will forever be intertwined with the name Gaines Adams.

For those who were there on that raw, rainy day in Winston-Salem, the memory of that familiar 93 rumbling for a 66-yard fumble return of a botched field goal attempt against Wake Forest in 2006 will never go away. It was a play that changed the course of the game, and helped Clemson defeat the eventual ACC Champion Demon Deacons, 27-17. That play was named one of the top four game-changing plays of 2006 by ESPN.

The Tigers were trailing 17-3 when the Clemson defense held on a 3rd-and-7 at the Clemson 24. Facing a 4th-and-8 at the Clemson 25 early in the fourth quarter, the Demon Deacons elected to go for a 42-yard field goal. Holder Jon Temple bobbled the snap and when he got to his feet to look for running room, he ran into a face full of Gaines Adams.

Adams hit Temple, the ball popped in the air and Adams grabbed it and took it to the house for the score. The Tigers scored the final 20 points of the game and won 27-17.

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Adams lettered for the Tigers from 2003-06 and finished his career with 28 sacks, tied for first in school history with Michael Dean Perry. He was named first-team All-American by every service in 2006 when he was also named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He was second in the overall ACC Player of the Year voting that year to Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech.

He was also one of five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Award and one of six finalists for the Ted Hendricks Award in 2006 when he had 63 total tackles and 12.5 sacks.

Adams received his undergraduate degree from Clemson in December of 2006. He arrived at Clemson after one year at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. He played his high school football at Cambridge Academy in Greenwood, a program that had eight-man football.

In April of 2007, Adams was the number four selection of the NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Bucs, then tied for the highest draft choice (Banks McFadden 1940) for a Clemson football player. Adams had just finished his third season in the NFL when he passed away on January 17, 2010.

He played half of his last season with Tampa Bay before being traded to Chicago. He had 13.5 sacks in his 47-game NFL career.

Adams’ death came as a shock to everyone, who had cardiac arrest because of an enlarged heart, according to his autopsy.

“This is a sad day for Clemson Nation,” said head coach Dabo Swinney, who was wide receiver coach of the Tigers during Adams’s playing career. “Gaines was not only a great player at Clemson; he was an outstanding young man.

“He was a great example of how you could progress through hard work. He played eight-man football in high school, then became a top five pick. How many people have done that? I was an offensive assistant coach during his career, and we all took notice of his considerable skills. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”

Tommy Bowden was Adams’ coach with the Tigers.

“I was shocked and saddened to hear this news,” Bowden said. “When I heard the news I thought it was his father because he has the same name. I just couldn’t believe it was Gaines. I will always remember the smile he had on his face and I will always remember his patience. To go from eight-man football, to prep school, then to red-shirt, he waited his time, but proved it was worth the wait. Then he showed his patience when he came back for his senior year and could have gone pro after the 2005 season. This is a great loss and our prayers to out to his family.”