Willie Anderson, a former Clemson football standout and national championship-winning assistant coach, died Wednesday in Sumter, South Carolina, the school announced Friday. He was 72. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Anderson made history as the only person in Clemson football to earn first-team All-ACC honors as a player and later serve as a full-time assistant on a national championship staff. Anderson played at Clemson from 1972–74, starting 31 of 33 games at middle guard and linebacker. His final game in a Tigers uniform — a 39–21 victory over rival South Carolina in 1974 — became one of the most memorable performances in program history. He tallied 21 tackles, including 17 solo stops. The 21 tackles still stand as the most in a single game by a Clemson defensive lineman.
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Anderson signed a free-agent deal with the then-Oakland Raiders before continuing his professional career with the Birmingham Vulcans of the World Football League. He played the 1975 season with the Vulcans, contributing to a league-best 9–3 finish in what would be the franchise’s final year of operation.
He began his coaching career in 1976 at Chamblee High School in Georgia before joining Charley Pell’s Clemson staff as a graduate assistant later that year. He was promoted to a full-time position by coach Danny Ford in 1979, coaching tight ends before transitioning to defensive ends in 1980. Anderson was part of the staff that led Clemson to its first national title in 1981 and remained on staff through the 1982 season.
Anderson went on to coach at Oklahoma State under Jimmy Johnson and later at Langston University in Oklahoma.
A memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22 at 1 p.m. at Salem Chapel and Heritage Center in Sumter.
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