A growing number of former student-athletes from Troy University are returning to the Troy community, drawn back by their deep-rooted connection to the place they once called home.

For these former Trojans, TROY was more than just a university — it’s where they built lifelong relationships, formed lasting memories and experienced growth both on the field of play and in the classroom. Now they are coming home to have an impact on the University and the community that gave so much to them during their time here.

Ted Clem, Adam Godwin and Rolando Vargas are three examples of those former athletes who have “come home” to Troy.

Clem, one of the most recent to return to the community, began his new position as president of the Pike County Economic Development Corporation in April, only a few weeks ahead of his induction into the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame.

As a freshman walk-on in 1984, Clem forever etched his name in Troy University football lore, kicking a game-winning 50-yard field goal that propelled the Trojans to their first NCAA Division II football National Championship.

Clem, who graduated in 1987 with a degree in journalism, took a bit of a different career path.

“I had taken a couple of courses under Dr. Nick D’Andrea,” Clem said. “The subject matter of economic development came up in his geography classes and why businesses locate where they do and why location is so important to their success. I was intrigued by that subject, and after graduating from TROY, I applied to graduate school at Southern Mississippi where I received my master’s degree in economic development. I’ve been in this profession ever since. What I learned from Dr. D’Andrea and several other professors really set me on the pathway for the rest of my career.”

After spending the early part of his career doing local economic development, Clem has spent the last 12 years as a part of the Alabama Department of Commerce’s business development team, recruiting new industry, new investment and new jobs throughout the state of Alabama.

For Clem, the timing and opportunity was right to come home to Troy.

“This opportunity in Troy came up and it was just the right timing to get back to what I love — doing local economic development work in a community that I love,” he said. “We’ve always had ties to this area and know a lot of people here. We would come back to football games and other events as regularly as we could. The other benefit is all three of my kids and all four of my grandkids live in Troy. It was a great opportunity to come back to this community and kind of give back to a place that gave so much to me.”

Godwin, a standout for the Trojan baseball team during his time at TROY, experienced similar feelings about “coming home” to TROY.

Godwin, recently named to the 2025 Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame Class, serves as an assistant coach and outfield and base running coordinator for Trojan baseball. He joined the TROY coaching staff in 2020 after six years of coaching in the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies’ organizations and nine years as a professional baseball player.

 “The TROY baseball program helped enable me to enjoy a 15-year pro career,” Godwin said. “Pro baseball gave me invaluable opportunities and experiences. For example, I got to travel the country while playing with some of the best baseball players in the world. During my pro career, I learned who I was and what I wanted to be in that 15-year experience. It all made coming home make even more sense. TROY had such an impact on my life, and even though I was off in pro ball, I was often thinking about this community and the culture.”

Godwin came to TROY as a student-athlete in 2004, and, in 2005, led the NCAA and set TROY’s single-season record with 84 stolen bases. During the 2005 season, he also set a single season record for singles with 75. That season, he earned Atlantic Sun Player of the Year honors and a spot as a second-team All-American. Godwin was selected in the 11^th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While he had family ties to TROY, Godwin said rather than finding TROY, the University found him.

“I liked the fact that there was some underdog spirit to TROY. As a player that attracted me, but also just seeing the potential of what it could be — kind of like a giant slayer,” Godwin said. “I was attracted to the campus. The campus is beautiful. And the fact that we had the two best coaches in the country at the time in coach Bobby Pierce and Mark Smart running the program, made it even more appealing. It embodied everything that I stood for and just felt right.”

To this day, he calls his time as a TROY student-athlete “two of the greatest years of his life.” “It is the spirit of the campus and the community that lives on and brings former athletes back,” Godwin said.

“There’s a pride and passion that former students, professors, and those with a TROY connection, all feel for the university,” he said. “I think we’d all agree that’s why we’re back here. Troy made such an impact on our lives while we were here that we were drawn back. I feel very blessed to be a part of a culture and a legacy that TROY has created and continues to build on. It’s the goal that Head Coach Skylar Meade has for our staff and team and it’s a goal I have with my wife and children- we want to give back and continue to add to it the legacy Troy builds in the lives of its students, athletes, and all those whose lives are touched by this great University.”

For Vargas, who now coaches the TROY men’s tennis team, it was a fortunate twist of fate that brought him to TROY. As a student at a college in Florida, he and his roommate both decided a move was in order. His roommate headed to TROY, but Vargas decided to head elsewhere. Then, when a coaching change occurred at his intended destination, Vargas found himself headed to TROY as well. Looking back, Vargas feels extremely grateful that he became a Trojan.

Vargas settled in as a member of the men’s tennis team, playing No. 1 singles and doubles. He quickly realized he had found a home at TROY.

“I remember very well how caring the teachers were. I think the midsize school was an advantage to me because I had face-to-face contact with the teachers,” he said. “I still talk to some of them today. Dr. (Ed) Pappanastos was my teacher in statistics. That’s how much they really care. I was a foreigner and didn’t know much about Alabama, so their caring meant a lot to me. The campus was very beautiful, and I always felt great walking in the facilities. The tradition and culture in athletics was so special to me. I met my wife here. I was very grateful to come to TROY because it made me the person I am today.”

When his eligibility as an athlete ended in 2003, Vargas had the opportunity to serve as a student assistant coach during the team’s 2004 Atlantic Sun Conference championship season and a seed to his future path had been planted. With his bachelor’s in business in hand, Vargas spent the next three years playing tennis professionally, which had been a longtime dream.

He returned to TROY in 2007, serving as an assistant coach on the tennis team while also earning his master’s degree in sport management.

“It was a difficult choice because I had wanted to play professionally for a long time,” he said. “But the life of a professional tennis player is very challenging, and I felt that the best choice for my family was to come back to TROY.”

After earning his master’s degree and a brief stint as a tennis coach at the Montgomery Country Club, Vargas became the head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Auburn University Montgomery. From there, he spent a year at Radford before learning of the opportunity he had been looking for to return home to TROY.

“You don’t know what you have until you don’t have it,” he said. “When the opportunity came in TROY, I knew I would much rather be back here. I’m very humbled and grateful to be the head coach here at TROY. The biggest reward in this business is being able to make a difference in somebody’s life. Seeing these student-athletes who you’ve built relationships with go on and have success and knowing that you were able to put a grain of sand in their lives is just so rewarding. The relationships are what I think makes TROY such a special place.”