IT's RILEY
By: Larry Williams
TCU's Garrett Riley is expected to be named Clemson's next offensive coordinator, Tigerillustrated.com has learned.
After two seasons of pronounced offensive struggle, Dabo Swinney went big and went outside of the program after parting ways with Brandon Streeter.
Riley, brother of Southern Cal coach Lincoln Riley, is regarded as one of the foremost offensive minds in the game. His decision to leave Fort Worth is a major coup for Swinney and the Tigers, whose dramatic offensive regression in 2021 and 2022 was a major reason the team missed out on the playoffs both years after six consecutive appearances from 2015 to 2020.
Riley was with Sonny Dykes at SMU in 2020 and 2021 before Dykes took the Horned Frogs position. TCU was instantly transformed this past season, averaging 38.8 points a game and advancing all the way to the national championship after going 5-7 in Gary Patterson's final season.
Riley was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Frogs. Quarterback Max Duggan had a spectacular 2022 season and finished No. 2 in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
Riley was also offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at SMU. Previously he spent one year as running backs coach at Appalachian State, and before that he spent three years at Kansas.
Swinney's decision to go outside the program for a big hire is reminiscent of his moves to bring in Chad Morris in 2011 and Brent Venables a year later.
When Morris left for SMU in 2014, Swinney replaced him by promoting Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott to co-offensive coordinators.
The Tigers were wildly successful under that arrangement, winning two national titles and advancing to the final game four times. But they sagged mightily in 2021 after the departure of Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and other high-level players.
Elliott took the Virginia job after the 2021 season and Swinney promoted Streeter, who had been quarterbacks coach since December of 2014.
Swinney also promoted Wes Goodwin from within to fill the vacancy left by Venables upon his departure for Oklahoma.
The moves drew criticism from fans and others, and the heat intensified late in the season when the offense bogged down in losses to Notre Dame, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The Tigers produced just one touchdown in the Orange Bowl against a Volunteers defense that had been porous for most of the season.
The compensation committee of Clemson's Board of Trustees is meeting Friday to finalize a contract for Riley that could surpass $2 million.
NOTE: Please do not copy/paste or summarize any portion of this article to other sites/social media, as it is a direct violation of copyright laws. Thank you!
By: Larry Williams
TCU's Garrett Riley is expected to be named Clemson's next offensive coordinator, Tigerillustrated.com has learned.
After two seasons of pronounced offensive struggle, Dabo Swinney went big and went outside of the program after parting ways with Brandon Streeter.
Riley, brother of Southern Cal coach Lincoln Riley, is regarded as one of the foremost offensive minds in the game. His decision to leave Fort Worth is a major coup for Swinney and the Tigers, whose dramatic offensive regression in 2021 and 2022 was a major reason the team missed out on the playoffs both years after six consecutive appearances from 2015 to 2020.
Riley was with Sonny Dykes at SMU in 2020 and 2021 before Dykes took the Horned Frogs position. TCU was instantly transformed this past season, averaging 38.8 points a game and advancing all the way to the national championship after going 5-7 in Gary Patterson's final season.
Riley was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Frogs. Quarterback Max Duggan had a spectacular 2022 season and finished No. 2 in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
Riley was also offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at SMU. Previously he spent one year as running backs coach at Appalachian State, and before that he spent three years at Kansas.
Swinney's decision to go outside the program for a big hire is reminiscent of his moves to bring in Chad Morris in 2011 and Brent Venables a year later.
When Morris left for SMU in 2014, Swinney replaced him by promoting Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott to co-offensive coordinators.
The Tigers were wildly successful under that arrangement, winning two national titles and advancing to the final game four times. But they sagged mightily in 2021 after the departure of Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and other high-level players.
Elliott took the Virginia job after the 2021 season and Swinney promoted Streeter, who had been quarterbacks coach since December of 2014.
Swinney also promoted Wes Goodwin from within to fill the vacancy left by Venables upon his departure for Oklahoma.
The moves drew criticism from fans and others, and the heat intensified late in the season when the offense bogged down in losses to Notre Dame, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The Tigers produced just one touchdown in the Orange Bowl against a Volunteers defense that had been porous for most of the season.
The compensation committee of Clemson's Board of Trustees is meeting Friday to finalize a contract for Riley that could surpass $2 million.
NOTE: Please do not copy/paste or summarize any portion of this article to other sites/social media, as it is a direct violation of copyright laws. Thank you!
