Clemson officially announces Garrett Riley as new offensive coordinator

One of the splashiest moves of the offseason shook out this week with Clemson reportedly hiring Broyles Award winner Garrett Riley away from TCU to be the offensive coordinator for the Tigers. On Friday, Clemson made the move official.

Riley, who is the younger brother of USC head coach Lincoln Riley, comes to Clemson after a wildly successful lone season coordinating the offense for the Horned Frogs. Quarterback Max Duggan put up Heisman-caliber stats and the TCU offense carried them to an appearance in the national title game.

“Garrett has an incredible track record. His body of work — including this past season when his ninth-ranked scoring offense helped TCU transform from a five-win team into a 13-win national championship game finalist in their coaching staff’s first season — speaks for itself,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said in a press release.

The Horned Frogs finished 27th nationally in yards per game with 455, a figure that includes the national championship game where TCU mustered just 188 as Georgia stymied the attack. Even still, TCU scored the fifth most offensive touchdowns in 2022-23 with 70.

“I also want to take a moment to thank Coach [Sonny] Dykes and all the players, staff and fans at TCU. What we were able to accomplish last season created a lifetime of memories for me and my family, and I am so thankful for the hard work and dedication of everyone at TCU to make our 2022 season possible,” Riley said in the release.

He continued: “I cannot wait to get to work with the talented players and staff already in place here at Clemson and help attract more of the nation’s best in the coming years. As I know Coach Swinney has said previously, the best is always yet to come.”

Riley brings a high-octane, air raid-based offense to a Clemson program that has somewhat languished on the offensive side the past two seasons. The Tigers offense wasn’t bad, per se, in 2022 — Clemson finished 48th nationally in total offense with 410.3 yards per game this season and still won double digit games both years — but it was evident that something needed to get kick started.

Thus, head coach Dabo Swinney made a rare move in his program, firing offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter after just one season.

“I am incredibly appreciative of Brandon for all he accomplished at Clemson in his 15 years as a player, graduate assistant, position coach and offensive coordinator. I am thankful for Brandon and love him and his family. He has always represented Clemson University with great pride, and I know he will continue to do great things,” Swinney said in a release shortly after the news about Streeter broke.

Swinney continued: “As the leader of this program, I am accountable for our staff and accountable for our results, and though we took a step forward offensively in 2022, after evaluating our offense in-depth, I felt it was in the best interest of our program to seek new leadership at that position. These decisions are never easy, but it is my job to evaluate and assess every part of our program every year, and this was just the right time to make a change.”