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Clemson offensive coordinator meeting with ACC school about head coach job

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•12/05/21•

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Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney on the sidelines against the UConn Huskies. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

Another Clemson Tigers assistant coach could be leaving Dabo Swinney’s staff. According to Chris Low of ESPN, offensive coordinator Tony Elliot is going to be meeting with Duke about their open head coaching job.

Elliot has been with Clemson since the 2011 season, originally being the running backs coach. He was promoted to co-offensive coordinator before the 2015 season and then assistant head coach during the 2021 season.

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe stepped down last month. He had been in charge of the Blue Devil program since 2008, leading them 77-97 record. Hiring Elliot would give them experience from somebody who knows how to win from within the ACC to replace their legendary head coach.

Elliot has never left the state of South Carolina in the coaching world, beginning his career as a wide receivers coach at South Carolina State in 2006. He moved to Furman for the same role in 2008.

Elliot would be second Clemson coach to leave

If Elliot and Duke were to come to fruition, he would make the second Clemson coordinator to leave the program.

For just the third time since 1999, the Oklahoma Sooners officially have a new head football coach. Their official Twitter account welcomed Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables to Norman on Sunday night.

Venables joined Bob Stoops’ staff in 1999 as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He won the national championship with the Sooners in 2000 and appeared in another two in 2003 and 2008. Oklahoma decided to move on from Venables in 2011, letting him go to Clemson to be with Dabo Swineey. Another two national championships are now under his belt (2016 and 2018).

“We’re looking forward to making another decade-plus of incredible memories as we transition to a new era of Oklahoma football, especially with the opportunity & the challenge to join the SEC, the premier conference in all of college football,” Venables said in a statement on Sunday.

Oklahoma is in need of a quick short-term repair, trying to finish strong with the 2022 recruiting class and preventing more entries into the transfer portal. Venables will have 10 days on the recruiting front, with a whole offseason to sell his vision to current Sooner players.