On Wednesday, Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley met with the media for the first time this season.
Coach Riley was asked if last year, which came with many challenges as his first manager with the Tigers, was the toughest year of his young coaching career.
“Probably not,” says Riley, 35. “I’ve been through a lot and was one of the staff members who was made redundant twice. People think it’s just a breeze, but I’ve already been on the other side of things twice in my young career. I’ve learned in this profession, in fact in anything, there are going to be bad times, and you have to learn how to extract great value from those bad experiences.”
Riley, the 2022 Broyles Award winner as the nation’s top assistant coach, joined Clemson from TCU in January 2023 and served as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, leading the Horned Frogs to a 13-2 record, a Fiesta Bowl title and an appearance in the 2022 College Football Playoff national championship game.
Although Clemson’s offense did not perform as well as many expected entering last season, finishing 52nd in the nation in both total offense and scoring offense, Riley led Clemson to 15th in the nation in first downs per game (23.4), good for ninth-highest in school history. Clemson’s 76.8 plays per game were their highest average since 2016 (81.4) and the Tigers were fifth in the nation in average time of possession per game (33:19), their highest ranking and highest average since 1989.
The Tigers got off to a sluggish start this season in their season opener against Georgia, holding Clemson to just one field goal, 188 total yards and 46 rushing yards, but then their offense exploded in their last two games against Appalachian State and North Carolina State, averaging 62.5 points, 618 total yards and over 260 rushing yards.
The 125 points Clemson has scored over its last two games is the second-most in consecutive games since 1936.
“We had some adversity last year and I think I was able to kind of let the guys know that those things happen and you’ve got to learn from them,” Riley said, “so I’m really taking that same approach from a professional standpoint.”
A limited number of Cade Klubnik autographed replica street signs are available for sale. Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online.
