Clemson football: Tony Elliott needs to sit down with two coaches this offseason

Clemson football offensive coordinator, Tony Elliott, as to become creative in his passing concepts.

It was announced last week that there would be some changes to the Clemson football coaching staff. Former tight end coach Danny Pearman is moving off the field to lead the charge in recruiting and Tigers legend CJ Spiller is going to become the full-time running backs coach and Elliott is going to take over the tight ends.

Some are hopeful that this means the tight ends will become a more important part of the offense.

However, the Clemson football offense needs to do a lot more than just include the tight ends more, they need to completely change the concepts used in the passing game. If you watched the last two national title games and the offensive schemes used by Joe Brady in 2019 and Steve Sarkisian in 2020, you know exactly what we are talking about.

Offensive schemes in college football are changing every single year and it’s time that Tony Elliott and the offense start to incorporate these into what they do. The talent is here in order to make these changes, they just simply have to install them.

Sure, fans will argue that this offense is record-setting but there is a reason that over the last two years on the biggest stage, the offense is unable to put up the same type of numbers that they do in ACC conference games.

In order to make these changes, Tony Elliott has to sit down with those that have made these changes.

Every year, during the offseason, coaches travel. They go spend time with other coaching staffs across the country and compare notes about what is working and what isn’t working. Tony Elliott has to go sit down with two coaches specifically – Joe Brady and Steve Sarkisian.

Go back and watch the Alabama national title game against Ohio State – Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith was wide open the entire first half. Why? Well, look at the route tree and concepts that Sarkisian employed.

Smith was never in the same spot twice and even though everyone was keyed in on him, he was always open. These route concepts have people thinking that not only is Smith one of the best receivers in the draft but that Mac Jones is somehow a first-round quarterback talent. (He isn’t)

Joe Brady at LSU was no different.

Sure, he was not the OC by title but that was his offense in 2019. He is now in the NFL and while the Panthers had no success, Brady’s offense without a single playmaker still finished 20th in scoring in the NFL.

Sitting down with these two coaches this offseason is how Tony can take the Clemson football offense to the next level and something that he needs to do if he is going to take the next step as one of the best coordinators in the country.