Clemson football report: Tony Elliott interviewed for TCU coaching vacancy

Rumors have been swirling surrounding Clemson football offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and the potential that this could be his last season in Tiger Town and those heated up on Monday.

Elliott was named as one of the top candidates for the vacant TCU head coaching position last week by 247 Sports’ Chris Hummer, but the latest report surrounding the offensive coordinator is that he has already taken the next step.

SB Nation’s Jamie Plunkett, who covers TCU for the site ‘Frogs O’ War,’ reported on Monday morning that Elliott “interviewed for the job last week.” According to Plunkett, TCU interviewed seven candidates with Elliott and Billy Napier being the two headliners.

Here’s what the report had to say about Elliott as a candidate:

"Elliott interviewed with TCU last week, and it’s easy to see why TCU is interested. Elliott has had a hand in Clemson’s offense for the last decade, including as co-OC from 2015-19 and OC in 2020.In 2021, Elliott was promoted to Assistant Head Coach along with his title of Offensive Coordinator.Pros: Elliott has the offensive mind to lead a quality offense.Cons: Elliott, a Clemson grad and native of California, doesn’t have ties to Texas, nor has he ever been a head coach."

At his press conference on Monday, Elliott played off the rumors and told The State that this was all “people speculating.”

"“I’m focused on the season,” Elliott said. “If I start talking about that, then I gotta talk about every one that I’m mentioned for. I guess there was an article that was written on one of the top guys, so my name comes up for every job. If there’s ever something really serious and it gets to that point, then I’ll be able to talk about it. But right now that’s just people speculating.”"

Clemson football could be looking for another offensive coordinator this offseason

According to the reports we’ve seen, it would seem as if Sonny Dykes is the leader in the clubhouse for the job at TCU but that doesn’t mean that Elliott won’t get serious consideration.

In addition to the TCU opening, you’ve got to realize that there are already several other Power-5 positions open and many more that could become open following this season.

With the Elliott rumors beginning to heat up, this might very well be a circumstance where he believes it’s time to try his hand as a head coach. If the report is true that he interviewed, that certainly would seem to be the case in terms of his mindset moving forward.

Of course Elliott isn’t going to come out and say anything, but it seems there is more working behind-the-scenes now than ever and that could lead to Clemson looking for a new offensive coordinator following the end of this season.

Everything right now is just speculation, but where there’s smoke, there is normally a fire. That’s not the case all the time, but it’s definitely something to keep your eye on as we advance through the rest of November and enter December.