Clemson Football: Don’t underestimate the importance of staff chemistry

Tiger Nation is still buzzing from the news of Clemson Football hiring Garrett Riley as the new offensive coordinator.

You can tell the importance of some events based on people talking about where they were when they heard about them. My parents and their generation talked about where they were when they heard about John F. Kennedy’s assassination. My generation talks about where they were when they heard about 9/11.

On a smaller, lighter scale, fandoms can talk about big events the same way. I have heard several people talk about where they were when they heard Brandon Streeter had been fired and Riley had been hired. I’ve heard people ask others where they were.

I understand the excitement. Some of it has to do with the frustration of the offensive woes of the past two seasons. There was a debate among some whether the blame for those struggles belonged to DJ Uiagalelei or the staff, specifically Streeter as his position coach and play caller, and Dabo Swinney, who as the head coach sets the direction and culture for the program.

With Uiagalelei moving on and the change at offensive coordinator, fans are excited because this feels like a complete reset for the offense. The team isn’t taking a gamble by holding on to one or the other.

The lingering question for some is “What took you so long?”.

Most teams make changes to their staff very quickly when the season is over. They want to get a head start on hiring their new coaches. Changes are often made even if teams will be playing in a bowl game.

Coach Swinney didn’t make a change after the end of the regular season, after the ACC championship, or after the Orange Bowl. The reality is that he didn’t wait that long – it was just a couple of weeks after the bowl game – but it seemed like forever.

Why did he wait? I think there are a few reasons.

First, I think Swinney knew he wanted to talk to Riley because he admired his work at SMU and TCU. I think Swinney also didn’t want to disrespect TCU head coach Sonny Dykes. Swinney has experience with a coach on his staff who got a new job before the Tigers’ postseason was complete. Jeff Scott accepted the offer to become the new head coach of South Florida before Clemson played in the 2019 CFP. Swinney likely understood how that can negatively impact a team trying to win a title.

Secondly, I think he wanted to interview Riley to make sure he was a right fit for the staff. I think Swinney considers that important, and I tend to agree with him.

As I said, lots of positions come open after the regular season ends, and those positions need to be filled. A lot of position coaches move after every single season. That is one of the reasons why Clemson’s staff stability is so notable: it’s an exception to the rule.

If you look at most coaches’ resumes of when they were assistants, they rarely stay in any one place for long. I think sometimes they make moves for a little more money, but I think in many other situations, they are trying to find a place they fit better. Perhaps more directly, they are trying to find a staff and a boss with whom they fit.

It seems so common after a coach moves on to hear that they weren’t a good fit for the staff, or they didn’t see eye to eye with the head coach. From the outside, we as fans will never really know how personality conflicts impacted a team and its ability to be successful, but I think most of us can find examples in our lives that are comparable.

Swinney proved he was willing to make changes to Clemson Football, but his actions suggest he still values the chemistry of his staff

I can reflect on several situations in my career when people around me didn’t get along, and the results can be very distracting. Sometimes they politic against each other. Sometimes they attempt to sabotage each other. Sometimes others around them get sucked into the situation when they shouldn’t be involved and don’t want to be involved. That environment can be hell for some people who are just trying to do their jobs well. Those same people may move on to other opportunities themselves in a search for a better work environment.

Like some others, I wondered if Swinney had become too focused on culture when it came to his staff. I had assumed he would go outside the staff last season after Tony Elliott left to become the head coach at Virginia. When he didn’t, I accepted that Swinney just valued the culture of his staff so much that he wasn’t willing to take risk of bringing in a new personality that might create discord just because the team went 11-3. That is a record to celebrate for 95%+ of programs in the Power Five.

I think the fact that Swinney was willing to part ways with a son of Clemson to bring in a new coach that can make the offense more innovative shows that he is willing to risk the staff’s chemistry to improve upon that 11-4 record.

Swinney wasn’t in a rush just to beat the other schools to the punch. I think that shows he still values staff chemistry and wasn’t willing to throw caution to the wind. He was willing to take the time to find the right guy who was worth the risk. That is why I am starting to believe that Riley’s hiring could be exactly what the Tigers needed to stay on top of an ACC that is improving around them.