Clemson Football: Three questions about the coaches

We’ve asked three questions about every position group for Clemson Football, but the players aren’t the only people on the team. Coaches matter too, and there has been a good amount of turnover in the last few seasons.

Only four of head coach Dabo Swinney’s current assistants were on his coaching staff during the 2020 season. Some of the newcomers were analysts, while others joined from other programs.

Quick quiz: following Mike Reed, Mickey Conn, and Lemanski Hall, who is the next most-tenured assistant coach at Clemson?

The answer is Tyler Grisham, and if that doesn’t drive home the amount of change we’ve seen on staff lately, I’m not sure what will.

The truth is that we could go far deeper than three questions for the coaches. Grisham has received his fair amount of criticism in the last couple of seasons. Is his group ready to turn a corner?

Thomas Austin continues his project of revamping the offensive line. Will we see continued progress?

Kyle Richardson is seen by some as the heir apparent to running the offense when Garrett Riley finds a head coaching job he likes. Will he be ready when the time comes?

Then there is Swinney himself, who decided to overhaul the offense this offseason. Might there be more changes in the future if things don’t go as planned?

All are good questions. Here are the three questions that are most important for the Tigers this season.