5 Clemson coaches with something to prove in 2024

There is always an element of Clemson Nation that has negative opinions of members of the Clemson Football coaching staff. Sometimes the opinions are fair, sometimes there aren’t. Sometimes they are vocal minorities. Sometimes they represent larger swaths of the fanbase.

Changes to the staff in the last two years have pleased many fans. This staff feels about as solid going into a season as a Clemson staff has felt in several years.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t areas where fans want to see improvement. Here are five members of the staff who have something to prove to fans.

Garrett Riley

Riley didn’t bear the brunt of the blame for the poor performance of the offense in 2023. Most of that was focused on Cade Klubnik during the season. Following the season, much of it was placed on the offensive line, which resulted in a coaching change for that position group.

Of course, there were still people who screamed from the mountaintops that Dabo Swinney was actually calling the plays, even though that was debunked multiple times.

It was probably fair not to place a big portion of the blame on Riley. Klubnik did not play at the same level as Max Duggan during Riley’s season at TCU. The offensive line wasn’t successful in employing the same blocking schemes that Riley had prescribed, forcing Riley to simplify his offense to fit what the line could accomplish.

It was also probably unrealistic to assume that Riley could transform the offense in one season. It was fair to hope it could happen, but there are so many examples when coaches don’t transform their charges immediately. It took a few seasons for Brent Venables to turn the Clemson defense into a juggernaut.

That said, two years of the same old thing won’t be easily overlooked. Klubnik has a year in Riley’s offense. Matt Luke has been brought on board to run the offensive line.

It’s time for this offense to be the strength Swinney envisioned when he fired Brandon Streeter and brought in Riley.

NEXT: Matt Luke