5 Clemson coaches with something to prove in 2024

Tyler Grisham

Grisham’s predecessor, Jeff Scott, was very popular in Clemson. He was given the bulk of the credit for the recruitment and development of wide receivers like Mike Williams, Tee Higgins, Justyn Ross, and Deon Cain, all of whom have played in the NFL.

Grisham was one of Swinney’s hires that was based on in-house promotions. He joined Swinney’s staff as a graduate assistant in 2014 with a promotion to offensive analyst in 2016. When he was promoted to wide receivers coach in 2020, his only experience was at Clemson.

While CJ Spiller has been perceived as an in-house promotion success, Austin was perceived as a failure. Grisham is somewhere between.

The receivers struggled during the first years of Grisham’s tenure, both on the field and in recruiting. There were some extenuating circumstances. The recruitment and evaluation of some of the players did happen at the end of Scott’s watch. Ross’s play was impacted by the congenital fusion condition of his neck and spine that required surgery. Fair or not, Grisham took the brunt of the criticism.

Perceptions about Grisham’s evaluating have changed with the early success of both Antonio Williams and Tyler Brown. Perceptions about his recruiting have improved with the recent arrivals of Bryant Wesco and TJ Moore, both of whom were big recruiting wins.

The next step for Grisham is for the evaluation and recruiting success to translate into success on the field. The receivers have made improvements since 2020, but only in incremental terms.

NEXT: Kyle Richardson