After Saturday’s loss to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl, a frustrated Dabo Swinney pointed out several areas of his team where the performances have to improve for 2026 not to be a repeat performance. The offense, as a whole had under achieved all season, and the secondary play was, at times, comical.
Monday night at 6:00 PM Swinney announced the termination of Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Garrett Riley after three seasons, and long time safeties coach and co-Defensive Coordinator Mickey Conn, who had held that position since 2017.
Clemson will owe Riley $3.5M for the final two years of his contract, which was extended by a season and the end of 2024. Clemson was paying Conn $950,000 per season on a contract that runs through 2027.
Statement from Dabo Swinney
“I have made the decision to make a change at offensive coordinator. This was a very difficult decision. These decisions are never easy, especially when you really love and care for the people that are involved, and I deeply love and care for Garrett Riley and his family. At the end of the day, we just did not get the production and the results that we needed, and I just feel like it is time for a change, and so we will be moving in a different direction with a new offensive coordinator.
“I just want to thank Garrett for all that he did for us here at Clemson and leading us and helping us secure another ACC championship in 2024 and get us back to the College Football Playoff that year. I appreciate all of his efforts on behalf of our players and our program. Garrett is smart, he’s got great work ethic and he’s a great coach, but it just didn’t work like we both wanted. He’s got an amazing career ahead and he’ll be a great head coach in the future.
“We will also have a change with the leadership of our safeties with the departure of Mickey Conn. Coach Conn is someone that I’ve known since 1990 and he truly is family to me. He has done an amazing job here at Clemson. He’s been with us since 2016 — 10 years — and he’s been coaching the safeties since 2017 and coached a bunch of great safeties for us, including R.J. Mickens, who is a starting safety in the NFL as a rookie this year.
“I’m just so appreciative of Mickey and the great contribution that he’s made at Clemson over the last decade. I’m thankful for his family as well. I’m excited for upcoming opportunities he may have to go and call a defense and take the next step in his career. I’m forever grateful for Mickey and all the outstanding players he’s coached and all the memorable wins and championships we’ve earned together in the last decade.
“I am excited about the plan we have in place for our secondary and our defensive staff, and I am looking forward to identifying the right leader for our offense to help achieve our goals for 2026 and beyond.”
I think Dabo was forced to make those moves by the AD. But these moves don’t get made until you have the successor locked up? Jeff Scott? Chip Kelly? Gus Malzohn?