Mickey Conn out after 9 seasons as Clemson football safeties coach
Clemson safeties coach Mickey Conn has been fired.
Coach Dabo Swinney announced in a news release Monday night that he’d made the decision to fire Conn as well as offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
“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,” Swinney said in a release.
Safety was one of Clemson football’s shakiest positions in 2025. The Tigers started converted receiver Ronan Hanafin at one of two safety spots to start the year, and the unit struggled depth-wise after fellow starter Khalil Barnes’ injury.
The unit also suffered numerous coverage busts throughout the season, which prompted one viral moment where Swinney steamed around the defensive huddle during a loss to Duke, yelling at players: “Bust! Bust! Bust!”
Clemson allowed 128 passing yards of 10-plus yards during the 2025 season, which ranked 126th among 136 FBS teams. Their 11 passing plays of 40-plus yards allowed and seven passing plays of 50-plus yards aloud also ranked bottom 30 nationally.
Swinney and defensive coordinator Tom Allen publicly revealed late in the season that Thomas Allen, Tom’s son and a senior defensive analyst, had taken on an elevated leadership role overseeing the secondary.
Safety was also a shaky recruiting position for Clemson in 2025, as Blake Stewart (Georgia) and Kaden Gebhardt (Ohio State) both flipped their commitments from Clemson to other top schools this fall and Barnes decided to transfer.
Mickey Conn contract, buyout info
Conn, who also held titles of defensive pass game coordinator and co-special teams coordinator, is making $950,000 in 2025-26, per a copy of his most recent contract obtained by The State via public records request.
Conn notably did not receive a raise or extension in February 2025, when Clemson routinely re-ups the contracts of most of its football assistant coaches.
Clemson, per the contract, owes Conn 100% of the salary remaining on his contract (which runs through 2027) if it fires him without cause. Those payments will be offset by mitigation, meaning Clemson would pay the difference between Conn’s annual salary at Clemson and his annual salary at his next coaching job.
Conn, 54, was teammates with Swinney at Alabama and a longtime high school coach in Georgia before joining Clemson in 2016 with zero position coaching experience at a power-conference level. He was promoted to Clemson’s full-time safeties coach in 2017 and held that role until his departure.
Conn’s older son, Brodey, is a walk-on long snapper and punter at Clemson.
“Coach Conn is someone that I’ve known since 1990 and he truly is family to me,” Swinney said in a statement, adding that he’s excited about “upcoming opportunities he (Conn) may have to go and call a defense and take the next step in his career.”
Swinney indicated that he, Clemson and Allen already have a plan in place of sorts to replace Conn, which reportedly could involve elevated roles for Thomas Allen (Tom’s son) and/or current assistant safeties coach Nolan Turner.
“I am excited about the plan we have in place for our secondary and our defensive staff,” Swinney said in his statement.
This story was originally published December 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM.
