Former Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley taking SEC job, report says
Clemson’s former offensive coordinator has his next job.
Garrett Riley, who was fired on Dec. 29 after spending three seasons as the Tigers’ OC and quarterbacks coach, is joining Missouri and Eliah Drinkwitz as an offensive assistant, according to a Friday report from On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos.
Drinkwitz and Riley have a prior coaching relationship, as Riley worked as Drinkwitz’ running backs coach at Appalachian State in 2019.
Riley, 36, won the 2022 Broyles Award as the nation’s No. 1 assistant coach at TCU, where he was the offensive coordinator for a Horned Frogs team that made a surprise run to the national championship game.
As such, Riley was considered a slam-dunk hire when Dabo Swinney poached him to replace Brandon Streeter heading into the 2023 season. But Clemson’s offense never reached a consistently elite level under Riley and quarterback Cade Klubnik.
The Tigers finished 7-6 in 2025 and ranked No. 71 nationally in scoring offense (27.2 points per game) and No. 63 in total offense (392.2 yards per game). Those were significant drop-offs from 2024, when Clemson went 10-4, won an ACC championship and made a College Football Playoff appearance.
Swinney replaced Riley with Chad Morris, who was hired Jan. 5. Morris was Swinney’s Clemson OC from 2011-14 and returns for a second stint at the school.
Riley was set to make $1.75 million annually through 2028. Clemson will pay the difference between his annual salary with the Tigers and the annual salary at his new job with Missouri through the remainder of his contract.
Mizzou went 8-5 and 4-4 in the SEC this season, which was Drinkwitz’s sixth as coach. The Tigers also underwent an OC change as Kirby Moore was hired was Washington State’s coach and Drinkwitz replaced him with Michigan’s Chip Lindsey.
Riley, as an offensive assistant/analyst, will assist Drinkwitz and Lindsey.
Garrett Riley’s college football coaching history
At FBS level
- 2013-15: East Carolina (GA, WR coach)
- 2016-18: Kansas (analyst, QB coach, TE/FB coach)
- 2019: App State (RB coach)
- 2020-21: SMU (OC and QBs coach)
- 2022: TCU (OC and QBs coach)
- 2023-25: Clemson (OC and QBs coach)
- 2026-present: Missouri (offensive assistant)
This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 1:10 PM.
