Clemson football expected to hire former player as assistant coach, reports say
.jpg "Former Clemson linebacker Corico Wright started his coaching career as a Tigers graduate assistant, but he went on to intern in the NFL and gain outside experience at other schools.")
Clemson football is set to hire a former player with college and NFL experience as one of its assistant coaches, per reports.
John Brice of FootballScoop and Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported Sunday night that the Tigers and Dabo Swinney are expected to add Delaware defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach Corico Wright to their staff.
The Clemson Insider also confirmed the news Monday morning.
Wright played at Clemson from 2009-12 and was part of Swinney’s first ever recruiting class. He’d replace former safeties coach Mickey Conn, who was fired on Dec. 29 after nine seasons on staff, as a lead assistant for the Tigers.
Wright has been Delaware’s cornerbacks coach and defensive pass game coordinator since 2023. He previously spent four seasons at FCS Furman in Greenville and worked at James Madison and Murray State. Wright was also a graduate assistant under Swinney and cornerbacks coach Mike Reed.
He has NFL experience, too, having interned with the New York Jets in 2014 and the Miami Dolphins in 2019 as a Bill Walsh Minority Intern.
Delaware underwent an FCS to FBS transition during Wright’s time on staff, and this year the Blue Hens finished 7-6 and won their first ever bowl game. Wright coached two all-conference cornerbacks in his time at Delaware.
As a linebacker at Clemson, Wright was a productive player who played in 52 games, started 26 and recorded 200 career tackles from 2009-12. He also recorded 17 tackles for loss and 5 sacks and was the team’s third-leading tackler twice.
Wright told the Post & Courier in 2022 while working at Furman that he’d be interested in working for Swinney at some point if it was the right fit.
“If that opportunity presented itself, I’d have to evaluate it,” he told the paper. “It obviously depends on the role. I can’t go back to being a GA, you know?”
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Clemson’s 2026 coaching staff comes together
Swinney and Clemson fired offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and safeties coach Conn last Monday. One week later, they’re poised to fill both open positions.
Clemson has a board of trustees compensation committee meeting set for Monday morning, where the school will formally hire Chad Morris as its next offensive coordinator, per multiple reports. Morris was previously OC from 2011-14.
With Morris and now Wright reportedly set to join the staff, Clemson and Swinney would have all 10 of their “main” assistant coaching jobs filled. There’s still work to be done among the support staff, though.
Former analyst John Grass took the head coaching job at FCS Samford and is taking seven former Clemson coaches with him (that includes Conn, who was fire as Clemson safeties coach but will be Samford’s defensive coordinator).
With Wright’s expected hire, it’ll also be interesting to see how Clemson’s secondary coaching assignments shake out heading into 2026.
Reed, the team’s longtime cornerbacks coach, remains on staff. Larry Williams of TigerIllustrated has noted that Clemson plans to give support staffers Thomas Allen and Nolan Turner elevated coaching roles. DeAndre McDaniel, a former teammate of Wright’s, is on the Tigers’ staff as a nickelbacks coach, too.
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 7:34 PM.
