Every Clemson Coaching Hire and Promotion From This Offseason

Following a wave of staff departures this offseason, there were a lot of spots to be filled for the Clemson Tigers.

While the most notable one came to be offensive coordinator Chad Morris, head coach Dabo Swinney recently spoke about the other hirings and promotions he made within his staff.

That said, here's a rundown of every coaching change Swinney went over in this past Friday's press conference.

Defensive Passing Game Coordinator

Thomas Allen — the son of defensive coordinator Tom Allen — will be taking over as the defensive passing game coordinator for the 2026 season following the departure of longtime Clemson coach Mickey Conn.

Allen is one of the youngest coaches on the staff, having wrapped up his collegiate career at Indiana in 2021. Since then, he has worked as a defensive analyst and analytics coordinator at Penn State during the 2024 season, before spending last year with the Tigers as a defensive analyst and assistant linebackers coach.

"I didn't really know Thomas — other than that he was Tom's son — coming in here," Swinney said Friday. "But let me tell you, he'll be a coordinator in the SEC, the Big 10, the ACC, the Big 12 before he's 30. He is a really gifted, young coach. I'm thankful that we were able to keep him here for at least another year."

"He did an awesome job [last year]. He'll work with the back five, he'll handle our installs, and just make sure everybody's on the same page. He did a great job when we empowered him this way as the season wore on this past year."

Quarterbacks Coach

When Clemson moved on from Garrett Riley about a month ago, it opened up more than just the offensive coordinator position; it also left a vacancy at the quarterbacks coach position.

Former Tigers star quarterback Tahj Boyd has since filled that vacancy.

Boyd has worked within the program since 2021, spending his first three years as offensive player development coach before earning a promotion in 2024 to offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach.

Safeties Coach

Not only did Mickey Conn's departure to Samford open up the defensive passing game coordinator role, but it also opened up the safeties coaching role.

Former Clemson safety Nolan Turner has since filled the vacancy.

Turner spent five seasons with the Tigers, recording 192 tackles, 13 pass breakups, and seven interceptions. He won a national championship as a sophomore and later earned Second-Team AFCA All-America and Second-Team All-ACC honors in 2020.

After going undrafted in 2022, Turner signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being released ahead of the 2023 season. He then transitioned into coaching, spending the past two seasons as an assistant safeties coach and defensive player development coach.

Nickelbacks Coach

Working alongside longtime defensive backs coach Mike Reed will be another former Tiger, Corico Wright, who will take over as nickelbacks coach.

Wright began his coaching career at Clemson as a graduate assistant before working at James Madison, Murray State, Furman, the Green Bay Packers, and, most recently, Delaware, where he served as the cornerbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator in 2025.

Senior Offensive Assistant

Veteran coach Lonnie Galloway has taken over as the senior offensive assistant as John Grass decided to part ways with the program to become the new head coach of Samford.

Galloway spent last season as a volunteer offensive assistant and has plenty of experience in the field.

Galloway coached at North Carolina for six seasons from 2019 through 2024. He began coaching in 1996, having stints at Elon, East Carolina, Appalachian State, West Virginia, Wake Forest and Louisville.

Offensive Assistant

Taking over as offensive assistant is Mike Miller, who's a South Carolina native.

Following his playing career at UAB, he had short stints as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Clemson, in 2015, and at Alabama from 2017 to 2018.

Since then, he's slowly worked his way up the hierarchy, earning a role as the tight ends coach for Maryland before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2022. The past two years, he's spent his time working as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Charlotte.

Assistant Wide Receivers Coach/Player Development

Former standout Clemson receiver Jacoby Ford will step into the role of assistant wide receivers coach and player development coach following the departure of Drew Swinney.

He spent four seasons with the Tigers from 2006 to 2010, where he totaled 201 touches for 2,480 yards and 18 touchdowns from scrimmage.

Ford also appeared as a sprinter for Clemson track and field. He set NCAA records in the 60-yard dash and ran a 4.28-second 40-yard dash, a split faster than the likes of Tyreek Hill and D.K. Metcalf.

The Oakland Raiders selected Ford in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He spent his first three years with the organization before signing with the Jets in 2014 and the Titans in 2015. Ford tried to keep his playing career alive by pivoting to the Canadian Football League (CFL) until 2018.

Ford then transitioned into coaching, spending the past eight years at West Boca High School in Florida.

"Jacoby was obviously a great player here, and he's been gone a long time," Swinney stated. "But, he's been training the best of the best down in Florida for a long time from a speed development standpoint."

[He's been working] with Tony Balani down there, and training a lot of pros to get them ready for the [NFL] Combine. He's also been a high school coach for the past eight years. In fact, he just won his second state championship — back-to-back — at West Boca High School."

Assistant Tight Ends Coach/Player Development

In addition to Ford, Glenn will serve as Clemson's assistant tight ends coach in 2026.

Glenn's ties to the program and South Carolina as a whole run deep, as the 53-year-old coach was born in Seneca and graduated from Clemson in 1995.

Since graduating, he's spent the past 30 years coaching, including stints with Elon, North Greenville, Appalachian State, Western Carolina, Georgia State, Virginia Tech, and, most recently, Cincinnati, where he was the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.

"Brad's been an offensive coordinator for 21 years," Swinney emphasized. "He's always wanted to work at Clemson, it just hadn't quite worked out… He's been the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati, Louisville and App State."

"It's kind of a unique opportunity for him to come and join us, so I'm really excited to have Brad."

Assistant Running Backs Coach

Rounding out the key hires and promotions is Clemson's all-time leader in receptions, Artavis Scott.

Scott spent three seasons with the Tigers, hauling in 245 catches for 2,480 yards and 19 touchdowns. He earned multiple All-ACC honors and won a national championship in his final year with the program.

After going undrafted in 2017, Scott signed with the Los Angeles Chargers and was reunited with former teammate Mike Williams. He spent three seasons with the team before his practice squad contract expired in 2020. Scott had short stints with the Colts and Texans, as well as in the CFL, but turned to coaching in 2022.

Scott was on the Clemson staff as a graduate assistant until 2024, and spent last season as the wide receivers coach for the FCS and HBCU program Howard.

Volunteer Analyst

In addition to the paid hires and promotions, Clemson added veteran coach Freddie Kitchens in a volunteer, unpaid analyst role.

Kitchens brings decades of experience at both the NFL and collegiate levels, most notably serving as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2019.

He most recently spent three seasons with North Carolina, where he held multiple roles including offensive coordinator, tight ends coach, run game coordinator, and interim head coach.

His résumé also includes NFL stops with the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants, providing Clemson with another seasoned offensive voice during the offseason transition.