Facts to Know as Clemson Welcomes Back Assistant RBs Coach Artavis Scott

With rising sophomore Gideon Davidson to return next season, as well as the acquisition of Chris Johnson Jr. through the transfer portal, the Clemson Tigers' running back room looks to have a stellar year, especially with former Tiger Artavis Scott hired as the team's assistant running backs coach.

He also served as an offensive graduate assistant — primarily working with wide receivers — for the program following his playing career.

Before Scott's arrival, Andrew Zow served as an offensive analyst and the assistant running backs coach under Tiger legend C.J. Spiller. However, he decided to take an assistant coach role at Samford under former Clemson senior offensive assistant and now head coach John Grass.

With that move now officially in place, here's what to know about Scott entering 2026.

Previous Coaching Stints

As mentioned before, Scott began his coaching career as an offensive graduate assistant from 2022 to 2024, primarily working with the wideouts.

But entering last season, he accepted a job offer from the FCS and HBCU program Howard to become their new wide receivers coach.

Unfortunately, the season didn't go as planned: the team finished 5-7, and the passing offense ranked among the worst in the country, averaging only 165.2 yards per game (22nd-worst in the league).

Although Scott did help nine different receivers eclipse the 100-yard mark on the season, headlined by fifth-year Andre Cooper II, who logged 23 catches for 364 yards and two touchdowns.

Playing Career

Scott came out of the 2014 class ranked as the No. 70 overall player and the No. 8 wide receiver in the nation, according to 247Sports Composite.

He lived up to the rankings as a true freshman, recording a whopping 76 catches for 965 yards and eight touchdowns. Scott led the team in both catches and receiving touchdowns alongside future top-10 pick Mike Williams on his way to being named a Freshman All-American and earning First-team All-ACC honors.

Scott continued his reliability and consistency in his sophomore campaign, hauling in 93 passes for a team-high 901 yards and six touchdowns. He earned Second-team All-ACC honors, and his 93 catches remain the second-most in a single season in Clemson history, trailing only Sammy Watkins, who had 101 in 2013.

In 2016, his final season with the Tigers, Scott's numbers dipped, as he totaled 76 catches for only 614 yards (8.1 yards per catch) and five touchdowns. However, Clemson and Scott brought home a national championship to Death Valley, defeating Alabama 45-40.

He finished his three-year career with the Tigers as the program's all-time reception leader, totaling 245 (approx. 82 per season).

But due to a down junior campaign, Scott went undrafted in the 2017 NFL Draft, but later signed with the Los Angeles Chargers and was reunited with former teammate Mike Williams.

While he never played in a regular-season game, Scott spent three seasons with the team before his practice squad contract expired in 2020. Following that, he had short stints with the Colts and Texans, as well as in the CFL, before he turned to coaching.

Connection with New Clemson Transfer

Scott's impact on Clemson's roster building showed up before he even officially joined the staff.

While serving on the coaching staff at Howard last season, Scott seemingly built a relationship with defensive end C.J. Wesley — the same player who later entered the transfer portal and drew interest from Clemson.

Even though Scott coached wide receivers at the school, his support for Wesley never wavered.

During Wesley's 15-day transfer portal window, Scott publicly backed him when Clemson extended an offer, posting his support on X (Formerly Twitter) and continuing that encouragement when Wesley ultimately committed.

LFG man I’m proud of you, your hard worked paid off the job not done Clemson Family show him some love 🐯🧡#ALLIN https://t.co/2fUYYgc3Mb
— Artavis Scott (@ArtavisScott) January 10, 2026

That connection speaks not just to recruiting, but to the trust Scott builds across position groups and programs.

And to remind fans who Clemson is adding in Wesley, the 240-pound edge rusher arrives with proven production at the FCS level. In his final season with the Bison, Wesley totaled 33 tackles, 5.5 for a loss, five sacks and two forced fumbles through 12 games played.