Garrett Riley named a top head coach candidate

It's been a fast rise to the top of the coordinator ranks for 33-year-old Garrett Riley. In 2011 he was the quarterbacks coach for Roosevelt High School in Texas. In 2015, he was a graduate assistant, coaching Zay Jones and Kurt Benkert at East Carolina. He got his first coordinator position at SMU under Sonny Dykes in 2020, then followed Dykes to TCU in 2022.

The 2022 season would see Riley earn the Broyles Award for the nation's top assistant, following a trip to the College Football National Championship against Georgia. Riley helped quarterback Max Duggan go from a backup at the beginning of the season to sitting in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

Now, after just one season in Fort Worth, Riley is in South Carolina, trying to revamp a Clemson offense that is now a couple of seasons removed from the explosive play of Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne. As Clemson faces the possibility of taking a step back from being a national power, Garrett Riley is tasked with getting them back to the top. But if he does get the Tigers clicking on offense, how long would he remain at Clemson? That kind of turnaround would come with attention from schools looking for a new head coach.

CBS Sports' David Cobb named Riley one of his "college football coordinators poised to emerge as head coaching candidates". Cobb said of Riley, "At 33 years old, Riley is a rising star tasked with revitalizing Clemson's offense in his first season with the Tigers. If he can pull it off, he'll find himself in the mix for Power Five head coaching jobs."

Riley makes a lot of sense as a head coaching candidate. Obviously, most will point to the success his brother Lincoln has had at Oklahoma and USC. Still not 40, Lincoln Riley led Oklahoma to multiple Big 12 titles and CFP appearances and brought USC a Heisman Trophy winner in year 1. For Garrett, being a young, offensive mind will be extremely attractive to Power 5 programs.

At 33, his age may be a concern to some, but 9 programs across college football have head coaches under the age of 40. Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman and Oregon's Dan Lanning are 36, with Lanning the youngest P5 head coach.

So while Clemson fans are excited to see what Riley can do with the offense, chances are that if he's successful, his time at Clemson could be short. Such is the price you pay when you bring in the top-rated coordinator in the game.

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