Garrett Riley Updates Progress of Clemson's Offense

“Fresh start” has been the term used around new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and his up-tempo scheme. Quarterback Cade Kubnik used it when describing his first impression of the offense. Now, Garrett Riley is using the phrase himself. The 33-year-old Riley met with the media following Clemson’s third spring practice. He described what he’s seen early on.

“Definitely a fresh start. Change in some terminology and things of that nature, but a lot of things conceptually are the same. It just may be taught a little differently, different philosophy, just kind of a different way of thinking more than anything. That’s what’s been neat to see so far; the buy-in from the staff, from day one, of being open-minded and digesting everything we’re trying to accomplish. Up to this point, with our players, they’re eager to really learn this quickly and just kind of get in a groove.”

The question everyone want’s to know is: Just how fast will this Clemson offense be? According to Riley, “fast” may not be the goal.

“It’s really just what we feel like our guys can handle, number one. And number two, yeah, everybody loves to play fast, but defenses have caught up and know how to play against tempo offenses now. Certainly, against some people, you feel like you could have an advantage with tempo, but to me, what’s more important is dictating the tempo. If you just play fast all the time, that may play into the hands of some people. So, to me, dictating the tempo is kind of the premium.”

Riley has been proud of the progress the Clemson offense has made early on in spring. With a new system, there will always be some obstacles, but the Tigers appear to be taking the change in stride.

“I’ve been proud, just operationally. Getting the call, getting lined up, people being in the right spots, those are always things you kind of worry about early on. We really started well that way on day one. That was, I don’t know if ‘surprising’ is the right word, but I was pleased about that after seeing it from day one. So, I think operationally that was the biggest thing, number one. Number two, we’re running around. We’ve got guys that are hungry and laying it out there three days straight, that’s tough… I just think our speed, the way we get lined up, and then operationally speaking, that’s been definitely a plus and a positive so far.”

More Clemson News:

Follow Christian Goeckel for more Clemson Football coverage: @goeckelsports

Add us as a preferred source on Google