Garrett Riley ranked No. 1 offensive coordinator in college football

Garrett Riley enters the 2023 season with high expectations for one-year turnarounds.

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Mar 28 10:12:07 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson's newest staff addition is regarded as the nation's best by multiple sources coming out of last season.

New offensive coordinator Garrett Riley was hired in January after being named the Broyles Award winner for being the nation's top assistant in 2022.

Pro Football Focus sees him as the top OC going into 2023 as well.

"The younger brother of USC head coach Lincoln Riley, Garrett is proving that offensive brilliance runs in the Riley genes," PFF's Max Chadwick said. "In his two years as SMU offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021, he led the Mustangs to two consecutive top-25 finishes in expected points added (EPA) per play. This past season — his first as TCU’s offensive coordinator — he won the Broyles Award for the top assistant coach in college football after elevating a Horned Frogs squad that ranked 41st in the country in EPA per play in 2021 to a 15th-place finish in 2022. His quarterback, Max Duggan, was ultimately named as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, the best finish for a TCU player since 1955...

"He’ll try to fix the Tigers offense that finished just 47th in EPA per play in 2022."

Year to year, TCU surged from No. 38 to No. 5 in ESPN's SP+ offensive efficiency formula. Year to year with SMU previously, they improved from No. 30 to No. 24 to No. 18 nationally. By points per game, TCU improved from 65th to ninth from 2021 to 2022.

Clemson is scheduled to face two more members of PFF's top-10 OCs list with Wake Forest's Warren Ruggiero, at No. 8, and Florida State's Alex Atkins, at No. 9.

"Ruggiero is entering his 10th season as Wake Forest’s offensive coordinator and has really found his stride lately. His slow-mesh, RPO-based offense has finished top-20 in EPA per play in every season since 2020," said Chadwick. "Atkins was promoted to offensive coordinator this past season and was a major reason for Florida State’s turnaround.

"In 2021, the Seminoles were just 71st in the country in EPA per play. The following year, they were 10th. Quarterback Jordan Travis was the highest-graded quarterback in the Power Five (91.7) and is a legit Heisman candidate next season."