Clemson football staff changes, designations of note after rule changes

New special teams director Will Gilchrist pictured with Tiger long snappers Philip Florenzo (r) and Holden Caspersen (l).

David Hood - Senior Writer - Monday, July 22 2024

Clemson football’s staff designations for the 2024 football season are official, and we told you a few weeks ago that changes were on the way after the NCAA changed the rules.

The Tigers now have a dedicated special teams coach after years of using position coaches and/or analysts.

The NCAA Division I Council recently opened the door for college football teams to completely rework the way they build their staffs this week. It voted to remove countable limitations on teams’ on-field coaching staffs, allowing unlimited numbers of coaches to provide help on gameday.

Previously, teams were only permitted to have 11 on-field coaches—the head coach plus 10 assistants. Schools worked around these limitations by hiring off-field analysts, of which they were allowed an unlimited number, but those analysts were strictly limited in what they could do during games.

Head coach Dabo Swinney has used analysts in the past, including Ted Roof, Chad Morris, and Terry Bowden. He hired former Jacksonville State head coach John Grass three years ago and has since added Andrew Zow and several former Clemson players to work in support roles.

Swinney recently added Lorenzo Ward, a former defensive coordinator at South Carolina, and we saw former Detroit Lions defensive line coach John Scott (a native of Greer) at Swinney’s camp.

Here are the staff designations for the 2024 seasons.

Head coach and Position Coaches

Dabo Swinney – Head coach
Garrett Riley - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Tyler Grisham - Recruiting Coordinator/Wide Receivers
Kyle Richardson - Passing Game Coordinator/Tight Ends
Matt Luke – Offensive Line
CJ Spiller – Running backs
Wes Goodwin – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Nick Eason - Associate Head Coach/Defensive Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Tackles
Mike Reed - Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator/Cornerbacks
Mickey Conn - Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Chris Rumph - Defensive Ends

Coaching Support Staff

Lorenzo Ward - Special Assistant To The Head Coach & Defense/Assistant Linebackers Coach
John Grass - Senior Offensive Assistant/Assistant Quarterbacks Coach
Deandre Mcdaniel - Senior Defensive Assistant/Nickelbacks Coach
Da'Quan Bowers - Defensive Analyst/Assistant Defensive Ends Coach
Daniel Boyd - Defensive Analyst/Assistant Defensive Tackles Coach
Tajh Boyd - Offensive Analyst/Assistant Quarterbacks Coach
Carson Cramer - Offensive Analyst/Assistant Offensive Line Coach
Jody Evans - Special Teams Analyst
Will Gilchrist - Director Of Special Teams
Cole Stoudt - Offensive Analyst/Assistant Wide Receivers Coach
Carter Thomason - Defensive Analyst/Assistant Linebackers Coach
Elijah Turner - Defensive Analyst/Assistant Cornerbacks Coach
Andrew Zow - Offensive Analyst/Assistant Running Backs Coach
Ryan Allen - Special Teams Player Development/Specialists Coach
Corey Crawford - Defensive Player Development/Assistant Defensive Line Coach
Tyrone Crowder - Offensive Player Development/Assistant Offensive Line Coach
Andrew Shipman -Offensive Player Development/Assistant Tight Ends Coach
Drew Swinney - Offensive Player Development/Assistant Wide Receivers Coach
Brandon Thomas -- Offensive Player Development/Assistant Offensive Line Coach
Nolan Turner - Defensive Player Development/Assistant Safeties Coach
(NOTE: Former Penn St. and Detroit Lions defensive ends coach John Scott is also on staff, but still has a year left on his Lions’ contract and will fill a role as an unpaid intern/analyst).

Gilchrist will handle special teams. Reed still has the title of special teams coordinator, but Gilchrist was brought in a few years ago for this very reason and he will be in his second season with the Tigers in 2024.

Prior to spending the 2021-22 seasons coaching at Evangelical Christian School outside of Memphis, Tenn., Gilchrist served as a special teams analyst at USF, including under former Clemson offensive coordinator Jeff Scott in 2020. He previously spent two seasons at Arkansas, joining the program as Associate Director of Player Personnel in 2018 before transitioning to a defensive graduate assistant role in 2019.

Gilchrist began his coaching career as Offensive Coordinator/Quarterback Coach at Hardin Country High School in his hometown of Savannah, Tenn. Hardin County made playoff appearances in all four of his seasons there from 2014-17 and won a region championship in 2014.

Gilchrist played at Memphis from 2009-12. He served on special teams in seven games during the 2011 season. After switching from quarterback to wide receiver in 2012, he saw action at wide receiver in the 2012 season. Gilchrist graduated magna cum laude in sports and leisure management.

Eason, the Tigers’ defensive tackles coach, lauded the moves.

“Just having that amount of experience, I don’t know if anybody can compare to that,” Eason said. “Just having that much experience from a coaching perspective. Guys who played the game at a high level in college and in the pros, as well as coached at all of those levels and have had a lot of success. That’s huge for me, that’s huge for our coaches, that’s huge for our players, and that’s huge for recruiting. Because there won’t be a better place in the country to get developed at.”

Full staff bios