Garrett Riley looking for sharpness and execution out of his older Clemson offense

Riley says he is looking to improve the little things (Photo by Merrell Mann).

David Hood - Senior Writer - Tuesday, March 25 2025

CLEMSON—Garrett Riley is entering his third season as Clemson’s offensive coordinator, and many of his star players have been with him all three years. With an older, veteran group, what has he been looking for this spring? Sharpness.

Riley has several returning starters along the offensive line, quarterback Cade Klubnik, and receivers like Antonio Williams, Tyler Brown, Bryant Wesco, and T.J. Moore. Riley said he’s been making sure everyone understands the minute details of what it takes to be successful.

“It's rinse and repeat a little bit. I mean every year for us in spring, it's laying the foundation of what we do,” Riley said Monday evening. “I don't care if it's a third-year starter with Cade Klubnik, you have to reset. And so for us, that's always going to be the deal is we have to lay the foundation of what we do. We have to improve individually, our technique, our fundamentals, all those things. And then I think the overall emphasis on top of all this, not an introduction, but just some of the core things that you're trying to accomplish in the spring, on top of all that is kind of the sharpness of our execution.

“We are an older team, we're older for the first time collectively on offense since I've been here. You have guys third year, same system, same coordinator, all those things. So, from a continuity standpoint, we're obviously in a better spot than what we were two years ago. And so, I think that's the overlying message for us as coaches to these players. And I think our players have taken that to heart is we have got to become a very, very sharp team and we should be. That's the expectation for us.”

There weren’t any changes to the offensive staff during the off-season, and Riley sees value in that as he works with tight ends coach Kyle Richardson, offensive line coach Matt Luke, wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham, and running backs coach C.J. Spiller.

Riley said that continuity – especially with Luke – has been beneficial.

“It's the second year that he (Luke) and I get to work with one another. It's the second year that him and Coach Spiller have to dial up run game and blitz pickup and pass protection, all those things together,” Riley said. “Same with he and Kyle. And our tight ends obviously are asked to do a lot in this offense. They kind of are the jack of all trades, so everybody's tied in together. And so yeah, there's continuity from a staff standpoint for sure. And now that we've been through the fire of a season together and you kind of figure out one another a little bit more, I'm certainly excited about that moving forward.”