New WR coach Bryan McClendon previous Miami football connections
New wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon played for former Miami football head coach Mark Richt and coached under him at Georgia. When Richt was fired by Georgia, McClendon led the Bulldogs to a 24-17 victory over Penn State in the Gator Bowl. McClendon was the interim head coach for Oregon in their Alamo Bowl.
Oregon lost 47-32 to Oklahoma after Mario Cristobal left to become the Miami head coach. Both times McClendon has been an interim head coach his predecessors were Miami alums who returned to Coral Gables to take over the Miami football program. McClendon began his career as a graduate assistant at Georgia in 2006-2007.
The first nine years of his coaching career, McClendon was at Georgia. Richt elevated McClendon to running backs coach in 2009 where he continued through 2014. McClendon added the title of recruiting coordinator in 2014. In 2015, McClendon became the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach.
Following the departure of Richt to Miami, McClendon became the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at South Carolina. The co-defensive coordinator for the Gamecocks was current Miami defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson. Robinson could be retained on the Miami football staff by Cristobal.
Source: Oregon assistant Bryan McClendon is close to finalizing a deal to become the co-offensive coordinator at Miami. He’s a veteran of the Southeast region after stops at Georgia and South Carolina. He’s been interim HC at Georgia (2015) and Oregon (this year).
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 4, 2022
In 2018, McClendon became the sole OC for South Carolina and remained in that position through 2019. McClendon joined the Oregon staff as the passing game coordinator and WRs coach in 2020 and remained through this season. In his four seasons at South Carolina, McClendon coached Deebo Samuel.
Samuel became a second-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers and has become one of the most explosive players in the NFL. During his own playing career, McClendon had 56 receptions for 830 yards and six touchdowns from 2002 through 2005 at Georgia. McClendon had 35 catches for 529 yards and all six of his TDs in 2005.
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While at Georgia, McClendon helped the Bulldogs sign future NFL RBs Nick Chubb, Isaiah Crowell and Sony Michel. McClendon will reportedly add the title of co-offensive coordinator with the Miami football program. There is no indication who McClendon will share the OC title with.