Mizzou adds former Clemson OC Garrett Riley as assistant

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Eli Drinkwitz and Missouri made a strong addition to its staff for the upcoming season by bringing on former Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley as an assistant to pair with new Missouri offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey.

The news comes following the departure of former Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore accepting a job as the head coach at Washington State. Lindsey was announced as the teams new OC on Dec. 21 following his stint at Michigan. Now, less than three weeks later, he’s beginning to add pieces to his offensive staff.

The news was first reported by On3’s Pete Nakos on Friday afternoon.

Riley, 36, was previously an offensive coordinator at Clemson, TCU and SMU. He most recently was fired following three seasons as Clemson’s OC. Prior to that, Riley spent one season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at TCU where he helped the Horned Frogs to a National Championship appearance and won the Broyles Award for best assistant coach in college football. Some super solid history that will definitely bring hope to Missouri fans.

Prior to his offensive coordinator stints, Riley spent three seasons with the Kansas staff — being hired as an offensive analyst in 2016 then switching to quarterbacks coach in 2017 and mentoring the Jayhawks tight ends and fullbacks in his final season — and then was hired by Eli Drinkwitz and Appalachian State in 2019. The two coached together for one season before Drinkwitz packed his bags for Columbia and Riley packed his bags for SMU. Both earning upgrades after a strong season.

Garrett Riley is the brother of Lincoln Riley, who has also secured a Broyles Award in 2015 during his stint with Oklahoma. He was then promoted to head coach and was there until 2021. He’s now the head coach of USC.

Comparing Offenses

Moore and Mizzou’s offense accumulated 5,412 yards with nearly 3,000 of those coming on the ground. Lindsey’s offense at Michigan racked up 5,160 yards (2,428 passing, 2,732 rushing), and Riley’s offense at Clemson ended with 5,099 yards (3,481 passing, 1,618 rushing).

Some solid numbers all across the board, but the one thing that sticks out to me is how many passing yards Clemson got. I understand Cade Klubnik is a legit QB — and was a Heisman candidate entering the season — but that is a large gap. From the looks of it, I’d expect Riley to handle the pass game and Lindsey to focus on the run game. The two of them should make a solid team in replacement of Moore.

Potential Recruits

With the addition of a P5 coach comes the potential for players to follow. From Clemson’s offense, offensive lineman Rowan Byrne, tight end Josh Sapp and running back Keith Adams Jr. are still in the portal and new potential targets for Riley and company.

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