Bryan McClendon departs Georgia Football to join the NFL

admin | February 19, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Georgia Football experiences frequent coaching turnover.

Bryan McClendon has left the Georgia football program to join the NFL. McClendon will now teach the wide receivers for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Another college defection: Buccaneers hired Georgia’s well-regarded wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator Bryan McClendon as their wide receivers coach, per source. https://t.co/rtwqARXHjE

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 17, 2024

McClendon has served as the Dawgs’ wideout coach for the previous two years. McClendon took over after the 2021 season, after Cortez Hankton left for LSU following the National Championship. McClendon was on his second spell as Georgia’s coach, having previously led the team from 2007 to 2015. McClendon played at Georgia from 2002 to 2005. McClendon previously coached at South Carolina, Oregon, and Miami. This will be his first NFL job.

Interestingly, Todd Bowles is the Buccaneers’ head coach, and his son, Troy, is a redshirt freshman linebacker for the Dawgs. Liam Coen, the former Kentucky Offensive Coordinator, is the Bucs’ new offensive coordinator. The Buccaneers are redesigning their offense, and McClendon was highly respected by Coen and Bowels.

This marks the third on-field coaching change for Kirby Smart and Georgia Football this summer. This could be the most significant loss of the three, given McClendon’s reputation as a great coach and recruiter in college football. Losing some of college football’s top coaches has been a common theme lately.

In 2022, shortly after defeating Alabama for his first national championship, Kirby Smart expressed concern about the game of collegiate football and the loss of some of its best coaches to the NFL. Smart went on to add that the demands on college football coaches have become so extreme that many are quitting or moving to the NFL. He then mentioned that something needed to be done.

Well, nothing has been done, and the demands have only grown. This is why coaches are departing for the NFL, leaving a head coaching post at a G5 school to become a position coach in the SEC, or leaving a school to become the offensive coordinator at another school in the same league. The calendar in college football has grown year-round, and coaches must deal with N.I.L. and the transfer portal in addition to their other responsibilities as coaches.

I don’t believe that is the reason McClendon left Georgia, but I am convinced it is. Georgia has a lot of depth and quality in the wideout room, and whoever Smart picks will have a much easier job because of the depth and talent at that position.