Joel Klatt compares Clemson’s Garrett Riley hire to brother Lincoln at Oklahoma

FOX college football analyst Joel Klatt revealed his post-spring top 25 rankings for the 2023 football season Monday, giving his interpretation of the rankings after evaluating teams following spring practices and transfers. Klatt had the Clemson Tigers ranked No. 14 on his list, and explained how the offseason hire of offensive coordinator Garrett Riley influenced his ranking.

“I think Dabo is doing the right thing in going out there and trying to bring in an outside voice to jumpstart, spark the offense and really his entire program by bringing in Garrett Riley,” Klatt said.

Clemson is coming off their 12th straight double-digit win season, going 11-3 with an ACC Championship win following a one-year hiatus of taking home the conference title in six consecutive seasons. But Klatt believes the addition of Garrett Riley to their staff can take the team to another level, breeding success similar to what his own brother helped create at Oklahoma seven years ago.

“It really reminds me of what Bob Stoops did after an eight-win season when he brought in Lincoln Riley to Oklahoma and all of a sudden they went on a nice run,” Klatt said. “They won 11 games each of the next two years and then all of a sudden Riley was the head coach, and then Riley took them to the playoffs.”

The Riley brothers have established themselves as two of the best offensive minds in the country in the college football landscape. Lincoln manned the American Conference’s highest scoring offense at East Carolina before being hired at Oklahoma, and Garrett did the same in the Big 12 last season at TCU before landing the job at Clemson.

The Tigers had the ACC’s No. 1 scoring offense in three consecutive seasons until recently, ranking fourth last season and ninth the year prior. But Riley could be providing Clemson with just what they need to revitalize not just their offense, but their entire team this upcoming season according to Klatt.

“This seems like that type of a move that this is going to invigorate this program, and more specifically this offense, which quite frankly had become a little bit watered down and basic, and they need this. They need this in a bad way and I think it could be something to watch for, I do like Clemson and I love the Garrett Riley influence there as their offensive coordinator,” Klatt said.

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