Kyle Richardson’s patience was wearing thin.
Before becoming Clemson’s tight ends coach late last year, Richardson spent six years in an off-field role on Dabo Swinney’s staff. His heart, though, was on it.
A decade ago, Richardson was in the midst of building an in-state prep power at Northwestern High, overseeing a program that won a pair Class 4A-Division II state titles during his five-year tenure. The latter of the two, which doubled as Richardson’s final game as the Trojans’ head coach, came via a 50-point thrashing of Lexington inside South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium to cap the 2015 season.
“I love high school football and love coaching high school football,” Richardson said. “It truly was a passion of mine and still is.”
An opportunity to join Clemson’s staff following that season was one Richardson considered too good to pass up. His support staff roles with the Tigers have included director of player development and senior offensive assistant, but Richardson got the coaching itch again in December. And he was ready to scratch it.
“I was done not coaching, and I was done not making an impact on these kids,” said Richardson, who’s also had a cup of coffee as an assistant coach at Southeastern Louisiana. “I was ready to go get it done back at the high school level.”
Without getting into specifics, Richardson said there was one in-state head coaching job in particular that he had his eye on. He told his wife it was one he wanted to pursue if it came open, which happened in early December.
That was around the same time Virginia was courting Tony Elliott, then Clemson’s offensive coordinator. A day or two later, Richardson said, the Cavaliers made Elliott’s hire as their head coach official. Richardson got a call soon thereafter from Swinney, who moved him on the field to coach tight ends, the position Elliott had been responsible for.
The rest is history.
“To me, that was kind of a God wink,” Richardson said.
Richardson smiled as he thought about the way things have panned out, including his recent back surgery that kept him from immediately getting back on the field following his promotion. It required a few more weeks of patience, but he felt good enough by the end of December to join the team at the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando to start his new gig, which he’s gotten more familiar with this spring.
It also includes the responsibilities of passing-game coordinator, perhaps the most intriguing new title for Richardson given his background and the way things went in that department for Clemson a season ago. The Tigers were far from the explosive unit many had grown accustomed to seeing from the offense in recent years, particularly through the air. Clemson finished 103rd nationally in passing yards and 112th in completion percentage while tying Duke for the third-fewest pass plays of at least 20 yards in the ACC.
Richardson is tasked with helping turn that around.
“He’s been a coordinator. He’s called plays. He’s coached college ball,” Swinney said. “He’s just got a good perspective. He’s always been involved, but now he’s just in a little bit more of a leadership position. That’s been fun.”
Richardson is known for creating prolific passing attacks, something he did at Northwestern as a coordinator before taking over as the head coach. There, he helped tutor some of the top quarterbacks to ever play for the Trojans, including former Power Five signal callers Justin Worley (Tennessee) and Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State), who’s now in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Each threw more than 60 touchdown passes during their senior seasons.
Swinney and Richardson both described the changes being implemented into Clemson’s offense this spring as tweaks rather than revamping the passing game. Richardson said a full cast of characters, which the Tigers didn’t have last season with injuries piling up at receiver and along the offensive line, would help, too.
But Richardson and new offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter have introduced some new passing concepts, though that doesn’t necessarily mean the playbook is getting thicker. In fact, less could be more as the coaches work to build confidence back in quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and his receivers.
“We lost our confidence last year, and once we lost it, it was hard to get it back,” Richardson said. “I think the biggest thing is me and Streeter sitting down together and kind of talking about, all right, where do we want to go in the future with this? We don’t want to throw it all out the window, but the flip side of it is where do we want to go and grow this thing?
“I think the biggest thing is let’s get back to the basics, where the basics were we put the ball in playmakers’ hands in space and they went and made plays in the passing game. The second thing was maybe we need to simplify some things. Maybe some things have kind of stacked on top of each other year after year after year, and then all of a sudden simple concepts become complex concepts.”
Richardson acknowledged the running game and its extensions will need to help out if Clemson is going to maximize what it wants to do through the air. Like any offense, the Tigers’ goal is consistency regardless of how they choose to attack.
“I’ve got the pass-game coordinator title, but that means nothing,” Richardson said. “It really doesn’t because the pass game means nothing if you don’t have the run game. And the run game is not much if you don’t have a pass game, and if you don’t have that screen game to keep that defense from pinning their ears back and keeping them honest, it’s not going to be a consistent offense. And at the end of the day, that’s what you’re looking for.”
Eleven spring practices in, Richardson said it’s a work in progress, and not just for the players. Strange as it may sound, he’s still getting used to being back in his comfort zone.
“For me to be able to get back on the field and to be a part of coaching a position, have position meetings and have a position, it’s been a lot different,” Richardson said. “You don’t forget how to coach, but you’ve got to kind of get back on the bike and start pedaling and get used to some things.”
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