Clemson TE Coach Kyle Richardson Adjusting to Life On Road As Recruiter

The Clemson coaching staff went through a massive overhaul following the 2021 season. 

One of the coaches in a new role this season is Kyle Richardson. After having served as an offensive analyst for the past six years, Richardson now moves into the role of tight ends coach and passing game coordinator.

It's a transition that has been mostly smooth, as Richardson said recently that the biggest adjustment has been actually being able to go out on the road and recruit.

"The biggest difference is just going on the road recruiting," Richardson said at Clemson's Media Day. "Everybody in the building is involved in recruiting, with just the ten position coaches being able to go actually on the road. That's probably been the biggest difference."

While Richardson might be going out on the road for the first time since joining Dabo Swinney's staff in 2016, he is no stranger to recruiting. Although, getting accustomed to recruiting at a program the caliber of Clemson was something that was a little different.

"I've done that before as a 1-AA coach," he said. "At 1-AA, you're chasing guys who think they're going to Clemson and they're not going to Clemson and you're trying to convince them they're not going to Clemson without upsetting them. So it's a long process. You're fishing in a huge pond."

"When you're at a level like this, at Clemson, you're fishing in that small pond. So I've had to adjust to that part of it and that's probably been the biggest part of it. Coaching football is coaching football and I've done that for 20-plus years."

Richardson had a very successful stint at Northwestern High School in South Carolina prior to joining the Tigers. He served as the offensive coordinator from 2007-2015 before becoming the head coach. During that time, the Trojans won three state championships and had two perfect seasons. Two of those titles came with Richardson as head coach, as he compiled a 58-13 record. He has since been inducted into the York County Hall of Fame.

Despite just now getting out on the road for the first time as part of the Clemson coaching staff, Richardson has been a part of what the Tigers do in recruiting during his entire tenure. When he originally joined the staff, he devised a plan that would help the program have more success recruiting on a national level.

"I kind of put a plan together, we call it The Paw In 50 States," he said. "I put that together and that was kind of my baby and I ran with it for the last six years and now I've passed that little baton off. But for us I want to I wanted our high school coaches in all 50 States, not just in our pipeline, not just in South Carolina to view us different and view us different because of what we were doing for them and what we were doing to try to help them." 

That plan came from lessons he learned as a high school coach, and has played a part in the Clemson brand becoming as strong as it is.

"That's probably the biggest thing that I've taken from high school to college is we as a high school coach, sometimes you feel like the only time you get any attention from a college program is when you have a great player that they want and you can feel kind of used. So I wanted to kind of separate us in that regard."

The Tigers, who went 10-3 in 2021 and finished 14th in the final Associated Press Poll, are the fourth team on FanDuel Sportsbook's list to win it all in 2022.

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