Georgia is hiring Miami co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal has to fill another position in his staff. 

InsideTheU has confirmed that Bryan McClendon, who followed Cristobal from Oregon to Miami as the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator, has accepted the wide receiver coach position with his alma mater, Georgia. 

McClendon, one of the most respected recruiters in the country, will now be an adversary for the Hurricanes on the recruiting trail in what is a loaded local crop of South Florida receivers that includes five-stars Brandon Inniss and Jalen Brown along with four-star prospects like Hykeem Williams and Nathaniel Joseph. 

Cristobal now has three assistant coaches that Miami has announced on the coaching staff: running backs coach Kevin Smith, offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, and defensive line coach Joe Salave’a.

Losing McClendon will be a blow to UM’s recruiting efforts and now Cristobal will need to add an assistant with some recruiting prowess to his staff. 

McClendon has been the primary recruiter for five five-star prospects during his coaching career: RB Isaiah Crowell, RB Keith Marshall, DE Lorenzo Carter, RB Sony Michel, and RB Nick Chubb.

At Oregon, McClendon was the secondary recruiter for Top 50 wide receiver Troy Franklin out of Menlo Park, California in the 2021 class. McClendon was the primary recruiter for Top 100 wide receiver Dont’e Thornton out of Baltimore, Maryland.

Throughout his career, McClendon has also shown a keen eye for talent, landing RB Todd Gurley, OL Isaiah Wynn, CB Jaycee Horn, and WR Isaiah McKenzie as the primary recruiter.

For his efforts in 2014, McClendon was named the National Recruiter of the Year by 247Sports.

At 38 years old, McClendon’s resume is impressive. He started his coaching career at Georgia in 2009 as the running backs coach for the Bulldogs, his alma mater. He switched to running backs coach for Georgia in 2013.

When Mark Richt was not retained at UGA, McClendon joined Will Muschamp’s staff at South Carolina, where he served as the offensive coordinator.

In 2020, McClendon joined Cristobal’s staff at Oregon as the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.

McClendon is the son of UGA running back great Willie McClendon and joined the UGA football team as a player in 2002. He spent four years with the program and was a part of two SEC Championship teams in 2002 and 2005. Smart was the running backs coach on that 2005 team while McClendon was the team’s second-leading receiver behind Leonard Pope.