Bryan McClendon (born December 28, 1983) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach who is currently the

wide receivers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

and pass game coordinator at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. He previously served as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

from 2020 to 2021 and interim head coach in the

Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the secon ...

in 2021. McClendon was previously the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach r ...

and wide receivers coach for the University of South Carolina. McClendon also served as the interim head football coach at the

for the final game of the 2015 season, the

TaxSlayer Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nati ...

Early life and playing career

McClendon played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

Benjamin E. Mays High School Benjamin E. Mays High School is a public school located in southwest Atlanta, Georgia, United States, serving grades 9-12. It is a part of the Atlanta Public School System and is a Georgia School of Excellence. The school was established in the ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

. He played wide receiver at the

and graduated in 2005. He was part of a senior class that won 44 games, which was the most in Georgia history until the national championship-winning Class of 2022. As a senior in 2005, McClendon caught the game-winning touchdown pass from DJ Shockley with 3:18 left in Georgia's 14–7 win over

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. After college, he spent one summer with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL).

Coaching career

Georgia

McClendon began his career at Georgia as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...

and was promoted to running backs coach when Tony Ball was moved to wide receivers coach. From 2009 to 2013 he served as the running backs coach for Georgia, but was reassigned to wide receivers coach in 2015 after Thomas Brown was hired from the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

. From 2013 to 2015 McClendon served as the recruiting coordinator for Georgia. On January 12, 2015, he was promoted and given the title of assistant head coach. Following the departure of

Mark Richt Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is a retired American football head coach, former player, and television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mater, ...

from Georgia in late 2015, McClendon was named interim head coach for the

South Carolina

After Georgia hired Kirby Smart as their head new coach, McClendon left to become the co-

and wide receivers coach at the University of South Carolina. On January 5, 2018, McClendon was promoted to offensive coordinator for the Gamecocks. However, he was demoted after the conclusion of the 2019 season as South Carolina's offense only scored one touchdown in their last twelve quarters of football. After being demoted he resumed his prior role as wide receivers coach, with no coordinator responsibilities.

Oregon

On April 17, 2020, McClendon was hired as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at the

. On December 6, 2021, McClendon was named the interim head coach for the

following

Mario Cristobal Mario Manuel Cristobal (born September 24, 1970) is head football coach of the Miami Hurricanes football team at the University of Miami. Cristobal previously was the head football coach at Florida International University (FIU) from 2007 to 20 ...

's departure to become the head coach at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

. Following the season, McClendon was hired by Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes staff.

Return to Georgia

On January 31, 2022, McClendon was hired as the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at Georgia. McClendon was initially set to be the co-offensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes before Georgia offered him a position on its coaching staff. He replaced Cortez Hankton, who left Georgia for the same position at LSU. This is McClendon's second coaching stint with the Bulldogs, as he served under former Georgia head coach Mark Richt from 2007-2015. He was part of the staff on the Georgia team that defeated TCU in the National Championship.

Personal life

McClendon is married to the former Amber Arnold of Atlanta. They have one son, Bryan. McClendon is the son of former

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

Willie McClendon, who also played at Georgia and with the Chicago Bears.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Oregon profile

South Carolina profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClendon, Bryan 1983 births Living people American football wide receivers Chicago Bears players Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football players South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Atlanta African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American sportspeople