Bryan McClendon (born December 28, 1983) is an

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

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, associate and assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive a ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

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

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

from 2022 to 2023. As well as the same roles at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

from 2020 to 2021 and

interim head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

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 second ...

in 2021. McClendon was previously the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and wide receivers coach for the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

. 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, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

Early life and playing career

McClendon played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Benjamin E. Mays High School in

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

. He played

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

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, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

of the

(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 resp ...

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 College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

. 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 an American former college football coach, player, and current television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mate ...

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

South Carolina

After Georgia hired

Kirby Smart Kirby Paul Smart (born December 23, 1975) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at the University of Georgia, his alma mater. As head coach, he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national champion ...

as their new head coach, McClendon left to become the co-

and wide receivers coach at the

. 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 without 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 an American college football coach who is the head football coach for the University of Miami. He previously served as the head football coach at Florida International University (FIU) from 200 ...

'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 university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. Following the season, McClendon was offered a position by Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes staff, which he ultimately turned down.

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 was McClendon's second coaching stint with the Bulldogs, as he served under former Georgia head coach Mark Richt from 2007 to 2015. He was part of the staff on the Georgia team that defeated

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

in the

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On February 23, 2024, McClendon was named wide receivers coach for the

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

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 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Coaches of American football from Illinois