Clemson football hiring NFL punter, shaking up staff for 2024 season

The Clemson football team is shaking up its staff ahead of the 2024 season.

About a month after an NCAA rule change that cleared the way for “any staff member” to provide on-field coaching in games or practice, the Tigers have finalized a number of new roles and titles for new or returning staffers within the program.

Most notably, coach Dabo Swinney’s team now has an established on-field special teams coach after parsing out those responsibilities to various analysts for years.

Former Memphis quarterback Will Gilchrist, in his second year at Clemson, will be the new director of special teams, according to an updated staff page.

Gilchrist will be assisted by Ryan Allen, an NFL punter and three-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots who’s joined the team as a special teams player development/specialists coach. Allen, 34, was also a two-time Ray Guy Award winner at Louisiana Tech and last played in the NFL in 2020.

While cornerbacks coach and assistant head coach Mike Reed will continue to hold the special teams coordinator title, Gilchrist and Allen will take leading roles in special teams coaching and be able to do that in a practice and game settings.

Previously, such coaches were limited to off-field instruction.

Gilchrist and Allen are assuming leadership duties from former Clemson staffer Bill Spiers. Spiers, a former Clemson baseball player and punter in the 1980s, had been with the program since 2016 and worked as director of special teams since 2020. But Spiers retired shortly after the team’s April 2024 spring game, as first reported by TigerIllustrated.com and confirmed to The State by a team spokesman.

Among other updates for Swinney’s Clemson staff in 2024, former South Carolina defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward will work as a special assistant to the head coach and defense, as well as an assistant linebackers coach; former Jacksonville State head coach John Grass will be senior offensive assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach; and former Clemson standout and longtime staffer DeAndre McDaniel will get his own position group as nickelbacks coach.

Swinney said last week he was a huge fan of the NCAA’s move to essentially allow for unlimited coaches, adding the rule had been enforced inconsistently or not at all.

“When you’ve got stuff like that, you need to change it,” Swinney said during an on-campus media day. “And I’m glad that they did. ... It’s awesome. It allows us to use our resources efficiently and develop our team.”

Here’s a list of other Clemson coaching support staffers for 2024 with updated roles:

• Da’Quan Bowers: Assistant defensive ends coach

• Daniel Boyd: Assistant defensive tackles coach

• Tajh Boyd: Assistant quarterbacks coach

• Carson Cramer: Assistant offensive coach

• Cole Stoudt: Assistant wide receivers coach

• Carter Thomason: Assistant linebackers coach

• Elijah Turner: Assistant cornerbacks coach

• Andrew Zow: Assistant running backs coach

• Corey Crawford: Assistant defensive line coach

• Tyrone Crowder: Assistant offensive line coach

• Andrew Shipman: Assistant tight ends coach

• Drew Swinney: Assistant wide receivers coach

• Brandon Thomas: Assistant offensive line coach

• Nolan Turner: Assistant safeties coach

The majority of those newly named assistant position coaches (all of whom are formally in “player development” roles) have already been with the program for a number of years. Clemson is, more or less, updating their roles and titles to reflect their expanded roles following the NCAA rule change in June.

“All those guys have been involved in our prep process, recruiting, game planning in a true support role,” Swinney said. “But they couldn’t coach out on the field. You’ve got a big staff, but you’re really limited. ... I think it’s a great change, I really do. I’m excited about it.”

The Tigers will be in Charlotte later this week to participate in ACC Kickoff, the conference’s annual football media days. Clemson starts fall camp on Aug. 1 and has its season opener against Georgia on Aug. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.