He was one of South Carolina’s best HS football coaches. Why he’s thriving at Clemson

Out on the road recruiting for the first time as a Clemson football assistant coach, Kyle Richardson heard too many misconceptions about his position group.

Namely, Clemson’s lack of tight end usage.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to separate facts from fiction,” said Richardson, the Tigers’ new tight ends coach and passing game coordinator. “So I did a little research.”

“A little research,” for Richardson, meant digging through the past seven seasons of Clemson’s offensive snap distributions, digesting the data and delivering it in lecture form during the Tigers’ July media day.

Starting in 2015, the first year Clemson made the College Football Playoff, 96% of the Tigers’ offensive snaps have featured at least one tight end on the field, Richardson said. Last season, as Clemson ran 903 offensive plays, that jumped to 100%.

“And then there’s a percentage where there’s two, and there’s a percentage where there’s three,” he said. “So the narrative’s really false that we don’t use our tight ends.”

That’s the level of detail Richardson, promoted in December, is bringing to Clemson as a first-year on-field assistant. He previously spent six years on the program’s support staff.

For a Tigers offense undergoing a significant reset, with Brandon Streeter replacing now-Virginia coach Tony Elliott as offensive coordinator, Richardson’s presence has already been a plus.

“He’s kind of gone full circle and has a ton of experience that he can bring to the table,” Streeter said. “New ideas, fresh ideas, things that fit the offense that we want to be and things that he’s done in the past that you can kind of piece together. He’s done an awesome job.”

Coach Dabo Swinney dubbed Richardson “one of the best high school coaches in the entire Southeast” upon his 2016 hiring from Northwestern High School in Rock Hill. His accolades at one of the powers that’s helped Rock Hill earn its “Football City USA” nickname back it up.

Northwestern went 58-13 and won four regional championships and two state championships in Richardson’s five seasons as head coach. He installed a record-setting air raid offense and proved crucial in the development of NFL quarterback Mason Rudolph and NFL wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.

For good measure, he coached NFL tight end Jared Cook in a previous gig at North Gwinnett (Ga.) High School.

Now, after holding titles including senior offensive assistant and director of player development and freshman transition since 2016, he’s got a position group of his own and an even more prominent role in Clemson’s offense. Which, despite his six years of experience with a CFP contender and two-time national champion, still has to feel a little different … right?

“Well, I’ve got a bigger office now,” Richardson said. “That’s been nice.”

Jokes aside, he sees his promotion as less of a drastic change and more of a modest reshuffling among Clemson’s offensive staff. Different seats, same table.

Plus, in the same vein of Streeter and first-year defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, Richardson already got a head start by assuming his 2022 role for Clemson’s December Cheez-It Bowl win over Iowa State. Spring practice also helped in “getting the kinks out of some of that new stuff” the team installed on offense, he said.

Richardson’s savvy could be key in further unlocking the powers of Clemson’s 2022 tight end room. Senior Davis Allen was third on the team in receptions last year (28) and tied for the team lead with three touchdown catches, while sophomore Jake Briningstool (three catches for 67 yards and a touchdown in 2021) is the most athletic of the bunch, and Sage Ennis and Luke Price are strong blockers.

“All four of those guys bring something different to the table,” Richardson said. “What we have to do as coaches is find ways to mix and match their strengths in order to make our offense go.”

Richardson also passes the player popularity test.

Tight ends Allen and Price jokingly crashed his spring practice media interview to ask about his beard-care routine (he’s since shaved it off) and his love of West Coast rappers, including Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur.

Starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who has worked closely with Richardson in his passing coordinator role, calls him “my boy Coach Rich.”

“Just having open conversations with him and being able to speak my mind and being able to have him speak his mind to me …” Uiagalelei said. “We have that comfortability level with each other.”

And if those relationships net results for Clemson’s tight ends or Uiagalelei or both in 2022, it’ll be another notch on the belt of Richardson, Rock Hill-prepped and ready to roll for the start of a new Tiger tenure.