The search for the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach appears to have taken coach Mike Tomlin back to the college ranks.
Bryan McClendon, formerly the offensive coordinator at South Carolina, will fill the position vacancy on the Steelers, according to Mike Gillespie, sports director at the ABC affiliate in Columbia, S.C.
So to recap...the three assistants expected to leave Carolina are all taking solid jobs.
— Mike Gillespie (@MikeABCColumbia) February 9, 2020
Bryan McClendon gets a crack at the NFL with the Steelers.
Same with Thomas Brown in LA.
John Scott gets a $200k raise AND a multi-year contract at Penn State.
All hard to turn down.
McClendon, 36, has coached exclusively in college, spending the past four years at South Carolina after a nine-year stay at Georgia.
McClendon would replace Ray Sherman, who came out of retirement to coach the Steelers wide receivers last season after the death of position coach Darryl Drake in training camp.
The hire continues of trend of Tomlin filling vacancies on his staff with coaches lacking in NFL experience. Last month, Tomlin hired former Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Canada as quarterbacks coach. In 2019, Tomlin gave N.C. State running backs coach Eddie Faulkner his first NFL position, and the previous year he hired longtime college assistant Tom Bradley as defensive backs coach.
McClendon played wide receiver at Georgia and returned to his alma mater as a graduate assistant after one spending the 2006 training camp with the Chicago Bears, where Drake was his position coach. McClendon coached running backs and wide receivers at Georgia.
Rip Coach Darryl Drake
— Bryan McClendon (@CoachBmac_) August 11, 2019
When coach Mark Richt left Georgia late in the 2015 season, McClendon was named interim coach for the TaxSlayer bowl. When Kirby Smart was hired as Georgia’s coach, McClendon left for South Carolina and was named co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.
At South Carolina, McClendon coached wide receiver Deebo Samuel, a second-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2019 draft.
McClendon was the Gamecocks offensive coordinator in 2018-19, but he was demoted late last season by coach Will Muschamp. His offenses ranked 57th and 96th in the country.
McClendon is son of former Bears running back Willie McClendon.
