Clemson Tigers OC Garrett Riley Says 2025 Team Has Been in 'Some Strange Games'

Last Saturday afternoon against Syracuse, the Clemson Tigers recorded more yards than their opponent. However, they would end up losing the game at home to begin their season at 1-3. 

That’s been the type of season that offensive coordinator Garrett Riley believes the team has had. The other two losses, to LSU and Georgia Tech, went down to the final plays of the game to determine the outcome. Clemson just fell short of winning that play. 

Riley says that recording nearly 70 more yards than their opponent is interesting to do in a loss, saying that touchdowns are what the team will need to find. It’s something that he will heavily address during the open date. 

“I feel like it’s hard to do, to move the ball like that, and, obviously, the name of the game is points, and we've got to find ways to certainly score and be much better at that,” Riley said on Tuesday. “So, there’s some good takeaways, there’s some positives, certainly, that we have to build on, certainly,  and in a bye week, where it’s kind of reset mode anyway and starting fresh from that standpoint.”

The Clemson offensive coordinator hasn’t been able to see his team get into a rhythm, something that was evident on offense just a season ago. Then, with returning 85% of the offensive production, the team has looked stagnant in every game this season. 

“It’s been some strange games,” Riley said. For us, and for our style of play, to only have 60 plays basically in the first three games, 60, 60 and 60, and in this game, you get a lot more plays and you’re kind of in a hole and you’re playing catch-up and all that second half, you almost had to go two-minute mode in the third quarter just because of the style of game it was, so it’s been tough from a rhythm standpoint, I think, with some of the situations that we have put ourselves in, collectively as a team.” 

The same goes for quarterback Cade Klubnik, who hasn’t played at the level of a Heisman-level candidate that many believed he would be in his senior season. Klubnik has looked shaky at times, especially in the pocket, where he’s been prone to scrambling out of the pocket and lowering his chances of finding a receiver. 

Riley says that with the way Klubnik has handled his reads, as well as stay in the pocket, he will continue to point out the good and the bad. 

“I think you just got to keep pointing it out and working that and trusting him and showing him the times where he has done it, because there have been times where he has stood in there this year and has made some good plays within the pocket,” he said. “But, you just have to continue to have trust up front and where your eyes need to be, and just really basic routine stuff that we require at the quarterback position.”

Clemson almost has nothing to play for in just four games of 2025. The Tigers are almost mathematically out of the ACC Championship conversation, meaning that their only chance of making the College Football Playoff is essentially nonexistent.

With an open bye week this week before playing North Carolina, Riley wants the team to have a short-term memory. 

“That’s the challenge for us as coaches, you always want to put them in the best position possible, and I think just the reality is the way in which we’ve come up short as a team in some of these games thus far has probably affected us too much,” the 36-year-old said. “So, that’s been a message for me with Cade and certainly with our side of the football is we’ve got to learn to have more of a short-term memory, and that’s easier said than done.”

It starts with him, as well as head coach Dabo Swinney and defensive coordinator Tom Allen, to assist in doing so throughout this extended time away from other opponents. 

“That’s constantly a battle that you’re always going to have with your team, but I think us, as coaches, we’ve got to set the tone with that and let them know that we believe in them and that we’ve got their back and we’re going to find a way and we’re going to keep swinging,” Riley said. “So, I think it kind of starts with us, leading that charge. I think we have confident people. I think we just have to understand that we’ve got to keep swinging and keep chipping away.”