ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia football has hired assistant coach Bryan McClendon to return to his alma mater less than a month after he took a job with Miami (Fla.).
McClendon had been on new Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal’s staff at Oregon, and he followed Cristobal to Miami, taking a job early this month as receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator.
But on Monday, the national champion Bulldogs announced McClendon is joining coach Kirby Smart’s staff as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator, the same titles McClendon had for the previous two seasons at Oregon.
A former wide receiver at Georgia, McClendon was the Bulldogs’ running backs coach from 2009 to 2015. Following the firing of coach Mark Richt at the end of the 2015 season, McClendon served as interim coach for the Bulldogs’ 24-17 win over Penn State in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
McClendon also stepped in as Oregon’s interim coach for the Ducks’ 47-32 loss to Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl last month. Former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning is Oregon’s new coach.
At Georgia, McClendon replaces Cortez Hankton, who left to coach LSU’s wide receivers.
After leaving Georgia in 2015, McClendon was South Carolina’s offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach from 2016 to ’19.
McClendon is rejoining a family legacy at Georgia. His father, Willie McClendon, was the 1978 Southeastern Conference player of the year as a Georgia running back. His nephew, Warren McClendon, was the starting right tackle this past season as Georgia won its first national title since 1980.