Bryan McClendon joked that he’ll go down as the only undefeated coach in the history of Georgia football.
Technically, it’s true.
McClendon was Georgia’s interim head coach when the Bulldogs defeated Penn State in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, defeating the Nittany Lions in 2015 right before Kirby Smart took over the reins as head coach.
“Numbers don’t lie … numbers don’t lie,” joked McClendon, who was worn many different hats for three other programs over the course of his coaching career.
The Georgia grad was the Bulldogs running backs coach under Mark Richt from 2009-2014, before taking over as wide receivers coach and assistant head coach in 2015.
After Richt was fired, McClendon went to South Carolina where he served as co-offensive coordinator in 2016-17 before taking over the duties full-time in 2018-19.
After that, it was on to Oregon where he served as the Ducks’ wide receivers coach, pass game coordinator, and ultimately the interim head coach before Dan Lanning got to Eugene.
He was all set to become the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Miami, before accepting Smart’s offers to return to his alma mater.
So, what has he learned over the course of those various stops and jobs?
"One, I’m older. But the one thing that’s helped me the most is kind of being in those different roles when it comes to being coordinator, when it comes to being the head coach in those different spots, whether it be in interim roles or not,” McClendon said. “When I’ve been in the leadership roles now on any staff, there’s nothing like having a great assistant where you don’t have to worry about their guys, don’t have to worry about them doing what they’re supposed to or acting the way they’re supposed to, or doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. There’s nothing like that.
"It just showed me how valuable it was to have somebody just do their job and let me focus on doing mine. There’s nothing else that comes of me not doing a good job or not knowing, what the hell I’m supposed to be doing.”
McClendon certainly appears to have found his niche on this year’s Georgia staff, guiding his receivers through a season that’s been challenging due to the various injuries suffered by the group.
From Ladd McConkey to AD Mitchell, Arian Smith to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, at times, McClendon has had to mix and match his rotation depending on the weekend.
While making it through the season has at times been challenging, it’s also given the group an opportunity to grow as a whole.
“Man, it’s been good in a lot of ways. The reason I say that is, we’ve had to spread out and the whole group has had to grow,” McClendon said. “From Ladd to Kearis (Jackson), to Dom (Blaylock), to everybody, to the freshmen, Dillon Bell, Arian … I can’t name them all, but everybody has had to share the growth when it’s come to that because the different level that everybody has had to play has had to grow in different areas. It’s been good in the grand scheme of things. I’m not going to say it’s always been easy, but it’s been good.”
Georgia’s future in the position appears bright as well.
The recent additions of signees Tyler Williams, Anthony Evans III, and Yazeed Haynes, along with transfers RaRa Thomas from Mississippi State and Dominic Lovett from Missouri have McClendon excited about what’s to come.
“First of all, you’re bringing in good people. That’s the one thing right now when you find quality players who are quality people, that’s what gives you a chance. That’s the biggest thing. All those guys are quality people first,” McClendon said. “The freshmen, you got guys who come in they want to do well. They want to learn, and they want to be part of the piece that helps this thing go and help this thing go to another level.”
Getting experienced and proven SEC receivers like Thomas and Lovett adds an entirely different dimension.
“When you bring in the portal guys, you bring in prove guys who have done it on the college level. But one of the first conversations that you’ve got to have with them is hey man, I want you to understand what you’re stepping into here culture-wise,” McClendon said. “Our culture is going to be something a little different. I’m not knocking any place that you’ve been but our culture here is about the greater good. So, if you come in here looking for something in particular then you need to make sure that’s one thing you’re looking for. Those guys like that and embrace that.”
McClendon admits selling that culture is not always easy.
When you’re known as “RBU” and currently “TEU,” selling talented wide receivers so that they can realize all their goals in Athens is occasionally a challenge. However, there’s a way to do it, and by the looks of Georgia’s recent receiver haul, McClendon has been successful.
‘You have to bring them here and they’ve got to see everything that’s going on. You have to be honest with them; you have to be able to say look, here it is, this is where we are and this is where we want to go,” McClendon said. “So, just like anything, honesty is the best policy for it, and you’ve got to bring great relationships and be as transparent as possible. Especially in today’s age of college football, you’ve got to be honest with people. You’ve got to show them that, or I don’t think they’ll be there very long. But the thing is, when you bring them here, Georgia does a good job of selling itself.”
