A familiar face will be returning to Athens to coach Georgia’s wide receivers: former Bulldog Bryan McClendon.

UGASports has confirmed the hire. McClendon comes home to Georgia from Miami, where he was tabbed by new Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal earlier this month.

McClendon is obviously no stranger to Georgia fans. As a player, McClendon was a key piece on four Bulldog teams, highlighted by three Eastern Division titles (2002, 2003, 2005), two SEC championships (2002, 2005), and four bowls.

His tenure in Athens didn't stop there.

After spending the 2007 and 2008 seasons as a graduate assistant, McClendon was named Georgia’s running backs coach, a position he held from 2009-2014 before becoming the program’s wide receiver coach and pass game coordinator in 2015.

He later served as Georgia’s interim head coach following the firing of Mark Richt and coached the Bulldogs in the Tax Slayer Gator Bowl against Penn State in 2015.

From 2016-2019, McClendon coached at South Carolina, serving as the Gamecocks’ wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2016 before assuming the role by himself in 2018.

In 2020, McClendon joined Cristobal in Oregon, where he coached the Ducks’ wide receivers while serving as the passing game coordinator. He was later tabbed as Oregon’s interim coach and coached the Ducks in the Alamo Bowl.