Now that Paul Johnson has announced his retirement from Georgia Tech this afternoon, talk and speculation has already begun on who will replace him in Atlanta.

Several names are being mentioned as possible replacements for Johnson, and The Clemson Insider has learned Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is one of those names.

According to sources, Georgia Tech will be interested in talking to the Clemson coach and will have him on their short list of coaches who do not have head coaching experience.

Also, if Georgia Tech requests to talk to Elliott about its head coaching vacancy, sources have told us Elliott would be interested in the job.

TCI has also learned that Georgia Tech’s priority is bringing in a head coach with head coaching experience. Some of the names being tossed around are Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, who played at Georgia Tech and was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL. Also mentioned is Army head coach Jeff Monken and App State head coach Scott Satterfield.

We are told if none of these former head coaches work out and Tech goes to its list of non-head coaches, Elliott will be one of the coaches at the top of their list.

Elliott is in his eighth season at Clemson as the running backs coach and his fourth as the Tigers’ co-offensive coordinator. He has called plays for the Tigers in each of his four years as the co-offensive coordinator.

This year, Clemson leads the ACC in scoring (45.7 points/game) and total offense (539.1 yards/game). Both of those numbers rank No. 5 and No. 3 respectively in the country. The Tigers also rank No. 12 at running the football, averaging 256.3 yards per game.

The Tigers also rank second nationally in yards per carry (6.62). On Wednesday, running back Travis Etienne was named the ACC’s Player of the Year, while freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence was named as the conference’s Rookie of the Year.

Last year, Elliott was the recipient of the 2017 Frank Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach.

Elliott has been a part of Clemson’s run of eight straight 10-win seasons. Clemson is 94-15 since he came back to Clemson in 2011. He was also the co-offensive coordinator for Clemson’s 2016 National Championship team.

As a player at Clemson, Elliott lettered from 2000-’03. He was co-captain of Clemson’s 2003 team that had a 9-4 record and a No. 22 final ranking in the final Associated Press poll.

He finished his playing career with 34 receptions for 455 yards and two touchdowns. He played in 44 games and one of his two touchdowns came at Georgia Tech in 2003.