Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich said he and Dabo Swinney wanted to make sure Tony Elliott stayed at Clemson. So, they did.
The Board of Trustees Compensation Committee officially approved the new terms of Elliott’s contract Thursday which added three additional years and a payment increase from $1.7 million to $2 million annually, effective on July 1. Elliott’s contract will now run through January 31, 2026.
Elliott’s raise will be effective on July 1. His $125,000 retention and incentive bonus will be effective on August 1.
“We are happy to retain Coach Elliott. He had a lot of opportunities, but we wanted to make sure that he stayed here,” Radakovich said after the Compensation Committee meeting. “We are glad to have him and I know he is happy to be here as well.
“Coach [Brandon] Streeter is the same way. He had some opportunities, but we were able to retain him.”
Streeter had another year added to his contract and received a $25,000 raise, bringing his annual salary to $615,000.
The raise in Elliott’s annual salary makes him the third-highest paid assistant coach in college football. He also joins defensive coordinator Brent Venables in the exclusive $2 million club. Nothing was added to Venables contract on Thursday, but he is expected to receive $2.4 million, currently the highest paid assistant coach in college football.
Clemson is the only school, currently, that will pay two assistant coaches at least $2 million.
“I think Dabo looks at those two guys as the chiefs of their particular side of the ball,” Radakovich said. “Brent certainly has [been the best] over a long period of time. Tony, certainly as well, has shown he can command an incredible offense. It was important for Dabo to see that those two people were first among equals.”
As a collective group, Clemson’s 10 on-field coaches will make $8.325 million in 2021, one of the best paid coaching staffs in the country. Last year, Clemson’s 10 assistant coaches made $8.145 million.
“There is a great commitment. Football does an awful lot for Clemson, as a university, and certainly for us as an athletic program,” Radakovich said.
“If you go back a couple of years when Jeff [Scott] and Tony were here and you added up the offensive staff, we are really only 3.9 percent increases from 2019 to ’20 and ’20 to ’21,” he continued. “Some of the folks will look at that as inflationary or CPI, but we are changing some of the people within the program, and that allows us to stay within a pretty good budget range. But it also rewards those folks that have had opportunities to go elsewhere but chose to stay here at Clemson. The consistency of the staff that Coach Swinney has been able to have, I think, very much has shown that is a pretty big lever as it relates to success.”
Elliott definitely had an opportunity to go elsewhere.
Since the regular season ended, the Clemson offensive coordinator was linked to head coaching openings at South Carolina, Auburn and more seriously at Tennessee, where he reportedly turned down the job. His name also came up for offensive coordinator jobs at Seattle and Miami in the NFL.
“Certainly, it was a difficult decision for Tony and his family, but once that decision was made, and Dabo and I had talked prior to if he stayed what he would like to do, and when he did stay, we kind of had it mapped out what we wanted to do. You saw the result of that,” Radakovich said.
Contractual info for Football’s on-Field Assistant Coaches
- Brent Venables, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
- Term: No changes, contract through 1/31/2025
- Yearly compensation: $2.4 million
- Tony Elliott, Offensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach/Tight ends
- Term: Add 3 years through 1/31/2026
- Yearly compensation increase: $1.7 million to $2 million
- Robbie Caldwell, Assistant Coach/Offensive Linemen
- Term: Add 1 year through 1/31/2023
- Yearly compensation: $640,000
- Brandon Streeter, Assistant Coach/Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks
- Term: Add 1 year through 1/31/2023
- Total compensation increase: $590,000 to $615,000
- Mike Reed, Assistant Coach/Cornerbacks
- Term: Add 1 year through 1/31/2023
- Yearly compensation: $540,000
- Mickey Conn, Assistant Coach/Safeties
- Term: Add 1 year through 1/31/2023
- Yearly compensation: $515,000
- Todd Bates, Assistant Coach/Defensive Linemen/Recruiting Coordinator
- Term: Add 1 year through 1/31/2023
- Yearly compensation: $515,000
- Lemanski Hall, Assistant Coach/Defensive Ends
- Term: Add 1 year through 1/31/2023
- Yearly compensation: $500,000
- C.J. Spiller, Running Backs Coach
- Term: 2 years through 1/31/2023
- Total compensation increase: $300,000
- Tyler Grisham, Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers
- Term: Add 1 year through 1/31/2024
- Total compensation increase: $93,860 to $300,000