Clemson football fires assistant coach Thomas Austin

Clemson is moving on at offensive line coach from alum Thomas Austin.

by TigerNet Staff - Thu Nov 30 13:25:33 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson fired offensive line coach Thomas Austin on Thursday, TigerNet has confirmed.

The Clemson alum was promoted to the full-time assistant role in February 2022 after Robbie Caldwell retired.

He spent the 2019-20 seasons as the offensive line coach at Georgia State before coming back to Clemson for an analyst role in 2021.

Prior to his Georgia State stint, he spent four years on Clemson’s support staff from 2015-18

Austin starred along Clemson’s offensive line from 2006-09, appearing in 48 games with 39 starts, including starting each of his last 38 games. He played 2,501 snaps from scrimmage in his Clemson career, the 13th-most of any player at the time of his graduation. He earned All-ACC selections in both 2008 and 2009 as part of a unit that powered running back C.J. Spiller to eventual induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

It is the second consecutive season for the Tigers to move on from a Clemson offensive assistant coach and former Tigers football player, after changing offensive coordinator/QBs coach from Brandon Streeter to Garrett Riley in January.

Clemson slipped from 30th to 56th in scoring offense year-to-year. The Tigers ranked 47th in sacks allowed this year after being 71st last year.

“Today, I made the difficult decision to seek new leadership for the offensive line," Swinney said in a statement. "It is my responsibility as head coach to make difficult decisions that I believe are in the best interest of our football program and the young men that comprise it. After a few days of deep thought and evaluation, I believe this was a change we needed to make.

“I love Thomas and his entire family, and Thomas has been a great representative of Clemson University and Clemson Football in every role — as a player, as a support staff member and as a coach. On the field, he was one of the best Tigers we’ve had, and his role as a captain and as a great leader is immortalized in concrete at Tiger Walk outside Memorial Stadium. I know God has a great plan for his future.

“I’m incredibly excited about our group of offensive linemen which could have seven players who have started significant time for us, and I look forward to seeing them continue their growth.”