Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott will now make $2 million per year after receiving a contract extension and raise Thursday, giving the Tigers two of the three highest-paid assistants in the country.
The Clemson board of trustees approved the three-year extension through Jan. 31, 2026, and a $300,000 raise for Elliott, which will go into effect July 1. Both he and defensive coordinator Brent Venables will be in the $2 million club. Venables is the highest-paid assistant in the country at $2.4 million per year.
Elliott has emerged as a top head-coaching candidate and had extensive talks with Tennessee before deciding to stay with the Tigers.
In addition to the extension and raise, Elliott added assistant head coach to his title and will move from coaching the running backs to the tight ends.
Former Clemson great C.J. Spiller will now coach the running backs after his hire was approved Thursday. Spiller served as an unpaid coaching intern in 2020 while pursuing a master’s degree in athletic leadership. He will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame later this year.
In another staff change announced Thursday, Danny Pearman moved from tight ends coach/special-teams coordinator to an off-field role as the director of football scouting and took a pay reduction from $545,000 to $250,000. Last year, Pearman apologized for repeating a racial slur, but the move to an off-field role was not related to that incident.
Mickey Conn is taking over as special-teams coordinator.
