Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott officially named head coach of Virginia

Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is the new coach at Virginia.

Elliott, a former walk-on wide receiver at Clemson, has been on the staff for 11 seasons, first as running backs coach and then co-offensive coordinator since 2014, holding the job on his own for the past two seasons. He was honored with the Broyles Award, presented to the top assistant coach in the country, following the 2016 season.

“This is an awesome opportunity for the University of Virginia as we welcome Coach Tony Elliott to the UVA family,” athletics director Carla Williams said Friday in a written statement. “Coach Elliott is a winner in every sense of the word. He is known for his character, humility, work ethic, skill set and passion for education. Coach Elliott is an exceptional leader of young men and he is highly regarded across college football as a talented teacher and coach.

“.... Coach Elliott understands and embraces this amazing opportunity to do something really special at the University of Virginia. I am thrilled for the young men in our program.”

Elliott, 42, a California native, began his coaching career at South Carolina State (2006-07) and Furman (2018-10) before returning to Clemson as running backs coach in 2011. He was co-offensive coordinator for the Tigers from 2015-19 before Jeff Scott left to become coach at South Florida.

Clemson (9-3) will be without coordinators in the Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 29 (5:45 p.m., ESPN) against Iowa State (7-5) in Orlando, Florida. Offensive coordinator Brent Venables left Monday to become coach at Oklahoma.

Elliott will replace Bronco Mendenhall, who resigned unexpectedly last week after going 6-6 this season and 36-38 in six seasons overall, including a 9-5 record and appearance in the 2019 Orange Bowl.

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Elliott reportedly was in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Wednesday with his family to meet with Williams and school officials but returned on Thursday. He was also in talks with Duke about the opening there.

The Virginia Board of Visitors earlier Friday approved a request from the athletics department to transfer $10.3 million from the school's endowment to go toward a proposed $65 million football facility.

Elliott had said he turned down the Tennessee coaching job a year ago. Auburn and South Carolina apparently also showed interest in hiring him since the end of last season.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Tony Elliott leaves Clemson to become head coach of Virginia