The University of Georgia has now made it official, as the program announced the hiring of Bryan McClendon as the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the program.

McClendon replaces Cortez Hankton, who left for the same position at LSU. Hankton undoubtedly had success at Georgia but recruiting at the wide receiver position had fallen in the last two recruiting cycles. McClendon will be judged early on in his time on his ability to land top-rated wide receiver recruits, like 5-star 2023 prospect Brandon Inniss.

Inniss, who plays at the same American Heritage High School that produced the likes of Sony Michel, Isaiah McKenzie and current Georgia signee Marvin Jones Jr., took notice of McClendon’s move from Miami to Georgia.

That Georgia got McClendon to leave a Miami program that just hired Mario Cristobal speaks to what head coach Kirby Smart has built. McClendon spent the last two seasons working with Cristobal at Oregon. But before that, McClendon worked with Will Muschamp at South Carolina. Muschamp is now Georgia’s co-defensive coordinator entering the 2022 season.

Like Muschamp and Smart, McClendon played at the University of Georgia. He was a wide receiver from 2002 to 2005. He also has past coaching experience at Georgia, serving as the running backs coach from 2009 to 2014 before taking over the wide receivers coach position in 2015. That program familiarity is a common theme Smart has found in recent coaching hires.

McClendon steps into a wide receiver room that does have talent. Ladd McConkey and AD Mitchell will both look to take the next step after breaking out in 2021. What McClendon really needs though from his first wide receiver group is a clean bill of health. Kearis Jackson, Dominick Blaylock, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and Arian Smith have all shown they have the talent to contribute at Georgia. But all of them missed multiple games for the Bulldogs during the 2021 season. With Jermaine Burton and George Pickens both leaving the program, McClendon will need to replace Georgia’s two most explosive pass catchers.

For more on what Georgia is getting in McClendon, the DawgNation team of Brandon Adams, Connor Riley, Jeff Sentell and Mike Griffith discussed what the news means for Georgia and what the hiring says about the state of the current program.

More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation