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As most of you know, I live in upstate South Carolina. I get more than a normal dose of the Clemson Tigers. Having said that, they've probably become my 2nd favorite ACC team to follow.
Tommy Bowden was fired today, after 10 years of a roller-coaster ride with fans and players. The circumstances are eerily similar to those of Chan Gailey
- Fine, Christian coach & a nice guy
- unquestionable morals and ethics
- Recruits pretty good kids
- Players mostly stay out of trouble
- Players move steadily towards graduation
- Recruiting improved steadily during his tenure
- They go to bowl games every year
- Fans frustrated with questionable offensive playcalling
- Team has serious letdowns against "inferior" opponents
- Team tends to win when they are the underdog
- Team never can seem to reach that mythical "next level".
- Never "handle" being a top team.
The similarities are incredibly similar if you ask me. My belief is that Bowden lasted 10 years as opposed to Gailey's 6 for the following reasons:
1. Bowden averaged closer to 8 wins per season while Gailey was closer to 7.
2. Bowden had a 7-2 record against his arch-rival SC Gamecocks, while Gailey was 0-6.
3. Bowden had a knack for pulling himself out of the "fire" at just the right moment each season
4. The administration / athletic department generally backed him, while Georgia Tech saw a change in both the AD and Georgia Tech president.
5. His last name is Bowden. Face it, that means something.
Here's his coaching record:
Bowden's Coaching Record
Year School Record Bowl
1997 Tulane 7-4 No Bowl
1998 Tulane 11-0 W, Liberty*
1999 Clemson 6-6 L, Peach
2000 Clemson 9-3 L, Gator
2001 Clemson 7-5 W, Humanitarian
2002 Clemson 7-6 L, Tangerine
2003 Clemson 9-4 W, Peach
2004 Clemson 6-5 No Bowl
2005 Clemson 8-4 W, Champs Sports
2006 Clemson 8-5 L, Music City
2007 Clemson 9-4 L, Peach
2008 Clemson 3-3 ?
Tot. 12 seasons 90-49 4-5 in Bowls
* - Bowden did not coach in the Liberty Bowl.
So here is Tiger-nation at a cross-roads. What we are starting to see now is the unraveling of the Tiger-family. Anyone who has a family knows that things are never the same inside the walls of your home compared to what the outside world sees. And so it is that we find benched QB Cullen Harper quoted on ESPN as saying "He got what he deserved". Ouch. Forgetting the fact that we play these guys this week, what you would hope to see is the team banding together, closing the walls of the outside world and figuring out how to deal with internal issues while presenting a solid face to the outside world.
Having said that, there were clearly chemistry issues with this team and staff under Bowden's leadership.
- Bowden and Harper went back-and-forth on a couple of issues earlier in the season. Bowden made some comments about Harper being tougher and how he should have lowered his shoulder on a play to get a first down instead of running out-of-bounds.
- Bowden handled benching Harper this week by leaving him a voice-mail and letting Willy Korn find out on the internet. Not professional
- Harper said later on Monday that Bowden "tried to motivate us but guys were off the bandwagon. There were things I disagreed with and that my teammates disagreed with. I didn't appreciate it when he would say some off-the-wall things about me to the media. I guess one thing I can say is he gave me an opportunity to come to Clemson and play."
- Cullen Harper's daddy is getting into the act now.
- Offensive coordinator Rob Spense was sobbing as he left the field after an embarrasing loss to Maryland. CJ Spiller ended up consoling the guy as they walked off the field. Nice - a 19/20 year old consoling a grown man who is supposed to be a leader. Strange if you ask me.
- James Davis and CJ Spiller have both been their own little soap operas in the off-season. If you remember, Davis almost never played at Clemson, as he left for home in ATL prior to his first camp. He finally showed back up, but in every off-season there have been talk of transfers by Spiller, unrest by Davis, and this jockying about who was "the man" in the backfield - all the while presenting this great facade of being best buddies and "Thunder & Lightening".
- Tommy Bowden promised true freshman running back Jamie Harper the first carry of Clemson's season if he committed to the Tigers. Harper got that carry against Alabama, promptly fumbled the ball, then sat on the bench the rest of the game. It appears he did the same thing with Spiller and Davis. Maybe it's just me, but this is a sign of the inmates running the asylum. I cannot imagine Paul Johnson EVER doing anything like this. You earn your spot on the team if I'm the coach. You "have a chance to play if you work hard" would be my take. What does it say to the players on the team if you're promising recruits things like that. To me it totally lacks leadership and it's unprofessional
WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Here are some facts based on tonights reports:
- Clemson AD T.Philips says that Bowden actually resigned and it was Bowden's idea - not his. He just happened to agree with the idea for the betterment of the program. Bowden will get paid through this season and then get his $3.5M buyout.
- Having indicated Bowden "resigned", per ESPN, AD Terry Don Philips had met with the staff last week and told them that if they did not beat Georgia Tech they would be fired. Ahhhhh, I see now. Resigned. Right. Maybe Bowden looked at our film and realized he had no chance. :-)
- Dabo Swinney is the interim head coach. Swinny is the WR coach, is VERY well like by the players, and one of the key guys responsible for Clemson's recent recruiting success. Swinny is a former Alabama player and almost went to work for Saban's staff at one point.
- OC Rob Spence was fired by Swinney. Not surprising considering how poor their offense has been. Swinney and Billy Napier will call the plays.
- Willy Korn will be the starting QB.
- Swinney had his first press conference this evening and was evidently fairly outspoken and straightforward, challenging the players - "All I can tell you is the guys that run out there every Saturday, for the next six weeks, they are going to be playing with their hair on fire. We are going to unify this group. One heartbeat- everybody playing together. That's our only chance. I told them today, if you can't do this this and this, get on out of here. But if you show up on the practice field tonight you're all in. We have pocket 10's. I need my players to be all in. "
- Here's what Swinney said about Georgia Tech - "Swinney: Defensively, they are really good. They've got as good a front as we've played. No. 91 is a baller. He's going to bring it. No. 93 is probably a top 10 NFL type talent, Michael Johnson. Those two guys that's probably where it starts. Good inside. Really good at linebacker. They've got veterans in the secondary. They kept somethings from Tenuta. It's going to be a difficult task. Best we have played. Offensively, I have not studied them. But they force you play disciplined to defend the option. Coach Johnson - how about going up against that guy? He's a heckuva a football coach. He can call this stuff in his sleep. "
- Clemson lost two of their high-profile recruits already.
- Names being kicked around for the job include Will Muschamp (Texas), Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), Lane Kiffin (Raiders - fired), Tommy Tuberville (Auburn), Mike Leach (Texas Tech), Todd Graham (Tulsa), Bobby Johnson (Vandy), Bud Foster (VaTech), Todd Grantham (Dallas Cowboys), Gary Patterson (TCU),
TEXT OF LETTER TO IPTAY MEMBERS
AJC STORY ON BOWDEN
ESPN STORY WITH MANY QUOTES / DETAILS
THE BOWDEN ROLLERCOASTER
BOWDEN ROCK OPERAT - FUNNY STUFF
VIDEO STREAMS OF VARIOUS PRESS CONFERENCES TODAY
TOP CANDIDATES FOR THE JOB
ESPN: BOWDEN'S DEPARTURE NO SURPRISE
ESPN: MAISEL ON BOWDEN
AUDIO FROM TODAY'S PRESS CONFERENCES
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR GEORGIA TECH?
Let's take stock of things.
- Clemson had incredibly talented offensive weapons that have been poorly utilized
- Their offensive line is a patchwork of underperforming kids whose performance rivals that of Georgia Tech's - which is to say - not good
- Their head coach and offensive coordinator have just been fired
- Players are stabbing their former head coach in the back and starting to open up about how bad things have been.
- The fanbase is 90% focused on who they can bring in to be their next coach.
- No doubt the remaining coaches are going to be distracted, manning their phones, mining their industry contacts and focusing on "what about me?".
- Oh yeah, you know they've been instructed to get on the phone to current recruits to settle down the situation. Do you remember the priority that Paul Johnson made the recruiting part?
- Meanwhile the remaining staff needs to figure out a gameplan against one of the best defenses in the ACC, and get their kids how completely change what they do defensively to stop the triple option.
- Clemson will be giving a new QB his first collegiate start.
- CJ Spiller will not play
- Offensive lineman Corey Lambert won't play as he nurses a foot sprain.
- Georgia Tech will have both Josh Nesbitt and Jaybo Shaw back and per the AJC Nesbitt is back to 100% based on testing his limits today.
Well, not so fast. I've had a bad feeling about this game all week, and the events of today pretty much sealed my opinion. I hate to say it, but I think Georgia Tech is about to sinks to the depths of our season. I see a major beatdown coming, and not one we're going to enjoy. It's stupid to prognostic like that, but it's how I feel.
At the end of the day, Clemson isn't going to magically sprout an offensive line or completely change their playcalling to turn their entire season around. In my mind, players are going to come out with emotion like they have not displayed yet. Emotion isn't going to carry the day, but we saw ourselves what happens last week when one team flys around and plays with rage while the other goes through the motions. I'm not talking about Michigan / Toledo either.
I want to be wrong and hopefully I will be, but I don't see this game as a rousing victory for Georgia Tech. As it is, the GT / Clemson series is always a good one and usually comes down to the wire. This could just be another weird chapter in our rivaly's history. Our players better come out on fire themselves and the staff better have these guys ready this time or it's going to be a long day.
What do you think? How is this thing going to play out?
28 comments:
Scott, I disagree with you. I think we'll come out ready to play this saturday and win decisively.
I really hope some of the players read this post because it might make them more inclined to fight for the W. GO JACKETS!!!
DON'T WORRY! It's all good. You forget that PJ isn't Chan Gailey. If the name wasn't "clemson" and I told you that we were going to play a team that just lost its head coach, benched its starting QB and bringing out a freshman, has a terrible offensive line and isn't unified you would likely agree that this game is very winnable.
I think Tech got the scare they needed from GW and won't let it happen again.
THWG!
Scott, don't be a downer bro. In Nez and Jaybo we trust. If Booker goes in, I'll agree we're in deep with no paddle.
I think they come out fired up, until we hit them in the mouth a few times. We are a little banged up, but we have a tough football team. We need Judge Sed and Gladiator to shake their foundations and bring them down to earth.
We are halfway though the season, and I'm not going to let 1 game change what I saw in the other five. When we execute this offense is unstoppable. We just need our mobile QB's back.
one thing you didnt mention as another similarity between cg and tb was the caustic relationship between coaches and team. both coaches allowed this to fester during their entire regime.
we could well lose but i really dont see a beat down.
you have been brainwashed by cg. if this was a cg team a beat down would be eminent. under cg the gw game would have been another loss as well imo.
as i have said before we knew chan an chan is NO cpj.
had we crushed gw i would be worried. we won but we really lost last saturday as far as the team and coaching staff goes. all things considered the game last saturday was the BEST thing that could have happened to gt.
keep in mind that much of our o problems were due to having to play a qb that... was slow as molassis.... and was so untalented that he sunk to the bottom of depth charts on two different teams over 5 years and under 3 different o-coor. even tb a player who played min hs ball beat out booker.
booker had the least amount of snaps with the first string o and had the least amount of experience with the to.
i love his attitude but truthfully booker is a scout team qb an no more. AND hey it was his first start in 5 years. you think he was a bit nervous?
as far as clumpsin goes, they dont match up well with our d. their oline is further decimated. they are missing one of their top rb's and the qb situation is up in the air.
i have to believe that their will be a bit of bad blood now between harper and 'POP" korn. i cant imagine the team feeling all that comfy over harper and his dad's stance.
those loyal to tb will be insulted. this will be evident in the stands as well. we will be playing a team whose players and fan base are not only in turmoil but divided.
their coaching staff is 2 coaches short and now have to address all the issues you mention and STILL have to prepare for the gt o.
remember what happened when tenuta took over for cg in the bowl game? it was a fiasco. AND we had weeks to shore things up unlike clemson.
i dont predict games anymore but i feel good about this one.
gtpi
I agree that Clemson will come out more fired up and will play their tails off, but having said that, they may be able to tweak a thing or two, but they still have the same players, and the scheme will remain the same. To sum it up, not a lot can change in 4 days.
Coach Johnson will have his staff and team focused as usual, especially on the heels of what took place Saturday. I agree with anon. 11:53, that last Saturdays game was probably the best thing that could have happen to them. I think the staff and players look at it almost as a L and not a W.
As long as Josh or Jaybo are in, I believe the O will click and be on the "same sheet of music".
Yellow Jacket in Athens
CHEER UP SCOTT!
All I know is I'm upping my confidence level of a GT win in my fun office pool.
The team that wants it the most, will win. We have less talent overall, I feel, but even still...I say we win if we come in more emotional and pumped up than they are. A couple scores and shut downs will shut down their emotion...but we have to want it MORE than they do...let's go Coach Johnson!
because of our "moral loss"/ actual victory last week, you know CPJ will light a fire under the O's asses to make them play fundamental football.
the D always brings it.
The key to stop this O is to play proper assignment football, and with the entire coaching staff pre-occupied and not laying a proper gameplan (and most DCs said one week isn't even enough to gameplan GT's O) we should cause them fits.
Also their new QB is fairly green, look to blitz a lot and confuse him. Also his inexperience will make him more likely to pull the ball down and run, and I think our D has had enough practice playing assignment football against a running QB.
I agree that Clemson will be bringing the emotion. We're about to see just how mentally focused PJ can get his team for a rivalry game (I think Clemson is #2 behind UGA). One thing is for sure, if our offensive line plays this week like they did on Saturday, we could get an ass-whipping. But I don't think PJ would let that happen. Plus, I think you're still letting the Chan Gailey-era affect your prognostications. I say GT wins a close one.
You might as well try to time the stock market as predict college football games--including the Tech-Clemson game this weekend. Not to denigrate your "feelings," Scott, but that's all they are: your gut talking to you. Come on, you don't know any better than anyone else what will happen Saturday. You're really stretching here with your "prediction," and it goes a long way toward invalidating the fine reporting that precedes your guess about what will happen. I know it's your blog and your prerogative to to say what you will, but if you put out a doom-and-gloom prediction like the one you did yesterday and now today (at least, that's when I read 'em), then you have to expect some pushback. I'd suggest that you take a deep breath and let events unfold as they will on the field. You might be right about Tech getting a beatdown, but you might just as easily be wrong, too.
Glenn Peake
Atlanta, GA
glennpeake@yahoo.com
This is the first time we will see what a Paul Johnson-coached team does after a really poor performance the previous week.
And I can't wait to see it...
Scott, you are letting the 2006 game in Death Valley get back into your mind. CJ Spiller is not playing Saturday so Clemson is without their biggest playmaker. Both Shaw and Nesbitt will be ready to go, so our offense should return to form.
If GT doesn't turn the ball over, I think we'll win big.
under gailey we lose this game...and bad.
PJ will have us ready to go
I agree with Scott about being concerned that this game could be a loss but I have a hard time seeing a blow-out in either direction, but especially by Clemson.
I am worried more along the lines of the VT game, where we make a couple of errors and so lose by a score or so when we could of had the W.
I don't see a blowout for Clemson as a real possibility b/c they haven't done that against any decent competition this year and our D just doesn't sell out like they did under Tenuta of going all or nothing. That is, we actually have pass coverage and balance on D so I don't see a method for a team to exploit us offensively in a way that leads to a blowout.
My thought on our O is that while CPJ said after the GW game that he is still looking for a leader on the offensive side of the ball, and while Dwyer was not being that in that game, I have a feeling we may find out in this game that the leader is going to be Nesbitt. He hasn't played in what to him may feel like ages and so I suspect he will be the fire in the GT belly this week. As always, have to minimize drops and penalties as well to pull this one out.
"This is the first time we will see what a Paul Johnson-coached team does after a really poor performance the previous week.
And I can't wait to see it..."
I agree with that. This should be fun!~ Have faith folks...and remember...in the big picture we are over-achieving considering all the changes (rewind time to before the season started and ask if you would like to be 5-1 with a close one over an 'easy' school)
GT starts its REAL season Saturday against Clemson. If we can not win this one, god helps us the rest of the way.This is the most important game of the season for us. We have six straight games that look as bad or worse than this one. so GO JACKETS! we need to play at a higher level from here on out. I don't care about what Clemson does or doesn't do. We need to take care of business! AMG
You know - everyone is right and everyone is wrong. My "predictions" are nothing more than opinions. They have no more validity than yours or anyone else's.
Maybe I am a little over the edge, but the bottom-line is that I don't feel good about this game.
Having said that, all the pieces are in place for a GT victory. As long as our guys have their heads in the game and our O-Line improves their execution, we should be ok.............. well, and as long as Josh is really 100%.
This game has the potential to be the most emotional and hard fought game of the year. Yes, I think maybe even more than UGA given the GW game last week and timing for Clemson.
I have a hard time imagining a Clemson blowout against our defense, and after watching a couple of Clemson games I don't picture us taking them to the cleaners either.
I think this game is really going to depend on building a lead and taking momentum. Given the amount of emotion, an early lead will be a major rallying point.
I have a hard time imagining either team collapsing given the motivation they both have going into the kickoff.
If we had crushed GW last week, I would be extremely concerned that we might get spanked.
If Clemson loses, I think their season is pretty much done (if its not done already). If Tech loses, we still have the chance to come out in the end exceeding our pre-season expectations and feeling great about next year.
I am really, really looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
Stephen J.
Scott,
I'm nervous too, but I get nervous before all games. I agree that this is a big deal game and I'll not be shocked by any results. I just try to ignore my paranoid feelings about loosing with blind faith in Coach Johnson. Before the season started, I doubt many of us had us beating Clemson anyway...so...match expectation or
over-achieve...right?
I have had a great feeling about this game all season. My only worry was that we would blow out Gardner Webb, get a nat'l ranking and then lose to Clemson. Now, I KNOW that we will win as I agree that our shotty performance was the greatest possible outcome of last week. Paul Johnson dynasty is underway folks do not fret.
100% chance of GT win sat.
Scott:
Do you know what happened to the youtube link to the player intro video?
Thanks..
What does being Christian have to do with coaching? They're also both white, but that's not listed as a similarity.
obviously some christians think you are a better coach if your christian.
many of these same folks voted for dubya cause christians make better presidents too i guess.
... an yes i am a christian but in not misguided.
yes this will be a real emotional game for clemson.
they will be ramped up. i think that is a trap.
the emotion will only last a short while. emotional players do not play within themselves and this could lead to mistakes.
if we can get an early lead on clemson and control the clock. look for them to fold much like chan gailey teams. chan gailey teams never played well when behind.
we should rule the second half due to our toughness and our superior conditioning.
those huge phat ass'd players on the clemson team will be sucking wind in the 4th quarter.
just my opinion an i could be wrong!
anonymous said:
"obviously some christians think you are a better coach if your christian.
many of these same folks voted for dubya cause christians make better presidents too i guess.
... an yes i am a christian but in not misguided."
very well put.
religion has nothing to do with who you are as a coach, a president, or a man for that matter.
I really just don't see where the grim pessimism is coming from on this one, man. I give the Jackets a pass on last week. You can't run the option without an option QB, period, and we'll have two suited up this week. That's the thing about being a system team. If you run it well, you nullify your opponents' athletic advantages. If you run it poorly, you nullify your own. I think the clemson game could go either way. But I give Tech just a slight edge. We'll see.
Clemson will come out with emotion until the very first time somebody doesn't take the fb or the qb on the option. Then you will be able to actually see the air being let out of their balloon.
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