mogrits on 
AParker on 
Willy Mac on We’ve felt this way about Bowden before. That feeling of regret, sorrow, and impending horror at the foibles that surely lay ahead. It’s like swallowing a delicious piece of taffy with a razorblade inside. Hell, you ate the damned thing, now you just have to sit around and stew with dread at how violent the exit’s gonna be.
Most Clemson fans (including us at times) don’t have the best ability to tell when things are going to change. (Admittedly there are a lot of Bowden detractors out there who have been absolutely fed up for a long time) A lot of us thought this season would be different. “2008 will be the season when talent finally overcomes coaching deficiencies” was a phrase often bantered about in the preseason. Damn were we wrong. So, with an admittedly flawed foresight, how do we know that this sick feeling over our coaching situation will remain, and not slowly wane with a couple victories and maybe an upset like it has in the past?
Many local sportswriters are openly fed up. Mickey Plyler, who maintains a blog over at Tigernet, is one of the most frequently positive of Tiger pundits. He makes it clear in his most recent post that he has never before called for a coach to be fired, but he can see the writing on the wall. He’s calling for Bowden to be fired effective immediately and for the reigns (in the interim) to be passed to rising star coach and recruiting dynamo Dabo Swinney. He spent the weekend speaking to knowledgeable former Clemson coaches and players, none of whom thought his idea was without merit.
What do you think of this idea? Take it to the comments section. We’ll post soon about possible replacement coaches.
Articles of note this afternoon:
Ron Morris with his take on things in The State.
Larry Williams of the Post & Courier on Clemson underachieving under Bowden.
Marc Hudgens adds on to the great shitpile being heaped upon the Tigers.
Metaphor for the season - eyes closed, collpasing, anticipating the worst
1JasonL
on Sep 29, 2008 at 2:06 pm:
wow. the game made it on Digg (quick! get a screen shot!).
Just wow. A national embarassment…
a sampling of comments:
jkr801
15 minutes ago Clemson the Best-Worst team in the country….Great talent but wtf??
wayzup
11 minutes ago Tommy Bowden will be fired at season’s end, mark it down. If he wasn’t already after the Alabama game debacle, he sure as hell is now.
I wouldn’t put it out of the realm of possibility that he gets canned mid-season if they lose another that they’re supposed to win.
ensta2
7 minutes ago FEAR THE TURTLE! What a rise after losing to Middle Tennessee in week 2! Unbelievable!
cudealer
6 minutes ago I had almost forgotten this happened and then it makes the front page 2 days later. :-(
Clearly Tommy is not the one that is going to get it done. Up next a Thursday game at Wake and since we’re normally terrible on Thursday… not looking forward to the rest of the season.
2Chili
on Sep 29, 2008 at 2:07 pm:
I don’t really put to much faith into anything involving Digg. Their commenters are some of the most incredibly ignorant and childish on the internet, and there’s too many sneaky hacks to Digg stuff up.
3Sambone
on Sep 29, 2008 at 2:14 pm:
There is only one thing that can save this coaching staff………..Willy “The Extreme” Korn. Well, that and winning out, but they go hand-in-hand.
4Broken Gnome
on Sep 29, 2008 at 2:47 pm:
I had some thoughts similar to Plyler’s. The benefit of firing Bowden now is giving the replacement to attempt to prove himself through the rest of the season. But the replacement wouldn’t be able to form his own staff, and I can imagine that the coordinators would get pretty pissed if they got passed up.
In my rosy scenario of things that could happen, I’d hope that Bowden takes over playcalling duties and does well enough that other schools will be interested in hiring him at the end of the season.
5Tom
on Sep 29, 2008 at 2:51 pm:
I like Plyler’s plan. I wish he wouldn’t have been such a douche last year and would have been on the “don’t let the doorknob hit you” side when Bowden was talking to Arkansas. However, he’s right this time. Let Dabo finish out the year, and hell maybe he’s our guy. I really don’t want Bowden, Spence, Scott, or Koenning around any longer though.
6Charlie
on Sep 29, 2008 at 2:52 pm:
While I would like to keep Dabo on staff, he’s really not proven. He can recruit like mad, and Bowden does this well too.
Dabo doesnt call the plays, so we really don’t know how good a coach he would be. IMO he’s not ready for the primetime job. 10 years from now I’ll likely regret having to let him go because of the next head coach, but you have to make the best decision at the moment and no logic will point me to Swinney as the next HC.
Koenning could handle the job interim, as much as I hate to say that.
The only real detraction I see to firing Bowden immediately is the loss of recruits currently committed, they’ll all look elsewhere if they arent lifelong Clempson fans. If we wait, we could possibly hold a few of them.
7Clem
on Sep 29, 2008 at 3:00 pm:
damn you guys got issues with razor blades today! Magic Johnson in a dryer and now taffy!
8Kyle
on Sep 29, 2008 at 3:34 pm:
Danny Ford wasn’t a proven commodity either. In fact, I’m pretty sure he didn’t even have any coordinator experience. By your logic, since Tommy doesn’t call the plays either, we don’t know how good he is. This season is a wash. Everyone knows it and will just be waiting for the next blow up, so what good does a lame duck coach give us? Recruits will run away in droves. Give a guy a shot at making a name for himself, and if he doesn’t, we didn’t really lose anything we weren’t going to lose anyway. Danny was 30 when he got the Clemson job; Dabo is almost 40.
This teams just as good a chance of going 7-5 as 10-2, but if you’re content with riding this thing into the ground with Bowden/Harper, have at it. I think it’s exceptionally foolish to not change ANYTHING when we know what we do doesn’t work.
Koenning was a garbage head coach. He won five games in 3 years at Wyoming. I’d just assume poke my eyeballs out instead of watch him drag this team down.
Give Dabo half a season (the half that was supposed to be the hard half) and see what he can do with it. There’s a ton people out there that have been saying Dabo has what it takes to be a good HC for several years now. The only downside I see to Dabo is that the rules that prohibit much of the recruiting time for HCs would probably take him off the road, where he is one of our greatest assets.
9Daniel
on Sep 29, 2008 at 3:36 pm:
Yeah I agree, I don’t know if Dabo is ready for the head job. I hope to God that he is retained though by whoever replaces Bowden. Dabo and Napier need to stay. My new coach wishlist (in no particular order):
- Jim Leavitt
- Kevin Steele (he stunk it up as head coach at Baylor but he’s doing a helluva job at ‘Bama)
- George O’Leary (old though…probably wouldn’t coach long)
- Charlie Strong
- Randy Edsall
- Bobby Johnson
- Brian Kelly
- Jim Grobe (no way this happens but it’s a wishlist)
-Bud Foster
10Charlie
on Sep 29, 2008 at 4:03 pm:
Fair enough points Kyle. I believe Pell was the OC and HC….which wasnt uncommon back then.
No Tam dont call the plays, he just has full veto power over everything that happens on the football team. If he wants a run in a certain situation, he tells Spence to call a run. He just isnt that smart apparently. Its not like the coaches don’t speak to one another on those headsets (or at least theyre supposed to, the performance on field doesnt show it).
I’d only pick Koenning to run it because I’d have to jump off my office building if Spence got it. Lesser of two evils….like a political election.
11madmac corleone
on Sep 29, 2008 at 4:14 pm:
I’ll say this…It took some major stones for Plyler to post that blog today. A lot of people have given him shit for being a homer and towing the company line, but I understand why he does that. He’s just keeping his gig. But it really was kind of risky for him to say what he said, and for that I salute him. His is a voice that people will listen to. I don’t know if Dabo’s the guy or not. I know he can recruit like hell, does that make him head coach material? I’m not smart enough to answer that question.
12Penthouse Tiger
on Sep 29, 2008 at 5:31 pm:
Wish Tommy woulda gone on to Ark, we could have grabbed Cutcliff before Duke did. Hell maybe we still have a chance to steal him or get someone of his caliber.
But I do say that Swinney deserves the chance to be the interim and prove himself before we open up the job to other applicants.
First thing’s first though, we have to get rid of TB before we can replace TB
13Penthouse Tiger
on Sep 29, 2008 at 5:45 pm:
Holy Crap, I was watching Sunday’s episode of “The Tommy Bowden Show” for some comic relief when TB dropped this gem.
He referred to Maryland as “a tough team that’s pretty equal” to us. Has he not seen the caliber players we have compared to that of MD?
14huj
on Sep 29, 2008 at 7:26 pm:
Maybe Bowden pissed Plyler off or something, because it’s strange Mickey-P did an about-face from his usual homeristic cheerleading. But yeah, it was refreshing to hear reality from him for a change.
Lots of top coaching changes over the past two years that Clemson missed out on. I’m afraid they’re now relegated to average coaches, which is what got Clemson in this mess to begin with. I hear Scott Linehan is looking for work.
15Tolley jenkins
on Sep 29, 2008 at 7:32 pm:
Penthouse Tiger –
That seemed to be CTB’s excuse for the whole game: “wait a sec y’all, Maryland is guh-ud!”
CTB also dropped this *awesomeness* when asked about the few carries in the 2nd half: “I just don’t think you can go out there and run the ball up and down the field and just move it and score at will when you play good teams.”
Unfortunately, this response caused the head of every single person within earshot to VIOLENTLY EXPLODE, so there was no one left alive to follow up with, “But wait a sec, CTB, weren’t y’all averaging like 4,366 ypc in the first half?”
16CU Tigers1
on Sep 29, 2008 at 7:38 pm:
Dabo can’t be any worse than Bowden. Let him start now and try to salvage the recruits coming in and keep the players we have. A coach that would fit in good at Clemson would be Bobby Johnson. He’s not flashy but he plays fundamental football and WINS!
17Chili
on Sep 29, 2008 at 8:06 pm:
@16, I like Bobby Johnson a lot, but I just don’t know if I trust a coach who doesn’t let his players cuss. I’d rather have someone nasty.
18madmac corleone
on Sep 29, 2008 at 9:18 pm:
@17, That’s why we need THIS guy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZSy2JH8iu4
19DwightClark87
on Sep 29, 2008 at 9:39 pm:
I love that Muschamp video: “ATS WHAT AHM TAHLKIN BOUT!!!!” I’d love to see him coach at Clemson and have an emotional meltdown like Danny Ford did in that Maryland game back in ’85. Here’s a clip of it (and Danny’s punishment):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXpJ1o0e2g4
I don’t see the squeaky clean Clemson administration wanting to hire somebody like Muschamp, but damn, wouldn’t it be amazing if they did! Cowher has amazing credentials and might be the only hard-nosed, old school coach that would pass the hiring process, but that’s probably just a pipe dream. Then again, I said that about SC and Lou Holtz. Also said it about SC and Spurrier. Anyway, Bobby Johnson is a Clemson alum, was DC for a while under West (was it Hatfield?) and actually LOOKS like CU Prez Barker, so that has to help his chances. I don’s see him leaving Vandy, though, but who knows.
All this is just a fantasy, anyway. Tommy B. will call a crying-jag filled news conference and quit before he gets fired. Bowden says all the right stuff to keep the higher-ups happy and they don’t care about things like guts, toughness and honor on the field.
20madmac corleone
on Sep 29, 2008 at 9:51 pm:
DC87, I remember that game well. In fact, I’m still pissed off about it!! But wasn’t it great to have a coach that had the balls to say what needed to be said?
You’re probably right. Our current administration probably wouldn’t hire a firebrand like Muschamp. That’s what makes it so frustrating to be a Clemson fan right now. The divide between the fanbase and the administration is far too wide. Apart from a few, the majority of Clemson fans never went politically correct. But the administration was pc back in the late 80′s, and it hasn’t changed. I don’t want to be a fan who’s simply clinging to our glorious past though. But right now, that’s really all we have. I salute Plyler for saying what he said, but I don’t think Dabo’s the answer.
21CUvinny
on Sep 29, 2008 at 11:13 pm:
That video of Muschamp just convinced me that is who we need. Damn it would be nice have a coach that showed some emotion besides tommy’s patented bewilderment and confused look while crouching on the ground, eating grass.
22TigerSACK
on Sep 30, 2008 at 7:40 am:
Well my idea is that if you promote Dabo you’ve made your mind up that you will won’t retain him if things are bad and you will if things are good. Promote Brad Scott, he has Head Coaching experience and the administration knows he isn’t the “future”. Move Dabo to OC and Blackwell to DC. Dabo would easily settle for this position for this year and years on in and as we all know Blackwell will step back down and do whatever we ask of him (he bleedeth urng and perple). I feel like Mickey in the sense of hoping to tell everyone I am wrong about my opinions. I will be at every game from here on out home and away. I haven’t missed a game since NC St. 05 and can’t remember before that. I cheer for Clemson in all sports and don’t see that changing. The old expression “don’t change churches because of the preacher” is kind of how I feel. To hear people call in on radio shows and post on “the ever so classy Tnet” is mind boggling to me. If you hope we go O-fer from here on out you were never a Clemson fan, you were a bandwagon fan for mediocrity and/or love college football and Clemson is the closest stadium and team.
23Chili
on Sep 30, 2008 at 7:46 am:
Promote Brad Scott.
No.
Just… no.
24TigerSACK
on Sep 30, 2008 at 10:26 am:
It’s not actually a promotion. You are simply moving him up and out. He and Vic are the only two with Head Coaching experience. Again, he isn’t the future so all he is coaching is discipline. Wether he wins or loses it doesn’t matter. It would matter if someone unproven won or lost, i.e. Dabo, Napier, Blackwell. Brad Scott is itching to get back to either FSU or Georgia to completely ruin their OL’s. Make him interim and then cut ties.
25Chili
on Sep 30, 2008 at 10:32 am:
I think that’s just dumb enough to happen.
Sit out the season with Bowden or fire him and give the reigns to Dabo. Both those options have a downside, but not as bad as having a head coach who wasn’t good enough for Sakerlina.
26Charlie
on Sep 30, 2008 at 10:53 am:
Yeah nothin is worse than having a coach who couldnt cut it at Sakerlina.
27Tolley jenkins
on Sep 30, 2008 at 11:24 am:
No head coach could cut it at Sakerlina, so that can’t be our criteria.
28Chili
on Sep 30, 2008 at 11:24 am:
LOL, nice Tolley.
29Daniel
on Sep 30, 2008 at 11:30 am:
Bobby Johnson would be great, but I don’t see him leaving where he is to come to us and Clemson’s expectations. Even though he doesn’t cuss he is extremely intense and fiery and always fields tough teams. His teams at Furman were very physical and ran the ball all over Julius Peppers and UNC in 1999. The admin. at Clemson would like his academic and graduation rates, but I don’t think he’d make the move.
30Chili
on Sep 30, 2008 at 11:42 am:
Honestly I think Johnson would be a good choice. I don’t know if he’d be the best, but he’s been extremely impressive at Furman and Vandy. I agree that maybe he’d be walking into a situation of too-high expectations.
31edbo
on Sep 30, 2008 at 11:53 am:
Brad Scott? Hell No!!! Sparky Woods
32DwightClark87
on Sep 30, 2008 at 5:27 pm:
Sparky Woods? LOL!