We hear tonight that Dabo will be offered the job tomorrow. More as it develops.

Hey, more developed. The Post & Courier is reporting that it’s a done deal.

The “interim” tag will be removed and Dabo Swinney officially will be named Clemson head coach within the next few days. Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips will conduct a formal interview with Swinney this afternoon, and Clemson sources indicate a formal news conference will be held Monday or Tuesday.

“We are still going to go through the process,” Phillips said Saturday after the Tigers’ 31-14 victory over archrival South Carolina at Death Valley. “I want this day to be about Dabo and the players, and I’m very happy for them. You can draw your own conclusions.”

Some Clemson athletic department staffers originally scheduled to leave Monday to accompany the men’s basketball team to Illinois for an ACC-Big 10 Challenge game Tuesday night will remain home instead.

There’s some sort of pattern here with Terry Don Phillips and football coaches where he chooses the highest emotional peak to make important hiring/contract decisions, we know how that’s worked for us in the past, let’s hope this reverses a trend.

***UPDATE***

Dabo to get a 4 year contract at around $1 mil per, according to the P&C.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Oh geez, Willy Mac has been listening to the local sports talk radio shows again.” Ok, so I have.  So what.  I also regret to inform you that I’ve lapsed back into a deepened state of paranoia concerning our ongoing coaching search.  My mind can be compared to a dryer with bricks inside of it.  Just a noisy, beat up mess that isn’t getting anything accomplished.  Ok, bad example.  Terrible example, but you can at least see how this whole ordeal makes my head hurt when I think about it.  Things are bad enough that we have to deal with a Clemson message board that has retarded itself into an internet cesspool because of it’s members.  But now, now we have to listen to local idiots, both South Carolina and Clemson fans, call up some little sound padded trailer outside of Liberty and hee haw their way through a conversation with all-too-patient hosts on this situation.  Just my opinion, but I wish that when the radio guys take a call from someone with their radio turned up or that speaks with a over bearing redneck tongue that they would just drop the call.

Honestly though, besides Brent Venables (Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator) and Bud Foster (Virginia Tech Defensive Coordinator),  I don’t really see anyone fit for the head coaching job.  Especially now that Will Muschamp has been locked up.   Even if Muschamp were available, he even said that he was not even close to being ready to take a head coaching position anywhere.  Is Terry Don Phillips just shuffling his proverbial deck of Dabo Swinney playing cards??? I know, I know, “One more Dabo Poker reference = gun + mouth.”  Does Dabo already have the job locked up?  Is he TDP’s guy?  Now I know that some of you out there have already made up your minds and put on your horse blinders, but chew this cud just a bit for me.

You want me to blow your mind right now?  As far fetched as this may seem… and I mean that this is seven levels of creepiness on top of being far fetched… and I reiterate the fact that this is absurd… but what if TDP isn’t searching for a head coach?  Now hold on.  Don’t lose me just yet.  Look at it this way, Dabo is a young coach who is extremely unproven and inexperienced.  The guy was selling insurance just a few years ago and it seems he’s been a lifer in terms of being a wide receivers coach when he has worked in college football.  He’s a good coach, but not many people know that nor will they.  All they see is the “Interim” stigma attached to him.  Or as EKR likes to call it, the “Internet” stigma.  It’s going to be extremely difficult for him to go out there and recruit new players, run a program, and replace most of his staff at the drop of a hat.  Rumors are already swirling abound about the possibility that Dabo could be named the head coach before the game as well.  Again, these are just rumors and speculation.

Now obviously, there are some coaches that will stay but we know that Koenning is gone at the end of the year regardless if Dabo stays or leaves.  Calling back to what we’ve gone over earlier, the two high profile candidates we’ve interviewed that are actually considerable for the job just happen to both be defensive coordinators who both have their own stigmas that might keep them out of a head coaching position for now.  Venables apparently “didn’t build that defense, Stoops did.”  Foster gets weeded out of the short list on every major head coaching job he’s interviewed for so there “must be something wrong with the guy.”  So what’s to say that TDP isn’t out there, beating on doors looking for someone to fill an “Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator” position with the big bank account that he just dusted off?  All I’m saying is this: Money talks.  And apparently TDP isn’t too afraid to spend it… economic hardships be damned.

Now I know this is extremely far fetched and mostly implausible but admit it: This isn’t as far fetched as a lot of things that you’ve seen on the internet or heard on the radio since this coaching search monster was born. In addition to that, you have to take into consideration that anything is possible in today’s day and age.  This holds true especially in matters underneath the college football umbrella.  We live in a world where the dollar is king with loyalty being a thing of the past and this is only magnified by the economic troubles our world is in.

You hear what they’re putting in the West Zone??

I sound like a kook, but whatever.  Take what I’m saying with a grain of salt. Tell me what you think in the comments section…

This will likely be the last news blast until next week, as I’ve got important things to do like enjoy Thanksgiving instead of slaving over a hot internet writing news posts for you animals.

SEC Junky is reporting that Lane Kiffin and his father Monte are heading to Tennessee and former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron will be joining as DC. Another coach may well be off Clemson’s short list.

Dabo Swinney’s coach at Alabama, the heralded Gene Stallings, dropped by Clemson this week to speak to the team and check on his former player and assistant coach’s progress. He stated to the media that he feels Dabo is ready to lead Clemson.

WILLY KORN doing the MC Hammer shuffle at practice yesterday.

AD Terry Don Phillips met with the Clemson Board of Trustees to discuss a personnel matter. No information is available about what exactly the subject of their conversation was, so we’ll spare you any rampant speculation.

Oliver Purnell got his 100th win at Clemson as the tigers drubbed Savannah State 81-49 on Tuesday night.

Clemson beat Virginia 13-3 on Saturday, here are some notes/thoughts on the game and other things:

- Before you ask, yes, the time has been set for the Sakerlina game and it’s another nooner. The opening line is Clemson -2.5.

- I don’t know whether it was purely the playcalling, or more of a symptom of Cullen Harper throwing to his ’safety valve’ after overlooking primary receivers, but the Bowden/Spence era habit of constantly throwing the ball 3 or so yards behind the first down marker on third down is alive, well, and as ineffective as its been all season.

- CJ Spiller got his wish and was able to throw a TD pass to Tyler Grisham in the first quarter of Saturday’s game. The same play was called last week against Duke, but Grisham wasn’t open and Spiller took the option to run it.

- Ricky Sapp may be done. Sapp has apparently told teammates he believes he tore cartilage in his right knee and is doubtful for the Sakerlina game.

- Michael Hamlin notched his 13th career interception and is now tied for third all-time in Clemson history.

- Andrew Miller of the Charleston Post & Courier notes that Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips was conspicuous in his absence Saturday. Phillips was reportedly in Texas watching the TCU-Air Force game to check out AF head coach and Clemson coaching candidate Troy Calhoun.

- The P&C also tells us that TDP is believed to have recently spoken to Tampa Bay Buccaneers associate head coach Rich Bisaccia.

- The State’s Ron Morris on why all signs point to Dabo ‘09.

- Bart Wright of the Greenville News describes the “redemptive victory” scored by Dabo and crew, and we also learn that the team watched The Quantum of Solace on Friday before the game. Hopefully the team didn’t stay in one of those exploding paper mache hotels in the middle of nowhere like at the end of that film. A side note about the latest Bond movie, it was remarkable how much they completely ripped off the feel of the Bourne trilogy, from taking out the gadgetry and puns that made Bond… Bond all the way down to the Paul Greengrass style shaky cam and fast edits. Also, Jeffrey Wright was criminally underutilized.

- Clemson defeated a tough Charlotte team in Charlotte 71-70. From what I’ve heard from others, Charlotte fans talk shit like they were any of the more successful North Carolina based teams but without much to really back it up. They douched the Tigers last year after a heartbreaking loss to UNC and it’s good to pay em back. The Tigers are 5-0 on the season thus far.

- Saturday Night Live recently added two new cast members, both white chicks. Really? I think that’s about the last thing the show needed. Every fucking sketch now has the Kristen Wiig “awkward female character with quirky accent” in some form. Plus the Fred Armisen Obama ain’t cutting it, and there’s nobody to play Michelle unless Goodburger loses some weight. At least one of the chicks has a good pedigree, being the daughter of Chris Elliot (whose father was also in comedy). “Get A Life” was hilarious and underrated, and you know this somewhere deep within your soul. (Not really for everyone, so… you know… fair warning.)

Clemson (5-5, 3-4) at Virginia (5-5, 3-3), Noon EST, Raycom Affiliates, XM 191, Sirius 211, WCCPFM Live Feed.

CUAD Game Notes.

Here is a weather forecast for those of you making the trip up to Charlottesville.

Line: Clemson - 2.5

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Edge goes to:

Clemson offense vs. Virginia defense: Clemson - The statistics are in our favor here in terms of the ACC.  Clemson is first in passing offense, believe it or not, while Virginia is marginal at defending it.  Clemson isn’t too good at running the ball this year but UVA is currently ranked next to last in rushing defense and they run a 3-4 defense.  When Maryland played three down linemen against us we managed to run the ball for 193 yards and two scores.  They made adjustments and came back to beat us but it’s less likely that the Cavs will not adjust out of the 3-4 as it’s their primary defense and for the most part they haven’t changed their scheme all year.

Clemson defense vs. Virginia offense: Clemson - Again, it comes down to the numbers.  Virginia is last in the conference in rushing offense and Clemson is in the middle of the pack when it comes to stopping the run.  Virginia is behind us in Passing offense but we’re first in passing defense.  UVA is terrible at passing efficiency (11th) and dead last in the conference in scoring offense.  Clemson is third in both pass efficiency defense and scoring defense.

Special teams: Clemson - Spiller, Buchholz, and our coverage teams give us the edge here.

Intangibles: Push - Both teams need a win here to stay in the hunt for bowl eligibility.

Our panel of undercover CIA alien hunters say:

Willy Mac: I really do see us blowing up the scoreboard and running away with this game.  The Cavaliers weaknesses play right into our hands.  I think we win barring a breakdown of our offensive line of extreme proportions.  If our line has a terrible game we will win by a close margin.  If our line holds together and plays a somewhat decent game we win big.  You just can’t run a 3-4 offense against our backs and expect to get away with it. Expect a grounding it out type of game.  Payback for 2004.

Clemson 38, Virginia 13

Chili: Perhaps the only team in the league that can come close to matching Clemson’s ups and downs this year (minus the whole coaching thing) is UVA. Wahoowhaaat the fuck is going on with those guys. I am just going to spin the wheel of possibilities and pick the better UVA to show up for this game and make a real game of it. Clemson eeks it out.

Clemson 23, Virginia 20