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Posted by Chili
All the faxes are in (except one, I’ll get to that later) and Clemson racked up an unbelievable day of commitments that filled a lot of pressing needs for the Tigers. When all was said and done the Tigers racked up four 5-star recruits (according to Rivals) and came away with a class ranked 8th by Rivals, 8th by ESPN, and 11th by Scout.
“Uh, this kid is in high school?”
The highlight of the class has got to be the signing day decisions of 5-star linebackers Tony Steward (above) out of St. Augustine, Florida and Stephone Anthony out of Wadesboro, NC. Ranked by some as the top two linebackers in the nation, the duo will make an immediate impact in a spot that looked to be a weak point coming into 2011. Add to that Lateek Townsend out of Bennettsville, SC, who is ranked as the 10th best LB in the nation. Another position where the coaches significantly upgraded their talent was in WR. Clemson signed the #3 prep recruit in the nation in WR Martavis Bryant, and the number 2 and number 4 ranked WRs in the nation in Charone Peake and Sammy Watkins. The improved receiving should do well to compliment one of the nation’s top RB recruits, 5-star Mike Bellamy. Clemson added a late OL commitment from Spencer Region out of Alabama who should help add depth to the Clemson corps.
The numbers here are pretty impressive:
- Clemson signed four USA Today All-Americans (1st-Anthony, Steward, 2nd-Bellamy, Peake)
- The Tigers got three Parade All-Americans (1st-Anthony, Bellamy, 2nd-Townsend)
- Only four 5-star players have left Florida to play out-of-state since 2002: CJ Spiller in 2006 and Mike Bellamy, Tony Steward, and Sammy Watkins in this class
- Clemson hauled in a total of four 5-star players this year in Stephone Anthony, Mike Bellamy, Tony Steward, and Sammy Watkins. LSU brought in three and six other teams brought in two.
- Four players played in the US Army All-American game (Peake, Steward, Townsend, Watkins)
- Three played in the Under Armour All-American game (Anthony, Bellamy, Region)
- 7 players were on the 2011 ESPN.com top 150 list
SCOTT OUT, CALDWELL IN
Often times schools will announce staff changes immediately after signing day. Reasoning for this is pretty obvious as the schools don’t want any potential signees scared away by an appearance of staff instability. Clemson officially makes a change today when it swaps one former SEC head coach for another. It had long been a known fact that former Vanderbilt HC and well-respected OL coach Robbie Caldwell would be taking over the line while Brad Scott would step back and take an administrative role, but today it was finally and formally acknowledged by the University.
THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE
In an interesting note, Jadeveon Clowney, a DE from Rock Hill and the nation’s #1 overall recruit by most services is not announcing until his birthday, February 14. Now, I’ve been with a lot of other people all along in saying he’s going to be a Gamecock, and for a while it looked like Clemson wouldn’t even get a sniff at him. However, he took an official visit last weekend after being persuaded to do so by Dabo and said he had a great time and was now considering Clemson alongside the Gamecocks and Alabama. Lateek Townsend said to a Myrtle Beach TV station that he was trying to get Clowney to go to Clemson and that he thought Clowney would ultimately be a Tiger. Clowney has remarked positively about Clemson’s signees, saying he’d like to play with them. Dabo Swinney answered a question about room for late signees this evening by saying that they have room for one special player, an obvious nod at Clowney.
Is Clowney going to be a Clemson Tiger? No. I don’t think so.
Everything I’ve read about this guy leads me to believe that he has never had any intention on changing his allegiances; I’ve even heard that he’s a silent commit to the Gamecocks. If he’s mentioning Clemson as a real possibility late then I have to assume it is just a harmless ploy to create a little more drama around what is really a foregone conclusion. I don’t doubt he had a good time and maybe even gained a bit more affinity towards Clemson during his visit, but I don’t think it was a game-changer.
Posted by Chili
Everything that is being reported so far leads me to believe that Clemson’s next offensive coordinator will be Tulsa OC Chad Morris. Why?
- We know that Morris has already been contacted by Swinney and is the only candidate with whom Clemson has confirmed contact
- Morris is a guy who Dabo will not feel challenged by, unlike Napier who constantly clashed with Swinney
- Tulsa ran a spread offense with lots of gimmicks. Morris’s up-tempo style plays into our strengths (skill players) and weaknesses (we lack the OL for power rushing offense)
- Morris is a Gus Malzahn disciple and Swinney feels he’s on the verge of being a hot commodity. Malzahn recommended him for the post at Tulsa
- Money is probably an issue as well. A guy like Fridge would command a high salary, whereas a coach as young and with just a single year of D-1 experience like Morris wouldn’t cost quite as much
More on this when there’s something to report.
Posted by Chili
FIRED
News just hit today and was confirmed via Tiger Illustrated that Dabo Swinney fired offensive coordinator Billy Napier and running backs coach Andre Powell. Napier was a no-brainer. The Clemson offense was absolutely pathetic this year and after the bowl loss all Napier could do was take some blame and put some on a perceived leadership vacuum in the offensive players. I am not sure, however, details of the Powell firing. He contacted TI and let them know he was gone. It’s no surprise firings came on the offensive (and special teams, in Powell’s case) side of the ball. Right now we do not know if other coaches will be let go.
REACTIONS
Some messageboard denizens are taking this opportunity to hope for the firings of Brad and Jeff Scott. That’s not going to happen. For one, Clemson fans cannot and will not get over the fact that Scott was the head Gamecock back in the day. He is a hell of a hard worker and knows recruiting in the southeast as well as anyone. His recruiting repertoire is well worth his paycheck at Clemson. His son is another good recruiter and has a long future in the business.
CJ Spiller reacts to the news online.
5-star running back Mike Bellamy said that the loss of the OC was a big deal, but his relationship with Brad Scott was more important. One has to think we’d lose a couple recruits from the fallout over the firings. It could depend on where the two men go; if they bounce back to D1 assistant coaching positions right away they could take some recruits with them. Fans will be upset at losing recruits, but it’s really an instant gratification thing. Seeing 5-star and 4-star players ink papers is a nice thing to see right away, but long term development through competent coaching is far more rewarding in the long run.
A number of recruits have gone on record saying that the firings will not change their commitment to Clemson. None have yet to decommit, though I’d be shocked if it didn’t happen.
REPLACEMENTS?
Right now Ralph Friedgen has to be the number one target for the vacant offensive coordinator spot. TI reported that he expressed interest, and it’s being picked up elsewhere. Ralph would cost a good deal and would only be around until he got a better gig, which could only be a year, but his offensive expertise is unquestioned. He would be a home run hire for the Tigers. So much of a home run that I can’t possibly see it happening.
***UPDATE*** An official statement has been released by Clemson on the firings: LINK.
Posted by Chili
From the day Texas Tech fired Mike Leach, Ralph Friedgen’s days were numbered.
In a move that is seemingly a microcosm of the cutthroat nature of college football coaching, Maryland is firing Ralph Friedgen and all signs point to them hiring Leach as soon as possible. ESPN reporters claim that Maryland actually looked into hiring Leach as early as last year, but the buyouts for Friedgen and his coach-in-waiting James Franklin were too much for the time. Just last week Vanderbilt, freshly rebuffed by Gus Malzahn, hired Franklin as their new head coach. With Franklin out of the way, Maryland decided not to sit around with a lame duck coach and apparently has made their move. Friedgen was asked to negotiate his “resignation” by the school, but Ralph would have none of it. He will be fired and the school will pay him $2 million.
Ralph Friedgen played for Maryland. He took over the program when it was pretty much dogshit and gave them 2 10 win seasons, an Orange Bowl appearance, and the highest graduation rates they had in years. In fact, 40% of Maryland’s football academic All-Americans came during Friedgen’s tenure. Ralph was also the 2010 ACC Coach of the Year, though he’d likely not have garnered that honor had the Terps not shat the bed last year. He had a 74-50 record at his alma mater. Mike Leach comes in with an 84-43 record at Texas Tech.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this whole development is the influence of Under Armour, which is based in Baltimore and founded by former Maryland football player Kevin Plank. Of course Plank has to be watching how Phil Knight runs the show over at Oregon and you can’t blame him for scheming on how to build up Maryland athletics. While I think it’s premature to just assume that Plank is going to make Maryland the Oregon of the East, the fact that a former Under Armour affiliated coach is the next in line is a dead giveaway of what is going on there and indicative on the massive influence of shoe and apparel companies in sports. Business Insider has a take on the issue as well.
What does this mean for Clemson if Leach is hired? It makes the ACC a whole lot more interesting, if not better. It means that as one offensive guru takes the reigns at Maryland, one offensive guru is out there for the taking. You have to think Ralph would do a better job at OC than Billy Napier, not that that’d take much. Obviously this won’t happen, but I have to at least bring it up.
It’s not surprising that a Division 1 school screwed their coach, but it’s pretty despicable the manner in which Maryland is treating one of its own. Looks like the administration in College Park is just as classy as the fans.
Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson has scheduled a press conference at 3 PM today to discuss the direction of the program. I’ll have more on this tonight after absorbing whatever bullshit we’re fed there.
Posted by Chili
Yesterday, former Texas defensive coordinator and UGA grad Will Muschamp was named head coach of the Florida Gators, replacing Urban Meyer who announced his retirement earlier this month. A day prior to that, former Temple head man Al Golden was named coach at Miami, where Randy Shannon had just been fired. Muschamp is a name that was tossed around by fans in 08 when Clemson was search for their next disappointment.
Don't leave me hangin', bro. Five it.
Muschamp is a young, high energy guy with a ton of hype and a quality pedigree. He’s still somewhat of a risk, albeit with a high reward ceiling. Muschamp was the coach-in-waiting at Texas, but as I’ve said before, the integrity of the coach-in-waiting thing is an absurd prospect given the lack of loyalty and constant job-hopping inherent to the profession nowadays. Apparently the agreement prior to this year was that Mack Brown was supposed to hand over the reigns after this season, but he didn’t feel right about having his last year be a 5-7 campaign he decided to stay around for one more year. Muschamp was irked by this and took the opportunity when it came. The biggest change he’s promised so far is to dismantled the spread offense and institute a pro-style offense. Kirby Smart at Bama has been rumored to be his pick for defensive coordinator, but for now there is nothing but speculation.
Al Golden looks like a politician and took over a Temple team coming off an 0-11 season and leaves them at 8-4 just a few years later. He’s a coach who was going to get his shot sooner or later anyway. Much like old Howard Schnellenberger, Al Golden has a propensity for wearing neckties on the sideline. Anything else you need to know you can find out from this video of Al Golden pumping iron.
Golden isn’t spending time with Miami this week in practice; he has already hit the recruiting trail. It’ll be interesting to see how all of this effects our recruiting. With our top targets being some very talented Florida skill players, could we see these new coaches making a strong push to keep these guys in state? Possibly. I think Miami will always attract a certain type of athlete looking for a school that will permit him to run wild, shirk academic responsibilities, and showcase himself on the football field for scouts regardless of the coach. Randy Shannon didn’t have a lot of trouble recruiting talent, but had plenty of issues getting that talent to produce wins. Golden seems able to make the most out of talent, as evidenced by his turnaround of Temple.
For the moment all three of the big Florida programs are energized and focused on winning. Ray Lewis is energized and focused on Snuggies and hugs.
Posted by Chili
It’s not officially being reported yet, but there is a massive amount of talk going on that TDP has been fired. Now I would take it as just a message board rumor, but we know that he had an official evaluation from the Clemson powers that be earlier this semester and word was that it didn’t go over well. I had previously heard he would be fired at the end of December, but that was no more than a rumor itself, really.
I have no doubt in my mind that TDP has to go. I just don’t know if I trust the administrators in charge to make the right decision going forward.
If TDP is indeed gone, then the big question is just who Clemson gets to replace him. We find out if they are really making this move out of a desire to get better, or it could be a move to placate the faithful and put in another ineffectual leader. Bill D’Andrea’s name has been bantered about. He’s worked in the athletic department for a while and I’ve never heard people speak ill of him. Unfortunately for him I think we’d have to find leadership from outside our own athletic department for this one. I’ve heard Dwight Clark’s name mentioned. Clark works in the front office of his former NFL team, the San Francisco 49ers. I don’t know if I trust a guy who drafted Jim Druckenmiller in the first round. A name that’s been ringing round the gaggle of dullards over on Tigernet is that of former Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson. I think because they know his name, know he went to Clemson, and he’s older with white hair they think he’ll be a wise old AD. William “Bill” Smith, former Clemson Tiger and current Clemson BOT member has also had his name bantered about. Mark Richardson, one of Smith’s contemporaries on the Tigers and former exec for his father’s Carolina Panthers, is another name being mentioned.
We’ll let you know as soon as any more info is out.
