Tuesday November 11, 2008

Flight Tracker; Blitz Packages; Budget Cuts; Connor White

Tuesday Topics
I am planning to do several blogs in the next few weeks on a variety of subjects and wanted to give a little sneak preview on several of the subjects. Here are some of the things I will try to get into over the next few weeks:

Flight Tracker
There are a couple of websites that track private aircrafts across the United States. It has become popular among college sports fans to follow their university planes across the country as their schools search for coaches.

I must admit that I am fascinated by the technology and have watched Clemson’s planes on the websites. It is my understanding that Terry Don Phillips wants to keep the search private and was disappointed to find his plane traceable. I was also told that he may consider flying commercial more in the future.

I will warn some fans to be careful in assumptions. Today the plane is set to land in Oklahoma City, OK but who is he talking too. Is he visiting with someone from Oklahoma or Oklahoma State? Head coaches or coordinators?

There are two main holdups to following the search as well. First is the fact that they can meet coaches in neutral sites. Remember Phillips and Billy D’Andrea met with Oliver Purnell in New Orleans. Also remember the university has other business outside of the athletic department. Was last week’s trips to Michigan a football assignment or did it focus more on ICAR?

The websites are fun but be cautious in your assumptions.

Blitz Packages
I don’t sit in on defensive meetings so I don’t know the strategy so it is difficult to fully criticize the scheme but Clemson’s blitz packages appear to be broken.

I hate the rule where a quarterback only has to escape the tackle box and then he can throw the ball into the second row of the stadium. However, Clemson’s lack of sacks this season is alarming.

The Tigers have only nine sacks in nine games this season. They are tied for 107th in the country in sacks. Only Fresno State, Akron, Buffalo, Toledo, Colorado State, North Texas, Washington and Washington State have fewer sacks than Clemson this season.

Nine sacks in nine games is 31 less than TCU has this season.

Clemson has nine sacks this season but gave up six against Florida State last week.

I have no idea what the scheme is but it is difficult to watch Clemson’s linebackers run directly into offensive linemen. Tiger linebackers have one sack this season.

I think the lack of sacks is also a direct correlation to the 106th ranking the Tigers posses in the category of turnover margin. Clemson simply does not pressure the quarterback enough to force bad throws. Only 28 teams in the country have created fewer turnovers than the Tigers. Clemson has forced 15 turnovers this season but seven came against The Citadel and South Carolina State. The Tigers have forced only eight turnovers against the D-I A schools on the schedule.

In Clemson’s five losses this season it has lost the turnover battle 14-4.

Budget Cuts
Clemson announced it strategy to deal with state budget cuts and it surprisingly admitted to taken more funds from the athletic department.

I could see this affecting Clemson’s coaching search in a negative way but I could also see it having a positive effect on the search.

On the negative front, Clemson is cutting cost and that could include the base salary of a football staff. The base salary would hurt from an assistant coaching standpoint and would not affect the head coach because such a large percentage of the head coach’s salary does not come from state funds.

The positive news came when the university said it was looking for ways to increase revenue. I think a terrific way to increase revenues is to have a top notch football program. Exposure and revenues go up when football has success. That is a proven fact.

Connor White
We lost a bundle of JOY Monday evening. Connor White passed away after a brave battle from a terminal condition. Connor was born December 20, 2007 along with his twin brother, Cooper. He spent a little over 3 weeks in the NICU at Greenville Memorial Hospital.

His caringbridge.org website told us, “Connor had a neural tube defect that had never been seen before. Connor’s spinal cord did not develop between the base of his skull and the middle of his chest. There was only a very thin ribbon of tissue where his spinal cord was supposed to be and his vertebrae were splayed. The neonatologists also informed us that he was only using his diaphragm to breathe.

I met Connor for the first time on my son Ryan’s birthday, August 16th. The only other time I had the privilege of his company was on the hospital a couple of weeks ago. But in two brief meetings I can tell you that rarely have I ever been so touched. His eyes glowed and his spirit radiated. He filled every room he was ever in with joy.

Connor leaves behind his parents, Chris and Allison and his beautiful twin brother, Cooper. He also leaves behind an impression I will never forget.

The family will be receiving friends at Fletcher Funeral Home (1218 North Main Street in Fountain Inn) on Wednesday, November 12 from 6-8 pm.

The celebration service of Connor will be at Abundant Life Church of God (1108 NE Main Street in Simpsonville) on Thursday, November 13 at 11 am.

Graveside service will follow at Cannon Memorial Park (1150 N Main Street in Fountain Inn).

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