Enough about facilities, it is what it is, let's talk about mind set. I have no doubt our coaches want to win, our players want to win and a majority of our fans REALLY want to win. But we do have a large percentage of "fans" who couldn't care less. Case in point the Alabama disaster at the beginning of last season. Outside of myself and a few drunk Clemson students I don't think anyone was really upset by the way we lost. I had a Clemson alum riding back with me on the Marta who said " oh well it is not how you start it is how you finish..." I have no idea how I held my composure when he said that because that kind of attitude is the reason why we aren't where we used to be. I can guarantee you we never used to be that unprepared, never manhandled like that and our fans sure as heck were never satisfied with just showing up and getting embarrassed. Clemson University's football program used to be a source of pride for the administrators on down the line. Now it seems we have certain people who like the money the football program generates but couldn't care less what happens on the field. They will throw something at the fan base to keep us happy but they have no desire at all to see us achieve the most that we can on the field. For whatever reason I watched the John Calipari PC the other day and something he said stuck with me since then, he said " the success of this program is not going to be about what I do but what we (AD and President) collectively do to ensure we are going in the right direction and bringing Kentucky basketball back to the top..." Wouldn't it be nice if we had administrators like that Clemson?

We all know UGA and Bama are looking for basketball coaches. Every once in a while I hear someone say, that they are interested in Coach Purnell. I have a feeling Purnell is not interested in them and is only interested in what he has built here at Clemson. Have you heard anything about Coach Purnell and his future with Clemson basketball? The only way I could see him ever leaving, is for the money. Thank you in advance.

Regards,

I thought with Dabo's recruiting reputation, we would see more positive activity from the top prospects. Can Jeff Scott fill in the job of recruiting coordinator? Is there more going on behind the scenes that we are seeing (positive or negative)? Are there problems we are not aware of?

Again, it is extremely early in the process. I just have concerns that Clemson is falling behind.

I was listening to your show today about the size differences between Clemson players and Georgia players and it really got me thinking about several points you've made recently. I would like to expand on your thoughts with a few of my own.

1. Recruiting. I believe Coach Legget recruits to his own style of baseball, which is the "small ball" philosophy of bunts and base hits and then being aggressive on the base paths. This works only if you make sound decisions on the base paths, though. We have seen numerous base running errors from the Tigers this year, which negates the effects of the "small ball". Its like you said this morning: You can't give away outs and then not play perfect once you get men on base. Its killed us before and will continue to kill us this year.

2. Strength and Conditioning. In my opinion, this is the single largest problem with all of our athletic teams at Clemson. I have heard all these great things about how great Joey Batson is, but when are we going to see the results of his "killer" strength and conditioning programs? We saw its failure in basketball, football, and I think you are seeing it in baseball as well. When we line up next to other teams we just look small, especially on the baseball diamond.

3. Illegal Performance Enhancers. I know you won't agree with this, but with the pervasive nature of cheating in major league baseball, there has got to be some trickle down to college baseball. There are numerous stories about steroid use in high schools, and I think it would be foolish to assume that college baseball is immune to this problem. In this day and age where "cheating gets it faster," I truly believe there are some college baseball teams that use illegal performance enhancers. I don't know if Georgia is one of those teams, but I would bet dollars to donuts they wouldn't let you test any of their players.

4. The Killer: Lack of Administrative Support. Your blog was right on the money here. I'm not going to beat a dead horse here because it’s been said ad nauseum. Barker and his cronies are as crooked as politicians and should really be jailed for the perpetual fraud they have committed against the state of South Carolina.

Just my thoughts. I hope you continue to expose the dirty laundry of President Barker and his antics. Hopefully, the alumni and supporters of Clemson will get this clown out of there soon.

Thanks,

You said the following: Purnell’s program has continued to escalate.

Did anyone on the basketball team get better this year? I confess that I'm not a believer yet, but I hope that one day I will be.-David

I also agree with your offense review…when Chad Deihl is involved in the offense it is better. That is the reason why I said he was MVP of the South Carolina game opening huge holes for the RB. However, he didn’t seem as involved in the Nebraska game and our offense didn’t perform as well. So, hopefully they will integrate him more and more. To me I would like to see him used like the FB for WV two years ago when Rich Rod was there…can’t remember his name. He was very key in WV success blocking and catching the ball out of the backfield. Hopefully Diehl can be that back. Just would like to hear your thoughts.

It definitely doesn't get any easier. I hate to see our ERA take a beating the last few games. I'm sure that is due to the level of competition, but it has jumped from the low 2's to 3.37. What still concerns me is the way less than 300 batting average in this day in age with aluminum bats and the lack of great pitchers. Anyway, thought these stats may be of some interest.

It really frustrates me to see the amount of people who talk about firing Jack on tigernet. UNBELIEVABLE! I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the majority of these people haven't even been to a Tiger Baseball game recently. Obviously the program was down last year, but that’s what happens when you start the number of freshmen Jack did in 2005, and then they all depart. The boys are 16-6 right now, with FSU and UNC behind us. That 2005 team was, I believe, 15-15 at one point and went to within one game of Omaha. I feel confident that you understand baseball and that it is a tricky game. However, most tigernetters do not. This team will get hot and will get on a streak. It WILL happen.

Ps- Hope all is well with you and your family. You guys are still in my prayers. I am still doing public address over at Berea High School and am always keeping my eyes and ears open for other opportunities! Please let me know if you ever run across anything. Thanks!

First off, way to go on the Support column. I too feel that Clemson, like many other schools, doesn’t have to be relegated to choosing between athletics or academics. They’re just handcuffing themselves. Case in point, in addition to winning the Atlantic Division the past two years, Boston College’s football program also sported a very high graduation rate. BC is a fine example of being able to have your cake and eat it too if you realize you can have both and strive for excellence in both. Duke, for their standards, has wildly improved under first-year David Cutcliffe and Duke is probably the most Ivy-League school in the ACC. Of course, landing Kevin White as their AD from Notre Dame helped tremendously. It not only is possible to have both, it (gasp) actually happens!

It never ceases to amaze me that too many Clemson fans to this day still buy into the propaganda that Clemson is relegated to either academic or athletic and never can be both. These same fans are the same ones that gave Bowden a free pass 4 years too long IMO, but that’s just my perspective. They also believe that hiring proven, experienced coaches will fail at Clemson, always using Ken Hatfield as an example. Perhaps they’re right, experienced coaches may indeed fail....at Clemson. But rarely anywhere else. If that’s the case, then Clemson has massive issues if it is not the type of environment where an experienced, proven coach with pre-existing titles on his résumé can excel almost immediately. IMO there’s a massive perception problem among Clemson people, admins and fans alike. It’s like they view the rest of the college football world against the backdrop of Clemson instead of the other way around. Until that changes....

Personally I get the feeling that the University brass and many athletic dept’s senior leadership don’t really care about winning championships. I got that vibe long before I read your column, so I felt a bit of vindication after I read it to be honest. Don’t really have any facts to back my viewpoint, but when they talk “ACC title” this or “ACC title” that, it largely comes off as empty PR talk to keep the masses on their fix. It doesn’t sound terribly convincing in almost every case.

And when Clemson officials do say they are driven toward an ACC title their words largely don’t match their actions - they hire an unproven candidate amidst an experienced candidate pool in the midst of all their title talk. Unlike other schools who clearly, by way of their actions not words, prove they are championship-driven.

I compare Clemson now to Arizona State after the 06 season. Clemson, IMO, should have fired Bowden then as ASU did fire Dirk Koetter. Difference is ASU AD Lisa Love came out and said that although Koetter was a good coach, ASU needed to reach a higher platform. Moreover, she flat-out said success is only measured in trips to Pasadena. I didn’t get that same kind of inspirational and convincing feel from Clemson after they fired Bowden. I still don’t.

BTW, ASU went out and hired Dennis Erickson, a proven coach. His first year the Sun Devils shared the Pac-10 title with USC with far less talent than Clemson. Their best year since 1996. And I don’t have to tell you what happened at Alabama in Nick Saban’s second year, nor at Louisville in Bobby Petrino’s second year, nor at USC in Pete Carroll’s second year, nor at Ole Miss in Houston Nutt’s first year, nor at Florida in Urban Meyer’s second year, you get the picture. These guys are experienced and it paid off almost immediately.

That’s what experienced candidates will get you today – a quicker payoff. Wish the Clemson brass realized that.

Thanks for telling it like it is. As a Tiger alum and die-hard, it has been rough watching our once-proud athletic teams take a beating with no championships to speak of. Problem is: I don't see any improvements in the near future. I really don't think the administration cares anymore.