Wednesday July 21, 2010

The Decision

The Decision
Criticize LeBron all you want but his only lasted an hour and I was in bed by 10. Just kidding.

Last night was one of those evenings that you prepare for but you never really know how it was going to come down. I am not talking about the decision itself. I meant the logistics of how the deadline would work, what Parker was thinking and what the Rockies were thinking.

I was not surprised Parker has reportedly decided to return to play football this fall and I would not have been surprised if he would have left. I guess 25 years of following football recruiting prepares us to expect the unexpected.

I still would not be shocked if Colorado made another counter offer to get the Parkers attention again but as of Wednesday morning all signs seem to indicate that Parker has given his word to the staff that he is coming back.

In many ways this was like recruiting. Clemson gave the Parker camp their pitch and the Rockies did the same. This was different than recruiting though because Parker has already proven he can play at this level.

This story was a little different than your average recruiting in terms of drama in a couple of ways as well. First, we never really knew what Parker wanted to do. I never knew if Parker wanted to come back and play football or if he was ready to give up the sport.

Also no one really knew the Rockies intentions. I have no idea what kind of financial situation the Rockies are currently in and how much they could afford. I also did not know how much the Rockies did not want Parker to play football this season.

I had heard that the Rockies were not going to have major plans for Parker this fall and the idea of playing football was not the end of the world in the eyes. But I never had confirmation that that was their stance.

So I found this to be a fascinating subject for the past few months. We knew the offense was going to be different without Parker, so that was important. We also knew Dabo and his staff were excellent recruiters and that was going to be a factor.

Leverage is always an interesting topic as well. I like following stories involving leverage because it is interesting to see who has the real leverage compared to the perceived leverage.

But the most fascinating part of this entire story was the psychology of it all. I am interested to know what the Parkers were thinking and when were they thinking it. I want to know when they thought he was leaving and when did they feel he was coming back. Maybe it was just a simple financial deal but I think it is hard to completely take all of the emotions out of it.

I would love to know what the Rockies thought as well. What did they have in mind when they drafted him and what were their expectations about his signing when they drafted him.

I said all along that it was hard for me to put myself in Parker’s shoes and consider this decision. I have never had a lot money and at this rate never will but I don’t value money like many do. It is not a major motivator in my life. Also I am Clemson guy that loves the place and am very biased in this part of the equation. But I said many times that there had to be a premium value on the idea of being bought out of the remaining years in football. I put a very high value on the idea of being the starting quarterback at a major college program. Personally I valued the idea of running down the hill or leading his team into Auburn.

If Parker does indeed come back to school this fall this would be another player who has turned down a ton of money to return to Clemson. I would like to think in most of these cases it says a lot about the Clemson experience our student-athletes enjoy. I know in C.J. Spillers case it was simply the fact that he was not ready to leave the place.

This also says something about Dabo and makes a point that I tried to make when he was being considered for the job and still had the interim tag. I think the game today is less about Xs and Os and more about people. Kids today are different. Bear Bryant and Vince Lombardi did it differently than coaches today. In today’s game one of the keys is to build level of trust and a bond with your players and this personal relationships with your position coach and head coach have become paramount.

Parker’s case was a little different because of the negotiations and the known dollar amount involved but is it a coincidence that in the past 19 months three Clemson players have decided to return to school (Parker, Spiller, DeAndre McDaniel) and all three were recruited out of high school by Dabo?

Some questions still linger. What was the money difference between the two offers from the Rockies? When is Parker returning to Clemson? Will the Rockies’ offer to buy football out increase? Will the offer from the Rockies that would allow football this year decrease? Will the Rockies make a hard push between now and the MLB deadline for singing draft picks on August 16th?

Some answers will come out in the next few hours and days but the outlook for Clemson football in 2010 changed a little after midnight last night.

Below are Parker’s comments release by Clemson around 11:15 this morning:

“I am excited about this decision,” said Parker. “I am ready to get back to Clemson, work out with my football teammates and coaches and get ready for the season. The closer you get to football season the more you think about playing in Death Valley, running down the hill and being a part of the Clemson football tradition.
“I want to thank Coach Swinney for his patience in this process. I thought it was important to make a decision about football at this time to be fair to Coach (Dabo) Swinney and the team.
“I was in a situation where I couldn’t make a bad decision. All my options are still on the table at this point. The only option I have ruled out is playing baseball exclusively for the Colorado Rockies right now. Negotiations will continue with the Rockies, but I will play football at Clemson this fall.”

Dabo Swinney on the return of Kyle Parker

“Someone once said there is something in those hills at Clemson. At the end of the day, whatever is in those hills was too much for Kyle Parker to turn down.

“We are very excited to have Kyle back. Whenever you have a returning starter at quarterback who led you to the Atlantic Division title, that is a real plus for your team. He is dynamic athlete who brings a lot of positives to our offense.

“When I talked with him late last night, he was excited to get back and get started.”

Per the Clemson SID office-Kyle Parker will meet with the media next Tuesday at 11:00 AM at the team room at the West Endzone.

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