Friday October 06, 2006

Friday's E-mail Bag

On Friday’s we publish your questions and comments. To submit an e-mail I can be reached at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com

Mickey,

Allie

Allie,
I have received my pre-season prospectus and am planning on writing a blog about the upcoming team and season soon. However, be patient because we are in the heat of football season. Maybe we can put something up in the next two weeks.

Hello Mick,
Thanks for your blog, as a fan from Virginia, where everyone is a Hokie or Cav, I appreciate having a place to go and hear about the Tigers! One question I would like your feedback on…having watched the VT program over the past several years and seeing their ability to consistently field quality teams, I have to think Beamers ability to keep his staff together plays an important role in their success (his assistants have been with him for over 10 years and he is legendary for taking great care of them money wise).
I see you talking a lot about Tommy and the great staff he has in place and I think you would agree that we finally have the right people in the right places. Do you think Tommy will be able to keep this staff in place for the long-term?
Thanks again for your insight…looking forward to watching the Tigers at Lane Stadium on Thursday night Oct. 26th!!!!
Seth

Seth,
Thanks. This is the best staff Tommy has had. It will be hard keeping them but let’s look at a few members individually. Spence is a great mind but I am not sure too many teams see him as a head coach. I think he could get another offensive coordinators job or maybe an NFL gig but he likes working for Bowden. Koening had his chance at a head-coaching role and I am not sure many teams see him as their head coach. Blackwell and Swinney are highly marketable because they are young and still have head coaching aspirations. Their next step is coordinator. Brad Scott and Burton Burns are not quite as young as Blackwell and Swinney. Both Scott and Burns like it here and like working with Tommy. They could move but that is not likely. Ron West is still climbing and could see some schools come after him as a coordinator. Nappier and Rumph are young and marketable and may be looked at by schools as a candidate for a coordinator in a few years. In summary, these guys have good jobs and I hope they are all here for many seasons.

Mickey,
Is it just me or has the J-Back position not quite materialized as yet? I remember one of the features in the preseason being how Rendrick Taylor would be a nightmare match up, but I don't remember him being too much of a factor even in the big games at BC and FSU.

Thanks for your time,
Apoorva

Apoorva,
I thought he played great against BC and FSU. He had he catches against both. The fact of the matter is the Tigers have been so successful running the football in the other three games that they have not had to rely on the passing game too much. With Stuckey out, Taylor will be a bigger factor starting this week. Remember there is only one football.

Mickey,
In your opinion, give me the top 5 players, in order; On the Clemson coaching staff's recruiting wish list (Fb), thanks.

Wayne

Wayne,
I would say Chris Little, Chris Culliver, Rob Gronkowski, Cliff Matthews, Tydreke Powell.

Mickey,
Here are a couple of questions that are haunting us from over here in Texas:
1. Why do the tiger paws in the end zone have white splotches? I’m ok with them, but curious. However, it is driving my wife crazy. J
2. What is the song they are playing during TV timeouts & prior to kickoffs?
Have a great NY trip. Go Tigers!
Larry

Larry,
The copyrighted Tiger Paw has a few spots or blemishes in the interior of the paw. It does not equate all that well in the end zone. Some techno artist named Kencraft 3000 recorded the song called Zombie Nation.

Mickey,
Earlier in the show you mentioned Clemson's future secondary with Crezdon
Butler, DeAndre McDaniel, Byron Maxwell, Chris Chancellor, and Marcus
Gilchrist but you didn't say anything about Darius Gaither. I know he
came into August camp a little overweight and I've heard mention that he
COULD grow into a LB. Can you comment on how he's performing in practice,
etc.? Thanks.

Jake

Gaither needs to condition himself better be fore he gets a longer look. He definitely has the speed to be a good one. I have not seen him but I have talked to coaches about his efforts on the scout team and they think he will continue to progress. The staff is extremely excited about Maxwell.

Mickey,
Can a certain high school quarterback ,who is verbally committed to Clemson next year, have access to Clemson's playbook our basics of schemes to study prior to enrolling? Maybe a stupid question but I haven't heard it asked before. Thanks and I love the show. War Simon! War fans!!
God Bless,
Brad in Anderson

Brad,
This certain QB can be a great one. Now, we have seen highly quarterback struggle as true freshmen. Stafford at UGA, Mustain at Arkansas, etc have struggled. It is very difficult to do but if it can be done then this certain QB can do it.

Mick,
What’s the deal with the big Tight End, Gronkowski? I noticed his star rating went from a 5 star to a 4 star this week. Did he get hurt or something?

Adrian

Adrian,
I have no idea why guys move up or done and have no idea what this star stuff is really about. All I can tell you is he is very high on the Clemson board.

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