TigerNet -- Blogs -- Mickey Plyler's Blog

It’s Purnell’s Fault
Dang that Oliver Purnell! All of this is his fault. He is the one that has turned us into a basketball school.

Clemson Nation is hurting. I woke up again this morning hoping the empty feeling from the loss to Maryland would go away but my gut still hurts. I can’t shake it. I want to take a few days and fly to New York for a couple of playoff games to get my mind off of the Maryland loss but can’t afford it so I sit here in misery.

My misery is shared by many and my e-mails are flooded with accusers and apologists. When you lose to a bad Maryland team and are 2-3 there is enough blame to go around. The accusers have blamed anyone in sight for the current and past failures. Among those that have been blamed are: Bill Atchley, Bobby Robinson, Max Lennon, the board of trustees, Danny Ford, Ken Hatfield, Tommy West, Tommy Bowden, Jim Barker, Terry Don Phillips, Katie Hill, Dabo Swinney, Billy Napier, Brad Scott, Jeff Scott, Corey Lambert and me.

Atchley was the school president in 1985 when powerful athletic director Bill McClellan and Atchley had a power struggle. In the end both were reassigned and McClellan’s powerful run ended. Some think this was the beginning of the end of Clemson’s athletics. McClellan was a power broker and Clemson athletics were strong under his leadership.

Bobby Robinson was blamed by one e-mailer because he did not put his foot down and get control of Danny Ford when Ford “got too big for his britches.” Ford’s insubordination led to his dismissal which has led to 17 years of mediocrity.

Max Lennon took some blame from a few e-mailers because he was the one who pulled the plug on Ford. I remember a Ford supporter telling me it would take 10 years for Clemson football to rebound from the firing. He was wrong. It has been almost 20 and things still are not the same.

Ford himself has been blamed. One e-mail claimed Ford’s power play was selfish and it cost him his job and robbed Clemson fans of further dominance in football.

Bitter Clemson fans still blame Ken Hatfield for the downfall of the football program. He faced a difficult task but his recruiting efforts were lacking and his staff was weak. The program saw a significant slide under his watch.

Tommy West was not named but guilt by association includes him in the blog. He took over a terrible situation and did make it better but not good enough to keep his job.

Several phone callers and e-mailers still hold Tommy Bowden responsible. Some point out his nine plus years without a title. Bowden was guilty of not being able to win the one game to get his program over the hump and few people still hold him accountable.

One of the most popular targets of blame seems to be Jim Barker. The current Clemson president has his detractors that claim his personal goal of breaking into the U.S. News and World Report’s Top 20 has been a reason the school has not had more athletic success. Some claim resources and emphasis on his goals take away resources for athletics. They also claim athletics are not a priority in his administration.

Terry Don Phillips is among the most popular on the hot list. Phone callers and e-mailers claim under Phillips’ watch the athletic department has dipped to new lows. They point out facts about the lack of championships and the lack of support for the coaches within the department.

Katie Hill is Phillips’ right hand assistant. She is the slicer who cuts budgets and breaks hearts. A couple of e-mailers have pointed out her brash style and harsh tactics. The bottom line has become more important than championships under Hill’s watch according to an e-mail or two.

Dabo Swinney has received some blame this week. The once ultra-popular coach has received criticism this week. Dabo is the head coach and the 2-3 start does go on his record.

I have read that Billy Napier and his inexperience is a factor in Clemson’s offensive issues. I had at least one person tell me he is not experienced enough to lead an offense at this level against this type of competition.

The same type of call or e-mail came on the subject of Jeff Scott. The first-year wide receiver coach’s inexperience has been called out as a reason for so many drops by the Clemson wide outs.

Brad Scott has come under fire because of his evaluations and his offensive line productivity. Some think this is perhaps the biggest reason to the 2-3 and a big reason for the lack of titles in recent years.

I have gotten a few Corey Lambert comments. He did take it on the chin against Georgia Tech but I hate it when we blame players.

Even I have not escaped blame. According to a couple of people, it was my mega-influence on the powers at Clemson that got Dabo the job. Never has a radio host and a blogger been given such power.

Clemson football has not won a title since 1991 and a 2-3 start is unacceptable. When things are this bad, there is enough blame to around.

Since we are slinging around blame, I think Coach Purnell needs to be atop the list. How dare that man try to turn us into a basketball school. The audacity of the man.

BTW-only 37 days until the Tigers open the basketball season. Let the countdown begin.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Jean-Pierre Bailey, Kaitlyn L, Delores Weaver, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, John Petrey, Chalmers Carr, Drayton Melton, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Ann Fallaw, Bob Pollock, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Mike Kingsmore.

Comments:

Tommy west made it better? The man went 3-8 in his fifth year, never won a bowl. This was his tenure: 5-6, 8-4, 7-5, 7-5, 3-8. 0-3 in bowl games, only qualifying in 3/5 years, and a losting record to USC. Sure, he inherited a mess, but my god where is there any evidence he made it better?

Bowden, he did make it better. But we flat lined and kept losing games like........the one we saw Saturday. Certainly better than both Hatfield and West, but we were stuck.

Posted by truetiger1998 on October 07, 2009 at 12:22 PM EDT #

This is probably one of the most worthless blogs you've written. What is the conclusion? Who do you blame?

Posted by Sandy Springs+Tiger on October 07, 2009 at 12:24 PM EDT #

Truetiger,
west took over an awful situation and left the program better than he found it.

Sandy Springs,
For the past two days I have written "heavy" blogs concerning major issues. Today's blog was not about conclusions. It was just saying there is enough blame to go around and we all want to blame somebody. Just observations. Not every blog has to provide conclusions.

Posted by Mickey Plyler on October 07, 2009 at 12:33 PM EDT #

Truetiger,
west took over an awful situation and left the program better than he found it.

Posted by Mickey Plyler on October 07, 2009 at 12:33 PM EDT #

MP,

I, unlike other readers, enjoyed your blog, and think that Barker, Phillips, and the board of trustees are to blame. Barker is all about achieving his Top 20 goal regardless of what the cost is to our teams, and Phillips is more or less going along with that. If the people at the top were committed to doing what it takes for us to win the ACC and go to the Orange Bowl, then we would not be 2-3. Maybe we could start a new slogan to get their attention: donations and revenue generated by athletics begin with Championships.

Posted by Locotiger on October 07, 2009 at 12:57 PM EDT #

Yes, you are definitely to blame.

Posted by otisman on October 07, 2009 at 01:02 PM EDT #

Wait, I post facts about West's tenure, including going 3-8 in his fifth and final year, and the reply is simply "he left it better then he found it". Based on what?

Posted by truetiger1998 on October 07, 2009 at 01:05 PM EDT #

I blame TDP. Hiring Dabo was a bush league move. But, since he hired a very very inexperienced coach, he should have laid down some rules or guidelines and the first one should have been to require a very experienced staff.

Dabo did that on the defensive side of the ball, but strangely enough, he just promoted guys from the offensive side. The same offensive side that absolutely was pathetic. Why?? I'm still trying to see some form of logic there????

So, I guess in essence, its Dabo's fault. He's the head coach, the buck stops with him.

Posted by DV_1981 on October 07, 2009 at 01:10 PM EDT #

So, I guess in essence, its Dabo's fault. He's the head coach, the buck stops with him.

Posted by DV_1981 on October 07, 2009 at 01:16 PM EDT #

Don't we have to win an NCAA Tourney game this decade before we are considered a Basketball school?

Posted by CM Shack on October 07, 2009 at 01:17 PM EDT #

Mickey = douche

Posted by McRib on October 07, 2009 at 01:26 PM EDT #

The whole argument of 'getting back to where we belong' in football, or however people phrase it, is total crap. Like it or not, in this high dollar time of college athletics that is akin to corporate warfare, Clemson is, essentially, an underdog in the grand scheme. Our fundraising capabilities and corporate sponsor base do not rank where they once did, putting us firmly entrenched behind schools that have more set in place.

Clemson's geographic footprint doesn't draw in the corporate sponsors at the level and rate others do, our fan base is rabid but not rich in todays standards. Our athletic department, and quite frankly the school itself, has to fight differently, harder and more efficiently to rise to the top. It can do it, but people need to understand, not just sit there thinking we are the king.

On a national scale, Clemson needs to fight as underdogs do. We can win without being the largest corporate athletic department, but we have to be smart.

Posted by Justwannaread on October 07, 2009 at 01:40 PM EDT #

I think it's Governor Sanford's fault. If we're going to blame those at the top, let's blame him and his office for cutting Clemson's funding drastically over the last 10 years. The percentage of money we receive from the state used to be about 75%, and now it's something like 30%. Clemson's administration isn't being cheap - the state is.

I'm mostly joking about it being Sanford's fault, but the fact that Clemson's funding from the state has decreased so dramatically in recent years can't be ignored.

Posted by Judge Keller on October 07, 2009 at 01:40 PM EDT #

Wow. The internet sure does expose mental midgets quickly... and I am not talking about Mickey...

Posted by kfast600 on October 07, 2009 at 01:54 PM EDT #

My freshman year was Hatfield's first year. I grew up locally and LOVED my Tigers and still do. I was angry as #### when they forced out Coach Ford. I remember the press coverage of the fallout when I was still a Sr. In high school. I vowed that if and when I graduated that I would not march and not have to shake Max Lennon's hand. I did graduate and did not shake his hand. There is no place like Clemson on football Saturdays, and while we have had some great days there, it has never been the same. It had no effect, but I still feel better never shaking Lennon's hand. Here is to better days at Clemson.

Steve

Posted by McPhail 93 on October 07, 2009 at 01:58 PM EDT #

Truetige98, West was 3-2 which is a winning record against the Chickens. I agree with your overall point though that the program did get worse under his tenure.

Posted by afharbi55 on October 07, 2009 at 02:12 PM EDT #

McRib, what's the matter... toes a little sore. LMBO!!!!!

Justwannaread, that was a very insightful post. I completely agree and am guilty of being one of those who had not ever really thought that all the way through.

MICKEY: What do you think about Justwanna's comments?? I would love to hear that line of thought expounded upon on the radio show.

Posted by cdr4tigers on October 07, 2009 at 02:17 PM EDT #

I took it as irony and a light-hearted dig at the "end of the worlders".Among that group,things tend to go over their heads.If so,it was a success.

Posted by 1flatiger on October 07, 2009 at 02:32 PM EDT #

Clemson is certainly at a disadvantage relative to schools like UF, FSU, Texas, & Southern Cal. But if schools like Wake and VT can win the ACC (and schools like BC can get to the ACCCG) then there is no excuse for Clemson not getting there at least once in a while. I'd say that Clemson has advantages over all three of those schools with regards to funding, facilities, fan base, profile, location, campus, fertility of the region for recruiting, etc.

I'm now asking myself why I should even care anymore when it's obvious that Clemson's administration doesn't care. They just take the fans (and their money) for granted. Bowden needed to be let go earlier, not given a $5M buy-out and then fired 5 months later. That was insane. And it was obviously a HUGE risk to hire a novice like Dabo (let alone Napier)-- a risk that no other AD in the country would have even considered. Clearly, TDP should be fired, but nobody at the top cares.

Posted by Razzmatazz on October 07, 2009 at 02:38 PM EDT #

Razzmatazz....I agree with you. Its clearly doable, but mistakes have to be kept to a minimum. Its still too early to know whether Swinney hire is good or bad for Clemson long-term, but what led to it was clearly a mistake. Bowden's re-up and higher buyout, which was enacted 7 months later, was a HUGE blunder and can't be emphasized enough. The schools that you mentioned don't make those major blunders.

Clearly, I disagree that decisions made 20 years ago are to blame for Clemson not winning the ACC Title in 2002, '06 or this year. Things are SO vastly different in college football, and the ACC, that change in doing things was inevitable anyways.

Posted by Justwannaread on October 07, 2009 at 03:05 PM EDT #

Mick, I'll give you another one. The Board of Trustees. The results of the athletic department are the worse they've been in at least 30 years, and not one trustee appears to have stood up and said anything. No trustee has said "We must do better;" no trustee has called for a review of the abysmal department wide results. Questioning poor results in an area is part of their fiduciary duty to the supporters of Clemson, and they're not doing it.

Posted by Newberry Tiger on October 07, 2009 at 03:17 PM EDT #

Posted by Newberry Tiger on October 07, 2009 at 03:21 PM EDT #

Don't forget Obama!

I'm pretty sure our mediocrity is part of his re-allocation of success program.

Posted by triggerhappy on October 07, 2009 at 03:32 PM EDT #

BR could not stop DF from shooting himself in the foot. That was DF's doing. Saying what he did at the national IPTAY meeting was not a smart thing to do. Those of us in the audience knew that nothing good was going to come out of what he said. Hatfield was basically the choice of Lennon. He told BR to get in contact with him after Lennon had felt him out. After Hatfield's contract was not renewed, Lennon told BR that he had hired the last coach so the next one was on BR. Two finalists were West and Reedy. Reedy was nixed by a VP who was on the search team so that left West. Bowden seemed like a good choice at the time. When TDP was being recruited by Clemson he was told how great TB was. After TDP got here it did not take him long to see that TB wasn't. Why he let TB hoodwink him over the supposed Ark job is a mystery.

Posted by Shipyard Tiger on October 07, 2009 at 04:47 PM EDT #

I predict that this year the University will wake up and realize that the falloff in athletic success eventually hits the University in the pocketbook. The primary reason that the University has been accepting of the lackluster results is that giving continues to improve. I don't think that will be the case this year and even if it is, I'm hoping that someone wakes up and realizes that there is an untapped resource of Clemson SPORTS fanatics and sponsors that would come back into play if we can improve our results.

Posted by kgpittm on October 07, 2009 at 05:28 PM EDT #

I just doubled my IPTAY contribution. And the argument about state funding percentages is still very bogus. While direct funding from the state has dropped lottery money (state money) in the form of scholarships has increased. It's a tough calculation because in my day, we paid it all. Problem is that Barker has failed the University and State in his "quest" for the imaginary Top 20 status. Everything is now about appearances instead of substance - Barker's ratings of schools is enough proof of that!

Posted by Sand Tiger on October 07, 2009 at 06:44 PM EDT #

Sand Tiger - isn't college football rankings, and quite frankly the BCS, just imaginary Top 20 status and about appearances and not substance?

I mean, there isnt even a playoff to determine the true substance!

Posted by Justwannaread on October 07, 2009 at 07:42 PM EDT #

Are the Clemson fans to blame? Dabo doesn't get hired if Clemson nation doesn't show overwhelming support. We're the ones (well, not me!) who fell for Dabo's "Obama-like" marketing campaign - with all his clever sayings and cute slogans and t-shirts, etc. He said all the right things. I swear he went on Tigernet and read posts to map out his plan. He talked about getting in the three point stance, and playing tougher, and making the paw bigger on the helmet, and using a fullback, and doing a Tigerwalk, etc. He even met with Danny Ford (and made sure the media knew about it). "He fits in," we said. What the heck does that mean. He played us like we were insecure 16 year old girls, just waiting to fall in love with the first person to tell us what we wanted to hear - just out of a bad relationship with Tommy Bowden, who never showed us the affection we needed. Dabo was the ultimate rebound, saying everything Tommy wouldn't, making us feel all warm and fuzzy.

Posted by JL2003 on October 07, 2009 at 11:00 PM EDT #

JL2003: The fans didn't hire Dabo. Are you saying that TDP was somehow taking polls to determine whether or not the fans would support Dabo if TDP hired him? That seems a bit hard to believe-- but maybe. I'm sure TDP felt out some of the big boosters beforehand, and perhaps used that as a gauge of fan support.

I do feel that the local media was far too willing to push the Dabo marketing campaign to gullible fans, and the gullible fans were far to eager to buy it.

The funny thing is that if Dabo had just hired a couple more top-tier seasoned coaches (especially an OC) we could be 5-0 and TDP & Dabo could be looking like geniuses. But that kind of rookie mistake is what you get with a rookie coach.

Go Tigers! Win the ACC and make me apologize to TDP and Dabo!

Posted by Razzmatazz on October 08, 2009 at 12:40 AM EDT #