Dan Scott Interview: Tommy Bowden |
Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden was a recent guest on SportsTalk with Dan Scott to discuss the start of football season. SportsTalk can be heard from 9 a.m.-12, Monday-Friday, on WCCP-Fm, 104.9 in upstate South Carolina.
Selected Quotes What are your thoughts on the first day of practice? It is really changed over the years because tomorrow will be our first practice, but it is really our 50th. The guys have been here all summer. And now that your freshmen have been here for a semester the first day is really not that big an issue or spectacle like it has been in the past where all the guys are coming back into town and you see how their body types have changed. You have seen them. Our freshmen are here. Friday technically will be our first practice but it's really not. There is a lot of hype coming into this season for your team. Consistency is how you win championships. We beat Florida State two out of three and we lost to Wake two out of three. Beat Miami one week and lost to Duke the next. That's the level of consistency, we are looking for. Now when you have that you have arrived. We just haven't arrived yet. We have not been in the top 25 back-to-back seasons. The preseason hype we've had before here. So we are going to approach it with cautious optimism, knowing the key poll is the one at the end of the year, but it's good to be ranked high because that means you have accomplished some things off of last’s years team. I rather be coming in from there, as opposed to a bunch of disappointment I guess you've asked yourself several times why the consistency has taken so long to come? I think there are several factors going in; things have changed since 1981. Clemson was the Florida State. There have been a few additions to the conference. Obviously we have addressed some issues from a facilities standpoint which helps us be more competitive. There's nothing wrong with expectations as long as you're given the resources to reach the expectations. I think we have finally realized we haven't had the resources to reach the expectations. Now, also I have to do a better job. Like we said, beating Florida State two out of three and losing to Wake two out of three. Beating Miami at Miami and then losing to Duke up there: those are the things that I have to get corrected. As you have seen. I will occasionally make some changes staff-wise to help us reach that goal. Yeah, the expectations have not been reached, but I think there are more than one or two factors that go in it. In a sporting news article an anonymous ACC head coach said you have had everything handed to you and you will fire someone at the drop of a hat to save yourself and are the most overrated coach in the conference. How do you respond to criticism like that? It's probably a head coach that either I have beaten or is a little frustrated that he hasn't accomplished, what he has wanted. I am surprised if it does come from a head coach. Anyone that knows my career knows I spent 19 years as an assistant and of course when I was the head coach at Tulane, I don't know a lot of people who wanted that job. Of course, my father didn't call any plays at Tulane going undefeated. I didn't have a pipeline to him at halftime or during the course of the game or the 19 years I spent as an assistant. The facts go so much against the grain. I really don't put much weight into that. We were laughing that it might have been your father that said that. Oh yeah it probably was him. That is a good one I will have to remember that. There has been a lot of talk about Will Proctor, but I think the bigger question may be what happens if he gets hurt? Yes that is another question. There is some separation. Last year had Charlie got hurt we thought Will was in a pretty good position because of the number of reps he had gotten and how long he had been around us offensively. Now not only is there inexperience, but there is a tremendous experience factor between two redshirt freshman Tribble Reese and Cullen Harper and Will is a fifth-year senior. And might be a factor when we look at some of these running opportunities for the quarterback and how much we actually want to do that until these guys continue to get some work in practice and continue to close the gap. That’s a huge question mark. Does Richard Jackson walk in camp as co-starter at punter with Cole Chason? I think right now Cole Chason has injured his foot and is going to miss the first 10 days of practice. So Richard will be number one from the first day, along with our walk-on punter Manors. So Richard will go with the number ones and Cole will have to beat him out based on last years performance. I can't punish those other guys for his injuries. So he is going to miss the first 10 days and that is great because it will force feed us to give Richard Jackson work with the first team. He was going to get work anyway, but now he gets every rep. So we are going to have a pretty good indication going into the first game of his talent as a punter. 
Listen to the full interview here: Windows Media Listen to the full interview here: Windows Media
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