Commentary: Fire All The Coaches? Really?

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Wed Jan 23 18:55:11 GMT-04:00 2008

"Julio" is a regular online contributor to my radio show each day, providing the occasional stat, link or war story from the front lines at Clemson athletics.

He dropped me a note Wednesday regarding another Clemson fan sitting near him in the Littlejohn Coliseum stands during Tuesday night's 80-75 overtime victory over Wake Forest. "Julio" was not a happy camper.

Seems that as the Tigers were struggling a bit during the period before starting the late comeback, the nearby fan became incredulous. "Julio" said at one point the fan said, and I'm paraphrasing here:

"We're down in baseball. We're underachieving in football and basketball. We should fire every coach at Clemson and start all over."

It got "Julio" thinking this morning, and after sending me a note about the fan he went and looked up current rankings for Clemson's sports teams - both men and women. The list he came up with, which follows below, takes into account teams currently in season, those who have already finished, and those about to begin.

The Clemson sports programs, and their rankings, are as follows:

Baseball #13, #23 Basketball #25

Football #21

Golf #12

Men's Tennis #30

Womens Tennis #10

Track and Field #14

Volleyball #22

That's seven Clemson sports ranked in the Top 25 in the nation. Eight in the Top 30.

Six of the nine men's sports are ranked Top 30 or higher, five of them Top 25. Under normal circumstances, you could add soccer to that list. However in 2007 Trevor Adair's team was beset by injuries and had an uncharacteristic down season. But his track record - which includes a Final Four appearance just three years ago - would indicate his program will be back in the rankings next season.

On the women's side, there are whispers that Nancy Harris' tennis team may be a national championship contender this season. And volleyball's resurgence and the crowds that resulted were a great story this past fall.

And the women's soccer team, though not in the final Top 25 rankings at season's end, were there for most of the year and reached the NCAA tournament yet again.

There are some situations which need addressed, to be sure.

Women's basketball comes to mind. The program, once an NCAA tournament regular under Jim Davis, has continued to struggle in year three under Christy McKinney; though to be fair this season was set back significantly by ACL injuries to a pair of seniors and one top freshman.

But overall I think you'd have to agree that the performance of the athletic programs at Clemson is very, very good.

From a revenue-generating standpoint, the most important sports at Clemson are football - far and away THE most important - and basketball. Football, of course, pays a good percentage of the bills across the board, for both men and women.

Football is coming off a record year for season ticket sales. IPTAY donations also were at the highest level ever.

How all that is affected by the Seat Equity Plan this coming season at Death Valley remains to be seen, but it would appear that at the moment the Clemson Athletic Department is doing pretty well for itself.

Fire the coaches? More like take care of the coaches.

And while they're at it, perhaps the powers that be should think about extending the contract of Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips.

Considering the financial mess he walked into at the school a few years back, to have the department where it is today is fairly remarkable.