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YOUR BALANCE
TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate
Tiger Boards - Clemson Football
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Replies: 62
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TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 9:04 AM
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Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 9:08 AM
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come on Tommy!! unbelievable.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

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11

Aug 28, 2025, 9:10 AM
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Well Tommy you never had us in many big games so you never experienced the real Death Valley.

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Bam! Nice.


Aug 29, 2025, 10:33 PM
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Roar Tigers!

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...and the REAL Bowden....was BOBBY...***

6

Aug 28, 2025, 11:13 AM [ in reply to Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate ]
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and Spud with a great zinger too***


Aug 29, 2025, 10:33 PM
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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 12:23 PM [ in reply to Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate ]
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Thank goodness He is a former coach. Should have left much sooner

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Ok, I've supported Tommy Bowden through a lot of things...

9

Aug 28, 2025, 9:08 AM
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But you just drew a line in the sand Mr. Bowden. Whatever good will you had left with Clemson just dissolved in your microphone.

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Re: Ok, I've supported Tommy Bowden through a lot of things...


Aug 28, 2025, 9:12 AM
Reply

agreed

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Re: Ok, I've supported Tommy Bowden through a lot of things...


Aug 28, 2025, 9:57 AM [ in reply to Ok, I've supported Tommy Bowden through a lot of things... ]
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Yeah what a traitor! Should have known he would lean toward an SEC team.

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I was going to say the exact same thing. It almost seems important to TB

6

Aug 28, 2025, 10:13 AM [ in reply to Ok, I've supported Tommy Bowden through a lot of things... ]
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that he NOT be considered a Clemson man. Kind of crazy...I feel like we've never had a coach like that, but here he is. What a great way to never be welcomed back on campus. I can't believe both of his kids are Clemson graduates. It never stuck with him.

Anyway...again...it doesn't matter. As I said previously, congratulations to LSU for having a big marketing program around their name and an ESPN that is desperate to prop them up as "the" Death Valley.

The facts are clear:

Clemson was coined "Death Valley" first, and only. Coined in 1948 by an opposing coach for the beat downs his team took there. THAT is how a stadium nickname is created.

LSU's stadium by all accounts was known as "Deaf Valley" until at earliest 1959 when they beat us in a bowl game. Some reports say that they thought they had "earned" the name for beating us 7-0 at a neutral field, as if that was a thing. That's before my time so no idea how valid that narrative is. Imagine being a big-time program but "taking" another team's stadium's nickname because you won a game on a different field. Should Clemson have gone around telling people that we are the "horseshoe" for all those years that Ohio State couldn't beat us? How pathetic would that feel?

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Re: I was going to say the exact same thing. It almost seems important to TB


Sep 2, 2025, 1:58 AM
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Death Valley coined in 1948 by a coach who lost games there.

Wow that must have been the coach of a really good program that was winning national championships back in the 1940's to have been beaten by Clemson so badly.

Was it Army who won nattys in 1944 & 45? Or Minnesota who won in !940 & 41? Or Michigan who won in '48, or Ohio State in 1942? Or maybe even Notre Dame who won 4 times including 1949?

No, the story is that the coach of the Presbyterian BLUE HOSE nicknamed Memorial Stadium as "Death Valley" because of the beatings his team had taken there.

Not sure I want a nickname given to me by the Blue Hose Coach, that powerhouse of football and Calvinistic doctrine!

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

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1

Aug 28, 2025, 9:10 AM
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But did his lip quiver as he said it?

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Night Games and Absolute Havoc and Rowdiness Matter

1

Aug 28, 2025, 9:11 AM
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the LSU stadium smells like liquor during games. And if you go to an LSU as a visitor and it is hostile and you might feel endangered - ie Death Valley vibe



that cannot be said about Clemson Memorial Stadium. It's very family friendly and welcoming. Death Valley is a cool name. We coined it first. But the branding isn't aligned with the culture right now.

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Re: Night Games and Absolute Havoc and Rowdiness Matter


Aug 28, 2025, 3:05 PM
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I agree. I've been coming to Death Valley since the 1980s as a UNC fan and I've always had a 100% positive experience at Clemson. I can't say that about many other away stadiums.

I've never been to the other Death Valley. But my daughter has several times as an Ole Miss fan. A few years ago she and her boyfriend were attending a game there at a friends box. When the Rebels scored, her boyfriend foolishly yelled "Hotty Toddy." A grown woman threw a large coke on the two of them. Security was called. My daughter and her boyfriend were escorted from the stadium. No punishment for the coke throwing woman.

I remember us playing them in the Georgia Dome over Labor Day 2010. It was a night game and our group arrived at the stadium around 3 in the afternoon only to find the area around the stadium and the CNN Center packed with drunken LSU fans - who had obviously been drinking all day. It looked like Bourbon Street with adults stumbling around the sidewalks. It was a sight to see.

So, with all that, good luck on Saturday and stay safe!

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

2

Aug 28, 2025, 9:12 AM
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LSU never made Tommy cry. Only Clemson accomplished that feat.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

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1

Aug 28, 2025, 9:16 AM
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What did you expect him to say?
He lost his job because of his
inability to coach the games that
really mattered. That was very telling
of who Tommy Bowden is...a
wannabe.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 9:17 AM
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Coooooommmmmeeee ooooonnnn

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 9:22 AM
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Like Packer's take on it. Never been to LSU game so can't comment other than to say people that I have known to go basically said what Packer did. Even if you lose to them in a night game you will catch #### from their fans getting to the car.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

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Aug 28, 2025, 9:23 AM
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Tommy boy, 'big game' Tommy boy...just another reason you never got another head coaching job...

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

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1

Aug 28, 2025, 9:28 AM
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why was he even asked? He has been gone for years and isnt really relevant in this debate or with CLemson generally.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 9:37 AM
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Tommy is right if you ask people on the street in all 50 states. That of course is the same with the people in Columbia wanting to claim Carolina when everywhere Carolina is 100% in Chapel Hill or wanting to claim USC when the real USC is of course, Southern California.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 9:38 AM
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LOL, who in the world listens to anything that boob has to say.

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HUH????

5

Aug 28, 2025, 9:40 AM
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“I think I might get shot for saying this, but I think the consensus from coast to coast on which is the real Death Valley would be LSU,” Bowden said. “I think when you say ‘Death Valley’ in Texas or Oregon or Montana or Idaho, people probably think LSU first over Clemson.”

Thank God he no longer coaches at Clemson!

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Our country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't be any America because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 9:40 AM
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Appreciate what the man did while he was here. He pushed for modernization of the facilities, had some good teams, and a couple of great QBs.

Had the chance to meet him just once and the arrogance was palpable.

Not sure why anyone still listens to him or even bothers to ask his opinion as he’s been out of the game for more than a decade.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 9:48 AM
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How many years did Tommy live off Clemson after getting fired? Did he ever sniff another coaching job, or even interview for one?

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"It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers any more than it is to make sheep ferocious."
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Should ask Danny, a real coach. Plus Im sure he played

1

Aug 28, 2025, 10:04 AM
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at LSU.

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Re: Should ask Danny, a real coach. Plus Im sure he played


Aug 28, 2025, 11:21 AM
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Only a SEC education would lead you to believe that Valleys exist in a swamp or bayou or what ever they call it

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I knew there was some reason I never liked him. Or several. He was without doubt

1

Aug 28, 2025, 10:08 AM
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one of the worst we ever had at making in-game adjustments. As in, he never made any. If it started out bad, it was going to end up bad, for the most part, unless individual players like CJ Spiller or Jacoby Ford just balled out and bailed him out.

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Four words for Tommy Bowden

2

Aug 28, 2025, 10:40 AM
Reply

Daddy’s boy
Dabo Swinney

One made him and the other one showed he was very average.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 10:39 AM
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Why not ask Shane Beamer what he thinks? TB was an awful head coach.

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There are no valleys in southern Louisiana***

3

Aug 28, 2025, 10:51 AM
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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

8

Aug 28, 2025, 11:08 AM
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Would have been way louder if you would have left Reggie Merriwearher in the game.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 11:18 AM
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What a jack@$$

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 2:52 PM
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I see Clemson fans hate to see the truth. It was his honest opinion. Why get mad? Just because you are a fan of Clemson, you can still be honest. Clemson is just like ppl from Mobile,Al always trying to say Mardi Gras started there when everyone says New Orleans Mardi Gras is better.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 11:23 AM
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When I read the title of the article I thought if Danny is the coach then his answer is unequivocally - Death Valley is in Clemson. If Tommy B then we either get some fence straddling answer or he sides with LSU. No surprise here.

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Now ask Danny Ford. lol***

2

Aug 28, 2025, 11:24 AM
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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 11:24 AM
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I thought he was an idiot before. Now im sure...

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 11:26 AM
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...and he STILL can't land a job on ESPN.

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Wake Forest was Death Valley when Tommy was coaching !***

4

Aug 28, 2025, 11:27 AM
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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 11:30 AM
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I really don't care. Yup, LSU is the only stadium on the planet where the twice the fans were so loud and so rambunctious they actually triggered off a seizmograph...don't care. The key is what the name means to oppsing teams winning in that stadium....Clemson has a 5% advantage when it comes to teams losing in our Memorial Stadium.

Even then the only thing that matters is winning the game this Saturday. What people think of the stadium is immaterial.


What I would really like is the the stadium to be renamed to something more meaningful. 17 schools have stadiums named Memorial Stadium. You'ld think we could be a little more imaginative.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 11:30 AM
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Hence why no Clemson fans really like you anymore

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 12:00 PM
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You’re fired Tommy

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 12:03 PM
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This comes from the coach who took Reggie Merriwether out of the SC game. SMH

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 12:37 PM
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It's Tommy Bowden. What did you expect. If he is a football coach, then the woods are full of them!

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 2:09 PM
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Corndogs are on Tommy's weekly dinner rotation.

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Tommy is such a little sour puss...


Aug 28, 2025, 2:10 PM
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I'm done with him.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 2:17 PM
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And just think; many of us wanted this guy fired in 2002 after TTU blew our doors off. But many of the same people who now perpetually make excuses for poor coaching on this message board, also ran interference for this guy back then. He bled the school for big bucks & gave nothing but excuses for constant disappointment but he had the evangelical fanbase in his hip pocket so he got a much longer leash than earned.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 2:38 PM
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TB should have been gone years earlier but the blessing in disguise was his extended stay brought us Dabo. The only good thing TB has done for Clemson. The same people supporting Brownell are the same ones who wanted to keep TB. Still waiting to figure out what good is coming from keeping Brownell all these years…

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 2:44 PM
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Tommy "Has Been" Bowden just proved again why he was fired in the first place....He sucks! How do you go from an out of work ACC coach to an ESECPN stoolie that quick? He must be very fast at getting the "knee Pads" on and getting down into position for the sudsy nozzle of the SEC!

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sour grapes. Rarely have I ever wanted a coach fired....he was one.***


Aug 28, 2025, 3:34 PM
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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Aug 28, 2025, 3:48 PM
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Tammy still PMS'ing over being canned.

I hope you guys that are privileged enough to be there Saturday make it the loudest it's ever been. Go CLEMSON Tigers!

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This may have been the match that fell on a


Aug 28, 2025, 5:16 PM
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kerosene soaked Rag leading into a 10,000 gallon gas tank.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate

1

Aug 28, 2025, 6:08 PM
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Since 1980 only two teams have won more nattys than Clemson. LSU is not one of those teams.
Since 1980 only a few teams have won more games than Clemson. LSU is not one of those teams
In the last 15 years Clemson has won more games and more Nattys than LSU.
LSU and Clemson are tied 1-1 in the last 12 years. Clemson has beaten Bama twice since 2016; LSU
has beaten Bama twice since since 2011.

Yep Tommy is correct about the national consensus. There is another national consensus: Tommy was at best a mediocre college coach, worse by a mile than his brother and by a 1ooo miles than his father.
And Tommy's kids attended Clemson, not LSU. I am glad Tommy Bowden moved away from Clemson. Our better coaches tend to stick around knowing a good thing when they see it.

I am glad that Bowden brought Rich Rod to Clemson. I am glad he brought Dabo to Clemson and I am overjoyed Bowden quit mid season and just walked away. I would guess his kids wish he had had the nerve to stay in Clemson. We'd have forgiven him and treated him well as a guy who wore orange and gave us the best he had. But he was not man enough to do that.



.

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Tommy is right.

1

Aug 28, 2025, 6:37 PM
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Outside of South Carolina, when someone is talking about “Death Valley,” they are talking about LSU. Kind of like how outside of Columbia when someone is talking about USC, they are talking about Southern Cal. We were first though.

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Traitor. Def not A Clemson Man***


Aug 29, 2025, 10:35 PM
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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Sep 1, 2025, 6:29 PM
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Has nothing to do with how loud it is in the stadiums. Clemson's stadium was named Death Valley before LSU played copy cat. (pun intended)

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Sep 1, 2025, 11:39 PM
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We talk about LSU copying our stadium name. I have a wife who is an LSU graduate. I tease her about her school copying the name of our stadium. She shot me down with the origin of the song Tiger Rag that was composed in New Orleans and LSU was playing it before we even existed. She said that LSU used it immediately after a jazz band in New Orleans composed it. An Auburn guy founded us and did you know that we had to change one of our original school colors?

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Sep 2, 2025, 2:15 AM
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Tommy is so bitter. The irony is that the loudest moment in either stadium’s history took place in 2005 against Miami…he was the freaking coach.

Been to Tiger Stadium twice. They lost both games…one game was in the afternoon (Georgia) and the other one was at night (Bama). The Georgia game was downright quiet (think Clemson vs Maryland) and the Bama game was loud, but not impressively so…and not nearly as loud as The Swamp or Beaver Stadium (Penn State). One or the more overrated cfb venues, in my opinion.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Sep 2, 2025, 2:15 AM
Reply

Tommy is so bitter. The irony is that the loudest moment in either stadium’s history took place in 2005 against Miami…he was the freaking coach.

Been to Tiger Stadium twice. They lost both games…one game was in the afternoon (Georgia) and the other one was at night (Bama). The Georgia game was downright quiet (think Clemson vs Maryland) and the Bama game was loud, but not impressively so…and not nearly as loud as The Swamp or Beaver Stadium (Penn State). One or the more overrated cfb venues, in my opinion.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Sep 2, 2025, 2:15 AM
Reply

Tommy is so bitter. The irony is that the loudest moment in either stadium’s history took place in 2005 against Miami…he was the freaking coach.

Been to Tiger Stadium twice. They lost both games…one game was in the afternoon (Georgia) and the other one was at night (Bama). The Georgia game was downright quiet (think Clemson vs Maryland) and the Bama game was loud, but not impressively so…and not nearly as loud as The Swamp or Beaver Stadium (Penn State). One or the more overrated cfb venues, in my opinion.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Sep 2, 2025, 2:15 AM
Reply

Tommy is so bitter. The irony is that the loudest moment in either stadium’s history took place in 2005 against Miami…he was the freaking coach.

Been to Tiger Stadium twice. They lost both games…one game was in the afternoon (Georgia) and the other one was at night (Bama). The Georgia game was downright quiet (think Clemson vs Maryland) and the Bama game was loud, but not impressively so…and not nearly as loud as The Swamp or Beaver Stadium (Penn State). One or the more overrated cfb venues, in my opinion.

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Re: TNET: Former Clemson coach weighs in on 'real' Death Valley debate


Sep 2, 2025, 2:15 AM
Reply

Tommy is so bitter. The irony is that the loudest moment in either stadium’s history took place in 2005 against Miami…he was the freaking coach.

Been to Tiger Stadium twice. They lost both games…one game was in the afternoon (Georgia) and the other one was at night (Bama). The Georgia game was downright quiet (think Clemson vs Maryland) and the Bama game was loud, but not impressively so…and not nearly as loud as The Swamp or Beaver Stadium (Penn State). One or the more overrated cfb venues, in my opinion.

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Replies: 62
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