Money hasn't made Dabo complacent...

Nov 27, 2022, 3:05 PM

He's very proud of his accomplishments - and he should be. But, he is very quick to pull out the list of accomplishments when things don't go perfectly well in order to remind us of what he's done for us. That is true and we're all appreciative of the success that he's built at Clemson and we accept and repeat the prideful comments as he leads us to the water and gives us a drink. It is how he operates and one of the reasons some refer to the Clemson as a cult. Many fan bases are similar.

In Dabo's case, I think the success he's had has reinforced his belief that he knows the best way to build a football program and that his way is the right and only way (at least for him). Even his statement in his initial interview with Terry Don was a hint - something to the effect of: "I don't want to be like Alabama, let's make them want to be like Clemson". He obviously believed he knew how to do it better than anyone else and when he showed for a time that he did appear to have a better mousetrap, I think he really became prideful. At that point, some said he became arrogant, some called it stubborn and others called it neponistic.

Further, I think the pride he felt caused him to believe in himself so much that he became his own disciple - which is not too different from zealotry. That strong sense of self-worth - particularly when combined with a measure of success - can cause one to ignore any outside criticism or suggestions and reinforce the belief in self-righteousness and ideology.

From that direction came the desire for a supporting organization that would provide a firm foundation which would be a consistent voice of the ideals he believed and not rock the boat by offering dissenting points of view. Such an organization is a cohesive group and terrific at leading others down a desired path. That type of organization can provide great results until the ground shifts bringing change in landscape that needs to be negotiated - but with everyone looking at things the same way, the correct path or action is often overlooked.

So, living within the same set of rules for too long has allowed our offensive playbook to get stale and predictable - and was even reduced in scope this year in order to simplify it - which has allowed opponents to feast on our predictability of scheme and playcall sequence. Our former success with QBs and WRs drove our TE production into the dirt and it's just now resurfacing (except for the USC game) through necessity because we could no longer throw deep routes successfully.

The QB situation is just another example of the infallible belief to stick to the system and it'll be OK. Time has proved that idea to be wishful thinking. If the reason for not giving Cade a shot is because he's not ready, then why is he not ready and who is responsible for getting him ready?

The defense has struggled because of the scheme we use without either getting enough pressure or by being suckered on deep balls thrown against our safeties. We had that tendency with Venebles, but not as badly as now.

Much of our lack of overpowering success seems to me to be the result of coaching scheme and developmental failures - and those responsible are the disciples of the system (which is not to be questioned). The ultimate responsibility of any success or failure in such a system is on the person who devised and initiated it.While there was a big statement that being Top 10 or winning a national championship wasn't a goal, winning the state championship certainly is - and while all goals are not accomplished, some left unaccomplished are unacceptable - like losing to a terrible SC team in the way that we did.

IMO, Dabo has some serious reflection to do with his ego locked in a box. He states that his number one job is to develop young men and that's a noble belief, but there is another element of his responsibility - and that is to develop a successful athletic team. While there are some coaches who are fired because of their lack of moral discipline within the management of their team, many more are terminated because they don't put a successful product on the field.

I hope Dabo can find a way to continue to do both, but right now he and Clemson football are sliding downhill. It'll be a tough job, but if he can evaluate his own methods along with other influential inputs to problems, it'll be a good start.

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Money hasn't made Dabo complacent...

Exactly & thoughts astutely written ColumbiaTiger66!

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