My take...may not be popular, but I came to the

Oct 19, 2025, 8:46 PM

Realization yesterday...

1. I still love being a Tiger fan. Took the family, $1650 for tickets to sit together plus $350 for food before during and after the game, $350 for shirts and hats downtown before the game plus $400 for hotel rooms, plus $150 for gas (3.5 hours one way fpr 3 cars...) AND then nobody bought my two season tickets that I have for me and my wife...($300? More) so I donated them to a veterans group.

2. I know there are people that pay more than that but I just retired at 61 and Im a little more aware of expenses now...its money we have but its money we could spend elsewhere. Im sure that makes sense to everyone that has been going to Tiger games for 40 or 50 years. In that vein...its expensive to be a Tiger fan and I think this may be part of my concern.

3. I'm a huge Dabo fan...love the transformation since Bowden. I think that over the years from the outside looking in that he has made the difficult decisions when he needed to. I think its that time again.

4. In my 45 years of being a Tiger fan...
A. I dont think I've ever been so disappointed with our RB room. I think back over the years and we have never been in a situation where we didn't have that back or even those backs that could break a game open. This falls directly on Spiller for the lack of a flow, plan...not sure what to call it...but even if we have the talent its definitely not obvious through 7 games this year.
B. our Offensive play calling consistency (how many ways can we screw up a 3rd and 1 yesterday? How many times down we think CV is going to pull a Lamar Jackson and be a running force...? How many times can we have 1 one 1 on the outside and not throw it down the field to a VERY talented WR group? How many times can we see that a wheel route or a TE over the middle will not only open the field up but also gain 20+ yards whenever we need it...only to NOT run either of those more than 1 time? OC imo when compared to some of our OCs in the recent past is NOT able to capitalize on the talent we do have...time to make a decision.
C. I cant remember the last time we had this much defensive talent up front and in the LBs that we looked like a 4th grade flag football team. It is obvious there is no vision from our DC that understands the chess game. We are playing checkers from a strategy perspective and we are 1 play behind every time...time for a decision. If its not the DC...then there are parts od the DC staff that arent working together. BV set a high bar with his chess game of QB pressure while stopping the run
..and we arent even close to that bar.

Yesterday with the family there...it was hard to watch. Every time we got a little momentum and needed a stop, we didnt get it. We gave up 3rd and 12, 3rd and 15 just ridiculous. In the other side we get stopped 3rd and 1 3 times and 4th and 1 wasn't close.

For Dabo...its time for some hard choices...I know its not where his joy comes from, i agree with him and know the source of joy and that my self image is not built on the Clemson football record...with that said.....Best is the Standard isnt just a tee shirt slogan. We tiger fans believe its worth making the hard decisions required from the leadership of the team and we vote with our hard earned money. Time to make the hard choices.