Re: Do you think that DABO has taken us as far as we can go

clemsonfan2000c® · 2014-09-23T18:10:47.884Z

under his leadership? Bowden did some good things for the program but took us as far as he could. Now we are starting to see the same types of coaching errors and etc. under Dabo's leadership. I just honestly feel that this start is indicative to the start we had that saw Bowden exit. I don't feel our problems are with players. It's with Coaching and it starts at the top. If Dabo has taken us as far as he can, who's on your wish list to replace him?

quozzel

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Re: I hope he doesn't/hasn't turned into another.......

Sep 23, 2014, 3:00 PM

I don't think so. I honestly don't think he's peaked yet.

I honestly thought Dabo was a sunshine-pumping clown who made some cringe-worthy sound bytes when we hired him.

He's shocked me...not just how well he's done, not just how irrepressible he's been even after getting his butt handed to him, but how well he's learned from his mistakes.

Back in his early days at Clemson, a lot of us referred to him as the "Goat Wrangler." He was always a great closer on the recruiting trail, but he had a distinct tendency to come back home trailing a herd of 5-heart, 2-star "goats" from 2A Alabama high schools behind him, players who you'd let your sister date but unfortunately who also couldn't play a lick. (Tribble Reese, Bartender Extraordanaire and Up-and-Comer In The Entertainment Industry, was the one true douche-rocket I recall him recruiting in those early days, and Tribble at least looked like a stud when he tore up the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic...and then failed to complete a pass that I can recall once he arrived in college.) The notion then was, Dabo could close with the best of them - you just had to be real careful who you pointed him at.

These days, Clemson's player evaluation, while it's missed notably in a few areas - we slow-played both Mike Davis and Todd Gurley at RB, which has cost us huge in hindsight - is top-drawer. Clemson identifies and gets on stud players first, recruits them harder, and is basically working a full year ahead with loaded recruiting classes. Even Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher are looking at Dabo's recruiting with worried-looking expressions, these days, and Urban Meyer can be counted on to offer any guy Dabo does within 24 hours, which is kind of the highest form of praise. I'm also aware of even more 4-and-5-star players Dabo could have had...and passed on, because of character red flags. And when character concerns arise on campus, he's also un-shy about correcting them. (See: Kelly, Chad; Anthony, Shaq; and Preister, Kyrin for recent examples.)

I also remember Dabo's first real year at the helm, with Billy Napier as his OC. That was a clown show that made Rob Spence's offense look coherent. (Keep in mind, Spence's offense worked real well...until some bright Wake Forest grad discovered that the "Mad Scientist's" system was entirely down/distance/situation based and "cracked the code", as it were, and all our opponents going forward knew the play Spence was calling before he called it and the Mad Scientist almost stressed his way into a rubber room thereafter.)

Well..Dabo learned from that, and brought in Morris, a Malzahn disciple, well before the HUNH offense had gotten en vogue in college football, and before you know it, we were breaking scoreboards. Say what you want about Clemson and Chad Morris's offense, we were Wide Receiver U...and sorry, you look out on the field, we still are. Peake, Williams, and Scott do not look much different to me than the likes of DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, and Jaron Brown. By midseason, especially with Deshaun Watson flinging them the rock, I suspect they'll be breaking scoreboards again.

Success followed...and then came the dumpster fire that was the 2011 Orange Bowl, and our DC Kevin Steele joined Rob Spence in his rubber room. And it was obvious to anyone with eyes that our D was cartoonishly, outlandishly bad. Which is kind of important, even if your offense is breaking scoreboards. So Dabo went out and grabbed Brent Venables...and whaddya know, Venables turned out to be the real brains behind the Stoops Family Jobs Program at Oklahoma. The Sooners might be ranked #2 or #3 or whatever...but they still can't play defense.

Now it's starting to become obvious that football is a game of three phases...and we're as cartoonishly, outlandishly bad this year on special teams as we ever were on offense under Spence/Napier or on defense under Steele.

So...Dabo fixed his recruiting. He got the right guys on O, the right guys on D...and top coaches seem more than willing to work with him. And he's really lopped off the cringe-worthy sound bytes, has gotten a lot more camera-and-media-savvy.

I'd be surprised if Dabo doesn't fix the special teams. He really isn't Tommy Bowden, and problems in his program don't seem to linger year after year while the Clemson nation rips its hair out in frustration after watching the same train wreck over, and over, and over again...his history shows, he learns from his mistakes, he fixes them, and moves on, irrepressible as ever.

Just my own .02. Or $2. Or whatever.

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Do you think that DABO has taken us as far as we can go

We'll have to see how the season plays out.

Re: We'll have to see how the season plays out.

/\ /\ /\ THIS /\/\/\ ******

Exactly what I'm thinking.

no, and no one***

No***

Tell 'em capon

Here comes this guy again***

Re: Here comes this guy again***

Re: Here comes this guy again***

The same could be said about you***

I hope he doesn't/hasn't turned into another.......

Re: I hope he doesn't/hasn't turned into another.......

Re: I hope he doesn't/hasn't turned into another.......

For somebody who only posts 6 times per month

This guy is known for saying idiotic things.

Stop saying things like "us."***

Where do these people crawl out from under the rocks?

Are you stupid or something?

listen folks

I assume you were kidding, but