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Commissioner [901]
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Orange Blooded [4767]
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What's O'Cain up to these days, anyway?
May 9, 2019, 7:19 AM
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His wikipedia article stopped keeping track around 2017 and I can't find any current information. Is he retired?
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Legend [16629]
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Somebody posted a day or two ago that he left coaching in 17
May 9, 2019, 8:32 AM
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and moved back to Orangeburg, our shared hometown. Can't confirm or refute.
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All-TigerNet [14921]
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All-In [27366]
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Who?***
May 9, 2019, 7:30 AM
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Hall of Famer [20082]
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Re: Old 1998 Mike O'Cain Article; "Clemson fans need to get into the 90's" The 80's are Dead
May 9, 2019, 7:30 AM
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Thanks for digging this up EverettsNCTiger, that’s a good read and it reminds us to not conform to apathetic thinking and expectations but to keep striving for excellence! Seeing Brandon Streeters name in that article and remembering his grit & determination in the toughest circumstances is a tribute to the example and leader he’s become on our coaching staff. Clemson is a special place. Danny knee it. Dabo knows it. We faithful Tiger fans know it....
“BEST IS THE STANDARD!”
GO TIGERS!!!!!!!
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Commissioner [901]
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Re: Old 1998 Mike O'Cain Article;
May 9, 2019, 5:02 PM
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I ran across this old Article by accident. & And you are absolutely correct. Best is The Standard!! AND Don't settle for less
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110%er [5616]
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Re: Old 1998 Mike O'Cain Article; "Clemson fans need to get into the 90's" The 80's are Dead
May 9, 2019, 7:41 AM
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I remember that. It was nauseating.
Thankfully TDP and Dabo rescued Clemson Football because there were a lot of Clemson fans who were content with going 7-5 as long as were beating South Carowhina. The excuses as to why Clemson would never win big again in football were pervasive back then.
Mike O'Cain personified that "loser mentality".
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CU Guru [1516]
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Re: Old 1998 Mike O'Cain Article; "Clemson fans need to get into the 90's" The 80's are Dead
May 9, 2019, 7:52 AM
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I once had a neighbor, a Clemson grad, who informed me, with all the confidence of the great intellect he wanted people to think he had, that 1981 was the worst thing that ever happened to Clemson, that we got lightning in a bottle once, but that we would never see it again. He went on to offer that Clemson was too small, that the game had become too big and we just could never hope to really compete ever again.
what a prophet, eh?
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Commissioner [901]
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Re: Old 1998 Mike O'Cain Article; "Clemson fans need to get into the 90's" The 80's are Dead
May 9, 2019, 5:27 PM
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I had a friend that sounded a lot like your Neighbor. I distinctly remember me and him having 3 or 4 conversations from 2006 to 2007 with him telling me that Clemson would never be relevant again because it was just to small to compete in modern times. In an around about way he said the same about the Miami Hurricanes, but stated they still had a much better chance than Clemson did. He said the only schools in the ACC that had potential for a dominant problem were FSU, Maryland, UNC & N.C. State because they were BIG SCHOOLS with BIG POCKETS. He was a N.C. State Graduate who claimed to like Clemson because it was a Agricultural School like his own. I saw him from a distance in a grocery store parking lot a few months back. I wanted to ask him about his old foresight. But time wasn't permitting.
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CU Guru [1614]
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Clemson could not get out of the 90's fast enough***
May 9, 2019, 9:06 AM
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Orange Blooded [2420]
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Re: Old 1998 Mike O'Cain Article; "Clemson fans need to get into the 90's" The 80's are Dead
May 9, 2019, 9:52 AM
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You can say what you want about Mike, but he is a Clemson guy as much as any of you. I grew up with him and he was always for Clemson. The 81 season did change the mentality of Clemson fans. After that year, if Clemson lost a game we were pathetic if you listen to some fans and when we lost more than the one....he’ll froze over.
It’s just like the media now, if Clemson should lose one game this year, we are out of the National championship picture. Hogwash! There aren’t many teams with the talent we have right now. Could we lose one game....heck yea if things totally don’t go our way. Any team can lose on any give day. Just ask Alabama. However, if we played that game over again, we would still beat them.
Mike was just saying how tough it is to win all your games. Like Dabo says, just lose your focus and don’t take a team serious, and a L will happen. People aren’t very tolerant when you lose after winning a bunch. It is hard to stay on top of the mountain because you get everyone’s best shot. Be ready for the bluebirds when it happens. In the meantime, Go Tigers.
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110%er [6508]
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Re: Old 1998 Mike O'Cain Article; "Clemson fans need to get into the 90's" The 80's are Dead
May 9, 2019, 4:02 PM
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You can say what you want about Mike, but he is a Clemson guy as much as any of you. I grew up with him and he was always for Clemson. The 81 season did change the mentality of Clemson fans. After that year, if Clemson lost a game we were pathetic if you listen to some fans and when we lost more than the one....he’ll froze over.
It’s just like the media now, if Clemson should lose one game this year, we are out of the National championship picture. Hogwash! There aren’t many teams with the talent we have right now. Could we lose one game....heck yea if things totally don’t go our way. Any team can lose on any give day. Just ask Alabama. However, if we played that game over again, we would still beat them.
Mike was just saying how tough it is to win all your games. Like Dabo says, just lose your focus and don’t take a team serious, and a L will happen. People aren’t very tolerant when you lose after winning a bunch. It is hard to stay on top of the mountain because you get everyone’s best shot. Be ready for the bluebirds when it happens. In the meantime, Go Tigers.
I think the reason we got so mad was the total picture. Admin fired Danny and replaced him with mediocrity. They fired mediocrity and replaced him with bottom of the barrel. Bowden was a step in the right direction, but a baby step. We had it rolling with Danny and a couple of petty dumb ######## ruined it.
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CU Guru [1149]
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A little perspective, if I may be so bold...
May 9, 2019, 11:08 AM
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O'Cain said we need to get out of the 80s in '98, when the 90s were almost over, as if we should NEVER expect success again at Clemson, even though we already knew it was possible. Furthermore, he said it when he was HC at NC State, where he went 41-40, and 26-30 in the ACC. Far and away his best season was '94 when they went 9-3. Otherwise, they, and he, defined mediocrity.
His Clemson teams as a player went 12-19-2. Incidentally his Clemson teams as OC under Bowden went 29-20 from '01-'04. Bowden hired an OC whose mentality it was to accept mediocrity because he knew in his own heart he could not meet expectations and needed justification and ready made excuses. "It's not my fault we perpetually go 7-6, it's all of you who can't temper your expectations." When all anyone wanted at the time was to win 10 games, win a bowl, and not lose to teams we shouldn't. Not too much to ask at a place like Clemson, unless you ask O'Cain, Bowden, and I could go on but I won't.
Whatever you think of him as a person, and regardless of when he said it, and whether or not he's a 'Clemson man', it's a loser's mentality manifested by a lifetime of largely underwhelming results as a coach and player. Period. He loves Clemson. Great. Many people have loved and/or attended Clemson whose opinion is mired in faulty reasoning.
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Orange Blooded [2420]
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Re: A little perspective, if I may be so bold...
May 9, 2019, 1:45 PM
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Heck, Dabo lost to the ##### five in a row and I know the talent at Clemson was better than at USC AND WE SHOULD OF WON THREE OF THOSE GAMES AT LEAST, but we didn’t. So what, we moved on to bigger and better things with two NC.
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CU Guru [1149]
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Sorry, but I fail to see your point. We all know what Dabo
May 9, 2019, 1:52 PM
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did. It was also the high point in the history of SCar football. And if you're trying to make some parallel between Dabo and O'Cain/Bowden then this conversation just totally went in the crapper because there is ZERO comparison.
My whole point was a winner's mentality vs a loser's mentality. The difference in Dabo's vision and a coach like O'Cain is so glaring you need a welding mask to keep from going blind.
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Orange Blooded [2420]
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Re: Sorry, but I fail to see your point. We all know what Dabo
May 9, 2019, 2:20 PM
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My point is all coaches lose some games. Mike was just saying what Dabo says. It is really tough to win it all. It isn’t far from the penthouse to the outhouse. If you think Mike has a loser mentality you don’t know him very well. Coaching is a tough profession and a lot of things have to go your way to win it all. A few plays make or break a season to some fans. Hopefully, you aren’t one of them.
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CU Guru [1149]
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Don't oversimplify just because you O'Cain is a friend of
May 9, 2019, 2:27 PM
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yours. This entire conversation was about the psychology of a winning coach vs the psychology of a losing coach. Our history on the field over the last 20 years respective of each coach is all the evidence you need. It has absolutely nothing to do with Dabo 'losing a few games'. Of course he did, until he got his vision and people in place.
More importantly, and ultimately to the point, he didn't make excuses or try to temper expectations. He not only embraced expectations but he INFLATED them! Dabo and O'Cain aren't night and day, they aren't even in the same galaxy. O'Cain couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag, any more than Bowden could.
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Commissioner [901]
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Re: A little perspective, if I may be so bold...
May 9, 2019, 4:56 PM
[ in reply to A little perspective, if I may be so bold... ] |
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Well said CootDawgHater. O'Cain & Bowden had the same loser mentality. Just be Happy if you go .500 and get a garbage Little Ceasers or GMAC Bowl
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Orange Blooded [3405]
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Re: Old 1998 Mike O'Cain Article; "Clemson fans need to get into the 90's" The 80's are Dead
May 9, 2019, 5:01 PM
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“We haven't lived up to the expectations people had of us, which weren't very high to begin with,'' - Kyle Young
Lol. That is a fantastic quote.
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