Re: TNET: Swinney says better days are ahead, adversity will make his program stronger

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Oct 24, 2021, 8:47 PM

Right now the only losses CU doesn't need to endure are Dabo and BV. I'm encouraged to see that Dabo is talking about things years into the future. I'm as frustrated as the next guy, but I'm betting that I've also been a Tiger for longer than many of those who post on Tigernet. I'm a '67 graduate of a father who graduated in '43, and taught me to love Clemson before I could spell it. I was a Tiger when Frank Howard had outstanding teams and when they were not very good. I went to GA Tech for 5 football season, and we lost every year I went. I've lived through Hatfield and West, and an unfair probationary period. I enjoyed the short tenue of Danny Ford, the misery that followed, the hope of Tommy Bowden and now the what I consider the greatest years in Clemson history, with Dabo. I'm as frustrated as any fan with the level of play that we are seeing this year, but a good friend, a VA Tech grad, reminded me this morning that the players and coaches are doing their best. They don't go out on the field saying, "Let's see what we can do to lose today." I have no idea how these student athletes do what they do - going to classes, going to practices, missing days while on the road, recovering from bumps, bruises, and injuries, then going out and playing the next weekend. Goodness knows, it was all I could do to go to class and study enough to pass with a mediocre GPA. I understand that the coaches are generously paid and that with NIL some of the students will now see some significant income. If you don't like that then don't join IPTAY, don't go to the games or watch them on TV, and don't buy what the players are endorsing, because without that income those salaries are not possible. But before anyone throws stones at these coaches I suggest they try being in charge of some 125 18-22 year old males, spending long hours coaching, recruiting, game planning, appeasing alumni and fans, and whatever else takes up about 16-18 hours of their days. Not to mention the unbearable pressure to win, win, win. I'm tired of the snide comments about how this team and its coaches are screwing things up. I didn't play football, but I still play doubles tennis, and I can assure you, I don't go out to the courts and say, "Let me see what I can do to help my partner and me lose?" If he or I double fault or make a bad shot, I know it was not on purpose. So when DJ misses a throw, a receiver drops a pass right in his bread basket, a runner fumbles the ball or misses a hole, a blocker misses a block or a tackler misses a tackle, I feel certain it was not done on purpose. And if the coach calls the wrong play for the offense or the wrong set for the defense, it was not intentional. I am confident that we can get through this rough spot. I would love to be in the valley this weekend to welcome the Tigers back home and, hopefully, to cheer for their success in kicking the butts of an FSU opponent who for years was our nemesis. BTW, I was there, almost in the end zone, for the famous punt rooskie. Talking about bad days! Surpassed only by the last game I attended with my father, GA Tech again, when we lost at the last minute on a TD in the end zone, in front of us. Join me in staying behind our coaches and players and being All In, even when it's not as much fun as it was in recent years. These are still our Tigers - for the real Tiger Fans, they always will be. GO TIGERS - BEAT FSU. Lets take it one game at a time until the big one in Columbia.

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This is really the story of Clemson returning to the pack like a bike rider who breaks out early in the race and then finds riders approaching and then passing as the race continues. Dabo's pressers are devoid of specifics on transforming a woeful offense, and it is not surprising the defense, with so much pressure to perform, is beginning to falter. When it comes to the team's current inadequacies, Dabo needs to begin talking like a coach instead of a preacher. Thanks to Dabo, the fanbase has become addicted to success, and focus on the virtues of setback won't be satisfying.

Hot shot high school players will not rush to a sinking program. We have begun to see 2022 4 and 5 stars with Clemson on their list choosing other schools. That trend will accelerate as Clemson will no longer be automatic for the ACC Championship and a possible BCS appearance. All in all, we'll be good but not great, and Dabo will look back in 10 years and know he should have moved on at the end of last season.

Momentum is the wind at your back when things are breaking for you. When they aren't, lost momentum is very difficult to regain. That is where we are, sad to say, and Clemson football (relative to the recent past) is heading into a darker period that will linger.

TNET: Swinney says better days are ahead, adversity will make his program stronger

Hard times make tough people