Re: Though it may be in Clemson's long-term interests to leave

the ACC, you have to ask yourself... why did the ACC end up in this position in football?

We have Florida State, Virginia Tech, Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson... all completely capable of being national powers. But we have all failed miserably and all at the same time for the last near-decade.

When we added Virginia Tech and Miami in the mid-2000s it looked like the perfect move. We deserve part of the blame for tripping over ourselves constantly. Florida State and Miami have severely underacheived as well.

Had Miami and Florida State kept on playing the way they were at the turn of the century then the ACC would not be losing the financial arms race today. Miami and Florida State are two of the best programs of the last quarter century. It's sad that the football teams themselves killed the ACC as a football conference BEFORE the basketball expansion that we are angry about.

wrench®

All-American [576]

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Posts: 1919

Joined: 7/30/11

May 10, 2012, 1:04 PM

As a outsider to the ACC this is my take on it.

There could be a lot of factors in why the ACC has been weak in football. First, ya'll mentioned coaches. I'm torn 50/50 on that subject. The ACC really does not have any big name coaches, except for Beamer. I think the ACC do have good coaches but has not broken out yet. I think Dabo and Fisher are good coaches and I see them being succesfull in their careers. Mike London at UVA, imo, will become a great coach also (he has done a lot since he has been at UVA). Golden is another but I feel he joined Miami at the wrong time (with all the mess going on). Then there are coaches that I believe are not a good fit. Paul Johnson at GT. Johnson is a good coach but I don't believe the option will make him one of the elites in the coaching ranks. Also I don't think he can compete with the more elite schools on a consistant bases. There is the coach from Maryland (can't think of his name at the moment), the only thing he has done in his first year is #### players off and from what I hear the players don't like him. Second, recruiting (and this can go along with coaches). Clemson, FSU, and Miami have out-recruited some of the elite schools in the country. There is no question that these teams gets some of the best talent in the country. A question that could be asked is..are they coaches developing and pushing these kids to the fullest potential? Finally, I think it is the competition of the ACC. I think weak competition can weaken a team. For example, VT has had what 8 10+ winning seasons but look how they got those 10 wins. They schedule weak OOC games and then play weak ACC teams (Duke, Wake, Maryland, etc.) and they rarely face better teams other than Clemson and FSU. Then they go to a BCS bowl and can't win about other teams in other conferences. I understand the hate for Swofford and understand why so many of you are not happy with him. In no way am I taking up for him but Clemson, FSU, Miami, and VT has all the resources needed to be sucessul in football and you can't put the full blame on him for that (unless you are talking about money). That is just my opinion and in no way am I trying to diss Clemson. However, I do believe Clemson, FSU, VT, Miami, and GT deserves to be in a better conference where they are not overshadowed by another sport.

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Though it may be in Clemson's long-term interests to leave