Re: umm ... we're playing Kentucky in a bowl game

I am amazed that if you are a true Clemson

AThomas® · 2023-12-06T17:15:43.723Z

Fan how some of you still don't understand how Dabo works behind the scenes hiring coaches and in acquiring new talent by recruiting and now the new world of the Portal. He does not do this publicly and this drives some of you insane. Loose lips sink ships. Lots of rivals looking for ways to steal your hard work to acquire what you will believe will help you win and be one of the best teams in the country. SMH. Go Tigers!!!!!

slwcu79® said:

Frankly, I wish he had been more "deliberate" when he picked his coaching staff a couple of years ago. He had already made up his mind to promote from within and his famous quote of, "I spent about 30 seconds thinking about coaches from the outside" was an honest assessment of that thought process.

One might argue had he brought in a Riley and the guys he just hired at that time, we might not have fallen quite so far off the pace the last few seasons.

The man isn't perfect and he has earned the right to pick his staff. I just wish he would have considered best of breed coaches back then like he is now. To your point, sometimes he takes a while to see the light but eventually he usually gets it right.

It's a fair point IMO to question the hires. The devil is in the details.

I think it is fair to say Austin did not live up to expectations which had a big negative impact on our performance. At the time he looked like a decent hire but that was not the case.

Hall was hired before the last shake up. He seemed to be a decent (read average) coach. Dabo groomed him for several years as a support guy so I dont think it was a reach but was not a home run.

Streeter was a scape goat. We had several highly rated WRs who did not pan out. We had two 5* QBs who did not show the 5* talent on the field. We had an underperforming OL. The fact that Riley could not show improvement shows the OC was not the issue.

Wes was the biggest risk of all but has delivered. There were a few growing pains last year but has totally redeemed himself (pun) this year.

One of the hardest things to do in CFB is to keep a team on top of the mountain. Very few coaches are great for more than a few years.

Judge Keller®

Tiger Titan [50730]

TigerPulse: 79%

Posts: 37012

Joined: 2003

All we have to go on the last few years

Dec 6, 2023, 1:29 PM

is what's actually happened with Dabo and the portal:

1. Dabo speaks out against the portal.
2. Dabo has only used it twice, both times to get a third or fourth string QB and not an impact player. Both of these were a result of that player/representative contacting Clemson about transferring.
3. Dabo has not made many offers to players in the portal. All we know about is an offensive lineman from Virginia in the past, and an offensive lineman from Shorter this year.

Yet the pumpers here continue to maintain that Dabo isn't against the portal, he's just selective about using it, and that he would bring in players from the portal if they can help us. Meanwhile, we continue having significant positions of need which are not effectively addressed.

In terms of coaches:

1. Elliott leaves for Virginia, and instead of conducting a legitimate coaching search and hiring a highly qualified candidate, he promotes Brandon Streeter. Streeter had no power 5 experience as a coordinator, and his only experience in that role was a few years at Richmond and Liberty.
2. Venables leaves for Oklahoma, and instead of conducting a legitimate coaching search and hiring a highly qualified candidate, he promoted Goodwin and Conn to co-DC roles. Neither had any experience being a defensive coordinator at any level.
3. When position coaches needed to be replaced, such as OL, WR, and RB, instead of conducting a legitimate coaching search and hiring a highly qualified candidate, Dabo hired former Clemson players with little experience (Thomas Austin, brief stint at Georgia State) or no experience (Tyler Grisham, CJ Spiller) instead of conducting a legitimate coaching search and hiring a highly qualified candidate.

These moves by Dabo were lazy and arrogant. He thought the "Clemson way" and our culture were enough to transform these coaches into superstars. In just about every instance, he was wrong. More importantly, our team suffered for it. As you know, we've underachieved the last three years.

Thankfully, Dabo seems to be (slowly) realizing that he made some grave mistakes with his recent coaching hires. Firing Streeter and replacing him with Riley was an aggressive move, although the jury is still out on that one. Firing Austin and replacing him with Luke seems to be a great hire. Likewise, bringing in Rumph to coach defensive ends is a great idea, allowing Eason to focus on interior defensive linemen.

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

"All those 'Fire Brownell' guys can kiss it." -Joseph Girard III

"Everybody needs to know that Coach Brownell is arguably the best coach to come through Clemson." -PJ Hall

I am amazed that if you are a true Clemson

umm ... we're playing Kentucky in a bowl game

Yes, because of a down season including