The $15.25 Million Dollar Question: What's Next for Clemson Football?

Sep 1, 2024, 9:43 AM

Yesterday’s game brought back memories of the 2008 season opener against Alabama, where the Tigers faced a tough 34-10 loss. We've come full circle, but this time with a lot of success in between, leading to a complacency that’s hard to ignore. Gone is the fiery Dabo Swinney who once passionately yelled at a kicker for not sprinting off the field. While I won’t yell, I do have a lot of questions.

There are three main categories where these questions lie:

Player Personnel Decisions
Play Calling
Culture, Accountability, and Honesty

In today’s college football landscape, the transfer portal is providing upgrades for many programs. Miami’s quarterback looked phenomenal yesterday, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. Dabo and his staff have expressed confidence in their roster, often saying they prefer to recruit players "transferring from high school." However, our two best freshman wide receivers were barely utilized yesterday. It’s clear that Adam Randall and others are not meeting expectations, but that’s a discussion for another time. We must return to trusting freshmen to step in and take spots. You can’t afford to shun the portal and simultaneously underutilize your freshmen.

Even more concerning is the vanilla play calling on both sides of the ball. We are missing the creativity that once made this team exciting to watch.

Starting with the defense—though they kept us in the game, there were still some puzzling decisions. We no longer showcase any blitz packages that could keep the opposing offense on its heels. In fact, we hardly blitzed at all yesterday. You can’t adopt this strategy and then consistently play coverage 10 yards off the line. Georgia, known for their heavy screen and off-the-edge offense, exploited this in the second half, and we never adjusted. Wes Goodwin needs to revisit the aggressive style of his predecessor. He’s a smart guy, but vanilla play calling won’t cut it against playoff-caliber opponents.

Offensively, nothing has changed from a year ago. There were a few good calls initially, but a throw in the dirt and a big drop stalled the drive. A series later, the unimaginative play calling reared its ugly head again. On 3rd and 8, we ran a fake handoff, which distracted Cade just long enough for the pressure to close in—this is not a play call you expect from a $1.75 million offensive coordinator. On the next series, another 3rd and 8, we called a quick slant that was two yards short. These are the kinds of play-calling mistakes that simply can’t happen. From that point on, Riley seemed lost, throwing plays together without any rhyme or rhythm, and certainly without creativity. We have speed with Antonio and Brown, yet Briningstool was mostly absent, and our two star freshman wide receivers weren’t targeted enough. I genuinely believe the route schemes are lacking. Riley is playing checkers when we need someone playing chess to compete at the level we aspire to.

Dabo has built an incredible culture at Clemson—one that I believe can continue to make us a powerhouse, but only with the right adjustments. The business side of college football has trickled down to the players. With NIL dollars in play, accountability and honesty have become essential to maintaining the integrity of the program. Dabo has done a commendable job holding his coaches accountable and giving them fair chances. I hear that behind closed doors, he can be very tough on them. Now, this needs to extend to the players. Honest conversations must take place. There are too many players on this team who need to transfer to lower-tier programs. Yes, Dabo may have missed on some recruits, but tough questions need to be asked:

Do you want to actually play? If so, it’s not going to happen at the level you desire here. It’s best to go elsewhere.

If you just want to be at Clemson, can we find a way to help you stay without taking a competitive spot on the team?

In a "family," honesty is often the best policy. In a business, it’s mandatory. This is how you free up spots for the transfer portal.

The final $15.25 million dollar question is just that—are we getting the return on investment we expect from our coaching staff? Below is the list of salaries for the 2024 season. Are these high-paid coaches delivering the results Clemson deserves? $15.25 million dollars is what we are paying Dabo, Riley, Wes, Grish, and CJ. Will these "fat cats" continue to purr, or will they make the necessary changes and pounce? I’m cheering for the latter and hoping we can turn this season around!

Garrett Riley (OC/QBs)
2023 Salary: $1.75 million
2024 Salary: $1.75 million
Raise: None

Wes Goodwin (DC/LBs)
2023 Salary: $850,000
2024 Salary: $1.4 million
Raise: $550,000 (65%)

Nick Eason (AHC/DTs)
2023 Salary: $800,000
2024 Salary: $1 million
Raise: $200,000 (25%)

Matt Luke (OL)
2023 Salary: $450,000*
2024 Salary: $975,000
Raise: $525,000 (117%)

Chris Rumph (DEs)
2023 Salary: $625,000*
2024 Salary: $950,000
Raise: $325,000 (52%)

Mike Reed (AHC/STC/CBs)
2023 Salary: $800,000
2024 Salary: $900,000
Raise: $100,000 (13%)

Mickey Conn (Co-DC/S)
2023 Salary: $800,000
2024 Salary: $900,000
Raise: $100,000 (13%)

Kyle Richardson (PCG/TEs)
2023 Salary: $500,000
2024 Salary: $600,000
Raise: $100,000 (20%)

Tyler Grisham (WRs/RC)
2023 Salary: $450,000
2024 Salary: $550,000
Raise: $100,000 (22%)

CJ Spiller (RBs)
2023 Salary: $450,000
2024 Salary: $550,000
Raise: $100,000 (22%)

Total
2023 Salary: $7.475 million
2024 Salary: $9.575 million
Raise: $2.1 million (28%)