My thoughts on the hiring of Kevin Kelly.

Feb 11, 2025, 10:08 AM

Sorry, I've read a few threads on here about it, but I never commented in any of them. (At least I don't think I did.)

Lots of folks are having different takes on it. I'll post one video below. But, here is my take on it.

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Dabo has consistently said, "We all know where this is going. It's all gonna be different in 3 to 5 years." (Or, words to that effect.) Dabo has been building the infrastructure to make Clemson football competitive in the "new football order" while maintaining his overall commitment to maintaining his values on the purpose of college football being more than just winning games no matter the cost. He's built a great in house system whereby athletes are guided and assisted in making NIL deals (not just getting money from the collective) and also educating them on how to handle their new found wealth. He's teaching them money management principles that will last a lifetime, not just until they head to the NFL or leave school any other way.

Now, he's just added another piece to the infrastructure. Kelly will handle scouting college players so that when the "NCAA Draft" (whatever that looks like - whatever the transfer portal looks like when the dust settles) Clemson will be prepared to deal with it without losing their core values.

Dabo is not stupid. Dabo is not stubborn, meaning he's not willing to adapt at all. He will adapt with the changing times as long as he doesn't compromise on his core beliefs and values.

I have no idea who Kevin Kelly is. But, I'll bet he has the same value system and worldview as Dabo. And, I'll bet he's not coming to Clemson with the idea, "My job is to identify the best players in college and then outbid every team for their services."

If the new system, whatever it looks like, allows a team to be competitive without compromising on Dabo's core values, he will find a way to keep Clemson elite.

Kelly is just another brick in the Clemson infrastructure.
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Here's the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz7BTwSCoYI

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Re: My thoughts on the hiring of Kevin Kelly.

I agree, Bret.

Dabo didn't have an epiphany and suddenly realize that the portal is more valuable to him, his job and his players than high school recruiting. Imo, that's insane. Dabo has always been on the cutting edge of NCAA football. After the first couple years of filling in the blanks which Bowen left he has had solid recruiting up until he couldn't get a suitable replacement for Trevor L.

I believe our new hire will be mostly focusing on HS players and helping identify those few in the portal who might fill in the blanks where we didn't land the HS guys we wanted.

Dabo has always played every game for the future of our program. We've been tortured with his obsession to substitute liberally before our two deep put the games away. He was developing skill in younger players for two and three years down the road.

We lost some games because of that but we've been more than respectable since Dabo's second year. The old folks said, 'No news is good news.' We've had bad news featuring our grad player since Dabo took over the job. If Dabo said, "My job is to find players who won't embarrass Clemson University, our team, fans or me," I'd say he was successful and his new hire will be responsible to keep that intact.

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My thoughts on the hiring of Kevin Kelly.

Re: My thoughts on the hiring of Kevin Kelly.

I agree, Bret.

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