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YOUR BALANCE
Top to bottom, we have the best coaching staff in the coun-
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Top to bottom, we have the best coaching staff in the coun-


Nov 18, 2015, 9:09 AM

-try. I've listened to all these guys and watched them on game days and I've come to the conclusion that we have the absolute best staff in all of college football. There surely are coaches at every position who do certain things better than our guys, but when considering the whole package, we have the best group.

It starts with recruiting. Our recruiting has been lights out not just in the talent we've brought in, but in the character we've brought in. I got cussed the worst I've ever been cussed by a FSU grad at the beginning of the season. I had been giving him some grief about the difference in culture Jimbo and Dabo have created. All this news about FSU players doing stupid/evil things and Jimbo makes excuses for them. The university president has to hand down suspensions because Jimbo won't do it. I told him how Dabo would not tolerate the stuff Jimbo fosters, all for the sake of winning. I made the point that Dabo would rather lose a game than win it the wrong way. Then that article came out about ranking teams according to five-year arrest records. I asked him one day if he had seen the article. That's all, just had he seen it. He cussed me like I've never been cussed in my life. It touched a nerve. He didn't even know what the article said, but his anger rose up and he flipped his lid. BTW, FSU wasn't the worst. Washington State was #1; FSU was tied for #10.

But here's the thing: you're only as good as the players you have. Reggie Herring took a whole lot of flack over his "we got who we got" comment. He was being truthful, but he threw his kids under the bus. So, although he was just being honest, he shouldn't have said it. Fact is, there is a very fine line between a 5-star player and a 4-star player. There is a fine line between a 4-star player and a 3-star player. There is such a thing as player development, but those results depend on the athleticism, intelligence and coachability of the player. If a kid is simply a step too slow, but has all the rest, there's no coaching him to the 5-star level.

Our staff has the ability to convince kids like CJ Spiller, Sammy Watkins, Deshaun Watson, Deon Cain to come to a RURAL campus, sometimes pretty far from home and family, to be a part of what Clemson is doing. And they won't take just any kid who has all-world talent. They want only the kids who will respect the culture and who want to be here and do what it takes to fit in. As recruiters, I wouldn't take anybody's staff. Our guys are pouring their hearts and souls into it and killing it. We're finally getting the OL and DL kids here again that we haven't seen since the late '80s and very early '90s. The success we're enjoying is sustainable because our recruiting is awesome. Great players who happen to be great people, too.

All the other aspects of a great coaching staff are in place, too. Strength and Conditioning, once thought to be a glaring weakness, is now a clear asset. Funny how getting to the point of quality depth suddenly makes part of your game better. Xs and Os--our coaches are top-notch. No defense can stop our offense. You take something away, we'll just take what you give. Relentless. No offense can have that kind of success on our defense. They'll get a big play here and there, but they can't beat our D like our O beats theirs. That's the ability of our coaches to put our guys in the position to win.

Game day coaching--it used to be that we got out-coached routinely. CTB is no longer here because he was out-coached on a regular basis. The C-word was born of his inability to adjust during the course of a game. CTB would have lost at Syracuse. I have no doubt about that. 'Cuse came out in a completely different look than we had planned for and we all would have had that "here we go again" sinking feeling. The other guys have players and coaches, too. Sometimes they're going to have success by exploiting a weakness, maybe even a strength. Our staff is able to make the adjustments it takes to win. It may not always be as pretty as we want it to be, but we get it done. It used to be that we'd all have our fingers crossed that things would be different in the second half. We'd be holding our breath to see if anything was corrected at halftime. Now we know the second half will be just fine. We wait to see how the coaches fixed our issues, not if they fixed them.

Controlled passion. I watched Scott Shafer in horror Saturday. It's one thing to be passionate. It's quite another to have to be restrained so you don't get physical with an official. If I were the AD, I just might have sent him to the locker room and named one of the coordinators HC for the rest of the game--maybe for the rest of the season. Maybe for the future. Dabo gets hot over bad officiating. He gives the nearest official a spirited explanation of why the call was incorrect. But Dabo won't cost his team a 15-yard penalty for either verbally or physically abusing an official. That was sad to see. I'm glad our coaches have fire in their bellies but that we'll never see what we saw out of Shafer.

Instead, you have Dabo keeping the team on the field at halftime in Miami to make the point "We're Clemson; we're better than that." An Oklahoma fan told me how he was going to miss Spurrier (I said I sure wouldn't). He said he was good for the game because he was the guy you love to hate (I said I just hated him, there was no love involved). Then he said, Clemson is a team you can really like. You're the good guys. He then went on talking about how he would miss Spurrier because he was such a snide arsehole. I was prouder of our staff at that moment than I have ever been.

We've had effective coaches who were rather rough around the edges and didn't always do things right. And we've had coaches who were beyond reproach but who couldn't take us to the pinnacle. This staff, however, is the best in the country. We've beaten two teams one could argue have a bit more talent. But they don't have our coaching staff. And that's why we're #1.


Message was edited by: David78®


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The definition of awesome!


Agree 100%


Nov 18, 2015, 9:30 AM

Fantastic post!!!! This staff is as good or better than the '81 coaching staff, and the culture of the program has never been better. Thanks Tommy for hiring Dabo. Thanks Terry Don for keeping Dabo. Thanks Dabo for your character and leadership.

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Unfortunately, that championship was tainted by scandal,


Nov 18, 2015, 9:37 AM

thanks to Charlie Pell, who was an effective coach, but a scumbag. In his short time here he raised our talent level, no question. Danny's seniors were Pell's recruits. Heck of a team, but Pell didn't do it the right way. I'll get blasted for this, but Danny wasn't above reproach either. I know everybody was cheating back then and we were certainly not the worst. I can still look at our current staff and say it's the best we've ever had, all things considered.

I know Dabo and company haven't won a NC . . . yet. I have no doubt they will, whether this year or some future year. But what they've built is lasting because it's built on the proper foundation.

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The definition of awesome!


yes, indeed


Nov 18, 2015, 2:10 PM

This program is built on solid rock.

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+1 for an excellent post and I agree wholeheartedly!! GO


Nov 18, 2015, 9:51 AM

TIGERS!

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Re: Top to bottom, we have the best coaching staff in the coun-


Nov 18, 2015, 9:53 AM

Great read David. I agree with the coaches being the best staff in the country. I believe it's because they all actually like each other. The "IT Factor" is they are truly family and the top recruits see that. Many of which don't have that at home and long to find it coming to Clemson. I believe it all starts with Dabo, Although, I liked him from the beginning, I was always skeptical about how far he could take us until the LSU game. I've been a believer every since and as long as he maintains that fire and continues to keep the coaches around him that care about each other we will continue to have success. I remember a recruit that committed to Clemson in the last few years say that what he liked about Clemson was the family atmosphere and how you can prove it was how many former players are now coaches. Go Tigers.

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+1 Dabo is comfortable enough in his own skin to bring in


Nov 18, 2015, 10:00 AM

superstar coordinators like BV and CM. Although CM was a largely unproven coordinator, he is a larger-than-life personality and a sure-fire winner. An egotistical HC like couspurriergh has to have the spotlight solely on him. Dabo has surrounded himself with winners and he is more than happy to share the praise and glory.

You reminded me of something, too. I meant to mention he GAs Dabo has brought back, too. When you have guys like Jeff Davis as a part of the team, you have something very special.

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The definition of awesome!


Agree.


Nov 18, 2015, 2:27 PM

But if we could button up special teams. (I assume coaching is part of the issue there.) Then watch out. Every coach in the country would be showing up for coaching clinics during the summer.

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It's not like special teams have been a problem all along.


Nov 18, 2015, 8:31 PM

There are some issues this year. It's not a chronic problem, IMHO. FGs have actually been a strength. KOs have been better. Punting could be better and punt coverage could be better. I'll take what we have though. #1 and no reason to think anyone can knock us off.

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The definition of awesome!


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