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Zealot [751]
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Clemson Football and Being Conditioned by Losing (Long)
Dec 2, 2013, 11:26 AM
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From 1986-1989 Clemson set a high bar for excellence. Under Danny Ford those teams won 4 bowl games, 3 ACC titles, 39 games (when you could only play a maximum of 48), and went 2-1-1 vs the Gamecocks.
Enter Ken Hatfield in 1990. He was clearly a bad choice, but he managed a 10 win season, an ACC title, and a 3-1 record vs the Gamecocks. However, by 1993 it was apparent that Hatfield could not maintain the talent level Danny left him. Clemson fell behind UNC, GT, and the new king of the ACC: FSU. (Please keep in mind the ACC was stocked with coaches like Mack Brown, Bobby Ross, and Steve Spurrier from 1987-1993.) After BEATING South Carolina in 1993, Hatfield was relieved for another young redneck.
As if trying to reclaim glory, Clemson hired Tommy West to coach Clemson in the 1993 Peach Bowl. And, like Danny Ford, Tommy west won his first game. The comparisons started flying, and that game is where they stop. His horrid five year run featured 2 losing seasons, a 1-3 bowl record, zero ACC titles, and a 3-2 record against the worst Gamecock teams ever.
Following the 1998 season Clemson attempted to "join'em" by hiring Tommy Bowden. He is the son of Bobby Bowden and was tasked with modernizing Clemson football. To his credit, he pushed for facility upgrades, brought in a new offense, and increased the talent level year-by-year. Unlike Hatfield and West, Tommy Bowden never had a losing season. His teams also never won the ACC or a division title or ten games. He went 7-2 against South Carolina and 3-5 in bowl games. Tommy Bowden wasn't immune to winning big games, beating FSU for the first team since they joined the ACC, TAM, and Tenneesee.
What Tommy Bowden introduced to Clemson was the "hangover" loss and the now dreaded Clemsoning- losing to a team you shouldn't. Losing to Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, NC State, and Maryland became common place. Tommy Bowden kept his job in large part because he never had a losing season and managed to beat South Carolina almost every year. Greatness was always one step beyond Bowden, but he did raise the program from the depth Tommy West took it.
Enter 2008, the Dabo Swinney era. Dabo is young and ambitious- very Danny Ford like. He talks like a baptist youth pastor- selling himself and Clemson with great zeal. His first full season saw Clemson make a trip to the ACC championship game. (One could argue this was Tommy's team much like Ken Hatfield's only ACC title.)
In 2010, his youth and inexperienced showed when he allowed his starting QB (Kyle Parker) to sit out the whole off season and part of summer camp. Offensive coordinator Billy Napier looked the graduate assistant he was without CJ Spiller. That season Clemson fell again to South Carolina and experienced it's losing season since 1998. After the season Dabo fired his buddy Napier and brought in a high school coach to call offensive plays.
2011, saw a resurgence of sorts. Clemson beat then top 25 Auburn, FSU, and VT. Chad Morris' offense looked the part but late road games at unranked GT and NC State crushed any National Title talk. Clemson managed to back it's way into the ACC game, and actually won it over VT. The 2011 season will always be bitter sweet as sandwiched around the first ACC title in 20 years were embarrassing losses to South Carolina and West Virgina. This led to the firing of defensive coordinator Kevin Steele.
2012: Clemson again started well by beating Auburn. A late September game against FSU exposed a Clemson defense still learning a new system as FSU rolled in the second half. Any hopes of a BCS bowl were dashed when Clemson fell to South Carolina for a fourth year in a row. Amazingly enough, Dabo rallied his Cats to beat LSU in the Peach Bowl.
2013: See above: exchange UGa for Auburn, and the bowl game is undetermined.
Under Dabo Clemson has won an ACC title, two bowl games, a few games against teams that FINISHED the season in the top 25, and three straight 10 plus win seasons. Under Dabo Swimmey Clemson has also lost 3 bowl games, 5 straight against South Carolina, and 3 of 4 to FSU.
What's my point? Dabo is better than Tommy Bowden and Tommy West and Ken Hatfield. Is he as good or better than Danny? Nope, not by a country mile. We've been conditioned by bad coaching to believe that Dabo is a great coach. We are so hungry to claim our spot as an elite program, we accept getting torched by our biggest rivals. We think ten wins is a big deal. Danny, Ken, Tommy, and Tommy (for a few years) had to try to win ten games in a 12 game season. Dabo, by contrast has coached three 13-game seasons and two 14-game seasons. He should be winning more games.
To his credit, Dabo doesn't lose to Maryland or Wake. He doesn't do hangover losses or Clemsoning. So, like Tommy Bowden was to Tommy West, he is better than his predecessor. Is that really the best we can say? Dabo is better than Tommy Bowden?
As we move into year six (2014), the road doesn't get easier. Clemson will start a new QB/RB/WR to open the season in Athens. Then we travel down to Tallahassee. Finally we'll end the season with a team we haven't beat since 2008. In between will be trips to Atlanta and Boston, and a possible date with Louisville. Anyone really believe in ten wins for 2014? How about nine wins? 2013 was suppose to be the year. What it turned into was another year in no-mans land. We are clearly better than everyone in the ACC accept FSU, and we still can't beat South Carolina.
I've stated my case about Dabo over and over. Let the his record speak for itself. Remember how you feel/think about him right now this time next year. To me best really is the standard. Second in the ACC and losing to South Carolina is not best. Clemson isn't the best in the Atlantic Division, the ACC, or the state South Carolina. Dabo is where the buck stops, and I don't believe he is the best we can do.
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All-In [30593]
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I love how you convienently forget that Danny
Dec 2, 2013, 11:29 AM
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routinely lost to an NCST/Duke/UNC, etc... how he coached in an ACC minus VT,FSU, Miami... how he coached in a time when athletes were nowhere near as big, strong, and fast...
Danny was great, but he's not the savior
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All-TigerNet [14921]
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Truth of the matter is, if TNet existed in the 80s, the
Dec 2, 2013, 11:34 AM
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same geniuses on here who want Dabo gone would've called for Danny's head in '84, '85, '86... "Yeah he won the MNC but he's clearly peaked. We can't beat Duke/NCSt/FSU/UNC/MD consistently... He ALWAYS drops a game since '81..."
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Legend [19202]
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2014 will be year 5 for Dabo not 6.***
Dec 2, 2013, 11:32 AM
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Zealot [751]
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Incorrect: Geez man. Hope you aren't an engineer.
Dec 2, 2013, 11:41 AM
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Nevermind he was the interim for half a year. He was officially the coach in 2009. This is the end of his 5th full season. Next year will be year 6.
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Zealot [751]
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Bro- Danny won the ACC, beat South Carolina, and won a bowl game
Dec 2, 2013, 11:36 AM
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All in the same season. We didn't have to pick one. Newsflash- Danny beat UGa and FSU on the regular. Yes he lost to some games to ACC teams. But NEWSFLASH, VT and Miami have been terrible since they joined the ACC.
Aren't you the same dude who said Texas was gonna join the ACC or Clemson was going Big 12? You opinion is invalid to me, as you talk out of your ###.
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110%er [8015]
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Uhh... VT had carried the ACC banner up until about 2 years
Dec 2, 2013, 11:48 AM
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ago. Calling them terrible is ignorant.
We lost to friggin Duke in 1989. Danny dropped some games against terrible teams.
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Rooter [228]
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Re: Clemson Football and Being Conditioned by Losing (Long)
Dec 2, 2013, 11:54 AM
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Well said despite the knit-picking who challenge your post for argument's sake. Defenders of Dabo can not refute that he has done what no other coach in the history of Clemson football has done...lose 5 straight games to South Carolina; and all of them by double digits. There are many Gamecocks fans who are big fans of Dabo which is probably unprecedented as well.
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All-In [27374]
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Re: Clemson Football and Being Conditioned by Losing (Long)
Dec 2, 2013, 12:04 PM
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Raise your hand if you think Dabo would lose to a Holtz coached team. I see no hands!
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Scout Team [173]
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Re: Clemson Football and Being Conditioned by Losing (Long)
Dec 2, 2013, 12:35 PM
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Personally I like Dabo and the direction he has taken us despite the losses to USC. One must remember that USC is currently at the apex of their football histories with a legendary coach who, despite the fact that is a despicable person, is a great coach. It's difficult to accept but thier ascendancy overall is a fact. The tide will turn back in our direction. There are few coaches who could match up with what is happening in Columbia. It's common to refer to the past in these types of discussions but the past is irrelevant in discussing the Gamecocks at this point in time. Just a thought.
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