Champs Sports Bowl Tommy Bowden Quotes |
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>CLEMSON HEAD COACH TOMMY BOWDEN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Monday, Dec. 26
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>House of Blues –
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>On what has changed in his coaching philosophy after some experience in bowl games:
“Very little. There’s only so many practices you can have and only so many days you can hit ‘em in full pads. As far as free time, curfew, things of that nature, I’ve changed very little.”
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Are they similar to your dad’s preparations?
“Yeah, but his are usually a bit later on in the month. When you play earlier, you have a little more restricted time in which to practice.”
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>On not knowing if his team’s ready to play or not until they step on the field:
“I think that’s the case. This year, it seems like for the first time in a long time, we’ve come to play every Saturday. Every game we’ve either won or lost very close or on the last play of the game. I think our team has come to play every Saturday that we’ve suited up, and in order to do that, you’ve got to have pretty productive practices, as far as your attitude, attention, focus, concentration, things of that nature. Based on that, I feel a little bit better, I think we’ll come to play with pretty good concentration and focus. But again, you wake up and if the sun and the moon and the stars just aren’t lined up right and the hair’s not in place, you could get a bad day, and that’s pretty much the case.”
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>On this year’s team vs. the team that got blown out by
Tech in 2003:
“I think it’s a different team. We’re also facing a different team. Their plan of attack’s a little bit different. I think your leadership, personality and chemistry of your team changes every year, and it’s sure different this year than it was last year, and the last time we were here it was different. Different cast of characters, and we’re playing a bunch of different guys. Most of them did not participate in that game.”
“People remember your last game. In Clemson, that wasn’t our last game; our last game was
w:st="on">South Carolina, that’s what they remember. Down here, people remember that bowl game, so our presence down here has rekindled some media attention toward it because for us, that wasn’t our last game. People remember your last game. Down here, that was our last game.”
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>On balancing business and pleasure in a bowl environment:
“I’ll have to let you know afterwards. I don’t know how I’ve kept them focused. We’ll find out when we play. You do have to find the balance between the reward and work. The major objective is not reward, the major objective is to win. Slightly behind it is reward, and the winning part involves work. You have to balance that. There’s not a game plan in a book where you open it up and say, ‘Ok, in order to get a win in a bowl game, you practice this many days, this many days in full pads, you put your curfew at this time and give them this such allotted amount of free time. The personality and leadership of your team is different. You know, sometimes your leadership, as I told the team yesterday, our seniors have the most at stake, and they’ve got the most invested. Their legacy ends Tuesday night at 8 o’clock. Underclassmen don’t. It’s up to them to help the team create a sense of urgency, of how important the game is. I can only do so much. You throw that all in a big pot, kinda like gumbo, and you go play the game and see if you’ve accomplished that objective.”
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>On what 2005 opponent
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“I think probably
[They’re] a little bit similar as far as their run, run action pass. The defenses are very similar. Boston College [has] a very productive front four, very solid linebackers and secondary, may not have any pre-season All-Americans or pre-season all-conference or end of the season all-conference. Just a very consistent, steady team.”
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>On
w:st="on">Colorado being a dangerous team because of how much has gone wrong for them lately:
“Even at Clemson, I’ve been in a situation where there’s nothing to lose, and we’ve responded very well. The biggest win of my career came in a situation like that, where my back and the team’s back was against the wall.
was embarassed, I’m sure, by [the
game and
game], when you back them in a corner. Those guys have a lot of pride. You don’t achieve four divisional championships in five years without some type of character and leadership at the top, as far as the staff. I think we’ll get a very similar team and approach in
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Tuesday.”
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>On
w:st="on">Orlando as a bowl destination:
“I don’t see how another city can offer as much as
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bowl opportunities for players. As far as being a reward for players, coaches, families, administration, the four or five day vacation. I think somebody told me 47 million tourists visit here yearly. There’s a reason people do that. To have somebody pay you to come down here and experience the same type of things they look for, I don’t think there’s a better bowl city of all the 28 bowls available for a team than to come down and bring the players to the city of
w:st="on">Orlando.”
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