Tommy Bowden Press Conference Quotes |
CLEMSON HEAD COACH TOMMY BOWDEN ON ...
Playing after the South Carolina game I've only been here two years so its not something that's been ingrained. It's a little unusual because now you can recruit. We've got official visits coming in this weekend, I've got a dinner at my home Saturday night. So you've got to combine the two, which is a little unusual. Meeting expectations You always go into the season with high expectations. Rarely in life do you achieve all your expectations so you try to adjust to what happens to you and, whatever you're dealt, do the best you can with it. It's disappointing, but I imagine this won't be the first time in my career or my players' lives that something's going to happen unexpectedly. But there are lessons to be learned about going on and trying to be the best that you can to achieve the highest of what's out there. Playing an underdog You have to be creative on how you motivate your team, which is the most difficult part. You look at Oklahoma, playing in Norman on Senior Day, and all of a sudden here comes a team [Oklahoma State] with only three wins and hasn't looked very impressive. I think it helps sometimes when you don't play so you can see things happen in the world of college football. Nebraska lost by the most in their history. You have to really tell your team that you're going to win that game Monday through Thursday. In the cases I mentioned their may have been some thinking about a championship game as opposed to who they were playing last Saturday. Dantzler's 1,000 yards rushing We have not put in any special plays to create a way for him to get the necessary yardage. We've got a plan that we think is best for us to be productive against Duke's defense and he'll have to get it. I don't even know if the team has talked about it. I know I haven't talked about it with them because it's not the most important thing, although you'd like to see him accomplish it. You'd like to see him accomplish it with what within the concept of what we've got drawn up in the plan. Going to a bowl game Sometimes you hear negative commentary towards what some people perceive to be minor bowls. I've always been of the belief that the bowls are a reward for the players. That's what the original intent was, to reward the team for hard work and some level of success. In that regard, any bowl is good for your team. That would be my major concern, that they could go to one and experience one. Kevin Youngblood's rehabilitation Originally he was making really good progress, then he leveled off. I know he's not going backwards because he comes out there every day, but I know it's not going to be good enough to play this week and I doubt he'll be ready for a bowl game. Coaching at Duke The entrance requirements are really difficult. They don't bend. At some places, they give you an exception or two and try to migrate them into the population and they do really well. Tulane was similar to that. It was a private school, pretty expensive, entrance requirements were really high. They give you some exceptions, which are above NCAA standards, and they were all very successful. After coaching there four years, I know Carl has a difficult job. Game Notes: There will be a $6 high school ticket available for the Clemson vs. Duke game on Saturday. Students high school age and under will be admitted for the $6 ticket. They will be available at the stadium the morning of the game. There will be no live television.
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