tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75094732872494425862024-03-14T05:35:49.598-04:00Its ClemPson dammit, not Clemzzzun: Clemson Sports BlogFounders of STS, still giving the finger to SBNation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger339125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-66415456608756223022022-11-09T17:18:00.000-05:002022-11-09T17:18:08.025-05:00The Aftermath of Notre Dame<p> Debated saying much of anything about this game, but I wanted to spell out some thoughts for myself after rewatching it to get a clearer picture. You learn much more watching game film the 2nd time and looking at things besides the ball and where its going. I've seen the usual head-explosions online from Clemson fans saying its the end of everything, and then there are still some true sunshine pumpers who do nothing but sit around and think about how we can still get to the CFP this year. The truth, as always, is more in the middle.</p><p>We'll meet the criteria I've always had for a good season. We're going to win 10 games, we're going to beat SC barring a total disaster on our end, and we're probably going to beat UNC for the ACC. I do think UNC's QB is pretty good, but that Chizik D is so bad.</p><p>We should thank ND for exposing problems and getting us out of the CFP before someone like Ohio State/UGA shows them on bigger and more embarrassing stage, because they're the same problems I've seen all year, and some are now going on several years. Some of you refuse to see them when we win, but they're there staring you in the face. I, for one, don't want to see a West Virginia ass-whipping by UGA in a CFP game.</p><p>For example, people arguing with me that our DL is great. It is not great. It is talented, some of them truly elite talent, like Myles Murphy, who should be putting up Ricky Sapp-like sack totals if not DaQuan Bowers-like sack totals. He really is that talented. He doesn't play to that level. Tyler Davis, who I thought would be dominant by the time he became an upperclassman, isn't. He's very good, and the lone bright spot from ND on our front line, but I thought he'd be Christian Wilkins-level or at least Brandon Thompson-level good by now.</p><p>Bresee, man I feel for him and what he's gone through, and his injury that got him last year, but he's not in playing shape to my eyes. He's slower, and I think he's put on some bad weight. You kinda have to give him a total pass because his head can't be alright. Mine wouldn't be in his place.</p><p>But as a whole, the DL unit is not playing to the sum of its parts. Marion Hobby and Dan Brooks, both stellar coaches in terms of fundamental teaching, are not here anymore. They've been replaced by Hall and Nick Eason. I knew Nick a little back at Clemson, he's a true nut, hilarious to be around, and I think he's going to be a good recruiter, but the jury is out on the coaching tandem still. We should not get reached on the edges like we did. Its been spotty and not a consistent problem, but we got reached against ND almost as bad as we did against FSU when they had Dalvin Cook lighting us up on the stretch play. You can rightly point out that those teams were coached by Hobby and Brooks up front, so its not a stunning indictment, sometimes you have a bad day, but I still believe after watching us this season that we're not as good as the sum of the parts would show. I can think of a couple games where Skeletor would be spitting nails at them.</p><p>I'm pretty disappointed in the LB play, I think ND exposed their youth. I think Trotter and Carter and Simpson are all talented ballplayers, Venables is tough and smart like his dad, but they were not in their gaps. One long run off the edge by ND was because two of them were in one inside B gap, can't do that. If the OLB maintains his C gap when the DE gets reached, the RB doesn't make that run. Things like that happened all night. Pitt got us that way at home back in 2016 pretty bad, and it was just that we played terrible up front that day, the DL got out of their gaps and exposed LBs to OL on the zone blocking. Here, I don't think the guys were where they were supposed to be. That's coaching.</p><p>I've not felt like we had good enough secondary play all year, WF definitely showed it, but they are improving as injuries heal. We need more depth; we need better safety play. That one is more recruiting; we just need some more dudes. I'd be happier if they looked for the ball and played the ball more though at CB. </p><p>ND saw their QB couldn't throw to beat us, Mayer can't catch it every play, so they just hammered it. Meanwhile, Clemson sees we can run it, we're built to run it as we were last year, and just lets DJU keep throwing it around. There's a lesson there, and its one Clemson's OCs have been missing longer than just this year.</p><p>I've long bemoaned Clemson's OL play, but the sacks on DJ were mostly DJ's fault. I think one was truly on the protection. DJ is indecisive, you cannot hold the ball too long, and frankly I think Streeter has to call certain plays because DJ won't make the right reads. Is that on Streeter's coaching ability or on DJ? Its a valid question. I see progression in DJ from last year to now, and even since Game 1 of this year, but its not enough for Clemson to win a Natty. I don't see him as a long term solution. He may need to finish out this year as the starter and go. </p><p>I don't have a problem with putting Cade Klubnik in when Dabo did, we needed something. Cade made a poor decision to throw that ball. You don't throw across your body over the middle. We're used to All-world guys like DW4 or TL16 who would only make that mistake once and never do it again. Cade needs more reps, he plays more like a normal freshman would. It just means he's not DeShaun or Trevor, and thats ok. I would not start him against Louisville, DJ needs to remain the starter. I'd absolutely give Cade at least one series in every game, and of course the full offense when you do, not just him handing it off. He has to learn, and we need to accept he will put the ball in danger.</p><p>Aside from Antonio Williams, I don't think a single WR on this team would play over any that started from say 2014 to 2019. This group is not physical at the POA, they get jammed, they don't run great routes, they don't get open. Ngata, Collins, etc. not performing. It reminds me much of the group Dabo started with at Clemson. Jacoby Ford and nobody else, then we got Nuk and he was the only one that could do anything in 2010, because he played offense with a physical, defensive mentality. You have to fight to get open. I've never consistently noticed any of this bunch do that. Randall might be the next, but Antonio would get the ball from me.</p><p>TE usage is a bright spot this year compared to the last what, 5-6? But they're not getting it enough given that your WR's can't get open. We've been more of a perimeter attack since the days of Leggett and Dwayne Allen, if you are recruiting the TE use the guy. If he's only a blocker, recruit another OT.</p><p>But I do agree with a lot of what people have said about the lack of outside ideas and experience on the offensive staff. We need a refresh of some concepts, more route packages being used in the system, maybe bring back some motion (ScElliott removed much of it when Chad left, and it did improve some execution) and formations, and bring back more tempo. The wide splits of the Baylor/Briles offense with Air Raid is what Tennessee is now running with great success under Heupel. Its not new by any means, but Clemson needs to push things a little. Everyone on our staff comes from here, I do hope we're not becoming too insular.</p><p>As far as running the ball, I will never question Ship's heart. Dat Boy runs his ass off, he's always fighting for a yard. Our OC doesn't call enough designed runs for him, its always RPOs, and then DJ flips it out to a screen in the flat. We need to focus on what we're built for, which is running the football. The OL can do it usually, unless you put up an Odd front and put a 0 on our Center, in which case I can barely remember the last time we controlled the LOS. </p><p>ND stood us up, they pushed the OL around, but we never continued running the ball with Ship getting 6ypc. If you get 6ypc and only call 11 runs to him, you're being stupid. Run the damn football and wear them down until they can't stand you up. Call designed IZ/OZ, call Power/Counter Trey, call the bucksweep. Call designed runs for DJ, he has that Tajh Boyd trait where he only plays well when you get him lathered up running. Its clear you don't have the WRs, so use what you've got. We've got 3 pretty good backs, and a QB that can run enough, get them lathered up. </p><p>Our offensive issues are not going to be fixed this year, not in the next 3 games, not the postseason. Clemson fans have to accept that fact. They should've been fixed LAST offseason, because they were there last season. Dabo needs to take a long hard look at this offensive staff and personnel, and I believe he will, and it has taken a good beating to make him see it more than once.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-51671427215944613672020-01-07T18:08:00.002-05:002020-01-07T18:08:57.829-05:00Tigers vs TigersI've been asked all week by everyone I work with and even passing acquaintances in the hallways who see me wearing Clemson or LSU gear which team I'm really pulling for next week or who I think will win. Well the orange in my blood is pretty thick and no one will be able to unseat Clemson as my first love, even though my time at LSU was quite memorable and I do sometimes wish I could go back.<br />
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Of course I watch each game of both teams and have for many years now, so I know them both pretty well, but I believe Clemson will win the game in the end. However, this is a tall order, for either squad. They match up quite well overall.<br />
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In every close game between two good teams, things like turnovers and special teams are obviously huge. It was with us and Ohio State, it was when we lost to Alabama in 2015 (thanks Jayron Kearse!), and it will be again. But I think the game will really come down to winning individual matchups. I don't think it'll be schemes from Venables or Aranda, from ScElliott or Brady, it'll be the Jimmies and the Joes. Can you line up and whip the guy across the line more often than he does you?<br />
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That's really it in football.<br />
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Looking back over this season, LSU has had "it" pretty much all year. You can tell by how the team gels and how they fight to win a game. Clemson showed me we had "it" back in 2015. I knew they were going to get there at the end. The story just didn't work out that year for Clemson, so now we have to make sure it doesn't work out for LSU this time.<br />
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LSU's offense is much like the West Coast offense, but run out of a spread formation and shotgun. It also emphasizes attacking the middle-of-field coverage vs ours, which is more of a perimeter attack. However, they do a great job spreading the ball to everyone on the offense, inside or outside, unlike ours. They run quite a bit of slants/dig routes over the middle with the TE Thaddeus Moss heading up the seam in the hook/curl areas and along the hashes. I've explained the WCO before back on the old site, and to put it simply, LSU uses the Option routes that the WCO has for the RBs, and the Run & Shoot used for the receivers. On an option route, the receiver looks at the leverage of the defender (inside him or out) and breaks his route based on that leverage, the other way. When run perfectly, with the QB and receivers on the same page, its pretty damned hard to stop.<br />
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The only way you can slow it down is confuse the QB with a look or zone blitzes that he hasn't seen, drop guys where he doesn't expect them, and get to him before he gets it out, or sufficiently confound the WRs on their pre-snap read as to make them break the wrong way. Tough to do with all 11 defenders, and even tougher when Burrow can make plays with his legs and has a Tom Brady-like ability to find an open guy and hit him in the numbers every time.<br />
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A lot of folks have made a big deal about how Auburn held LSU down. My recollection from that game was more that LSU couldn't get their shit together in the red zone. Kevin Steele was the most tenured defensive coordinator LSU played this year (even though Smart and Saban have tight reins on their own defenses) and he had a unique stacked linebacker scheme that LSU's front didn't adjust well enough to at times and didn't afford a good pre-snap read of who had who. Auburn's DL did give some problems and played well that day overall. LSU's defense actually saved them that day, stifling Auburn for much of the game. Burrow wasn't as on fire that day as some others, but they moved the ball all over Auburn between the 20s and I thought they should've won by 21. Saban and Smart both tried some similar schematic things and it didn't really stop LSU either.<br />
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The offense goes as Burrow goes, but they have good players everywhere. RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire is short but he's a tough runner, and a very good quick outlet when Burrow can't find anyone open. He's not as scary as Etienne, but he is a better receiver. You'll often find him sneaking out of the backfield on a shoot route or little option route, much like Ricky Watters once did for the 49ers back in their heyday. As I've said, Thaddeus Moss (son of Randy) is a threat over the middle that Clemson needs at TE again, it would be nice if Galloway showed out for us.<br />
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Their 3 primary receivers are good, and Jefferson is a slot threat that we seem to be lacking with Renfrow in the pros and Rodgers not producing. In the end, I think our two main guys are more talented, but they have to do more than they did against Ohio State (which I believe did have the best secondary we've played since the good FSU teams, 5-6 years ago).<br />
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Frankly I havent seen anyone do more than slow down LSU's offense and I don't expect us to do it either. They will score and I expect a shootout. The team that wins up front likely wins the game. That team will be able to stop the other just a couple more times and force one or two more FGs, maybe get one or two takeaways, and that will be it.<br />
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Joe Burrow has had one of the best years I can remember any QB having in terms of being able to always find and hit someone. There is a hair's breadth of difference in terms of ability between he and Lawrence, and both trust their receivers to make plays. The only thing that comes to mind to me is that TL doesn't take the checkdown enough, and likes to go for the bomb a little more than Burrow. Neither turned the ball over much down the stretch and both will have 300+ yards passing Monday night.<br />
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As for the defenses, LSU is much like us schematically in terms of fronts, twists and stunts, but there is one word I'd use to describe them overall this year: inconsistent. Its not as good as what they've fielded in the past under Aranda. They did have a rash of injuries at times this year that affected defensive production, but there were several games where I thought it was just abysmal against an opponent that had no business moving the ball on them. Things like poor angles/tackling, inconsistent coverage and poor play from the front killed them against Florida, Ole Piss, and even Vanderbilt. Alabama was too equal to make any kind of statement on, both teams were good that day, and the score is likely the same if we'd played them instead of LSU. As guys got healthy, they did improve.<br />
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It certainly looked better against aTm, but if you had watched the LSU/aTm game last year, you'd have known there was no way the Aggies were not getting blown out.<br />
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Georgia was typical Georgia, and Kirby handing James Coley that offense was like giving a 9 year old the keys to a Ferrari. They did well enough to hold LSU back but without any offensive production there was no way they were going to beat LSU. Hence, 37-10.<br />
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Of course Clemson hadn't faced a good offense this year until Ohio State. A&M might have been, but Kellen Mond never got his head right after coming to our house in September.<br />
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In terms of personnel I think we're pretty similar. LSU's 3 down linemen haven't done all that much and neither have ours. I think Tyler Davis will be a high draft pick one day, but not today. Xavier Thomas has yet to play at the level I thought he would. LSU has two rush linebackers that they like to send, Divinity (out for most of the year for injuries and then "personal (cough-cough weed cough-cough) reasons") and Chaisson. The rest are similar to our guys. In the back end, Stingley is a great cover corner and a 1st rd pick someday, better than Kendrick to my eye but not as experienced and as smart a player as AJ Terrell. Grant Delpit at Safety is capable of being great, but I think he hasn't performed to his potential at all this year. I expected him to be Thorpe Award worthy coming into the year, though he was one of those hurt earlier.<br />
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None of them are as talented as Isaiah Simmons, who I expect will line up everywhere on D, but then again not many are.<br />
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But you're only as good as your weakest link. Our weakness is in matchups in the slot and not getting enough push from the down 3 DL. Simmons can't cover everybody all the time. A guy like Mark Fields would be really useful this week. Its when we walk back Muse at Safety and stick Nolan Turner on a slot guy that I get worried. However, I don't think LSU is strong in the middle coverage at LB or the other safety spot opposite Delpit, and their DL is equally star-starved.<br />
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Both teams run similar offensive tempo, both defenses blitz about as often, neither has truly been tested on special teams because they never see the field. LSU is better at FG kicking though, when they've ever had to do it.<br />
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In the end, things are pretty equal overall, so its hard to pick a clear winner on measurables alone. I hope we match their intensity at the kick and don't take a quarter to figure out what to do like Ohio State. If Etienne gets going though, I think Clemson wins outright. I don't think LSU will be able to run CEH all night on us, and we'll make them more one-dimensional like we did Ohio State after the 1st Q. I believe we'll get one takeaway and force one or two more FGs than LSU will as a result.<br />
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Either way, this has been a great season. Time to just finish it.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-17620684297729527012019-12-29T01:59:00.001-05:002019-12-29T01:59:12.209-05:00The National Champions are coming to the Big Easy<br />
Just wanted to jot down some thoughts in the aftermath of one of the best games of the college football season tonight in the Fiesta Bowl since I'll be traveling all day tomorrow. I predicted we'd win by 7, so I was a little off, but I never lost heart in the Tigers no matter how we struggled early. This team has the heart of a Champion and I'd pick us to win against LSU in a couple weeks.<br />
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First, neither team really deserved to lose that game. That was a damn fine football team we just beat. Ohio State came to play us, unlike the last time we smoked Urban Meyer's ass 31-0 in the playoffs, and they made us earn this victory. We made mistakes, they made mistakes, but both teams came ready to lay the wood and that is the kind of game that toughens up the victor to win it all. Clemson made the plays they needed to to win the game, and Ohio State just didn't make them.<br />
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Early on, our run fits just weren't great at all, and we were getting pushed around. Pad levels were high, guys inside were getting swallowed up, and some linebackers weren't in position or weren't using their eyes on their keys. I knew Skeletor would get that fixed, the question was how deep a hole we'd be in. Dobbins was not going to run all over this defense all night, and then we'd have to come back out of the hole we dug ourselves. Thankfully they couldn't convert the red zone opportunities we gave them and it was only 16-0.<br />
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Once I saw we were starting to fit the run, I had hoped we'd run it ourselves, but ScElliott never got it moving for ETN. I think some of it was playcalls, as we had some obvious run-formations against a loaded 8 or 9 man box that we should've checked out of at the line. Clemson's OL wasn't going to run the ball against that interior line. Young is legit good, but we did well enough against him, it was their interior that stuffed the running game and as usual, we don't try after a certain point. Thankfully they got my man the ball in space and he finished with nearly 100 yards receiving, including the final score.<br />
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The targeting call turned the game. I agree its a stupid rule, as anyone who follows me should know. But a direct helmet hit on the QB is going to get called if you lower your head, and he did lower his head. If his eyes were up, its a no call and maybe we lose the game. After that score I knew we were fine. Trevor got a huge run to make it 16-14 and they were reeling a little, we just needed to get the passing game going better.<br />
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I figured OSU would give us another shot once we went up 21-16 and we made the bust in the secondary to give it to them. We made them earn the drive but Day just caught us in the wrong call with no safety help in the middle, no way was Turner going to stop that pass if it was thrown accurately. Day caught Venables in the wrong call several times tonight, its a chess match and we pulled it out, but it easily could've flipped the other way. Ryan Day did an excellent job preparing his team.<br />
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After the big plays by Amari Rodgers and Etienne to score the final TD, i did not think OSU could move down the field the full length to score again, but we went with some soft coverage on Dobbins that i dont totally understand and they made some plays. Nolan Turner kept his eyes on the ball when the WR slipped and we sealed the deal to get another trip to the natty.<br />
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Some general thoughts I have were that our interior DL did not do a good job getting any pressure. Foster, Davis... those guys need to get off blocks better. It can't all be slants and stunts. Davis showed flashes, but Fields still had way too much time tonight. This is very important to get pressure on Burrow.<br />
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Venables took away Fields' first read, which I expected, and due to some injuries maybe he didn't have the ground game he usually had, so a great job there. It was the sometimes soft coverage that irked me most.<br />
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Clemson didn't run Etienne enough, but some of it really lies on calls and not our inability to block a good defensive front. LSU is not as good up front as Ohio St, but they don't suck either.<br />
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TL was a off on his accuracy, and we needed some other guys to step up when Higgins went out and Ross got banged up. Ngata, Ladson, Rodgers, Overton, we needed them to do more tonight. TL didn't get a ton of time to get the ball out but these guys were not getting open. Typically we'd murder someone who gave us basically straight C1/C2 M2M coverage. We'll need them to make plays in the next game.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-53163090781049190302019-09-28T23:36:00.001-04:002019-09-28T23:36:12.246-04:00Thoughts after the UNC DebacleFirst, credit must be given to NC and Mack Brown, they outplayed us and deserved to win the game. Clemson never really matched their intensity overall. That is on Dabo himself for not having us up for the game, but NC deserved to win and we really didn't. Sam Howell is a good Qb and he'll take NC far over his career in Chapel Hill if Mack recruits some weapons for him.<br />
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But I also know the rosters and NC shouldn't have even made it close today. We played like shit and it showed in the scoreboard. Our coaches did not do a great job this week getting us ready.<br />
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Clemson's defense had another good day. Venables earned another raise for keeping it close while the offense figured out how to not shoot themselves in the foot.<br />
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AJ Terrell had one really bad play, he just got beat for the first TD. It happens. AJ is a good player. The D gave up a score on a short field after Etienne fumbled, and then one bad drive at the end of the game where they had to convert a couple 4th downs. Skeletor figured it out after the first quarter and held them down until the end. Thats good enough to win a game, but once again, our D should not be saving our ass every week with the talent that is on this offense.<br />
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Clemson's offense had an awful day. I'm putting this one on the staff overall.<br />
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Far too often, when I hear the offensive coaches talk in the post game I hear phrases like these:<br />
"Well they were playing us tight at the line, so we couldnt do ____"<br />
"Well they were doing bump & run so we couldn't _____"<br />
"Well they were taking away the run so we didn't ______"<br />
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I don't buy us requiring to be a reactive offense in terms of playcalling. We have NFL-caliber players at nearly every position, and yet we only do things based on their alignment? If a team plays 6 in the box, we refuse to run. If they play bump & run we refuse to challenge that. If they play 2-high, we can't attack the middle or the sidelines.<br />
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Bateman called C2 high all day, which says "we dare you to run, we don't think you can" and yet we DONT give the ball to Etienne? Are you shitting me? A Heisman caliber RB and we don't give him the ball because A&M has 6 in the box and NC plays 2-high all day? When your RB is averaging 5-6 a touch, and they show C2, what do you do? You give him the damn ball. Dabo said afterwards they were inviting us to run, but watching the game, I don't see where the runs were called. I dont know what ScElliott are looking at.<br />
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We can dictate how the defense plays us. We're that talented. If they give you 2-high, you attack the MOF coverage with a TE and you run the damn ball until they drop that safety down into the box, then you bust them with a 50 yard pass to Ngata once they start playing 1-high. We don't do that. We refuse to attack what they give us to make them play us the way we'd like. Instead, we throw a screen, which a monkey can read the way we run them, never hit a TE and don't even call the plays for Etienne to bust their ass. Once he busts one they will drop that safety and hit Higgins/Ross, or you keep calling the run and let Etienne destroy them. It appears to me that we see a certain coverage and ScElliott don't adjust to it, they don't know what to do and it shows.<br />
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Clemson's OL didn't match NC's intensity up front. We didn't care as much. The Tarholes stunted and stemmed all day, and far too often I see a guy coming up the A-gap and a Center letting him go and the RB overmatched. No adjustment was made.<br />
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False starts on 3rd & short are just inexcusable. This killed a drive or two. Don't tell me its too loud, its Kenan Stadium and its half orange. We just weren't interested in being there today. That one is definitely on the staff, its not a problem we've really had under Dabo.<br />
lem<br />
Historically we've self-scouted in the bye week and figured out what was done, hopefull y theres no prob<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-70077298751312426612019-09-08T00:39:00.001-04:002019-09-08T00:39:52.001-04:00Post A&M Thoughts on ClemsonI figured I'd at least put some thoughts out there even if i don't write every week anymore, if people read it, then great, but I do like to write for myself. <br />
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When I saw the line on this A&M game was running at 18-19 this week, I told everyone to take the points because there was no way we'd cover that. After how well Mond played against us last year, and how I felt they played during the rest of their season, I could not see us really stifling him and his receivers with what we've lost from last year's excellent team, especially up front.<br />
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But today's performance surprised me, Mond played like trash. He couldn't hit open guys at all until the 4th Q when we had already started running some backups out and BV switched to more soft zone. I don't think it was all our guys causing it either, Mond just couldnt get it going early. Jimbo was typical Jimbo, and had us in the 1st Q, while they were running the ball very well... and then in Jimbo fashion, stops doing what works and kills their drive, then doesn't come back to it again later.<br />
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Clemson's defense went with a lot of 3-3-5 for the 2nd week in a row. For GT I felt it was odd, maybe he saw something he was trying to exploit, but now I see theres a reason and its because our DL isn't what it was the last several years. I believe Skeletor is going with another LB as opposed to the 4th lineman because he knows we don't have 4 DL guys that are ready for primetime right now. He wants the flexibility to use the 3rd backer to blitz from different gaps and angles because the front 4 right now cannot get pressure on the QB. BV has always been an 8-man front guy by design, and he's still doing that, but with different personnel because the typical personnel aren't ready. Its plainly apparent when you see us using 30-fronts and getting almost no pressure at all on the QB the last couple weeks unless we sneak someone in around the edge or in a gap blitz. Four guys are still coming, but one of them is a LB and not an End.<br />
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Right now, the DL is just not getting any consistent pass rush. I think this is something we're going to have to develop over the entire season, and the 30-fronts and 3-3-5 alignments are just something we're going to have to run out there until the down linemen can improve their pass rush technique and the ability to get off blocks. The linebackers are going to be getting the sacks this year if we ever get close to the TFL/Sack production of the last few seasons.<br />
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Otherwise I think the D proved that we don't have a ton to worry about from them this season. If we continue to tackle well and can generate some pass rush, we should be there at the end.<br />
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That Etienne never got going didn't shock me. Elko is a good DC, and apparently they keyed on him all week in practice, so much that they relaxed for Dixon and he hurt them whenever he was in the game instead. Clemson's OL blocked well for him last week, not so much this week. The interior has to get people off the ball and didnt.<br />
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A&M also got quite a bit of pressure on TL until we were able to push tempo and gas them a little. I wasn't impressed by the pass blocking last week and early today I don't think they did a good job giving Trevor any time. As usual, its the OL that gives me the most heartburn.<br />
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Trevor was a little off last week and not quite as sharp as he can play today but the offense will be fine so long as the OL plays well and improves. I think that after the Bye week we will start running people out of the stadium, as usually that has been when our offense really runs on all 12 cylinders and I don't think this year will be any different. <br />
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Syracuse's new QB doesn't play as gritty as Dungey and I doubt we'll be in danger of any loss this week, even if they are a scrappy team under Babers.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-56687803669800698092017-01-16T16:03:00.000-05:002017-01-16T16:03:12.418-05:00The Best Day EverI meant to write this all out after rewatching the game a few times this weekend, but thanks to Charter I couldn't until today.<br />
<br />
I bought tickets to Tampa back in the summer, knowing that we had the talent and the depth to get back. Along the way, I wavered a little in my belief that we would, especially after NC State and Pitt, but I knew Ohio State would be a favorable matchup for us, and I have felt all along that we were the only team with a QB good enough to beat Alabama straight up. Now that we have, its just such a great time to be a Tiger fan, its been a long road.<br />
<br />
I was so giddy after we shut out Ohio State that I was 100% confident that we were going to Tampa last week to win a national title. I had my worries about what could go wrong, but never believed we would lose the game. A good QB can beat Alabama straight up, any others would depend on them making mistakes.<br />
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I drove the 10 hours from Huntsville to Tampa and met FF and another friend of ours and of course we stayed out drinking all night. After about 4 hours of sleep we got up and started to tailgate outside the stadium, pretty close to the huge Buccaneers flag (Clemson needs one, we should build a mountain and just put it on top, I dont care what it costs). Random Texas and Florida fans showed up with jager and mezcal, and we had a great time. After we finally got into the stadium - thanks CFP for having only a couple gates in/out - I saw it was about 60-65% Clemson. We were in the upper deck but they were good seats, hell any seat aside from the endzone is good enough, and the upper deck at Raymond James doesn't feel like a skyscraper like DV does.<br />
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The only real worry I had going into this game was whether the OL could give DW enough time to get rid of the ball. Bama can be exposed in M2M coverage but you have to have the time to do it. I knew Wayne wasnt going to get much. I wasn't terribly worried about turnovers or Special Teams. I knew we could get plenty of pressure on Hurts and make him throw to win. If we did that and they beat us, well then they deserve it.<br />
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In the beginning, we really didn't give DW that time. I thought the plan was a little conservative, as if we were feeling them out, at first. Wayne didnt have room but was effective early on, but they were so good at secondary support in the alley that nothing was going anywhere outside. Bama strangely seemed to be doing the same thing on defense. They were playing mostly Robber coverage in the 1st Q and into the 2nd, they always had a Robber (or spy) on DW. I think that Saban switched to C2 once he was confident that he was going to stop the run. He actually switched before we started having success throwing downfield.<br />
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At several moments I felt like we were a hairs breadth away from getting killed, not from DW or the skill guys playing bad, but moreso because the OL was so inconsistent inside and that would cause negative plays and mistakes made out of trying too hard. Alabama disguises so well, and some linemen just did not pick up the stunts and twists well. They just outblocked us on the first Counter Trey TD and the 2nd stretch play, but Hurts wasnt going to beat us unless we had a huge bust in coverage. Once we scored our first TD I knew we'd be fine.<br />
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In the stadium, they continually give you the game stats, and you can see the play count rising. I noticed at the end of the 1st half that we were way up on TOP and that we'd run north of 40 plays. It really didn't feel like it at all. We at times played bad enough inside that we could've been down by 2 scores but to hold it to 14-7 was key.<br />
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I did see on replay how much Desmond Howard was saying the plays were there downfield, yeah, DW didn't see a couple, but there weren't that many. Our guys got "NFL open", which is about 1 step. Thats not "college open". They were sticking with us as long as they needed to do so.<br />
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At about a minute into the 4th, I counted up the plays again and saw we were pushing 80. I leaned over to FF and pointed it out that if we have 80 now, thats basically a full game for the Alabama D. Most pro-style teams can't break 75 plays per game on average, and fewer still get over 50-60 against Alabama. Here we were with 80 already. 100 plays is like playing an extra Q. We can wear their asses out if we get a first down and push the tempo to full speed.<br />
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And that is exactly what ScElliott did. Alabama was having issues in matching patterns with criss-crossing receivers the further along we got. The DBs weren't switching off the coverage as they're supposed to do in pattern match. When we got man coverage it really messed them up. The more tired they got, the less penetration we saw from the DL, and the DBs were going the wrong way and running into each other. Alabama was keeping a safety over MW at all times, even with short routes they would always have one defender with outside leverage and another with inside. Renfrow usually sits in the 5 position in the slot, inside of MW many times. They were so worried about Mike that Renfrow had no one on his inside and the outside guy was trying to watch MW while playing Hunter.<br />
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When we had the first go ahead score the crowd went bonkers and I didn't think the D would give them anything. It was loud even in the upper deck. But they made some plays, especially the WR Pass downfield, and we quieted down when Hurts went into the endzone to make it 31-28. I saw they had left us too much time though. I knew we were going to win.<br />
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The last drive was just a thing of beauty. Their DL was worn out, and the defensive backs had hands on hips too. DW just cut them up. He's the coolest under pressure college QB ever.<br />
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When he hit Renfrow I started crying, a national title is all I ever wanted for Clemson. I cry when I watch the replay of it, hell I could cry just thinking about it. I probably would've cried harder if FF wasnt jumping all over me and about to knock me down. A lot of folks around us were crying too.<br />
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We watched replays all night afterward and I drove back the 10 hours fueled only on caffeine and chocolate. I've watched the replays all week long and will continue to watch them until September.<br />
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Reaction from Bammers here in Huntsville has been muted, to say the least, but they have generally been very complimentary of how we played. A lot of excuse making on sports talk radio, but they are breaking things down just as we would and realize that DW is exceptional. Finebaum is another story altogether and attracts a different crowd. Auburn fans have thanked me every day. I'm wearing orange every damn day until I run out. I'm buying every piece of 2016 title memorabilia I can get my hands on. I don't care what it costs.<br />
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FF and I grew up when Clemson was good, and Max Lennon taking it away really crushed me personally. I know I'm not the only one that feels cheated. If we had gotten beaten down it would've been different, but our own people took greatness away from us, and we had to spend 20 years in the wilderness, and wait on some people to retire or die, before Dabo got everyone on the same page again. He and the players deserve all the credit for where we are now. If we were running STS still today, I'd quit. To get here is all I ever wanted. I don't care if we go 7-5 next year. I'm sure we'll be here as long as Dabo stays at Clemson, which I believe will be forever now.<br />
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But we started this all as a place to vent, and no one else was really talking about football without being shouted down as a coot. Far too many Clemson fans were happy with 8-4 seasons. They thought we'd never have the money or be able to recruit at this level consistently. They didn't want to spend anything on facilities because they were not convinced that having nice things really improved anything else. We however, had seen us when we were up there with the best, and can't stand not being the best, and wrote about it. I went to LSU and saw all the things Saban had done and saw no reason why Clemson couldn't have upgrades to the Stadium, an IPF, the huge support staff, or anything else. I didn't see any beat writers harping on any of it. They just fed their readers whatever Clemson fed them. I bet not many people will admit that they were wrong about spending the money that we've spent over the last decade. Hell, Dabs had to take some of his own salary and pay extra staff -- basically taking the Sikes/McFadden Hall along kicking and screaming until they've now created those positions permanently.<br />
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It took the 6-7 season to get enough people riled up and spamming BOT members for real momentum to get started. It turns out that terrible year was the kickstarter to where we are today. Do I take back anything I said? Nope. I stand behind every opinion I have ever written as being what the facts, and especially the film, led me to at the time. I was wrong about his potential as a coach but he has grown into a great one. I treated several hires with healthy skepticism but they have proven me wrong. That is all I ever wanted them to do. You folks who want to look back at something we wrote 7 years ago and saying that I pull for us to fail can go right ahead and do whatever makes you feel better. I'm incapable of pulling against Clemson in anything.<br />
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But we've said all along that if he wins one national title, he gets <i>carte blanche</i>. He can do whatever he likes now. Pay him and his assistants whatever he wants. If he wants a swimming pool shaped like a tiger paw and it be half the size of Lake Hartwell and costs $2billion, then give it to him.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-66014867593222346852015-10-31T21:22:00.001-04:002015-10-31T21:22:41.624-04:00Is this the team that can do it?I really think it might be the one.<br />
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This 2015 Clemson team has its problems, which I'll get to, but I just wanted to state that I believe this team is <em>different</em>. I feel something special about the team. They are playing above their experience level should suggest. I really felt 2016 was a year to make a run. The defense has stepped up in a way no one expected them to play after what we lost. I was thinking we'd finish around Top 25-30, but we may finish out in the Top 10. I really believe that this team won't lose before the playoffs. Theres something here that you don't see on film or on paper.<br />
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I waited until after we played NC State for the simple reason that we rarely play great in Raleigh. If it was a night game it could've been worse today. I knew we'd have a fight on our hands and we'd learn something, even though I felt the wolfies would have no shot beating us if you'd watched them this year. They brought an intensity today we looked surprised by and some of our guys couldn't match it that well. We needed to win a game like this because it'll shake up the team a little so they take lesser opponents seriously, but also to show them where they still need to work on things.<br />
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Because Special Teams is definitely what we need to get fixed. Several coaches do coach up guys during the ST periods in practice. Venables and Hobby oversee our atrocious Kickoff unit, while Pearman is basically the ST coordinator. We kicked deep, got whipped because we couldn't stay in our lanes and get of blocks, and then we kicked short and the same thing happened. Our kicks got blocked, partly because they were a little low, but also because we got blown backwards by NCSU. Our punt teams have been mediocre at best for years along with the KO teams. <br />
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And theres really no excuse for a team with as many gamebreaking weapons on offense to return a kick/punt as poorly as we typically do.<br />
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I was never a big Andre Powell fan, and we called for his (and others) firing when it happened, but he coached our STs up way way better than Pearman has.<br />
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Clemson will not win a national title with ST play like what we saw tonight. We let them flip the momentum and kept them in the game with the terrible coverage. Try it against a team with greater athletes on the offensive side and you'll give up serious field position in a close game and lose. I was worried about the kicking game back in Spring, and Teasdall and Heugel have done a good job themselves, but the other guys are screwing up too often.<br />
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A problem today was that our DL didn't play well and NC State blocked the hell out of them all day long. That is the only reason NC State really hung with us. FSU <em>can</em> block us as well, but I'm not sure they will, and other than them I don't see this as a big issue to worry about. They're good enough, they'll be fine.<br />
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NC State tried something new in that their patterns were set up to take the checkdowns quickly, and they kind of exposed something I was worrying about. Our LBs are the glue of this defense, and we have no depth there. Have you checked the participation charts? I like O'Daniel but I'm not convinced he's ready for primetime. Lose either Boulware or Goodson and you'll see a big dropoff. State made them move laterally quite a bit, attacking the H/C and Flat zones in coverage, and busted us on it. Other teams will try the same. They can't beat Mac, and Kearse is fantastic, but beating Blanks/Baker and the LBs in the middle zones is very possible.<br />
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Something else that concerns me going forward is the TE play, specifically their blocking. Leggett is taking fewer plays off, that is true, but watch him when the ball is definitely not coming to him, and watch his effort blocking. I'm happier with the WR blocking than him (especially Renfrow, who busts his ass). We have to have TEs that block. This offense won't work without that. Seckinger can't do it. Williams can block but doesn't know enough yet. Richard has disappointed me because I felt he'd be better, and I don't think Jay Jay will ever do much here. Leggett has so much talent and fluidity in his routes, he could be a 2nd/3rd rounder, but he won't until he starts busting his ass every play. I wish he'd realize that. If you gave Leggett the heart of Ben Boulware, he's a 1st round TE.<br />
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Clemson's OL is probably the best unit we've put out there since 2006, which is a huge surprise given we lost a guy who could've been a 1st rd LT (if he could go to class, or stop smoking weed) and replaced him with a true freshman. Losing Norton was a benefit because it made them finally start Guillermo and he's the best run blocking center we've had in 10 years. Hyatt really is as good as he looked when he committed, and hasn't put on Batson-weight, which I remind you we brought up when he committed. He and MacLain have played really well, Crowder has played well, and Gore/Fruhmorgen both raised their play. In short, this group is playing above what we felt their level was going to be, and I'm happy as hell about it. I've been bitching about our sorry OL for most of the last 20 years, and finally we get another good group.<br />
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But if we can slow down Dalvin Cook next week and beat FSU, you better plan on taking extra vacation in January. I am.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-26310683163465754712015-09-10T15:42:00.002-04:002015-09-10T15:42:47.638-04:00The new season beginsI watched the Wofford game this past weekend and came away fairly impressed with the overall effort and ability level of some new guys to the starting groups, but its important to keep it in perspective too. Its Wofford, and we won't learn much more from playing App State this weekend either. After Louisville I might get my hopes up for more than 9-3, but I worry about the depth.<br />
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When I saw this team in Spring I figured, "This looks like a 7-5 team without Watson, there is just not enough depth for a full season to go upwards." I haven't changed my mind on that one. If we have to start Schuess, it'll be ugly. We don't have the depth on Defense to pull the offense out of a big mess like last season.<br />
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Watson looked good but a little off on his throws. Too many behind the receivers, or not thrown to proper spots. Its probably just rust but worth watching. Schuess looked good enough only because he was playing Wofford. I would only play Bryant because of Schuess's lack of ability to execute this system, and I think thats what you are seeing Dabo do. He knows if Watson gets hurt we're screwed and he better give KB playing time so he can learn something to help us if that happens. If we had a capable backup I think they'd RS Bryant, because he does need it.<br />
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I was pleasantly surprised with the effort and blocking ability of the starting 5 guys. Some issues remain, such as Norton getting blown up a couple times by a 1-AA level 0-technique, but Hyatt looked great after replacing Battle, who got himself kicked off the team for his 3rd strike with weed and skipping classes and 'voluntary' workouts. They said he wanted to go pro, and hid it all, but we know whats up.<br />
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Scott Pagano got most of my attention when the defense was on the field. He should blow up Wofford's front, and he did. If he keeps his pads down he can get even better. If Wilkins is really that close to Pagano he'll be great in a year or two as well. Maybe McGlockton-level.<br />
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But honestly Wofford didn't challenge us at all in the back end, so you can't say anything about the back 7. Venables stayed vanilla and didn't show anything. We blew up the Dive, and that kills any option team, thats it.<br />
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Punt team, not so good. Not enough blocking, not enough awareness. Too many Wofford jerseys getting down there too soon. I could only recall one kick that should've been fielded. The rest should've just been allowed to roll. I'm still very worried about our special teams situation. <br />
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Some have asked what we are doing this year, and the answer is we're not doing anything more than last year for now. We met some guys this offseason about a new website, or even guest-writing for another, and we just don't have the drive right now. We don't feel like getting into it unless the right opportunity comes up. Theres too much work and time invested for too little return, and we are already quite occupied with our normal day jobs. So while you shouldn't be shocked to see a guest appearance somewhere, or an article here or maybe another site if the offer is right, its unlikely we'll be as involved with Clemson for the time being. I have backed away considerably from Twitter and other sites over the last few months, but I'll be around for football and baseball season if my interest rises.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-1675575835011742162015-06-29T14:05:00.000-04:002015-06-29T14:05:58.578-04:00Firing Jack, hiring LeeI'm still so happy that they finally fired Jack that I couldn't find much fault with anyone they hired to replace him, but I figured I'd write down much of what happened before I forgot it all.<br />
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First, there are two points of view in the information I've been given. One set of news comes from Jack's side and then theres another side, so keep that in mind. This is why I stated on twitter that I found out that some of what Aaron Fitt said was true, but I don't think it came from TCI, I think TCI and Fitt had similar sources.<br />
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Jack felt that he would be retained as HC. I have heard that the first meeting between him in Radakovich was very cordial and DRad mentioned how his supplemental contract had to be restructured around the changes with Easton (The baseball coach gets a base salary in the 250K range plus various extras, Jack made 190K in extras). I heard similar information early in the process, saying that there were contract changes on the table and that Jack could stay with a succession plan in place and staff changes (no more Pep), which ticked me off quite a bit. It shouldn't have even been up for discussion.<br />
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But when he came in for a follow up a day or two later, he felt blindsided when he was told he was out. Now if this kind of thing really did happen, whether I wanted Jack Leggett out or not, its a shitty way to do somebody who works for you and I don't support it. This information is what led to the newspaper ad by Jon Wilken and much of the comments you hear from people who were diehard Jack supporters saying he deserved better.<br />
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Then Jack followed up by calling everyone in his cellphone and warning them away from the job as best he could.<br />
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Whether he convinced guys like Schlossnagle, Corbin, or Kevin O to stay away is another question. Would they have come anyway? I doubt it. Sully was probably the only chance at a true Home Run hire, but I wouldn't leave fertile recruiting grounds in Florida unless you made me go. Larry Williams suggested that Sully felt it was not the right time, and maybe it would be someday. Some said he sent out feelers to Clemson and Jack convinced him to stay away. Clemson mentioned about 650K to Sully (about 200K more than JL made), but it didn't work out. Sully will eventually win a CWS in Gainesville and likely would never leave.<br />
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You can decide how much to believe. I find it difficult to believe Jack was told he'd be back, its more likely Jack's ego heard what he wanted to hear in that meeting and felt that DRad didn't have the balls do fire him. He tried that with TDP a few years ago, about the time I raised hell about our downturn, and Terry Don didn't do anything at all.<br />
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The other side of the coin was that DRad really wanted Jack Leggett out, and had a free hand from the Clements and Wilkins, but Leggett had many diehard supporters in IPTAY and around the AD that there was pressure to keep him. When Jack refused to make a change again this year, he could justify firing him to anyone who made a stink about it.<br />
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Radakovich interviewed several guys, which is all I needed to hear. We tried Sully, who was the only HR hire I felt, and that didn't work. Lee is a fine choice, as were some others we interviewed. DRad pushed keeping LeCroy as part of the deal, and he is staying, which I'm fine with. My opinion that a house cleaning of this staff stands, since LeCroy was technically hitting coach, but with Lee having a strong hitting background, we'll look for improvement in the other areas.<br />
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It looks like Lee got 5 years at 350K or so per year, nearly double what CofC was paying him. LeCroy is staying, and Duke's Andrew See was hired as pitching coach, over Britt Reames (Citadel) and Matt Williams (UNC-W). Matt Heath, Lee's PC at CofC, who I wanted here, got the head job there.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-31911667620258533302015-06-01T14:39:00.003-04:002015-06-01T14:39:54.836-04:00Hit the Road JackI was at Clemson during our last baseball "heyday", the years where CWS were expected and 50 wins was the real goal. I got to see some serious juggernaut teams until 2003, when graduation/MLB losses knocked us down a notch. Hiring Tom Riginos to replace Corbin was his first bad move. Sully had enough talent coming in that we got back up the ladder by 2006, which I still believe was one of the best all-around teams Clemson baseball has ever had.<br />
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But after Sully left in '08 and Riginos was given the full recruiting reigns, Clemson has steadily marched downhill with the 2010 run being the aberration that I originally thought it was at the time. I jumped off the Jackwagon after watching those teams struggle with basic fundamental baseball, as well as the lack of talent. Losing in 2010 was<a href="http://www.shakinthesouthland.com/2010/6/30/1540286/jack-leggett-should-resign" target="_blank"> the final straw for me</a>, because that team was a microcosm of Jack's own issues: when the heat is on, their sphincters tighten so much that they can't do anything right. Anyone who has met Jack in person will agree with me, that man is so tightly wound that you'd think he could snap in a split second if something goes awry. It has taken 5 years for more of the fanbase to agree with me and see it, but it is pretty clear at this time that Jack should be fired.<br />
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As I've said before, Brad LeCroy has done an admirable job trying to restock our talent level back to where it once was. He's tried to rebuild the bridges that Jack and Riginos burned down, particularly in-state. His title does contain "hitting coach" though, and he's Jack's top non-pitching assistant, so I'm afraid that he needs to go as well, since we need an overall house cleaning at Tiger Field. I won't be mad if he's retained somehow, and I hope that he resurfaces somewhere, but I think a complete flush is required here.<br />
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I called for Leggett to be <a href="http://www.shakinthesouthland.com/2014/5/31/5768212/jack-leggett-should-be-fired" target="_blank">fired again last year</a> and fleshed out these thoughts for my readership. I had hoped that we had an AD who had enough leadership <a href="http://www.shakinthesouthland.com/2014/6/10/5797330/radakovich-chooses-mediocrity" target="_blank">and I was sorely disappointed</a>. Nobody else had the balls to call for firing anyone, I haven't seen any outlet do it yet this season. This scathing article probably set in motion the events that helped Galbraith and Radakovich get us moved off of STS. If I were still there I'd investigate just how much our Supreme Fundraiser AD is actually raising compared to previous numbers, but I digress. The only thing I can point to that he has done well is <i>spend</i> money.<br />
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Everybody always asks "Well who do you want to replace him?", as if their ability to shoot down each candidate I'd bring up would be a convincing argument to retain Jack Leggett. Well I have thought about who I'd call, but its just a list of people I think are good assistants or coaches elsewhere. My opinion of the Clemson program level in 2010 is not what it may be now, so maybe we can't go out and get any coach we want like we could at one time. The Common Market problem and scholarship money remains as a negative against us hiring anyone we would want.<br />
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The only two criteria I can have for a successor is that he be a good recruiter in his own right -- good recruiters hire good recruiters and we have a talent problem -- and that he show me that his players have good fundamentals. In a perfect world I'd call each of these guys: Brian O'Connor at UVA, Kevin O at Florida, Corbin, Monte Lee at CofC, Jim Toman at Liberty, and Jerry Meyers. My dream pick would be O'Connor, since his teams are the most fundamentally sound that I have seen in person for several years. They don't beat themselves like ours. Will he come here? No way. Nor will Sully or Corbin, especially not Corbin now. Those ships have sailed, but I'd due the diligence and call them anyway. Toman is a damn good coach and recruiter, but I doubt he gets a sniff. I don't see DRad calling Meyers either. That leaves Lee, who I think is a fair choice and realistically would take it. He is not leaps & bounds better at CofC than Pawlowski was, but he's done well.<br />
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Then again it might be someone completely outside of the local area. There are plenty of great assistants out there. So long as he shows me he can coach fundamentals and place recruiting emphasis on Georgia and SC, I think he'll be a step up from the current stale regime.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-22520395973734858912015-05-04T13:35:00.000-04:002015-05-04T13:35:25.678-04:00Evaluating the 2010 Recruiting ClassWe are evaluating how close the recruiting services were with their
ratings of the 2010 incoming class, Swinney's 2nd class. This includes all the guys signed by Clemson in 2010.
We've decided to review the class to see whether Rivals and Scout got
their ratings right in the first place. I have my own thoughts about
what I take star ratings to really mean, and it always becomes a point
of contention between people who live by the ratings and those who trust
the staff to make evaluations regardless of rating.<br />
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For those who do not recall, Swinney took a small class in 2009, the "Dandy Dozen", following his short stint as interim HC. He then pocketed the remaining scholarships, leading us to have 11 former walk-ons on scholarship in 2010. Therefore, I clamored for them to oversign and fill with the necessary greyshirts to get us to a full roster by 2011, but they did not do so, and its only been the last 2 years that we've sufficiently oversigned so as to not be stuck with so many, though we still keep the "fat" on the team and don't show enough of them the door when they fail to pan out.<br />
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Going back to this class, the real headliners at the time were LB Justin Parker, WR Nuke Hopkins, WR Tay Bryant, DE Corey Crawford, Tavaris Barnes, and OG David Beasley. Parker, who we had to fight hard for with SC, carried his recruitment late into the process. Crawford and Beasley were battles with UGA, who we were very worried about poaching one or both of them.<br />
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Of note, RB Coach Andre Powell had a choice to make that winter, pursue RB James White or RB D.J. Howard. Powell chose Howard, who was being recruited by Auburn as a DB, as his preferred take. Auburn responded by pulling Howard's offer after DJ took a secret visit to CU. White went to Wisconsin, and finished with just over 4,000 yards in his career there.<br />
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Also in this class, a young TE/RB playing for Billy Napier's father in Adairsville GA named Vic Beasley.<br />
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Scout named this the #23 class overall. Rivals had it at #19. <br />
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<br />
<table align="center" border="0" class="sbn-data-table">
<caption>2010 Signees</caption>
<tbody>
<tr class="ui-state-even">
<td>Player</td>
<td>Rivals</td>
<td>Scout</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Comments</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>OLB Justin Parker </td>
<td>4</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Played as a true freshman and should not have. Later quit football due to injuries.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>RB D.J. Howard</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Howard never fulfilled his potential, and never greatly improved as a RB. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>CB Garry Peters</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Peters had some poor moments his first years at CU, by his Sr year he had locked down one CB spot and did sign a UFA deal. 3-stars is accurate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>OG David Beasley</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>When we landed DB I thought we had the first of a next-level group of Linemen, not so. Beasley could never push himself to his full ability. 4-star talent with 2-star work ethic.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>CB Martin Jenkins</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Martin was taken as a bit of a favor to his father, who was friends with Steele. Became the best cover man on the roster his 2nd year, but disappeared thereafter. Solid and dependable player who did sign a UFA deal.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>LB Jake Nicolopulos</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Suffered a stroke in senior year of HS, received hardship waiver, never played.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>CB Darius Robinson</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Darius showed real flashes in the beginning of his term at CU, but fell off the map and became a serious liability in coverage in years 2-3. By his senior year he had improved enough to lock down his starting job from Peters. Will probably be successful in other areas of life away from FB.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DE Tavaris Barnes</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Clemson took Barnes away from FSU, but Barnes was stuck in that tweener spot between the 3-tech and 5-tech. In his junior year he became a very dependable player. 3-stars is accurate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>OG Kalon Davis</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Kalon somehow started, though we do not see him starting anywhere else with motivated Guards. Too big and slow to be useful as a puller but played anyway. Clemson never got him into proper shape.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DT Josh Watson</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>4</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Watson was from Hargrave, and reported light, then bulked up very quickly. Very dependable solid guy at DT, a real backbone of the top defense. 4-stars is accurate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>TE Vic Beasley</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td>Languished at TE, and the offense gave him to Steele, who put him at OLB. Never worked well there either, no instincts. When they moved him to WDE for the Spring game of his Jr year, the light came on. As a athlete, where he was rated, 3 stars might have been right. As a DE, 5-stars. 1st round pick by the Falcons.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>FS Bashaud Breeland</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>4</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>4th rd pick by Redskins. Breeland really only had one bad year at Clemson during the transition from Steele to BV. After that he became almost lockdown, and in his senior year became a seriously good tackler on the boundary. 4-stars would be accurate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>WR Martavis Bryant</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>4</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>4th rd pick by Steelers. 10 star talent with 1-star work ethic. Seriously as much speed and raw ability as anyone who has ever played WR at Clemson, but until halfway through his Sr year did not care about blocking or anything else besides catching 40 yard bombs from T. Boyd. Being in the pros has helped him change that. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>RB Demont Buice</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Absolutely terrible RB. Transferred in 2011. Deserved no star rating at all.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>WR Joe Craig</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Craig was originally a 4-star by Rivals. Kicked off the team, then to Copiah-Lincoln C.C.,wound up at Memphis. Did sign a UFA deal with Bengals. Speedy player who played QB/CB more than WR in HS, and had few WR skills here to start with, so he never really showed any of his potential. Also needed muscle, which Batson couldn't get on him. In terms of speed, 3 stars would be accurate. In terms of WR skill, 2-stars.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>TE Sam Cooper</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Cooper became a dependable blocking TE. 2-stars is low for him, 3-stars is more accurate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>SS Rickey Chaney</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Never qualified for enrollment at Clemson.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DE Corey Crawford</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>4</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>4-stars would be a little high for this player, who followed M. Goodman at SDE. Crawford was a fine anchor on the strong side, good vs the run, but no flash and no real pass rush ability. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>WR DeAndre Hopkins</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>4</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>1st rd pick by Texans. From the moment he stepped on the field, we marked him as the future. Did all the little things, and never dropped passes. Great work ethic. 4-stars is low for Nuke.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DT Tra Thomas</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>One of the laziest players I have ever witnessed. 2-stars is accurate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>OT Gifford Timothy</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Quit football due to knee injury. Was fine against weak competition and slow DEs, but otherwise a liability at RT. 2-stars would be accurate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>OG Reid Webster</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Backup and role player until his senior season, when he split time at Guard. 2-stars would be accurate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DB Desmond Brown</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>3</td>
<td><br />
</td>
<td>Kicked off team in 2011. Transferred to Pitt. 4-stars was far too high for him.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-57894984475232310992015-04-14T18:19:00.002-04:002015-04-14T18:19:23.751-04:00Observations from the Spring GameSince sEcSPN decided not to televise it, we are out of luck for a second glance at a film review of any kind, but I went to the game, as I usually do. This year seemed even more vanilla from a schematic viewpoint than in the previous 2-3 seasons, so there really is not a ton of things you could take away from the game. We also stuck with intermediate and shorter passes, so none of the QBs took a really deep shot downfield. However, I took away some major concerns and am looking for a few things to get fixed.<br />
<br />
First I want to point out that I recognize that the teams are split unevenly, and that many backups play who may not all play during the season. I will point out to you though that backups on defense most definitely do play, and they play a lot, especially up front. While a starter might get 600-700+ snaps, the backups will generally get into the 200-300 range barring injury. <br />
<br />
Our starting QB was out, but I don't see that as a major negative, these backups do need the reps.<br />
<br />
<strong>QB</strong> - I thought Schuessler did admirably with the offense they gave him to run. It was more like what Stoudt was given in the bowl game: simple, short and intermediate routes that are meant to get the ball out quickly. He must have been <em>really really</em> bad last year in practice to not get game reps.<br />
<br />
Now, do I think he's going to be a success against a Louisville? That is an different question. He really didn't have to read our defense at all. They were playing the same basic few coverages packages.<br />
<br />
The next two will have a battle for the 3rd team spot this fall. If neither ever gets to play, they both get redshirted. I think they'll plan to redshirt one, and play the other only if an emergency occurs. Right now, they each have their strengths. Israel looks completely out of his element in our running plays. He does not seem to have the instinctive feel for the read options. His passes were fine, and he's a little ahead in that department. You would expect that given his HS offense.<br />
<br />
Bryant looks like the more athletically talented player, but early on he was just going through the motions when he was asked to throw. He seemed to firm that up later on in the game. In the option, you can see why they took him, he's got enough speed and talent to do a lot with the ball in his hands and he has the feel for the read option. <br />
<br />
I get the feeling that Bryant is just a little ahead in the battle for 3rd QB after the game. He'd be more useful in a game allowing us to use our option and be able to throw it. Israel right now is more one-dimensional and you'd throw out the option when he's in there. But, its early, and the real hitting doesn't start til August.<br />
<br />
<strong>Run fits</strong> - I was saddened at how poorly we maintained gap integrity up front. We overran our lanes, the DL didn't plug up holes great, and the LBs did a poor job of filling -- particularly from the B-gap outwards (which brings in secondary support). Our offense did too well a job of running the ball.<br />
<br />
Individual battles show one player vs. another, and perhaps that is what you should take from the game, but the overall integrity is very important and showed me that some backups are not quite ready for primetime games. I would say our first 11 will be OK, but after about 14 I think we will have problems in depth show up on the scoreboard. The good ones are still good: Lawson, Mac, Pagano will be great, Yeargin and Register can be good players, etc. Watkins showed some flashes, but needs to be more consistent. Reader needs to raise his game back up.<br />
<br />
In the first half I did not see Skeletor losing his mind as much as I thought he would, but you could see him chewing out a few guys in the 2nd. <br />
<br />
<strong>RB</strong> - the flip side is that I thought our RBs all did well, they all ran hard, though I saw a few run with their pads too high. I would not call their yardage so much a function of how the OL played, with a few exceptions, as I would their hard running and the defensive integrity.<br />
<br />
<strong>WR</strong> - our WRs are some of the best out there, no worries here.<br />
<br />
<strong>DB</strong> - We had some failures with the safety spots in run fits in the alley and some coverage busts. The first TD was basically all on Jefferie Gibson, who let Mike Williams get behind him when he came up, and then 2 plays later fell down when Williams cut inside on the post for 6. Similar issues showed themselves all day. Right now, I think only one side of the defense is vulnerable, and that's whichever side Mac is not playing. His side is complete lockdown. FSU would be wise not to test him.<br />
<br />
But my major concern from the game? Kicking. I was not happy with the punting or kickoffs. Lakip is fine as a kicker, I think. But we couldn't get the kickoff inside the 10 most of the time. We didn't get enough hang on punts. I'm quite scared that we will drop a game based on this kicking situation this season.<br />
<br />
It would be nice if we had a coach specialized in Special Teams....oh wait.<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-53707906674308457082015-03-18T12:02:00.002-04:002015-03-18T12:02:35.093-04:00Thoughts on Clemson Basketball's Program and FutureSeveral people have asked me via email what I think of Brad Brownell and our program following another disappointing season, so I'll take a break from retirement to share those thoughts here.<br />
<br />
First things first, Brad is not going anywhere. Radakovich wouldn't fire Jack Leggett when it was blatantly apparent he needed to do so, he pushed the decision off and fed us a bunch of bullshit last summer about why he didn't. I don't think he wants to make the hard decisions. And, he gave Brad a nonsensical buyout to Brownell's contract like he did Hewitt at Georgia Tech (though not as bad). DRad wanted to lock up Brad through the facilities changes, and push his decision off until afterwards. So no, unless we basically finish 1-30, or Brad decides to jump ship, he'll be here until the Littlejohn changes are completed. I wouldn't be surprised if DRad is just looking to jump ship himself within 2-3 years, he seems poised to be a conference commish someday.<br />
<br />
But coming back to the program, my opinion is that Brad Brownell is not going to be the answer here to getting us back into the NCAAs consistently. When I watch Clemson, i see a very inconsistent team, and a team that looks like it has not been coached on how to play offense at all. They don't have that offensive mindset. We're a defensive squad and that is really all we can do. It seems like the plan is to teach guys how to play defense and not teach them how to shoot, so unless we recruit a great player who can do offense by himself, we're not going to play as an offensive unit. Brad's staff is just not developing them here. Blossomgame and Grantham are the only two players I see out there who have that offensive talent. The rest of our players should be at mid-majors.<br />
<br />
Now I will say that I do like Brownell. I supported the hire, and in the subsequent seasons I was happy to see a team that did improve fundamentally. We could never set a screen to save our lives under OP, and Brad had that fixed almost immediately. Our overall defensive fundamentals are pretty damn good most of the time, with the exception of a few lazy players like Nnoko. In all but two seasons we have looked much better by February than in November, so you can't deny that his staff is coaching them up.<br />
<br />
I will also point out the attitude of most Clemson fans, which is that basketball does not deserve any facilities or money spent on it because it does not perform. Such an attitude proves to me why football spent 20 years in Hell, but back then it was held by the administration, and not all of us. I was harping on this stuff 5-6 years ago, and people still told me we didn't need an IPF. Now the administration spends on football, and people wised up and see that success and spending go hand-in-hand. But they don't see that spending on basketball now will help it in the future. If you think that way, then just shut up about our basketball program. You don't even deserve to have your opinion heard. Clemson can be successful at everything, and if you know me then you know that I've always pushed for that goal.<br />
<br />
So that Clemson is finally spending some money on Littlejohn is welcomed by me. Facilities are all about recruiting. Men's Basketball is the only other athletic program at Clemson that turns a profit, the only one. Improving facilities for football took us from Top 30 classes to now Top 10-15 classes, and improving the basketball facilities will help greatly here. Will it help as much? I'm not sure, but it will help. We aren't in a metropolitan area, we're out in the sticks a little at Clemson, so we won't ever have the natural advantages that Atlanta or Chicago would have, but we can make sure the recruits are wowed by what we show them. We haven't helped Brownell in this area and he clearly needs it.<br />
<br />
But I have some questions, that after his term here need to be answered.<br />
<b>Who is responsible for the almost complete lack of talent here?</b> I'm not excusing him just because Clemson won't spend to help him.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Who is responsible for recruiting not one dead-eye shooter for a 4/1 motion system that needs shooters?</b> I see them at Wofford or Winthrop, why do we never have one? Have we had one since Oglesby?<br />
<br />
<b>Who is responsible for losing at least 1 or 2 players to transfers every winter? </b>This is a big red flag. And why does it seem that we always need those players back a month later?<br />
<br />
<b>Why do we look like we haven't been coached on how to play offense in some games? </b>Self-explanatory. Its not every week, or every moment in every game, but its often.<br />
<br />
<b>Who is responsible for the lack of mental toughness? lack of killer instinct?</b> We lose a game and its like the bottom drops out from under us. Lose to ND? Then lose again and again. We look great one week, then get the next team down, and can't finish it, or vice versa, when we get down by 15 to a team we can beat, then come back and still lose because of crucial mistakes.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Who is responsible for us dropping a few games to teams we have no business in the world losing to? </b>Look like crap against High Point? Lose to Winthrop? Lose to SC? Losing to Auburn last year basically kicked us off the NCAA bubble. What about generally looking like shit from November until ACC play starts in nearly all of his seasons as HC?<br />
<br />
I knew when the hire went down that recruiting would determine his tenure. I thought Rick Ray was a good one there, but I know that Ray would play ball with the AAU guys, and Brad won't do it, so Ray left. I don't think Brad filled with as good a quality recruiter. I don't think the rest of the staff is very good at it either. James Johnson would've been, but VT hired him before we could get him here.<br />
<br />
Basically what Brad needs is 2 or 3 Dabos to recruit for him, and then find an assistant who can coach offense, because Brad only seems to be able to draw up a few set plays and coach defense.<br />
<br />
But like I said, Brad is not going anywhere until the facilities are done. They'll give him at least one year in the new LJ to show substantial improvement, and only then will a decision be made. A new coach would not want to jump into this until the new LJ is done. At that point, if Brad Brownell is fired, and I currently believe he will be, then we don't need to go cheap with the next HC. Clemson should go out and throw the money at someone who is not at a destination job.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-68585254355730815632015-02-07T14:53:00.007-05:002015-02-07T14:53:56.100-05:00The 2015 Clemson Tiger Recruiting Class<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WVzETb9FSMw" width="420"></iframe>
<b>Recruit - Proj. position at CU - HS - any linked film I can get -
vitals - rankings from Rivals and some of our thoughts after looking at
their film.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Bold indicates player signed on Signing Day, the others are already enrolled. </b><br />
<br />
Shadell Bell - WR - Columbia HS, Decatur GA - 6'2 202, 4.58 40 - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m0_hWziaq8">film</a> - 3* WR. Rivals#41 player in Georgia and #42 WR overall. Offers from Kentucky, Miss State, NC State, Tennessee among others. Makes good cuts, smooth in his routes, but is not a burner so he has to be good at routes to get separation. Real nice size and could play on the boundary 9 position, as he can already block. Actually dropped from a 4* ranking due to playing a very average senior season, beset by ankle and groin injuries that sidelined him half the year. Given our WR situation I expect they'll play him. Recruited by Marion Hobby and Jeff Scott.<br />
<br />
Kaleb Chalmers - DB/CB - Greenwood HS, SC - 5'11 180lbs, 4.45 40- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcOS4nzH9G8">film</a>
- #10 player in SC and #47 CB nationally. Offers mainly from the local
Carolinas, including SC and Tennessee. Chalmers is a good player in HS
who needs polishing at the next level. Hip flex is good, speed is good,
but just needs coaching up because he's not consistent. Does show good
ball skills, which is a must here. Definite RS. Recruited by Mike Reed.<br />
<br />
Tucker Israel - QB - Lake Nona HS, Orlando FL- 6'0 195lbs. - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hxCG5UaZcFw">Film 1</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oTWk1DP02fk">2</a>
- No ranking in-state or nationally. Received an offer and attention
from Florida, LSU, and then a bunch of 2nd tier programs. Based on his
film, I'd say the 3-stars is low. He's set tons of Florida passing
records. Based on the measurables, its probably right on the money, and
considering that they take other things besides on-field play into these
ratings, its fair. If he was two inches taller they'd be all over him;
he's on the short side to ever make it to the next level. Good arm
strength and is capable of making the throws in our system, and sets his
feet well, but I have concerns about his deep floaters against good
coverage teams. Either Israel or Bryant will RS, not both, and the one
who RS's is the one you have to think will look elsewhere within 2
years. Recruited by The Chad.<br />
<br />
Sterling Johnson - DT - Cleveland HS, Clayton NC - 6'5 288lbs. - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1gZ1wNHtK2c">film</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fn64DGU9rhU">2</a>
- #55 DT nationally, #26 player in NC. Johnson has an impressive offer
list, but I get the feeling many of
these are just verbals and place-holder offers, namely Alabama, FSU,
Florida, UNC, and Texas. He had tried to commit to Tennessee but they
would not take him. Size is obviously ready, first step is good, but the
motor...not so good. This is the one thing we look for in DL players,
and he does not have it. Technique is bad. Competition he faced in
Western NC isn't that good either. Definite RS. Recruited by Mike Reed.<br />
<br />
Albert Huggins - DT - Orangeburg-Wilkinson HS, SC - 6'2 280lbs 4.9 40 - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlf8dBrlZJs">film</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl-FPVuJfw4">2</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uon8P9XfIk">3</a>
- #2 player in SC, #10 DT nationally and #88 player overall. Played
with Jadar Johnson at O-W. This one was really between Clemson, Georgia
and SC. His dad really pushed him hard towards the SEC, and was in
attendance when Clemson thumped SC, which is the day things turned in
our favor. I do believe had UGA worked harder, they likely would've
landed him early on. Huggins is a War-Daddy, basically unblockable
inside at the HS level, and spends much of the game in the backfield. I
think this is the best DT we've signed in some time. First step is good,
pad level is good, strength is outstanding. He's also doing well in
school academically. Huggins should crack the 5-man rotation at DT.
Recruited by Marion Hobby.<br />
<br />
Chad Smith - OLB - Dominion HS, Sterling VA- 6'4 215 4.7 40 - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=A694Aq1p27g">film</a>
- #2 player in VA, #4 OLB and #48 player nationally. His main offers
are from Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, and Pitt, who were the main early
suitors for his services. Had he stayed uncommitted, a lot of other
teams may have followed. I'll tell you, based on his first available
film, I was not impressed at all. He merely looked like the best athlete
on the field. Later film shows much improvement, and he showed out well
against the top competitors in the AS games. Hip flex is good, speed is
fine but needs to get better and I think it can. Pad level must come
down, but technique is otherwise quite good. I think he's a future
tweener at SAM in our system, capable of moving to SS unless he bulks up
too quickly. Likely a RS. Recruited mainly by Venables.<br />
<br />
Van Smith - DB/S - Hough HS, Charlotte NC - 6'0 180lbs 4.5 40- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdrPGaMRz5I">film</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y84LDUYbNdI">2</a>-
#14 player in NC, #41 Safety nationally. Offers from NC State and
Kansas State, but he committed very early. Played everywhere, mainly RB
and DB at Hough. Speedy athlete that plays hard, but needs coaching. Hip
flex is good. I expect him to RS. Recruited by Dan Pearman.<br />
<br />
Mitch Hyatt - OT - North Gwinnett HS, GA- 6'5 285lbs. - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=reSTEhdbWt4">film</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Awi6XtHHWdw">2</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RGD_B9y2oYs">3</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yoUWifF0J3U">4</a>
- #3 OT nationally, #5 player in GA and #45 player overall. Offered by
everybody. Hyatt is a Clemson legacy, as his mother went to school here
and his uncle, Dan Benish, played for Coach Ford. Hyatt has the frame to
put on muscle, footwork is great,
he's got good length and knee bend, and he uses his leverage. He keeps
his pads low. You can tell that Benish and others have coached him
really well. He's a real athlete playing Tackle instead of a big fat
kid. He basically does everything well.The reason why he dropped from
the #1 spot nationally is that he gained weight this season, and didn't
carry it as well this season compared to some others. He was beaten off
the edges against good competition and to the inside by quicker guys. We
do believe he needs to add muscle to play at the next level and
continue growing into his body. Candidate to play at least a little as a
true freshman. Recruited chiefly by Tony Elliott, with Chad Morris and
Robbie Caldwell.<br />
<br />
Kelly Bryant - QB - Wren HS, Piedmont SC - 6'4 204lbs - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFskzYZGZA">film,</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2VABxf-3g8">2</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwdfWJSvBn8">3</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iv0BqrA2gw">4</a>-
Rated 4-star dual-threat QB by Rivals. #3 player in SC, 11th-ranked
Dual Threat QB nationally. Early on, he was ranked in the top 150
players nationally, but has been fighting health concerns throughout his
HS career. Gets good spin on the ball, and good arm strength for our
system. Really makes a lot of big plays with his legs, though he's not a
speed burner at the college level. Most of his HS tapes are just big
bombs or runs. His cousin is Martavis Bryant. He ran the offense for a
heavily-run-oriented Abbeville before going to Wren for his Jr/Sr
seasons, due to Academic reasons. I'm expecting Bryant to get the 2nd
string job, but if he doesn't, watch for him to RS. Technically Kelly is
a Jeff Scott recruit.<br />
<br />
Jake Fruhmorgen - OT - Plant HS, Tampa FL - 6'5, 282lbs. - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q5n4E3vIN3c">film</a>
- #5 OT nationally, #15 in FL and #73 nationally. Offered by everybody,
though Florida and Bama were the main competition early on, and his dad
played at Bama. He's tall, carries his weight well, and his feet are
really good. He
shuffles them into his pass set very well without taking too big a step
that would make him bend at the waist or lunge at pass rushers.
Sometimes his pads are a bit high, but this is normal for a 6'5 guy in
HS. It appears his HS runs a mostly-pass offense, because you just don't
see enough of him in the dirt and drive blocking to get a real feel for
that part of his game. At least not from anything I see on Hudl. I
suspect he'll need to put on some more mass, but this is the type of OT
you'd want to run a zone read with. He can get to that 2nd level pretty
quickly. Candidate to play at least a little as a freshman. Recruited by
Tony Elliott.<br />
<br />
Zach Giella - OG -Augusta Christian HS,Augusta GA- 6'5 300lbs. - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V2VhaH2Hbww">film</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ds0_oRO3V0g">2</a>
- #49 player in GA, #60 OG nationally. Offered by Wisconsin, LSU, the
Mississippi's and SC. Giella is a tweener for Guard or RT, and it
depends on his weight and footwork where he ends up, but after watching
more film on him I think he'll end up at Guard. RT might be where he
starts out. His feet aren't completely fluid like Fruhmorgen or Hyatt's
films show, but he has enough of a mean streak in him that he tends to
finish blocks. He screws up when he straightens himself up and lets a
defender get in close under his pads, because then they can turn him. In
all, he's a bit more of a project and definite RS. Giella was recruited
by The Chad.<br />
<br />
Noah Green - OG - Boiling Springs HS, Spartanburg SC - 6'4 283lbs 5.03 40 - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlf8dBrlZJs">film</a>
- #8 player in SC and #39 OG nationally. Committed early on, but had
offers from ECU, NC, SC. Both parents attended Clemson. I have seen
Green play in person a couple times, and I was not wowed, but he is a
big kid with good strength and pretty good feet. Sometimes lets
defenders get in and knock him off balance. Definite RS. Recruited by
Jeff Scott with Robbie Caldwell.<br />
<b>Austin Bryant</b> - SDE - Thomas Cty Central HS, Thomasville GA - 6'4 251lbs.- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EFgwStConQ">film</a> - 4* SDE. #13 player in GA, 149 overall nationally, and 11th ranked SDE nationally. Offered by just about everyone in the southeast, including Florida, FSU, LSU, ND, A&M, SC. Played with Adam Choice in HS, and grew up a UGA fan. Plays with good pad level, seems to understand leverage. We've been harping on Clemson not getting enough high-quality DEs for some time now, and Bryant is that. He fills an immediate depth need on the Strongside, and we do expect him to get a taste on field this fall. Recruited by Dan Pearman.<br />
<br /><b>Deon Cain</b> - WR - Tampa Bay Tech School, Tampa FL - 6'1 190lbs, 4.4 40. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZmI2H8m_ups">film</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oYuv4IfgNCw">2</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=baWlyGNt7xU">3 </a>,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bZPldQzG3b8">4</a> - #4 WR, #6 in FL, and 17th-ranked player nationally. He was an early FSU lean with offers from Florida, Bama, Miami, UGA, Nebraska and Ohio State. Cain actually played a lot of QB in HS, since he was the best athlete out there, so don't be shocked if he's not good at WR technique when he gets on the field. He's playing this fall either way. He has to learn how to block, which I don't see on any film. Runs good routes that I can see. Hands look good. He's fast, but quicker and more fluid than an
outright blazer. Change of direction is good, indicating good hip
flexibility. The reports on his personality say that he's a gamer, but
quiet like our last two great WRs. Cain projects as a 5 or a 2 in Clemson's system, but probably starting out at 5. Tony Elliott is the typical area recruiter for Tampa, with Jeff Scott.<br />
<br />
<b>Gage Cervenka </b>-DT - Emerald HS, Greenwood SC -6'3 280 4.9 40.- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeZlpqHyuBs">film</a> - #12 in SC and #37 DT nationally. Cervenka has offers from NC State, WF, Miami, and Duke. Very good HS wrestler, so he'll understand leverage. Most important thing I can say from his film is that he has a good motor, a very good thing at DT. Pad level is fine, first step is good. Cervenka's parents are Clemson fans and he grew up one. I expect him to RS. Recruited by Mike Reed.<br />
<br />
<b>LaSamuel Davis</b> - WDE -Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Bamberg SC - 6'4 215lbs 4.68 40. - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cYjpybsJ7Oc">film</a> - #13 player in SC, #33 WDE nationally. Davis had strong interest from NC State and UNC, and supposedly had
offers from K-State, Florida, GT and Virginia Tech. Based on what I have
heard, I'm skeptical of the offers from Florida and another from
Tennessee. I'm not super high on Davis. I like the speed and first step obviously, and
that is why he makes so many plays at Bamberg. His motor is good,
which is most important. Davis is an athlete playing DE, the fundamentals and experience as a DE aren't there, so this one is a project, but not a project I mind since we got Bryant and Ferrell. I could see him becoming a pass rush specialist as an upperclassman. Definite RS. Recruited by Marion Hobby.<br />
<br />
<b>Clelin Ferrell</b> - WDE - Benedictine School, Richmond VA - 6'5 240lbs. 4.7 40. - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEJJxpMVZPg">film</a> - #5 in VA, #6 WDE and #135 national player. Offered by Bama, FSU, LSU, and many others. Ferrell looks like a future Beasley in frame, though obviously the edge speed from VB is pretty rare. Right now he plays like most 6'5 guys, too high, but that can be fixed. He's also left free a little too much on the film, coming completely
unblocked off the edge from a 6 or 7 technique, which makes me wonder
about the level of competition he's playing against. In some camps he
has been pushed around by some good linemen, which gives me some pause
as to how to rate his hand usage and how well he sheds. Right now, he's
just beating guys with athleticism and not moves, but again you rarely
see a guy in HS get more than 1 move down. Dropped a little in rankings later due to a ACL tear in August. Possible RS, but I think either he or Bryant plays given our lack of DE depth. Watch the knee though, given our record healing them. Recruited by Venables and Hobby.<br />
<br />
<b>Mark Fields Jr</b>- CB - Hough HS, Charlotte NC - 5'10 186lbs, 4.34 40 -<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEJJxpMVZPg">film</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEJJxpMVZPg">2</a> -#5 player in NC, #10 CB nationally and #113 overall. Had been committed to SC for a long time, but staff uncertainty and the fact that Spurrier will not be there for 4 years are the main reasons why he pulled away. Son of former Panther LB Mark Fields. Bigger, physical CB not afraid to jam at the line, which we will be needing this year. Excellent speed and good ball skills. I do have questions about his toughness after sitting out an AS game with a broken finger. Fields is too talented to RS. Recruited initially by Pearman, but Mike Reed gets most of the credit here.<br />
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<b>Ray-Ray McCloud</b> III - WR/DB - Sickles HS, Tampa FL 5'9 176lbs 4.4 40 - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uon8P9XfIk">film</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPpqbOimDhw">2</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPpqbOimDhw">3</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPpqbOimDhw">4</a> - #2 athlete in the nation, #9 player in FL and #23 player in the nation. Offered by everyone, but committed to Clemson after his close friend Deon Cain did, which is when I predicted he'd commit to us. Florida was the main competitor earlier on. RRM played mostly RB in HS, but would project as a WR or DB at the next level, depending on where he wants to play. I expect we'll start him at WR in the slot 2 position, which was Sammy's spot. Basically will bench Germone Hopper, who needs to get it straight that he won't play over RRM unless he starts working hard. Speed and change of direction are simply excellent, but other than that there is not a ton of WR film to examine. Also, if he wants to bulk up (he's a little scrawny), he could be another Spiller. He won't RS. Recruited by Tony EIliott and Jeff Scott. <br />
<br />
<b>Tanner Muse</b> - SS - South Point HS, Belmont NC - 6'4 205lbs 4.4 40 - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcyhr55dSk0">film</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZjcSoYdvhE">2</a> - #17 player in NC, #44 rated Safety by Rivals. Committed long ago, but offers had come from Michigan, NC, Florida, and GT. Muse is just a big athlete, who will need a little development and to focus on either football or baseball. He is a candidate to get drafted by MLB this June. I think you see him start in the back end and whether he bulks up or not will dictate a move to OLB. I do believe he RSs. Recruited by Dan Brooks.<br />
<br />
<b>Christian Wilkins</b> - DT - Suffield Academy, CT - 6'5 305lbs - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt2bn3eRbdY">film</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMBFfWC-XKE">2</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMBFfWC-XKE">3</a> - #1 player in CT, #4 DT nationally and #21 player overall nationally. Offered by Bama, Florida, Penn State, Ohio State among others. Another War Daddy. As you can imagine, CT doesn't provide him enough competition, so he bulldozes everyone he plays. He does show out in AS games and camps though. Wilkins is a rare blend of size and speed, but is a bit wreckless and plays higher than Huggins. Wilkins may need just enough coaching that he'll benefit from the RS, but don't be surprised if he cracks the 5-man rotation. Recruited by Venables.<br />
<br />
<b>Garrett Williams</b> - 4* TE - 6'4 225lbs. First Academy Orlando FL - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Y9ZoR01Ilvw">film</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bR5tbHbKnoI">2</a> - #3 TE nationally, #18 in FL and #118 player overall. Offered by nearly everyone, including Bama, Auburn, the Florida schools, Stanford and Notre Dame. Williams is an FSU legacy, his dad played for Brad Scott as a FB under Bowden, and Brad's connection got us in, but Stanford was the main competition according to him. Williams has everything you'd want in a TE, but you could probably find
someone who does something better without having the entire package. He
has good speed, but its not elite. He's not going to stretch the field deep as well as Leggett could (if he ever stopped being lazy). He isn't stiff in the hips and it shows in his cuts,
but he's not as fluid as Allen ended up. His hands are good. He gives
effort as a blocker, but I don't see him starting out as a line TE,
he'll be flexed out like a Leggett or Seckinger in the beginning. If he
can put on about 20-30lbs, without losing any athleticism, maybe then he
becomes a guy you'd play every snap and capable of doing everything
we'd need at this spot. If he can do that he'll make it to the NFL
without a problem, I just don't see him going as high as a Fleener or
Allen. Given our TE situation, I expect them to play him. Recruited by Jeff Scott.<br />
<br />
Grayshirt - <b>Amir Trapp</b> - CB - Daniel HS, Clemson SC - 5'7 165lbs 4.7 40 - film - Offered by Furman and PC. Son of James Trapp. Amir has no height and not enough speed to deserve a scholarship to play Div 1 football for Clemson. This is Dabo dabbing and nepotism, just like the Davis twins. Trapp is meant to enroll next January, on scholarship.<br />
<br />
I'll reiterate my opinion on Clemson legacy players here. If a kid can play and is a legacy, then I want him. I think Cannon Smith can play and deserved his offer. I don't think Trapp or the Davis' can play. They eat up useful scholarships that we can use for depth. If they walk-on and make the 2 deep, they deserve to get a scholarship, not before. Giving out 4-5 scholarships to players who can't help you defeat FSU is self-imposed probation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-83667381329713051312015-01-02T16:50:00.004-05:002015-01-02T16:50:57.867-05:00Post-Tangerine Bowl ThoughtsFirst, outstanding performance by Clemson in the game. Oklahoma just did not want any. We know they're not a 40-6 type of bad team, but they didn't want any of what Clemson was giving them Monday afternoon. Clemson gave me flashbacks to the 1989 Gator Bowl with the way we gutted the Oklahoma Sooners. Us finishing #1 in Total Defense is something that makes me insanely happy, its a goal most defenses have and few ever attain. I'd put this defense up with those 89-91 teams. Ben Boulware did a good job in Anthony's stead, the secondary did theirs, and the DLine dominated the game. <br />
<br />
How Grady Jarrett is not a 1st team AA is beyond me. I just don't get that. He's been consistent all year at blowing up blockers inside, and gets so little recognition for it. The NFL will recognize it.<br />
<br />
Second, Kudos to Cole Stoudt. I have said on here before that he was definitely one of the worst QBs Clemson has thrown out there, and the on-field evidence remains against him from this season. One game doesn't erase it, but he deserved a performance like what he gave us, because we all knew he could play better than we have seen. Theres a reason why I backed Dabo in playing Cole as long as he did. We knew the guy who could run the base offense over the last 3 years was capable of doing better, and he finishes his career on a high note. Good for him, great job. He went out like Malliciah Goodman with the performance of his life.<br />
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I think the staff reduced things for Cole to a set of basic install
stuff that he was comfortable with and didn't require a lot of
medium-long range throws. I think Cole knew he was the only answer at QB
and approached the game with a different focus with no DW over his
broken shoulder. I think having a fresh look from Brandon Streeter helped him, but I do not believe his mechanical issues have been fixed. You can make progress in two weeks (15 practices) but you aren't going to "solve" the issues. <br />
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Only a couple things could've been improved really, and that was consistency in the run game and blitz pickup.<br />
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Our OL did alright in the first quarter, and Gallman ran hard as he usually does, but the run game seemed to vanish. This OL has to improve for us to get anywhere with Watson. Any title run will depend on the OL over the next two years. If they ever become dominant again, then we can win one.<br />
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The blitz pickup was actually pretty weak. You all saw Gallman miss 2 guys who nailed Cole thereafter. I think there was a 3rd on him, but I'm unsure of the responsibility on that particular hit on Cole. We had to yank David Beasley a couple times for Kalon Davis because he couldn't move his feet to stay in front of a blitzer. <br />
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As far as playcalling, I was happy with Tony's calls. When I wanted us to go for the jugular a couple times, i could see from the pattern that he was thinking the same thing. My opinion on the search is documented, I would've done some interviews, but I'm going to give TE/JS the leeway and evaluate them as next season goes along.<br />
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I wanted to remind some people about what we really felt when Dabo made some of these hires on the staff the last few years. I think some have forgotten how to read and think that since I criticize decisions made, that I instantly hate the hire. That is simply not true. I take issue with the process that I see going along, and I look at the possible candidates myself and make a judgement call, it doesn't mean I hate the decision made.<br />
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People say we hated the Chad Morris hire, wrong. Those who read my stuff at that time know that we warmed up to Chad pretty quick over that offseason as I worked through my Tulsa film. The issue we initially took was that Dabo could've had an OC with an impressive track record (Friedgen) everywhere he's been, and hired a guy with one year of major college experience. In retrospect we were wrong about him initially, and he's turned out to be the best OC Clemson has had, right up there with RichRod.<br />
<br />
That we hated Venables is also wrong, but it took two years for him to fix what Steele did here. Adding Mike Reed is something that goes unnoticed, as Harbison had big disagreements with Venables. Our issue with Brent was that the OU defense had vastly underperformed its talent level since Mike Stoops left for Arizona. At the same time we admit that the Big XII underwent an offensive explosion with Baylor, Okla State, and others installing spread attacks and Mike Leach breaking records with the Air Raid. I felt OU could do much better, especially dominating up front, as I used to watch more Oklahoma games, and many OU fans did too. It turns out that either they have the wrong mix of staff members there or the whole thing is just going stale for Bob Stoops.<br />
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And yes, we still want Batson gone. We still have too many fat guys who can't move anyone sucking up scholarships. But at this point I'm of the opinion that the coaching is no better than it has been up front since Tommy West left. I love Caldwell, we supported him, but we need to revamp everything up front. Our angles are bad, pad level is not good enough, and we struggle picking up A/B gap stunts. If I had my druthers we'd go get a younger energetic guy.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-18631204717008434182014-12-02T20:26:00.002-05:002014-12-02T20:26:36.165-05:00Dabo Goin Full Dabo: Co-CoordinatorsDabo did not disappoint, as soon as he beats SC and feels he has the clout, he goes full Dabo again. I was told 4 years ago that him having to fire Napier stung him, because that last season with Billy was really a co-coordinator system between himself and Napier, and that he wanted people to think that he was an offensive coach who knew playcalling. That experiment failed miserably and Billy was thrown out. I was told before he even got the interim tag that Bowden felt he'd never make a great OC and that he'd never get that job after Spence left, but that one is water under the bridge now.<br />
<br />
All these things worry me to death again now that Dabo has appointed dual-coordinators, neither of which could really stand up to him in staff meetings.<br />
<br />
Despite what TI has thrown out there about TCU's co-coordinator system and some other successful ones, the majority of these situations do not actually work. Usually it fails and one guy leaves the school. Only one man can call plays at the pace Clemson runs, just one. There's time to discuss it between drives, but if you dick around and start arguing about calls in the game, you don't have any tempo. So really, this is Co-OC in name only, and an excuse to protect one while giving both fictitious promotions and raises. The question is who will call plays, and which one is Dabo really trying to protect?<br />
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Jeff has been on everyone's radar as a candidate, not Elliott. I have heard several conversations about the staff and Chad's opinion of each of them, but I will not share that info here. I'll only share the one i've stated before, which is that he and Caldwell won't miss each other. He took Joe Craddock, a GA who held the signs on the sidelines, as his OC. He didn't take Tyler Carlton, who he brought from Tulsa here. That should tell you something. No matter which way you slice it, it doesn't make much sense to not even go out and interview a few guys. I know Dab's talked to some on the phone and bounced some ideas off his other assistants, but no interviews. Given the gravity of the decision, and that we could have an team capable of a Playoff run when Watson is a Jr, I just cannot understand. <br />
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Clemson has the most talented QB we've ever had coming back, and a bevy of talent to go with him. We have shown that we'll pay the best in the country for an OC. Together that means we can basically go out and have our pick of coordinators. They'd be lining up to get a chance to coach Watson.<br />
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And he kept it internal. You don't promote a relatively unknown RB Coach to Co-OC for no reason. You don't let a Co-OC keep the Recruiting Coordinator job, and you don't have a guy who feels that he is worthy of the full job that wants to share the title and the pressure that goes with it. One gets scapegoated if it stumbles, and it may not be the one you really think.<br />
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I think the popular idea among all of us was that JS would be getting the job. What if JS got passed over completely? What would he do? Probably leave. What if Tony got passed over? Probably nothing at this point in his young career, unless Morris actually wanted him to be his OC. It makes you think about the true motivation.<br />
<br />
But even though I went to school with both of these guys, along with Dameyune Craig while I was at LSU, I would not approve of either taking the job at this point. I want someone with a hard edge. Rich Rod was a dick at Clemson and Chad had no problem putting his foot in some ass here. I don't see any of them as having enough "asshole" in them to take the job. I see a Napier situaiton all over again.<br />
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Dabo sinks or swims with this decision. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-40780386935236509072014-12-01T20:48:00.000-05:002014-12-01T20:48:02.210-05:00Clemson pushes SC to 6-6, and The Chad Leaves for SMUDabo finally beat Spurrier again, and we totally dominated the line of scrimmage, which is what really made me happy about the game. Clemson's DL, especially DeShawn Williams, blew them up. Several times I saw Williams and Grady blow the Center/Guard 5 yards deep before he could even straighten himself up some. They had to hold Vic Beasley on every other play to keep him from planting Dylan's ass, typical of SEC refs to miss such calls in interconference matchups.<br />
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I doubt many of you noticed, but Clemson's Jet Sweep Toss play was actually blocked differently than we usually do, and this new front scheme was integral in its success this weekend. Usually we'll pull the playside Guard/TE outside towards the play, or simply run a OZ/stretch scheme to block it. This time we changed that, and messed up the keys for their LBs. I didn't notice it live, but a coaching friend pointed it out, and now that I've rewatched the game I can see how lethal it was to them. The play works off our normal jet motion + Power O play, where the Guard pulls over to playside and the RB follows him. We run a jet motion to confuse the LB, but the Guard tells where the ball is going.<br />
<br />
On the new play, we pull the playside Guard <i>away</i> from the play. As I've written numerous times before, the Linebacker's keys are the Guard/RB and ball. It forms a triangle read. If his main key is the Guard, he'll go where the Guard goes, because naturally the Guard would be blocking as a lead blocker for someone else, as in the Power O play we run often. So the playside LB, in this case often Skai Moore, is reading the Guard, and thinks "power O" when the Guard pulls towards the backside. The LB then flows over there towards him.<br />
<br />
Clemson released the TE towards the playside in an Arc release, to take out the safety or OLB. The WR to that side simply blocks, I never noticed a crackback. The playside OT veer releases inside, leaving the DE unblocked. The OT then seals off the backside pursuit, which was often the LB trying to recover when he saw the ball not going behind the pulling Guard.<br />
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When the OT down blocks, the DE is supposed to follow the Block-down-step-down rule and squeeze the OT further inside. Theirs never did, and just stood there while Artavis Scott ran right by them. With the backside sealed and an arc block by the TE and a block by the WR, he went a long way.<br />
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Watson was awesome, Gallman ran his ass off, the defense played great, so that's all I can say. I'm happy that we won and don't care about anything else right now. I want the bowl win to get to 10 but I don't care so long as I can flip off every cockfan I run into and say "From Top 10 to 6-6!".<br />
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As I'd hinted at on twitter two weeks ago, Chad Morris to SMU happened. While I have my issues with Chad's playcalling in big games, and I think the "we will be a good power run team" stuff is bull, I do think he's the best OC Clemson has ever had. I loved RRod and I love Chad Morris. We will miss him. Expecting us to be as awesome next year on offense as we would be with him seems farfetched. If you lose a good coach and possibly end up changing the whole system, you're going to take a step back. I hope he has great success and can go full Ron Meyer out there at SMU.<br />
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Knowing what I know about Morris' issues with Batson's S&C program, I highly doubt he takes a single member of our S&C staff with him. He complained to Dabo after his first year and has complained about it since.<br />
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Also as I expected, he took Justin Stepp with him to SMU as WR Coach. Stepp was previously a GA here and Chad promised he'd take him wherever he went as HC after he left for App State. As I recall, Stepp also had a money issue with Dabo where they didn't see eye-to-eye, and Chad took up for Justin. GAs make in the $20K range while they work on their Masters.<br />
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While I believed that Jeff Scott would end up going with Chad Morris if he went to a P5 or some other fairly big school, I have heard that he was going to stay. For those who are stupid and haven't thought of coaching as your life career, let me break it down for you as to why he'd ever consider leaving. If you want to be a HC someday, you need to cut your teeth somewhere else, get exposed to new ideas and philosophies, and become a well-rounded coach. If you think you've found someone who can teach you something, then you should go with him wherever he goes. I know Clemson is fond of promoting WR coaches to HC, but that just doesn't happen often. Maybe some who feel that any Clemson coach is awesome and would be awesome as HC don't think that way, but those people are the trailer park fans who don't know anything about football. If I was underneath Saban as a DL coach, I'd go with him wherever he went until I felt I was knowledgeable enough and ready to make my own way. The smartest move for yourself is to go with the smart coach who can teach you everything, then come back home later. If I were Jeff and Chad was going to Florida, or even Tulsa, I'd go with him, learn a few years, eventually take over playcalling, learn how to run a whole program, and then go off on my own. Maybe then I'd take a lateral move as OC as Chad did with us from Tulsa to prove it was me and not Chad. Maybe by then I could get the Clemson HC job if Dabo left. All Clemson fans would accept me if I had proven offensive coaching skills.<br />
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That's the thinking and most of you with professional skills and who have thought about your lifelong career understand that.<br />
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SMU is a little different in that I think its very hard to win there, so I'd think twice about it and maybe stay put, but that is the thinking going on here, and so I wouldn't fault Jeff Scott either way. I'd wish him luck and hopefully he'd be able to come back someday.<br />
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And if Clemson loses a few recruits, then they really werent committed to the school anyway. Alabama and Auburn and Georgia and etc. etc. lose assistants every year and still put up great classes don't they? If you lose a coach thats not an excuse.<br />
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We may end up promoting Jeff to OC and turning the RC job over to Elliot too. The concern here for me is that Dabo will go full Dabo in the offense like he did Billy Napier. Chad Morris had no problem telling Caldwell some guys sucked and did the same to Dabo Swinney. He wouldn't let Dabo meddle in his playcalling. Is Jeff that confident in himself and will he stand up to Dabo when he dabs? Dabo is no offensive genius despite what he may think of himself. We've seen what happens there.<br />
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Dabo is being very quiet about it all, so I havent heard much at all. All I know for a fact is that I'd interview some guys before I decided. I'd call Rhett Lashlee at Auburn, who doesn't call plays but who has coached this system for many years after having played in it under Gus. I'd call Philip Montgomery at Baylor, which is an absolutely lethal offense that scares the shit out of a defensive guy like myself. I'd call Scott Frost at Oregon, because I think that option style will destroy the ACC's defenses. I'd call up Lincoln Riley at ECU, because God knows Clemson has never once stopped a true Air Raid team. I'd look at Mike Norvell at Ariz State, Spavital at A&M, and Kurt Roper, who walked into a lose/lose situation under Muschamp at Florida.<br />
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If I got my wishes, Pearman would move off into an admin role so we can finally get a recruiter in Charlotte and finally get a decent ST coach who could find someone besides AH to return punts.<br />
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My other wishlist if the right coaching dominoes fell would be to get Brandon Streeter here as a QB position coach, or even Bobby Bentley (who is a total prick but can coach his ass off) at the same spot.<br />
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On defense, Venables shot down the A&M rumor, but I said from the start that this wasn't happening anyway unless he really just wanted to move back out west. He's proved his chops at DC and is ready for the right HC job. Its only a matter of time before he gets offered one he wants. I know Iowa State called to speak with him, but would you go there? If your goal is to get a plum job, you'd pick somewhere a little easier to win at. If he stays, he's getting a raise from the money Chad just left behind, but he won't be here after 2 more years, I'd bet money on that. I'm biting my nails on this one for a few weeks as the coaching carousel takes shape, because our D is going to lose a lot and we'll take a big step back next season, and I don't want to be installing a new scheme too.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-27449489477694509462014-11-17T18:35:00.001-05:002014-11-17T18:35:28.739-05:00House Of Horrors: AtlantaProbably not being fair because we've won a Peach Bowl and beat Auburn down there, but we haven't looked good at Bobby Dodd in quite some time, and the same thing happened this weekend just as we feared.<br />
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I told many people that the clock was ticking on us with Stoudt playing QB. We were going to lose with him sooner or later. Clemson fans bitched at me for saying so on twitter a month ago, so what do you folks think about him now? Stoudt is a terrible QB. You don't like that I'd say so? Too damn bad. I always call it like I see it. He's worse than Proctor ever was.<br />
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As soon as Watson went down, I knew it was over. I had hope for a bit, but it was gone by halftime. Dabo knew it, thats why he didn't bother calling TO at the half. With Watson, we beat GT. Without him, its a loss. <br />
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I'm not going to come down too hard on other sites that reported a torn ACL for Watson before the MRI, but with him being able to walk off unaided, I would not have called that out as the actuality until we got the MRI back. If he was carried off, I might have called it myself. I initially thought it was a bad sprain or MCL (which you see guys walk off with), but I couldn't argue that an ACL wasn't a good possibility based on what we were hearing. A lot of doctors would speculate it was ACL based on the apparent severity, but I would say you should never definitively state it was one thing or another until Clemson officially released it.<br />
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Thats not to say you should always wait til Clemson says something, because they're hiding Stoudt's left shoulder problems. They knew about Kyle Parker's shoulder blade problem and hid that as well, and they've repeatedly told us guys were 100% only to find out they are more like 60%, so...<br />
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Anyway, having Watson as a possibility means we could actually win the SC game. Without him, its a loss, and I'd pick the bowl as a loss too. This offense stinks without Watson. I understand that the QB makes it go, but that the offense is so inept without Watson is squarely on the coaching staff. The offense is so pitiful that I can barely stand to watch them.<br />
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Its a shame that Stoudt stinks so bad because it really hurt one of our best defenses in my memory, i thought they handled the option very well. They stopped the dive. We got busted in coverage a few times, and I was disappointed in Alexander on a few of those, but they played well enough to win the game if the offense hadn't pissed down their legs.<br />
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Also, FF and I are now thinking of building a new site. I think we'll do something a little different and use a message board along with a front page which would include a few periodic articles, not the daily posting schedule that we set on STS.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-26015950949150007452014-11-14T13:09:00.001-05:002014-11-14T13:09:07.471-05:00Its Option Time AgainI must say that I don't miss having to correct people's perceptions of the triple option as a gimmicky or archaic offense and that Johnson is a know-nothing idiot anymore. Usually you see at least 10 message board idiots saying that we'll hold GT under 200 yards rushing and that they couldnt beat us in any year in which we had a decent defense. Its this time of the season that you find out which Clemson fans really know something about football at all, and thus it depresses me more to see how many are stupid when it comes to the option.<br />
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Its not going to shock anyone for me to say I predicted this as a loss with Stoudt starting at QB. I mean, we can't beat up Wake or BC, and neither of those offenses are worrisome, with Stoudt in there, so why would you think we'd beat a good offensive team that can score big plays just as fast as Clemson with him? Then add on to that the fact that we haven't looked great in Atlanta in about a decade's time. The history doesn't matter in the pro football arena, but I do think it does in college for some reason (or we'd have beaten UNC in the Dean Dome by now).<br />
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And make no mistake, GT is going to score on us. They are going to hit a couple 40+ yard runs in this game. They are going to crack Steward and Goodson and both safeties, and cut block the hell out of us in the alleys. I do not think this offense is as potent as what we faced in 2009, but I think Thomas is the most capable QB he's had in Atlanta of being able to run the entire system at you.<br />
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Also, for some reason PJ calls a better game in Atlanta than he does elsewhere. When i watched tape of his strategies in DV, he does dumb stuff, out of the blue, for no obvious reason. He'll go for it when he should kick. He'll abandon things that worked fine, which he did two years ago in DV and on the previous trip up before that against Steele. In Atlanta, he doesn't do the same things. He calls better games.<br />
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So no, I don't think this will be a pretty defensive performance, even with one of the best defenses in the last 25 years at Clemson. We'll give them 250 yards, maybe more in garbage time. If we're aggressive like we were last year in the front 7, and hammer the shit out of that QB, they won't outscore us with Watson. Even our shit OL should be able to protect him enough to bomb their terrible secondary.<br />
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Watson has been running and throwing in practice for weeks, the hand hasn't been an issue since about 1 week after the surgery. <br />
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If DW struggles though, better break out some hard stuff. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-82648213157699230832014-10-27T16:45:00.000-04:002014-10-27T16:45:04.126-04:00At some point you just don't know what to say about it anymoreI just want to thank Brent Venables (Skeletor) for knowing how to coach a defense. I loved the 2009 defense and the pressure that that front 4 could get, and it was really an elite defense pared with a below average offense, but it had some weaknesses at LB. This defense doesn't have a glaring weakness like that one did, and its right up there with the best defenses we've had at Clemson since Brother Bill left town. They might even give the 89-91 defenses a run for their money.<br />
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And Mack Alexander doesn't get nearly the credit in the press he deserves. I always say that if you don't hear of a CB during a game, that means that he's playing great, and this kid can flat out cover. He doesn't get the INTs, but he can play M2M with the best. Whenever they zoom out and you can see someone blanketed, its always Alexander stuck to his hip, playing the ball correctly instead of the receiver.<br />
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But once again, our offense has stunk it up and leaned on the defense to win them the game. Lakip and Gallman get my game ball.<br />
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When i went to the spring game, the team I saw looked like a 7-5/8-4 team. I didn't tell anyone but FF about that because they'd just bitch about me being negative. If Stoudt starts all games this season, I think we would've wound up being 7-5. He has simply reached Proctor-level. His fundamentals are not there. They were there last year, and they looked better than this in the spring game, but they aren't there now. His feet are happy. He's not setting and throwing, and the zip is just off. The accuracy is poor.We have never said that Stoudt had a great arm, but he's consistently late to the flats. He does not read his coverage, at all. He's locked on to his #1 and forces that too often, then takes his 3rd read (the checkdown) and puts that receiver in a bind because the throw is too late - receiver gets killed as soon as he catches it, or gets no yards.<br />
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And our OL, woof. Wayne Gallman ran his ass off with no help. Stoudt barely has time to make a read even when he doesn't lock on the primary. After Norton went down I was glad to see Webster move over, because anyone should be able to block better than Norton there. Webster isn't good enough to play full time either, but he's not as awful as Norton.<br />
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Davis playing Tackle points to a failure in recruiting tackles and coaching them. He can't move well enough to play Guard in this system and now he's playing Tackle?, where you have to move your feet even more? Gore should be able to play by now and someone should've properly put a foot in Battle's ass.<br />
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And as good as Watson is, getting Hyatt and Fruhmorgen in there next season won't fix it next season, they may fix it in 2016, not as true freshmen tackles. If you think its miraculously going to get better i'd like to know what you smoke daily. If we havent had a line in years that could a) consistently drive block <u>and</u> b) pass block, what makes you think the same coaches+Batson are going to fix it in one year with a few recruits? One year fixes happen at WR or RB where there is less development required, not OL.<br />
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I said after BC that if this team played anyone worth a shit while Watson was out, we'd lose. I caught a lot of flak for it, but after 3 straight games of terrible play, those same people are coming around to my concerns. Its a good thing Syracuse and WF are two terrible offenses and would need significant help from us to win the games.<br />
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If Watson is out for GT we will lose the game. Our defense will play well but they'll be on the field too much by the 4th Q and will miss tackles by then, and PJ doesn't do the stupid shit in Atlanta that he does in DV. Their offense has improved this year yet wouldn't be able to beat Clemson with us having a great defense, but I wouldn't predict the 91 defense to win if the offense couldn't score. <br />
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Thankfully from what I've heard from practice is that its a soft cast on Watson's hand and that he can throw nerf balls already just fine, so we should have him. If we do I think we'd win by probably 2 TDs, but I don't expect any victory in Atlanta to be pretty. They never are.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-77436651980273383992014-10-13T12:16:00.002-04:002014-10-13T12:16:14.534-04:00Louisville: A damned debacle.So much fail in one game. It felt like a Dabo-Napier offense. Chad Morris still can't get it together against good defenses. I'll let that stand as the overarching issue, leading to our terrible OL and QB play from the whole day. Somebody was reading too much into who Louisville's defense had faced and not enough about the skill they do possess. I was not one of those people reading Louisville's defensive stats and simply pointing out that they hadn't played a great offense - they hadn't - I watched them play earlier this year and its a pretty good group.<br />
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Strong recruited well and coached better, but Grantham will screw them up, and Petrino won't recruit defensive players, so I think this is the best D they'll have under his tenure, but they can play right now.<br />
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I will address the scoring first, since us not being able to win at FSU by lining under center at the 1 yard line remains firmly on my mind. Clemson should've been able to do the same thing Saturday late in the game and been up by 10, and instead of doing that, they decided to once again get in the Gun, call a Power O, and not get one fucking yard again. This led to the game still being in doubt down to the last second because of one slip in coverage, one slip after being outstanding basically all day, and our coaches would bear 100% of the blame because they can't get their shit together.<br />
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Heres what you do at the 1yd line, 1) get under Center, 2) call a Wedge play. If they beat that then you don't deserve to win the game.<br />
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Heres what you dont do at the 1: 1) Get cute and try stupid shit. 2) call a Power O play when your Center has been getting his ass beat all goddamn day by the backside DT when you called Power, 3) don't have a guard who can get his fat ass over into a hole and knock someone backwards.<br />
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On the Power O, the backside Guard pulls to the playside and the RB/QB follows. If the backside G is covered by a DT, then the Center has to block back or the backside OT has to cut him or somehow take him out (which means somebody like Suckinger gets to down-block on the DE, that'll work great right?). 90% of the time, its the Center blocking back. Ryan Norton is our center. /endofdiscussion. Stop calling the play until he can block. Stop calling QB Power with Stoudt altogether. <br />
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I've heard word from practice that it is Chad Morris who has a preference for the gap scheme calls, and it is Robbie Caldwell who is pushing for more zone plays. Well right now, we have no working gap calls. The Power does NOT work if you can't seal the backside DT and can't pull a Guard. If the Power doesn't work, the Counter Trey won't either. They are complimentary plays. We run a Counter H where we pull the TE behind the Guard, and we know damn well that the TEs can't block, so you can't call that one can you? We've abandoned the buck sweep, which used to be Chad's favorite run call, because we don't have two Guards who can pull and actually block anyone. One will forget to wrap around and the other will run downfield and not touch anyone.<br />
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Thus far this season its only the Zone plays that are working halfway right. Its also only the IZ because we have basically abandoned the OZ and the toss/pitch to GHop or Davidson that would compliment it.<br />
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So, essentially, our running game is a complete cluster. They insist on letting Howard actually play when he sucks, and not giving the carries to guys who could do anything with them. They call the wrong plays, and they can't block when they do have good calls.<br />
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The next issue is Stoudt. Wow that was bad. He's not that bad a player, but he reached Proctor-level Saturday afternoon. He stares at the blitzer and doesn't check to the hot read (a fault Tajh often had). He's locking on his primary and not reading the coverage. He's pressing and trying to make too much happen. His feet aren't moving. He was late to the flats, which is a rule you don't break against any good secondary. Watson lobbed one out there as well and got picked, but Stoudt knows better. If you go to the flats, you throw a bullet or you don't throw it at all.<br />
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Stoudt has regressed from last season. His fundamentals are falling off, and I think the main thing is just that he lost all confidence. UGA messed up his head, and right now I would not be surprised if we lost one of these 4-5 games coming up with him starting.<br />
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I knew our D was going to have to win us some games this year one way or another. They'll be hard pressed to win 4-5 games if Stoudt plays this bad.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-69316539331530057102014-10-12T12:26:00.002-04:002014-10-12T12:26:56.230-04:00Mid-Season Sunday Thoughts<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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We’re halfway home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
kind of been in hibernation since the Ryder Cup debacle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course I’ve been watching our Tigers and
been in awe of #4 as most of you have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
will take this opportunity to man up and say that I was wrong about Watson starting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Padge was adamant over the summer that he
would be one of the greatest in school history and would start this
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many others gloated over his
skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was of the opinion that there
was no way a true freshman could learn enough of the offense and adjust to the
speed of play to get significant snaps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I figured Cole was way ahead of him in understanding the offense and the
ability to use that much more of the playbook would leave him in—at least
through the NC State game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I was
clearly wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deshaun Watson has
emerged (to date) to be the real deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chad Kelly is lucky now that he got the hell out of town, because Watson
is simply better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only others with
as much hype as him in my memory include Michael Carr and Billy Luckie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither did shit at Clemson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now we’ll see how Cole plays over the next
month and wonder what will happen when Watson is back healthy. More about Clemson Football and my other musings following the jump (too much to eat up the whole page, so click the article's title link to open).</div>
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I do not want to hear folks bashing Cole Stoudt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not as mobile as #4 and not as exciting
as the freshman but definitely is not the reason behind any of Clemson’s
struggles (we’ve already discussed the poor playcalling at Georgia and I am
about to discuss Clemson’s real problems on offense).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is very serviceable and Clemson is
fortunate to be in the position they are in (talented starter gets hurt, 5th
year senior steps in).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The receivers did
nothing yesterday to help either passer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Besides, Clemson’s biggest problem isn’t the QB position, it is the guys
who are supposed to block for him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
offensive line is a complete clusterfuck, but we’ve all come to expect that
bullshit after all these years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t
blame this whole fiasco on Caldwell nor Morris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those two certainly don’t deserve to get out unscathed but I won’t hold
either significantly responsible for the crap we see on the field each
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Caldwell was one hell of a coach
at Vandy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morris has been complaining
about lineman development for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
those two don’t get along, both agree that significant changes need to be made
in the recruiting process and within the S&C program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The recruiting strategy and the S&C
stagnation are all on your boy Dabo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
all the impressive firepower he’s brought to Tigertown, he has completely
neglected building an offensive line that’s worth a shit or has any depth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Want proof? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ryan Norton is reinventing the matador profession
as a college football player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When not
yelling “olé,” Norton is flat on his ass with tire tracks on his chest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Norton is far from the outlier on this
team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could go up and down the depth
chart and still not find five guys who get an inch of push nor can protect the
guy in the pocket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe Gore is
hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kalon Davis hasn’t improved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crowder looks more out of shape every
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The list goes on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We
have one “serviceable” of everything up front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>None are great but the backups are nauseating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Because of bonehead roster management,
we get to look forward to a 2015 season where neither the line is worth a shit.</div>
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While I am on the no push discussion, our short yardage and
goalline offensive performances yesterday were pathetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We already know that Clemson’s front can’t
crack an egg, much less get a yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Knowing this, I don’t understand why the Tigers are so bent on (A)
running a slow developing power play out of the gun and (B) not kicking the
ball and choosing to run a slow developing power play out of the gun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was pathetic that this team couldn’t close
out Louisville with the ball on the 2 yard line late in the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even more pathetic was Clemson’s end of first
half fiasco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clemson managed to come out
of that one with no points despite being at the goalline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was disappointed (but not shocked) that the
OL provided no protection for Stoudt and disappointed he wasn’t able to throw
the ball away to stop the clock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
more pissed off that our tight ends and receivers were pissing around and in no
hurry to line up to try and get another play off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent the last 3 years praising the effort
of the wide receivers but after what I saw yesterday (drops and the lack of
urgency), Jeff Scott absolutely needs to deliver an ass-chewing to that whole
unit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end of first half crap cost us
at least a fieldgoal and, again, could have helped avoid drama at the end of
the football game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am surprised my
television didn’t get thrown through a window on our final offensive
drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, short yardage is
pathetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That and a defender who
slipped almost cost Clemson another football game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It already cost Clemson the biggest game of
the year so you would think fixing this crap would be at the top of
Morris/Caldwell/Swinney’s list.</div>
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Defensively, there isn’t much to complain about this year
sans the NC game and being gassed/giving up late against Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enjoy this defensive front because next year
is going to be a real struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again,
the staff has managed to have nearly nothing but seniors in its front seven
meaning that this group will be inexperienced next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more I look at what we’ll have next
season up front on both sides of the LOS, the more depressed I get.</div>
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I thought we were extremely fortunate in the kicking game
yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First and foremost, let’s
give a shoutout to the kickers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I haven’t
forgotten the early-season issues, Lakip did everything he could do yesterday
to help this team win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same goes for
Bradley Pinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Punt return was the
biggest story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam Humphries’ return
for a touchdown surprised everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While that was great and was a major reason Clemson won, he made his
share of bonehead decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Biggest was
the decision to field a punt while backpedalling to somewhere around the 6 yard
line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone knows the rule:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not field a punt inside your own 10 yard
line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you have to backpedal to your
6, you shouldn’t even consider touching that football.</div>
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I’ve done a lot of complaining and have been fairly doom and
gloom to this point so I will try and even this out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clemson is halfway home with a 4-2
record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They lost the two games I
thought they’d lose and were able to get past Louisville—a game that I thought would
be a tough one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The schedule from here
on out is not too difficult so there is a definite chance Clemson could run the
table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though South Carolina hasn’t
been able to close out games lately, I obviously won’t downplay that one as you’ve
seen how successful Swinney has been against Spurrier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All this said, Clemson can still win a
boatload of games this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
especially disappointing that Watson got hurt Saturday but I think everyone is
comfortable (not cocky) with Cole Stoudt.</div>
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You know me, I want to really talk about golf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Ryder Cup was the most depressing thing I’ve
seen in years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess it is easier on
the stomach to get Rickrolled than what happened the last time (to recap for
those who don’t remember, the US was in position to boat race the Euros two
years ago then produced the biggest choke in golf history).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much more entertaining than the matches was
Phyllis Mickelson firing into Tom Watson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don’t get me wrong, I like Phil (my wife despises him, but she ain’t on
the keyboard right now).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think Phil is
correct in saying that the Euros are more interested in winning than the
Americans and that they plan more as a team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, as former golfer and current Golf Channel announcer Brandel
Chamblee states following the Mickelson comments, there was one team member who
didn’t participate with the group…and you can guess who he was firing
into.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The United States needs to adjust
its strategy going into Ryder Cups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Phil is right, but is also part of the problem because of
his ego.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that the US needs to
build pods and cliques going into the Presidents Cup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The US should identify the most likely 30
players who will make the Presidents Cup / Ryder Cup roster and make an effort
to unify them long before matches ever start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think Steve Stricker should be the next Ryder Cup captain, though I am
not sure he’d accept since he seems happy whipping ass on the Tour as just a
hobby, not a job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Stricker may not
want it, Freddy would be my next pick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
man has captained three (3) consecutive Presidents Cup winning teams, so that
is almost a no-brainer and likely the most obvious move (if Couples has time to
participate).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that I go Zinger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better than all this, let’s let the greatest
of all time, Johnny Miller, get his shot at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is nothing I’d love more than hearing Johnny Miller call himself a
choker and an idiot on NBC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still
struggle to get over his 2014 US Open coverage:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Rog, I just don’t understand nor agree with Kaymer putting this far off
the green” – every freaking hole as Martin Kaymer plays exceptionally great
shots and is lapping the field at the US Open using his putter from
non-traditional putting surfaces.</div>
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Jameis Winston and Florida State are something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my buddies yesterday suggested that
Winston would be better off just leaving school and avoiding this
tribunal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first I thought that was a
bit crazy but after thinking about it a bit, that seems like the best option
for Winston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roger and the pro teams
will skewer him once this actually happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jimbo Fisher and the school already look like idiots for their botched
response to Winston’s latest idiocracy so I can only imagine how suspending him
for the first half of the Boston College game will work for their public
relations folks after he gets rung up by this tribunal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not sure why there isn’t more outrage
about how the case was handled originally and why FSU waited two years to
investigate the issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the real
items to recognize is that Winston repeatedly makes very poor choices, Winston is
constantly given a free pass because he can throw a football well, and Florida
State does the school and Winston a discredit by allowing these shenanigans to
continue.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Todd Gurley may have just ruined Georgia’s season but
probably made himself a lot of money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Any player who has that much money to make, unfortunately, would be
better off selling a jersey on eBay then get suspended indefinitely so that he
can enter the Draft the following Spring completely healthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why should Todd Gurley risk millions and
millions of dollars so that the University of Georgia can make millions winning
the East and Gurley gets not one cent?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wouldn’t make sense to me either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The reality is there is just too much money out there for these players
to justify being “true to your school.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is a very sad reality and I hate to say it but it is true and you would hope
the NCAA would do something about this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d personally like to see the NCAA pony up for big insurance policies
for their best players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want
them to help these players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want the
NCAA, the school, or the conference to pay 100% for a multimillion dollar
insurance policy for a guy like JD Clowney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This would hedge against lost money for the player if there is an injury
and better justify the money that these schools are making off of these big
name players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not a fan of college
players union but think that the NCAA needs to get ahead of this issue before
it blows up in their face and college football officially becomes the NFL’s
paid minor league system.</div>
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I still don’t like the new NASCAR points system but won’t
bore you with the discussion again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roger
has enough problems that I won’t take the time to pile on him today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enjoy the second half of the college football
season.</div>
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<![endif]-->FIGUREFOURhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016426655390035714noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-75863937049635769552014-09-30T11:20:00.002-04:002014-09-30T12:54:26.854-04:00UNC: The score doesn't tell the whole story.I was at a bar full of FSU fans Saturday evening, 3 of whom I shot a bird towards, and missed the start of the Clemson-UNC game. Apparently I missed the best parts. However i did get to rewatch it Sunday, and it actually looked worse the second time.<br />
<br />
I am happy with D. Watson breaking records, his touch is great, his poise is great, and he's on a Heisman trajectory if we can ever put it together as a team during his 3 years here. He wasn't perfect this weekend by a long shot, 3-5 balls were thrown that shouldn't have been thrown. NC just wasn't good enough to take advantage of them all. Unfortunately since Chad is not committed to building a running game, he's going to have to bulk up and become our RB too.<br />
<br />
It must be stated however that UNC has the worst safeties we've faced this year. I mean those guys were completely lost. I was watching the tape and constantly asked myself, "what the hell was that guy watching?". We had guys open by 10 yards multiple times. I thought it was a Big XII defense i was watching. UNC doesn't have the talent they had under Butch Davis anymore, and it shows. VK is a good DB coach but he has not done a good job there and I don't think he has anything to work with either.<br />
<br />
Defense played well, for one half. Thats all. In the 2nd half it was a mental letdown. We were not aggressive any longer. We were flat footed on jailbreaks too often, because guys were simply not reading their key. Our LBs in particular seemed to hesitate. UNC made that a 2 score game and threatened to make it one score under 5 minutes to go.<br />
<br />
OL - terrible as I've come to expect. No one is pushing the starters, they are all so equally bad that its just a mishmash on any play. Who sucks the most on any play? Just pick a number, you'll be right soon enough. Kalon Davis playing RT is a travesty. <br />
<br />
I just have some questions for Dabs and Chad.<br />
<br />
1. Did a rock fall on your head before you decided to take Watson out and put in Cole Stoudt in the 1st half? Did Joey B ring the bell too loud this week and fuck up your senses? Maybe he hit you with the chains on the weights? You don't take out the QB who is in a rhythm after just hitting a bomb to GHop, and you don't do it again with 5 minutes left in what had become a 2 score game.<br />
<br />
Look I'm all for Stoudt getting a chance to play, but if you leave Watson in earlier it may have been a 3 score game with 5 minutes to play and I'd have no problem putting him in, but it made sense in neither case. I can't believe Chad decided on this himself.<br />
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2. Bench every TE on the damn roster. Put another lineman in to block, hell they need the work too. That display of blocking was atrocious. You pull a guy, he stands up to block, plays pattycake with the LB, and he gets planted on his ass and the RB gets nailed for a loss. Suckinger wouldn't play again for me this season. Leggett would sit the bench for a month until he decides to get serious about blocking. A TE who can't block is a liability in this offense, put him at WR if you want him out there.<br />
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3. I like Adam Humphries, he plays hard, but he can't play over guys like Kitt or Scott or GHop. He is good at two things: blocking and calling fair catches. He's not going to outrun anybody. He's not getting himself open. He can't return a punt. Watch the defense when he runs across in motion, they do not respect him. Otherwise he's a decoy on the field.<br />
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4. Get DJ Howard off the damn field. 13 carries for him? Did I read that correctly? Howard is not conducive to having a strong run game. Gallman or Choice are. If Choice was banged up with a thigh bruise, Gallman should've been playing. Put the extra OL in there to block and let Gallman run.<br />
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Since I'll be in Braselton for the race this weekend, I'll get a chance to hear the wonderful "Coach" Don Munson call a game live, I'm sure I'll be twice as pissed at him afterwards.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-20164757033499283922014-09-22T11:18:00.000-04:002014-09-22T11:31:35.117-04:00Clemson gives away the game in TallahasseeHeartbreaking.<br />
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I'm just heartbroken that we could play a game so well against the #1-ranked team on the road, and somehow lose the game. Theres a few losses in our history that really bothered me, the 1988 one, the 1999 one, the loss down there 3 years ago, and this one. 3 years ago we basically outplayed them just the same, but couldn't score in the red zone and couldn't make the kicks. This time we outplayed them for all but one defensive drive in the 3rd quarter, and still gave it away.<br />
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FSU tried their very best to gift-wrap the game and hand it to Clemson, but its about Clemson, just as Dabo said pre-game, and Clemson failed to TAKE it.<br />
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Defense played their asses off. One weak drive, and basically one slip up by Mac Alexander, who himself played a hell of a game. DL whipped their asses up and down the field. Cameron Erving had his pants pulled down by Vic Beasley. Their Center couldn't recognize the front and it got him whipped a few times.<br />
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Just about the only thing I could complain about as far as the coaching went was that we continually allowed the best TE in the country, O'Leary, to get a free release even with a DE lined up on him in a 7-8-9 tech. MacGuire couldn't find anyone else when he needed a catch made.<br />
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D. Watson, I didn't think he was ready pre-game from a playbook standpoint. When he took the team that first drive I knew I was wrong. I don't care how many mistakes he makes this year, leave him in there. Play Cole, because he deserves to play, but Watson better start from here on out. Anything else would show me how stupid Dabo remains.<br />
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I just don't understand why Chad Morris says he couldn't get under center. He's a QB, and he hasn't put his hands under a center's ass before? I know Gainesville runs 100% Shotgun, but Jesus man. We line up under center down there and we score. I still believe we did score, but the ACC refs didn't think to review that one? If our coaches had a TV in the box, they should've called down to Dabs and had him challenge.<br />
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Now if Pearman can't coach, and I can see he can't improve Special Teams at all, then he can at least watch a TV to see if a call should get challenged. What other good is the man doing? We can't do more than fair-catch a punt, we can't hit a FG, we can't cover or return kicks, he can't recruit worth a damn, so what else is he here for? He has yet to approach Jack Hines-level of shittyness, but he's getting there.<br />
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I just don't want people blaming the whole loss on Lakip. Kickers are all mental cases, leave him alone. He needs practice yes, and absolutely should've made the first one, which I won't excuse at all, but the offense needed to get a damn yard. One fuckin yard inside the redzone wouldv'e won it. They had chances. Our OL can't push SC State off the ball, and they didn't do any better getting FSU off the line. If we had a good OL we win the game outright.<br />
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However, I give Spence a shot at kicker this week and forwards. I give Pinion another shot at placekicking as well. We have to fix it ASAP. If another guy can do it, gotta hold open tryouts to find him. I can tolerate missing over 40, but under 40 you need to be able to hit 95% of them.<br />
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And second, Ryan Norton needs to be on the bench. Guillermo is a better player. He needs to be starting this week if he's healthy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7509473287249442586.post-36054983918848650542014-09-18T16:47:00.003-04:002014-09-18T16:47:56.032-04:00Pre FSU thoughtsBeen seeing a lot of noise about Famous Jameis and his innate ability to insert his foot in his own mouth. I would just say that I could not care less what he says at any time, much less this week. I pay no attention to anything the opponents say before the game. I will say that the kid is either just plain stupid or has no self-awareness at all. Some guys only have football brains, they can't add 2+2 otherwise.<br />
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I like Jimbo Fisher as a coach, but I have my criticisms of the man. The way he and FSU have handled Winston have disturbed me a little. I'd put a muzzle on him. I don't have a problem with what he said to the Student Union, I've said worse and most of you did too in college, but he needs to know you can't act like a normal 20 yr old when the media is going to be all over every damn thing you do. Just stop talking. Stop tweeting.<br />
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Certainly it improves our chances of winning down there, but I can't realistically pick us to win. I see the talent and depth on their roster, and I don't think losing him for a half will make the difference. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see it.<br />
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I do see Clemson's problems: our OL is terrible and we have a QB issue.<br />
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If you can't block FSU's front, it won't matter who plays QB for us. Once again, for the what, 7th year straight now?, our OL stinks. SC State exposed further protection problems that FSU will exploit all night. Our run blocking is no better than it ever has been.<br />
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Someone asked me the other day what the OL's problems are and why we can't fix them. They wanted me to lay it on Caldwell, but I'm not. Its still a combination of things, but moreso Batson than the others. If your starting OL still can't move SC State off the ball for 5 ypc, you aren't strong enough. Not seeing any improvement in functional strength. Ring the bell Joey.<br />
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I saw one really good toss play for a TD, where we blew SC State 5 yards into the endzone. Thats the kind of thing we should be doing to them on every play. <br />
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Picking up blitzes IS Caldwell however. Pass pickup technique is his problem. A 3 man rush from SC State should not even get a sniff of Cole or DeShaun.<br />
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The man starting at Center is another problem. Norton is quickly losing me. I would not have him start if Guillermo can gunsnap the ball consistently, and I haven't seen anything that makes me think he cant.<br />
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Not impressed with any TE in blocking. Suckinger had a year to bulk up and still couldn't put a hit on someone if his life depended on it. Leggett looks like he hasn't worked on it at all. McCullough is adequate and I hope he can do something in the passing game. A TE who can't block is a WR, and none of this bunch would play over our WRs.<br />
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D.J. Howard should never play aside from definite passing (or max protect) situations where his blocking is required. Only Gallman and Choice should get touches, and Gallman the most right now. FSU yards will be tough yards, if we get none, we lose.<br />
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Finally, the QB situation. I went to Clemson during the "We want Willie over Woody" days. I've rarely been a fan of the backup more than the starter since then, because guys start for good reasons that most fans don't see. Watson has been given a limited portion of the playbook, Cole can run it all. Cole can execute our offense to a higher level than Watson as of today. Watson would be able to improvise with his legs better and possibly make a big play. I can see like anyone else that Watson is the better player. He really is, the arm is better, the speed is better. I also want him starting within the next couple weeks. Do you throw him out for FSU? That is the real question. <br />
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On this one I'd side with Dabo. Watson might actually give us the better chance of winning with his improv skills, but otherwise I don't think so today. You need the whole playbook to win this one. If you damage Watson's psyche now, you can ruin his season and you might cause Cole to lose confidence as well. Cole was already pressing a little against SC State. He's going to throw some picks this weekend, as would Watson if he started. I'd base my decision going forward on the post-FSU play of the QBs, and I do expect Watson will win the job, just not this week.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0