Clemson basketball finished 24th in the last AP Poll of the regular season, 21st in the Coaches', which are fair and deserved. This is the first time Clemson has been ranked in the final poll in consecutive years in history. Clemson was 22nd last year. Prior to last year Clemson had not been ranked in the final top 25 of any poll since the 1996-97 season.
Strelow has a piece up on the 5 things Clemson needs to fix to win thursday. None of them are really surprising if you watched the losses we've had lately: defensive effort, intensity, bench scoring, scoring inside, etc.
A great deal has been made on TNet about the Michigan 1-3-1 Zone, but John Beilein says they only use it about 10% of the time, and they are hard at work prepping for us. The article also goes into Beilein's impressive coaching record.
Bart Wright thinks that the back-to-back trips to the NCAAs will help this team focus and not be nervous for the first round this time around and should keep our intensity up the whole game....but we weren't nervous last year, we just choked at the end of the game. Come to think of it, its our intensity that has been a problem this year, so I'm not so encouraged.
The baseball team, ranked as high as 18th, has midweek games against PC and USC-Spartanburg, which I wholeheartedly refuse to call Upstate. Both are 6:30 games and we should destroy both teams. It would be nice to sweep and take the momentum into the series against FSU this weekend, who seem to be struggling a little at the moment. Recall that FSU was picked to win the Atlantic, and they swept us last year.
Basketball The ACC puts in BC, MD, FSU, Duke, UNC, WF, and Clemson for the NCAAs. I thought FSU deserved better than a #5 seed, and Maryland lucked out to get a #10. We face (20-13, 9-9) Michigan in the first round thursday, and are in the same region as Oklahoma. All games are streamed online. 30 teams from power conferences were selected in at-large bids, and only 4 mid-major at-large picks, down from a tops of 12 in 2004. Out of any who didn't make it, I think Creighton really deserved one. The bracket is here.
Ron Morris has an article up thats different from his usual bomb-throwing, and praises both Horn at SC and Purnell.
Baseball Clemson baseball finished the sweep of Wake Forest 7-3 sunday afternoon. Its our 11th straight win over Wake in baseball at home, and we're now 11-4 (4-2). Kyle Parker tore WF pitching up this weekend. Clemson rises to #20 nationally after the weekend. Football Other candidates for the open DT Coach spot are Marlon Hobby (former assistant here) and former Auburn DL coach Don Dunn, in addition to Ron West, but West is an outside shot. Brooks has Steele and WoodyMac lobbying his case and already knows most guys on the staff, so an interview would really only be a formality.
I'm not going into the Georgia Tech debacle, I'm not even looking at the myriad of articles full of player interviews and excuses. We shit the bed, theres not much else to say or analyze about it. OP needs to light a cherry bomb under their asses. At least Ben came through and made me feel better, as he usually does.
Clemson basketball coach Oliver Purnell is one of Alabama's primary targets for the Crimson Tide's vacant basketball coaching job according to a knowledgeable source familiar with the search. The source said Alabama is very interested in Purnell and the feeling appears to be mutual. Alabama is looking for a replacement for Mark Gottfried who resigned under pressure in late January.
Baseball Clemson thumped WF 4-1 and 6-1 to sweep today's doubleheader. Since linux was being a bitch, I couldn't listen to the games and can't tell you anything else about them. Parker broke out of his slump, so I guess Jack doesn't need to rest him just yet. Saturday is cancelled, Sunday at 1pm is the next scheduled start.
Football Clemson did its usual duty and self-reported secondary violations (THANKS BECKY BOWMAN) friday. There is no cause for alarm: everybody reports them and everybody has secondaries to report, usually because of some nuance in a rule that nobody knows about, BUT BECKY DOES.
Commits Joe Craig (194) and DeAndre Hopkins (115) made the first Rivals250 list. Both are technically listed as "athlete" on the list.
Clemson has contacted former UT DL coach Dan Brooks about the open DT coaching job. He now works in an administrative role (like WoodyMac) for Tennessee. Woody coached with Brooks at Tennessee, back when they were pulling in every DL and RB recruit of note. However, Dabo took a vacation for this weekend, and no interview is expected until next week.
It occured to me that you can't really explain any blitz packages without giving an explanation of the different defensive fronts you see in a 4-3. When you think of a 4-3 defense, most of you will just think of 4 linemen playing in a 3pt stance, with 3 LBs just sitting behind them; there is more to it than that and there are several variations of 4-3 defense.
Defensive line alignments Bear Bryant's 1960 book published the defensive numbering system used by everyone today who coaches defense, though he says he did not invent the system. The numbering starts from 0, which means a DT lines across from the Center head-up, and proceeds from there. All the even numbers are shaded alignments, also called gap alignments. The odd numbers mean that the lineman lines up directly opposite an OL. In between the OLmen, you have gaps: A (C-G), B (G-T), C (T-TE/WR), and D (anything outside the TE or WR, if hes lined up close to the Line).
From Bryant's book:
So, if you look at the illustration, you'll see that if I tell my DT to play a 1-Technique, it doesn't mean that he's doing something different with his hands or footwork to get past somebody, it means that he just lines up on the shoulder of the Center. But which side, left or right? Thats where another set of terms comes in:
Slide-outside shoulder, weak side Shade-outside shoulder, strong side
The DEs have more to learn, because they have run and pass responsibilities, and depending on whether they play strongside or weakside. I'm only going to cover a few as needed, so I won't list all of them.
LB Alignment LB alignment techniques are the same, you just add a 0 so as not to confuse them. For example, a SAM playing 70-technique means you line up in a 7 (inside shoulder of the TE), 3-5 yards off the line. A LBs primary job is gap control, meaning that he has to control the gap where the DL isn't lined up. If the DT in front of him is lined up in a 3 (outside shoulder of his Guard), the LB lines up in a 50 (outside shoulder of his Tackle).
So you see, you can tinker with the alignment of the front seven players to make the defense look different to the QB, or give your team better chances at getting past a particular offensive lineman on any play.
Overshifted fronts There are two main shifts to the 4-3, Over and Under, but there are different styles and ways of doing those shifts as well. This stuff is endless, but you may see one and wonder why they are doing it.
If the DC calls an "Over" front, then he is telling the MIKE to call the shift based on the passing strength of the formation, once MIKE sees the formation pre-snap. The passing strength side is nearly always the one with the most receivers, or if they are equal (like 4 wides with a RB) then the side with the WR the DC told him to watch most during the week of film study. In Saban's scheme, he declares which side he is going to play his 30-technique on, called The Bubble side, and all the linemen and other LBs adjust.
2-gap in the figure means that the NG and the Weakside DE both have to watch the two gaps on either side of themselves. 1-gap means that the strongside DT covers the B-gap that he is supposed to run into, and the strong DE runs into his C-gap.
The LBs are watching the linemen on the snap, preparing for a run play, and once they seen run towards their side (Flow-To) or away (Flow-Away) they are supposed to charge into different gaps. If they read pass, they just drop back into their coverage, otherwise this is what they do:
WILL is playing a 9, so this defense can look like a 5-2, except that he is standing up. Usually he's standing right behind the DE's back foot, but he can come up on the line. He is looking at the OT and the nearest RB and charges around him (or his FB blocker) if the flow is in that direction. If the play goes away from him, he has to be careful and watch for a reverse or a trap of some kind back to his side, or slide across the line towards the play. This is the toughest part of his job, called slow fold.
MIKE is watching the OG in front of him, and the nearest RB. In the I-formation example above, he's supposed to be watching for an isolation play (meaning the FB blocks him 1-on-1 and he has no help) up the B-gap if the flow is towards him. If the run goes away from him, he covers up the A-gap on his side and tries to pull the RB down from behind. Usually if flow is away, the OG in front of him might be pulling, and thats why he's watching him first and runs up the A.
SAM is also watching the OG and RB closest to him, and on Flow-To he stacks, sitting behind his DE up the C-gap. The DT is supposed to control the B-gap remember. If the ball goes away from him, he covers up the A-gap on his side.
So thats the basics, but why would you shift the front this way? Lets say you have a big fat guy up front who can take two or 3 blockers. You want him at NG, or the DT playing 0. He also has to be really good and busting into either of his A-gaps. Think Warren Sapp. Both of your DEs are great pass rushers, and they get put on the outside shoulder of whomever is lined up: the Strong DE on the outside of the TE, the weak DE on the outside of the OT. The LBs just line up behind them this way, and since you want one OLB to "force" plays (like option plays) you move WILL over to one side on their best blocking OT (usually the LT). Note that if you just stand up your Strongside DE, this will look like a 3-4 system. There is no rule that says he has to be in a 3-point stance. Vice versa for the WILL playing on the other side.
If you are a Dallas Cowboys fan, or recall Jimmy Johnson's defenses, or the current Dave Wannstedt Pitt defense, this is the type of shift you saw/see alot of.
Of course, you usually shift this defense based on the formation shift of the offense. Lets say for example that the opponent uses a split-I formation, which Clemson does use alot. The Tailback stays where he is, and the FB moves over a couple yards behind the OG (as opposed to being right behind the QB). In that case, the WILL would initially line up to whichever side the FB is shifted, the offense sets and the defense lines up...and then the FB motions over behind the other side. In that case the DL won't have time to readjust, so the LBs just move over to the side the FB moved towards.
Similar occurs if the TE shifts from one side to the other, the Over LB has to move, so WILL backs up and plays like SAM did above, MIKE shifts over, and SAM moves to the 9-technique.
Another variant of the 4-3 Over front (there are many) is "Okie", in which the NG plays a Tilted stance and doesnt line up square on the Center; he lines up at a Shade angle to him, with the WILL now being matched across from the TE, but still playing his 9-technique.
Undershifted front This is the primary shift that the Tampa Bay Bucs use under Monte Kiffin (now Tennessee), as well as the USC Trojans (Carroll worked under Kiffin at one point in his career). In this scheme, the MIKE calls the side of the strength after the DC calls "Under" from the sidelines, and the SAM is assigned directly onto the TE. Usually in a pass situation, when this is called the SAM plays man coverage on the TE. Its essentially a flip from the Overshift above, but the gaps that are attacked change. This doesnt mean that your whole defense is playing man, this front is primarily used with Cover 2 and 3 in Saban's schemes.
In the Saban scheme, this is what they do: SAM plays the TE man/man, in a "loose" 9 technique. Basically this means he is moved off the line of scrimmage 3 yards. If the TE motions, the SAM moves with him. On a run play, he has to control the D gap.
MIKE runs into the B-gap in flow-to, or the strongside A-gap in flow-away. WILL stacks behind the DL in front of him in flow-to, or the weakside A if away. They are both playing 30 techniques.
The NG plays 0 in this scheme. He has to control 2 gaps, as does the Strong DE. That means these guys must be run stoppers. The other DT stays in his 3 and controls his B-gap.
The weakside DE stunts, or "Crashes" out of a 6-alignment. That means he just runs as fast and as hard as he can, across the face of the Tackle. His goal is to get into the offensive backfield as quickly as possible, find the ball carrier, and knock him flat.
Now, thats the basic Under. Notice that I said that SAM usually plays man, which means this scheme lends itself to a total man/man coverage defense. In that case, you would play what is called Cover 1 Man Under (or Man Free), meaning that either the FS or SS drops straight back in coverage and is "free" to help anyone deep who needs it. This is the particular version that USC uses, and they shift over the NG so that he is responsible for only one gap, giving him less to think about during the play. Saban does it as well. Generally, because the SAM is matched man/man on the TE, the SS is the one who plays "free" and the FS picks up a RB or slot receiver to the weak side.
So those are the two main overshifted fronts in the 4-3.
In starting my research of candidates for the DC job when it became apparent that VK was going to be out of Clemson, I looked at all the names mentioned and I thought that getting Kevin Steele or Dick Bumpas would be a small coup. Both had the mentality, that I missed when Reggie Herring left, of an aggressive, attacking defense that would confuse the offense and dictate the tempo of the game. Of course, Reggie blitzed every play, and eventually it would bite him.
Of course, I did not expect Clemson to be able to land Steele away from a burgeoning national powerhouse at Alabama, and thought we'd end up with Bumpas or The Chief. When it became more clear that Steele was a real candidate, I started looking through his coaching history and as many old interviews as I could find. Since some other Clemson bloggers just post bullshit and rants, without anything really about football itself or thinking about why things are, I figured I would go into some real X's and O's.
Kevin Steele has a background of running both a 3-4 and 4-3 defense. His playing days at Tennessee were in essentially a 50-style defense under Johnny Majors. If you watch tapes of the 1981 Clemson team, you see a similar scheme. He worked on Dom Caper's best 3-4 teams at Carolina, coaching Kevin Greene, Sam Mills, and Lamar Lathon. He worked under Nebraska's great DC Charlie McBride in the early '90s, and they ran an attacking 4-3 scheme. We've all seen Mickey Andrews' defense at FSU, and Steele was the ace recruiter and LB Coach there for 4 years. Most thought that since Alabama was based on 3-4 last year, and since he ran a 3-4 at Baylor as HC, that it is what he'd run here. Few fans follow Saban's schemes outside of Alabama fans, so they just see a 3-4 scheme advertised in the starting lineup on TV, and don't actually pay attention to what they are doing. The truth is that a Saban scheme is very complex, and Saban is smart enough to adjust it to what personnel he has. At LSU he ran a 4-3 nearly all the time. Also, wee have two guys on this staff who were part of Saban's staff: Steele and Harbison (LSU 2001), co-coordinators of our defense.
Steele has said in every published interview that he isn't inventing a new scheme, he's just copying one. Given that his longest tenures on staffs were with Alabama, FSU and Nebraska, and his failure at Baylor, its pretty fair to assume we'll be running a 4-3 attacking scheme based on those three defenses. Given that Steele has praised Saban for his teaching ability, and the scheme itself, its fair to assume that he will essentially copy his old Alabama playbook. Saban's philosophy is the following, from his 2001 LSU playbook:
The LSU philosophy on first and second down is to stop the run and play good zone pass defense. We will occasionally play man-to-man and blitz in this situation. On third down, we will primarily play man-to-man and mix-in some zone and blitzes. We will rush four or more players versus the pass about ninety-percent of the time.
One initial difference between a VK scheme and a Saban scheme is the alignment of the defense. What you saw last year was essentially a 4-2-5 scheme that stacked two inside LBs and employed various rotations in the secondary based on field (wide side) and boundary (short side of the field) situations. Stunts were used to increase the pressure from the down 4. A Saban scheme, I have a copy of his LSU playbook, bases the calls off the strength of the offensive formation, and adjusts according to it on each play. Field and Boundary calls are still used however. Saban usually makes his Free Safety the "Quarterback" of the defense, and he makes most of the alignment calls (Saban was a defensive back in college). Steele has indicated that his Mike Backer will be his "Quarterback," but Mike can't make all the coverage calls in the secondary, he will give the sideline call and then likely only adjust the defensive front.
Last year, VK primarily ran what was called Cover 0 in his terminology, but in technical terms Cover 0 (no deep safety) is actually man coverage. What we ran was a 3-deep zone coverage and a Cover 4 (4-deep/quarters) coverage. WR's hate to see zone coverage compared to man, because its a fair chance that they are not going to only get hit by one guy, but 2 or 3 at once. His philosophy was to make those WRs nervous and have a few hitters to lay the smack on them (Hamlin) to make them gun-shy on the next play. He generally played his underneath coverage as spot drops, forcing the opponent to execute all the way down the field to score.
Here is one basic Cover 3 call, using either a bump & run corner or matchup zone:
Saban's schemes use Cover 3, particularly when he blitzes (a 3-under, 3-deep), with a combination of "cloud" or "sky" calls and rolling coverages. This is no different from VK's scheme in the basics, we will just blitz out of it next year. I'm not covering the blitz packages just yet, but in any event, the call will be made by sidelines for the front and the secondary coverage will be whatever is called behind that.
A "Sky" call refers to what the Safety is doing. When this is called, usually upon seeing the strength of the formation by the FS, it is the FS and two CBs who have deep responsibilities. The SS would have primary run support (force) if this is called, and would key the RB in addition to whomever he is assigned based on the formation. He could also be assigned to blitz or cover a free-space in the underneath zone, vacated by a blitzing LB. A wrinkle that is sometimes added is to give the FS the run key, and have the SS back up in deep zone after the snap....it could be read by the QB as a Safety blitz, when he is not even coming. The Sky call is strong against the run but weak against the quick out pass to #2 receiver on that side. This flip of the safeties (it can also be done between a S and a CB) called an inversion, and in some DC's playbooks the "force" is played by the FS instead of the SS. Here is an adjusted Cover 3 Sky call.
A "Cloud" call refers to one of the Corners. When this is called by the FS, it is the two safeties and one of the CBs who have deep responsibilities. A OLB would shift into the underneath zone vacated by this deep CB, for example. Blitz MIKE from that shifted-OLBs usual spot, and you have a difficult read. The other CB has primary run support (force) and keys the RB in addition to his assignment. Usually the coverage rolls to the CB who has the run key and isn't playing deep, and a S lines up behind him, with the other Safety taking the middle. The Cloud call is strong against the quick out pass to #2 but weak against the run except on wide runs. Anytime the #1 receiver does not align wider than the safety is off the line of scrimmage, the Safety will check to a Cloud call which keeps the defense from being outflanked. Anytime the #1 receiver does align wider than the safety is off the line of scrimmage, the Safety will make the Sky or Cloud call according to the coverage called by the coach. So you see, it all depends on how they line up.
You might also divide the deep field into quarter-quarter-half, assigning the FS one half of the field, and giving two quarters to the SS and CB to cover. This will all depend on formation and strengths of the opponent.
For example, if a team lines up in an I-formation or 1-back, with two WRs to one side and a TE on the other, the SS would cover deep on the TE side, which might be a full half of the field, while the other S and CB would have deep coverage on the two WR side, which would only be quarters for those two defenders.
For teams which prefer to roll to one side, or have one excellent WR, a DC would call quarter-quarter-half to give added protection on one side, putting a the 1/4s on the side likely getting attacked. Usually this is the strong side of the field. Steele's scheme will adjust based on the strong side, compared to VK's which would've adjusted to the Field side. Many times those are one and the same.
Here's another example of what you might see next season, rotating the 3 over behind the CB blitz: (note: you'd never CB blitz from the wide side of the field, only the short side unless its a Nickel)
When the opponent likes to throw fade passes, fly patterns, and sideline routes, quarter-half-quarter coverage can force those receivers to come across the middle.
But what is the "seam" you always hear about on TV? When the announcers refer to a "seam route" they mean that the receiver ran a fly route into the cracks of the defense. Each defense has a place to attack it, and Cover 3 has two of them that run from 15 yds from the sideline and are a few yards wide. This would be because your slot receiver/TE runs between a OLB who has Curl responsibilities and a run key (meaning he has to wait and see what the RB does), and a CB who would have flat responsibilities, for example. Like the seam in the standard Cover 2 (not the Tampa 2, which is actually closer to Cover 3) it runs from 15 to 25 yards deep, and the hole between the deep coverage and the underneath LB/CB.
A problem that many zone coverages have is the coverage on the boundary, where a WR might still find the sandwich hole between the deep S/CB and the guy in the flats.
One complaint of most of us, after watching Koenning's zone, is the softness of the zone. There is a no-cover zone which extends 3-5 yards from the LOS, in which no defender is supposed to pick up a receiver (typically the RB sits out here). The key point of the zone, in general, is that the DB is watching the QB and breaks on the ball at the right time to break the pass up. VK's defenses didn't always do that so well, and they sat in their zones too long before breaking, which is a coaching point I expect Harbison to clear up. Once they have experience and know how to attack, they become better at forcing breakups and turnovers.
How can they do that better? They watch the drop of the quarterback, knowing that short drops lead to shorter passes. They watch his eyes, and the position of the shoulders: longer passes require the quarterback to dip his back shoulder. They learn the difference between a passer's pump-fake and his throwing motion, and they look for clues, like patting the ball, that indicate that the quarterback is ready to release. This is done in the film room.
One particular coaching point that Saban himself excels at is pattern-reading. This means that the DBs are coached to expect what routes the offense runs. For example, in a Smash play, one reciever runs a deep corner route, while the Flanker runs a quick hitch.
(In the figure, MOFC=middle of field closed=cover 1/3, MOFO=Cover 2) At first glance, Cornerback has a real problem here, and is forced to pick one guy to cover. Either he backs up, trying to stop the deep corner route (B), or stays in his flat to stop the hitch or in/out (Z). Although the example is primarily meant to attack Cover 2 (where the CB stays in the flat), the same concept applies to any offensive attack.
Against Cover 3, the TE might run a 10 yd Curl route and be sitting next to a SAM in zone. At the same time, a RB flies out in a wheel route, and a WR running a deep post or fly. The deep route takes up the deep coverage, and the LB is forced to pick who to cover if the CB drops back with that deep receiver. Only disciplined and experienced players will stick to their assignments like they are supposed to. A secondary taught in pattern recognition will expect this route combination based on alignment of the WRs/RBs/TE and film study, and that CB would read the WR and TE release, and stay in his flat to pick up the RB, for example.
While VKs schemes did alot of spot-drops, because they are easy to teach, Harbison will almost certainly do pattern reading. Spot drops are simply that, a LB drops into his zone and watches the QB. The weakness is that good WRs can find the hole in the zone, and just run to it. Here is a depiction of the different passing zones defenders drop into.
But pattern-reads teach the defenders what to expect, and they essentially matchup onto whomever comes into their zone in man. Once he leaves their zone, they release him to someone else. Its also referred to as a Combination coverage and is more difficult for a QB to read pre-snap. In Saban's LSU playbook, he has hundreds of examples of combo routes the offense will run, and the defender is expected to recognize them. Where Saban excels is in how simple he can make all this information and teach it to his whole defense, instead of just a couple DBs. Each defender is essentially looking at only two guys, and he can adjust based on that. With Harbison being someone who learned under him, I'd expect us to do well in a year or two at pattern-reading.
Now, returning to our basic 3-Matchup defense above:
The responsibilities of each player is indicated in coachspeak on the figure. There are two corners, both aligned 8-9yds off. Their responsiblity is to key off the #2 on their side. For the Weakside, he's watching the near RB, then the QB and the ball. The strongside is keying the TE, then the backs to the ball.
The Strong Corner keys #2, and if #2 runs up the seam he's supposed to keep an eye on him as he releases from the LOS, keeping the combinations of the #1 and #2 in his mind. Otherwise, if the TE blocks or runs into the flat, he squeezes the #1 reciever matched on him.
The adjustment, labeled BUMP (in case Cloud is called), is to jam #1 and then play flat/curl. This is a CLOUD adjustment.
The Weakside CB does essentially the same, with an eye on the RB and the combinations he can run with the split end.
The SS aligns, in the basic package, 4x5. That means he's 4yds off the #2 (TE here), and 5 yds deep off the LOS. He drops 10yds down the seam, and plays curl/flat on the TE. All the while, he has to watch #3 on that side, the RB. #2 and #3 will run a pattern, and if the TE runs a seam route the SS picks up the RB in the flats, otherwise he stays in his curl zone. In case BUMP is called, he would pickup the deep 3rd instead of the Strong CB. Another adjustment would be to line him up in front of #1 and jam him.
The FS aligns 12 yds deep off the Weak OT, keying any uncovered linemen to the backs. He essentially backs up straight against the pass and covers his 3rd of the field. He watches for a post route up the seam, particularly by #2 (RB in the figure, remember the SC has the TE if he runs a post, but it could also be a slotman), and tries to read the QBs progression to break on the ball.
The SAM keys the TE, through the linemen to the near RB. His alignment will depend on whether sky or cloud is called and the call of the front. He plays the hook zone. His responsibility on pass is to read the pattern of those two receivers and attack any short dumps from the inside out, meaning he tries to force everything from his zone to the sideline.
The MIKE is watching the RBs, and aligns straight up 4 yds off the Center. In the figure above he is sent into the other hook zone. WILL essentially mirrors the SS, moving at first outside into the flat and backing up into the curl zone.
In the next post, I will go into blitz packages which play Cover 3 behind them.
Funny post from TNet. Jerri Spurrier died and went to Heaven. St. Peter was giving her a tour of Heaven when she noticed that there were clocks everywhere. Each clock displayed a different time of day. When she asked St. Peter about the clocks, he replied, "We have a clock for each person on earth, and every time they tell a lie the hands move. The clock ticks off one second every time a lie is told. See this clock, it belonged to Mother Teresa and never moved, indication that she never told a lie. This clock for George Washington only moved twice. He only told two lies in his life."
Jerri asked, "Where is Steve's clock?" "Jesus has it in his office" St. Peter replied, "he's using it as a ceiling fan."
Basketball Clemson faces GT today at 2pm in the Georgia Dome. We've never beaten GT in the ACC Tournament....but we've also not perennially been this good. Here is the statistical breakdown.
An online webcast is available here. You can also try raycom's website and ESPN360.
The O-List takes a crack at the All-Time Clemson starting 5 here. Jim Sutherland is not one that sprang into my mind, I would've put in Greg Bucker at the 3.
This P&C article talking about what the team does with the box scores and statistics of each game is different than most of the usual banal basketball news, so give it a read.
Bart Wright talks about the turnover bug that has cost us every game we've lost this year:
When it won 73-59 at home, Clemson had 13 assists and 13 turnovers against Tech; when it won 81-73 in Atlanta, Clemson had 16 assists and 18 turnovers.
Turnovers have been an Achilles' heel of sorts, and Georgia Tech was the only team Clemson beat all season in the ACC that it didn't gain an advantage over in assists and turnovers.
If that doesn't get corrected today, the ACC Tournament might feel like the old days at Clemson, and there's nothing at all good about that.
An interesting article about Clemson's offensive plays for those who like to study the game's technical aspects is here.
Football Be thankful they didnt decide to stick you this year. Four years steady. It'll go up next year no matter what, its one of those laws of the Universe.
Greg Wallace at the SHJ writes about how Jamie Harper got his fatass back in shape for football. Hopefully no game-changing fumbles this season either.
Clemson commit Martavius Bryant made the Rivals100 list at #38, and is rated a 4-star WR in the first edition of their rankings for 2010. Marcus Lattimore (5-star, #4 overall), Brandon Willis (4-star, #21), Alec Ogletree (4-star, #31), Brent Benedict (4, #40) Markieth Ambles (4, #23) are just a few of the prime targets we have on this list. Joe Craig made the Rivals 250 as a 4-star, as did Hopkins.
Several beatwriters have mentioned the change in intensity in this year's spring practice, forcing players to always hustle on and off the field, and to be more vocal, one even quoted Dabo saying this:
“The time isn’t next year, or two years or three years,” he told the team. “The time is this 15 days of practice. We might not win, but we’re going to do the little things right, or by god, you won’t play for me.”
Good. No more damn excuses.
The first practice in full pads went well apparently. The scuttle is that Malliciah Goodman nor J.K. Jay will actually be redshirted, particularly not Goodman, he is impressing too many people. Unfortunately, all indications are that our Kickers blow chunks, and Skinner isn't doing well at longsnapping. Most articles on the Korn/Parker situation talk about Parker's velocity and Korn's messed-up mechanics (he drops his shoulder), but Korn is hitting his targets and Parker's throws are sailing at the moment.
The Oklahoma Drill was brought back from the visit to Texas, with the intention of toughening up the lines. It's called that because it was invented by Bud Wilkinson at OU (the main guy before Switzer, 1947-63), and its been renamed the PAW Drill (Position About Winning; i'm gettin sick of these names Dabo comes up with, honestly). If you played in HS, you might know it as the Pit Drill. The drill pits three offensive linemen against three defensive linemen in a space 16 feet, 7 inches wide and 10 yards long. A running back is positioned behind the offensive linemen and is given three plays to gain 10 yards. The OL has won most of the battles in camp so far.
The Tigers never used the drill under Bowden, instead using a "board drill" that consisted of one-on-one matchups.
David Blackwell is interviewing for a Co-Coordinator job at South Florida with former Cincinatti DC Joe Tressey. He is expected to take it if its offered. Jim Leavitt pretty much fired everybody on his staff that interviewed for jobs elsewhere this offseason, so he needs some help. To fill the spot on the staff, we will hopefully try to go get Dan Brooks, who was initially rumored to come in with The Chief from Tennessee (I'm surprised he didnt get offered at LSU). Brooks is an ace recruiter, far better than Blackwell if you ask me. He also is the main reason UT gets players from NC, and we'll need the help against Butch Davis. EDIT: he did take the job.
Baseball We thumped Michigan State twice already this week, tuesday 15-2 and wednesday afternoon 6-1, further fueling my belief that teams from up north can't play baseball.
Kyle Parker is struggling mightily at the plate, hitting .136 and is 4-40 lately. With the strain of football on top of this, I honestly think he needs to take some time away over the NCAA mandate (he was required to take a day off this week). He's going to miss two BC games, but I'd make him take off the whole weekend if I was Jack.
"Kiffin told Jeffrey that if he chose the Gamecocks, he would end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from that state who had gone to South Carolina."
