Apparently I am The Devil!!

Its official I am one of the monkey bars in the Devil's Playground! But don't worry because Dabo has been anointed to purify this spawn of Satan himself...

So I crawled out of my cave in time to see Bullard and Todd Gurley not come to Clemson and then have Darby and Goldman not visit. When I poked my head out I got criticized by our head coach for not being ok with a 70 point loss and then realized that the demonic sounds of my playground were actually all of America laughing at me. Yeah we made it on Leno. I loved this season up until the Orange Bowl and I agree with Dabo that the sky is not falling and that the future can be bright. We had a good season but Dabo also needs to be sensitive to poking his finger in a bullet wound. This was painful.

We are soft. I am convinced that we have been soft since the HATFIELD era because of out Strength and Conditioning coach.  WV players said we gave up and were begging for mercy. If this were just one player I would disregard it but when you go back its also been said by South Carolina and NC State players. Joey Batson must go. He doesn't need to leave Clemson--I think he can be a great asset in the Athletic Dept. We need new, fresh blood and more accountability. We are soft. About three years ago USC started bearing us. That is the time they got a new S&C coach--if you want to beat USC and toughen up we need a new direction in S&C. We have as good of recruits as anyone in the ACC and certainly USC, but if we aren't developing strength, agility, and quickness--if we aren't keeping players from getting fat and lazy, then we won't win. 

We redshirt just as many players as other programs but our player development during the redshirt year is pathetic. Its frankly embarrassing. No stupid 'Power Hour' that gets thrown together because someone finally said--hey wait, the redshirt players are all standing around getting fatter and lazy is going to cut it for a Natl Championship contending program.
Compare out players, our 5th year players to other schools. Its not even close. Now of course, some of this is on the players but that excuse is tiresome. Its ultimately on the coaches and it sits with Batson.

Tiger Nation, its time to exorcise the demons.

And I don't mean the Internet because we aren't the problem. ShakinintheSouthland is not the problem. In fact, we (but more accurately Dr. B and FigureFour) might be the holy water that you drink and that turns you into beast mode but like a Christian beast mode that defeats you while saving you--plus you win all your football games.

Still I got my list of can't miss recommendations for the offseason that come certified by the Debil.

1. Retain the services of Coach Brooks. See I am no negative nancy--there is a positive that you can accentuate (or something).
2. Mediate between Coach Caldwell and Coach Morris. Morris gets paid the 1.3 big bucks and its his show on offense but see if we can't try to keep everyone together.
3. We need a great LB coach. I would prefer that we hired a DC that coaches LB's to keep the staff continuity but we need not just a good LB coach but a great one. 
4. Lets not go the Venables route. High energy, great recruiter, boatloads of talent that underperform. Sound familiar? Kevin Steele Part 2. This is Dabo's hire though and I will give it the benefit of the doubt (how truly evil of me--giving Dabs the rope to hang himself with--hahaha(insert Mr. Burns or Dr. Claw laugh)).
5. Last but not least--graduate Batson to the athletic dept and hire a Hatch disciple for S&C.

 Thats it. See we on the playground aren't that demanding. Keep things the same and get rid of, errr, graduate Batson. You will have appeased the masses.

For the record I think Dabo did a good job this year. He lost his composure in the Orange Bowl and couldn't rally the troops. He will learn from that and its not the end of the world. Would like to win a few of these recruiting battles here at the end though.

For the record I have always been Steele supporter but can agree with his mutual termination/firing/parting ways/getting out of Dodge. When you lose to South Carolina 3 years in a row and get 70 points put up on you in the Orange Bowl it may be time for a change. For whatever reason the scheme wasn't clicking with guys and the D line looked lost and soft at times. The defense was not young and that isn't a good enough excuse for me. I wish him well and think he is a good coach but I am fine with the desire for change. My instincts say Randy Shannon would be a solid hire but I'm still too depressed to do any real research to back that up. 

The crowned prince MonkeyBar of Satan will now go crawl back in his cave until the Spring game.

That Was Embarrassing...

Just when Clemson seems like they are going to do good and has a team down early, a guy bounces off of Rashard Hall, rips the ball from Ellington, and the entire WV team is unable to step on the sideline.

Like many of you, I'm not going to say anything--at a loss for words, just going to curl up into a ball until spring.

Beamer Ball Exposed, Coach Gives Game To Michigan

Way to go Frank. Sure, everyone thought Coale made the catch but Beamer was such a stupid coach during this game. The dumb fake punt (which led to the field goal for Michigan but also lost them a timeout to manage the clock at the end) and then going all conservative at the end before regulation. Not to mention going for that 4th down in the first half and not taking the points. At least everyone knows that VT belonged in the bowl and probably should have won. They certainly weren't outplayed by Michigan.

How does a replay official make that kind of call?? You have conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the field and change the outcome of the game? If the booth had been consistent all night with their calls then I wouldn't have a problem with it but at least two of their 'catches' were with much less 'conclusive' video evidence. If I am being honest I thought one angle looked incomplete but another angle where the left elbow comes down looks like a catch. I think if you can find a catch and it was called a catch then you can't overturn it. Sucks for the Hokies. What in the world possessed Wilson to backpedal 30 yards?? Logan Thomas looks like a great QB and I think its awesome that we beat them twice (then I remember that Mike O'Cain is calling the offensive plays). Bud Foster must give a horrible interview because his defense is amazing and if he wants to be a head coach he should be one.

Final note: The Man of Steele to Tennessee?? There recruits are evaporating as we speak (or transferring) and the ship is burning. We have oodles of talent and consensus 5* Linebackers, chance to repeat as ACC Champs, outside Natl Champs contenders? I'm not too worried. As I have said before I like Coach Steele, although the defense took a step back this year, and this continuity will help the team next year. The offense needed a change and that worked out well but I love the defensive staff and want to keep our current recruits in place. What I think this becomes is leverage for Steele to get a raise. This might become tricky if we are done with coaching raises after Morris gets 1.3 million. If I'm the defensive guy I wouldn't be thrilled about that since I'm sure Clemson has never appeared to have such deep pockets before. The only way I see Steele leaving is if things go south in that negotiation over contracts.

You must remember the story of DeAndre McDaniel coming to Steele's office to find out if the rumors about Steele leaving were true and helping to convince the coach to stay. Steele likes Tennessee and may want a change of scenery after the negativity this year--its a possibility. He has never been much for staying in the same place for too many years.