Got to love Recruiting

So here is where Dabo and company prove their metal. I always thought one of the major bonuses about hiring Dabo was that he was going to be a solid recruiter. If you can recruit then at least you have the talent to compete every year. I thought we did an adequate job salvaging the recruits last season but nothing spectacular. But after a year in place, I want to see some home runs this year.

Dabo has a staff that has a proven track record of recruiting talent. Napier was an excellent recruiting coordinator. Fat Brad for all his flaws does have good connections in-state but I'm not sure how important that really is in modern college football. Its important but not paramount. His son is the recruiting coordinator and so far I have not been particularly impressed.

We have failed on a lot of in-state backyard talent this year and that never sits well with me. Byrnes has been a disaster and we are paying for screwing up Lattimore's recruitment. Somebody made somebody angry, blah blah blah. We lost Miller, Willis, and Lattimore. So Davis needs to prove himself to me somewhat and land some big fish. Steele, Brooks, and Harbison are all solid if not special recruiters who take the job seriously so I am expecting big things. I am interested to see how Pearman does, he is in charge of recruiting some O-Line talent we desperately need.

Right now it seems like we are going to hold on to our 18 commits so far which is very good news. We have battled back against Georgia to secure Crawford and Beasley which is big. Darius Robinson is still flirting with Auburn but we should be able to hold out. This is good news because in recent years we have been subject to a great deal of poaching from other teams.

South Carolina is putting together another solid class unfortunately. We really want Mack to go somewhere else and Quarles almost jumped ship. If Lattimore goes somewhere else then I'm not too worried. Still cant believe we lost Gilmore and Holloman last year.

Our big battles now are with stealing Max Garcia away from Maryland despite a better journalism school?? Max--journalism is dead...come to Clemson. Also the battle for Justin Parker continues to rage, we led but not so much anymore...We need a big time LB and I dont want to wait another year. We have a shot with RB White and maybe Ethan Farmer (cross your fingers). Im hoping Dabo can be an insane closer for us and we can turn in a stellar class to get some momentum back in the program.

If not I think we need some hostesses. This is scary but really pure genius. Employing girls to shadow players on facebook, texting, go to some games and then leave them high and dry after they commit. Thats a UT Wild boy for yah...

Some of My Current Heroes

First is Michael Palmer. What a guy, he doesnt even let go of the ball when he is knocked unconscious. After Spiller and maybe Ford he is the best player on the Offense.

David Smith--well lets congratulate the entire offensive line. We have our guys in place for the remainder of the season it seems. Starting Freeman and allowing Cloy to spell Austin, Freeman, and McClain keeps everyone a little fresher. Smith really has come on and played well in his time at RT. Its only been a month or so since he has been put over there but it sure is nice not to see Lambert getting beat all the time. We had a few breakdowns here and there, to be expected against a tenacious, quick Miami D, but they gave KP the time he needed especially in key situations. Its about time someone on the O Line exceeded expectations. Pearman--you earned your paycheck. Brad--finally one of your moves works out, so thanks (its about time something worked). Dalton Freeman has been awesome starting.

DQ Bowers--he had been contained all game but came up huge on the second down in OT that stoned Miami RB Cooper. Thats with a slight concussion...

Richard Jackson--you blew a 41 yarder but didnt lose your cool and you made the one that counted.

Billy Napier--if your are reading this thank you for going to the TE screen, and even throwing to the fullback. Keep the I formation coming, I still dont believe that everything in Dabo and Napier land was a slice of heaven but I'm glad you two came to some agreements in a non Whipple/Shannon fashion.

Marcus Gilchrist-Of course McDaniel is the man too and we need to start talking him out of going to the NFL next season but Gilchrist has just kept getting better each game. Remember that this is his first year starting?? Its hard to remember that we replaced 2 safety positions this year and I hope we can find two CBs next year that can do what our 2 safeties have done filling in this year. Rashard Hall has been probably the biggest contributing surprise, so far for me this season. Not highly recruited (Spencer Adams was the big 4* recruit, hope he and his knee can find it) but just a solid player so far.

Lots of praise to go around right now but lots of things to still fix. I like our chances though with FSU at home but would love it if BC took a stumble against another team. Also if we lose to FSU watch out for them to be the Darkhorse to win out and save Bobby B. Yeah its silly to talk about it since really anything is possible in the Atlantic. But I am encouraged that the team can see the finish line and know that if we win out that we go to the ACC Champs.

Last note, I love how the players call on Spiller to go make a play for them. Just win the game for us CJ. Reminds me of Bowdens coaching (especially his great adjustment in the Alabama debacle), telling players that someone needed to go and make a play. I understand motivation and all but usually coaching is definitionally telling a player how to make X and O play, not just telling them it should be done.

CJ for Heisman!! Believe It!!

FEI Week 3; More OL Venting

Clemson up three spots to #11, likely the result of beating the #26 team BC. If BC keeps playing like it did last Saturday, I expect we won't be benefiting from that victory too much longer. For those of you interested, TCU is at #27, so this Saturday should be just another repeat of the BC game, right?

Clemson took a big jump in the Ken Massey aggregate rankings, up at #23 after being #36 last week. TCU tumbled from #10 to #15. It was a rough week for Mountain West schools, and a relatively good week for the ACC. Hey, maybe FEI wasn't terribly wrong after all? Clemson-TCU will give us another data point in the analysis.

Also wanted to draw attention to this excellent post on the offensive line a few days back by DrB. The ClemPson guys are prolific writers, so it might have slipped through unnoticed. Somehow I also missed the post from last year, which is much the same effect. Just to highlight a couple of passages, but really, it should be read in its entirety. Here, when talking about where to spread the blame for the O-line failures:

Whose fault is this? Brad Scott's. He has been OL coach since Spence came on staff. He is regarded as one of the best? By who? Show me who comes calling for him? Brad can recruit in this state, and has built many contacts, but what good does it do us to recruit and not develop? Was that lesson not learned over the last 9 years? If you bring them in and they do nothing, its on the coach. Its either bad evaluation in the beginning, or bad development; either way its on Scott.

In my eyes, in the last 2-3 years Clemson has been plagued by two problems that have absolutely infuriated the fanbase because they shouldn't happen with proper coaching: 1) poor tackling technique on defense and 2) inability to get any kind of push from the offensive line in the run game (we can debate the line play in 2007, there were obviously multiple factors going on there--but I think everyone agrees the level of play on the O-line was well below expectation). Its still early and there have been some relapses (first quarter of the GT game) but problem #1 looks like it is coming under control after one offseason under Kevin Steele. Thank God. Problem #2, however, looks about as bad as ever. There are flashes of ability mixed into every game (even in the BC game), but nothing resembling consistency has materialized.

But to tell the truth, we are not missing assignments altogether...We are BLOCKING the guy we're supposed to hit, but we arent PUSHING him anywhere, that comes down to technique. Its one thing to hit your man, but its another to knock him on his ass...Our technique is what needs work, thats what a coach is there for.

I can't pretend to know the politics in the Clemson athletic department or the football team. But what I can say, and what I tried to point out in my last post below, is that it seems that Swinney has at least some grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of the team and has tried to make changes appropriately (unlike his baffling predecessor). I refuse to believe that he doesn't see the O-line struggles; he's seen the deterioration along the O-line first-hand. Maybe Pearman was brought in as a way to "push" Brad Scott, give him some motivation. But that begs the question as to why he just wasn't removed in the first place, its not like he's got a stable of hand-picked 5-star recruits for 2010. There has to be something going on here that hopefully resolves itself before the start of the next offseason. Or maybe, just maybe, we see some real improvement one of these weeks?

However if Thomas Austin is so good, and Hairston is the "Spiller of the OL" as Dabo says, why do we not have HUGE holes open on the left side and more run plays designed to go there?...This tells me that either Austin and Hairston arent the all-star types they've been made out to be, or Napier is dumb. Its one or the other.

One minor quibble here--it could easily be both.

Ouch...

This article is a nice swift kick in the mouth...I think Hunter Ansley at DraftZoo.com says it best--our players always have good pro days and test well at the combine, what they are lacking is the coaching. Thats why I like the hires of Dan Brooks and Pearman and Steele, all respected coaches. These guys can teach fundamentals and the little things, the techniques of the game--everything from hand placement to alignments to leveraging. We have some great recruiters, great energy right now but not a lot of teachers. Tommy never coached x's and o's as his career at Clemson went on--I think thats what he lost with Rich Rod, Spence was pitiful and disinterested and Vic Koenning did an alright job trying to get his system understood and executed.

So what do we have now? Well Swinney is a motivator but still a relatively new coach and not some offensive mad scientist(although those are highly overrated) and Napier is going to be trying to keep his head above water. Both excellent recruiters, lots of enthusiasm but not much expertise in molding and developing young talent. Brad Scott is a disaster and I dont think Jeff Scott brings anything to the table. The offense is where I am scared, only Pearman inspires any confidence and I am glad he is helping to coach the O-Line, maybe he can shake things up a bit, get in some better rotations...something...

Summary-Defense in better hands, Offense--no one knows, and that folks is what this season depends on...