Recruiting Updates

So all the pro-Dabo people point to this great recruiting class coming in and say--you negative nancies, just support the team. Normally I am of this opinion. Last year we had some major coaching flaws (that continued right on into this season I might add) but when the season is over there is an argument for putting on the happy smile and focusing on recruiting.

This year I want to wait until after the 'recruiting' season is over before we shake anything up. But a good recruiting class doesn't make up for losing to South Carolina twice. Good recruiting doesn't solve poor coaching because we have been consistently out-recruiting the majority of the ACC. Shakin has done a fabulous job with the numbers. I have heard that all the Ball Sack needed was Lattimore and Jeffrey. Thats true but he also upgraded his assistant coaches, helped Garcia to mature, and had as consistent an offensive gameplan as I have seen out of Spurrier. USC has always had talent but could never get players that wanted to be coached or coaches that had a clue. The two must go hand in hand.

So in summary, a good coach can excel with good talent but an average coach will only be good. A poor coach will be average. We have poor/average offensive coaches. Dwayne Allen has first round talent. Ellington and even Harper have 2-3 round talent. KP has a canon arm, natural talents. Nuke and McNeal have talent. So do many of our offensive lineman. Talent needs to be coached and high school isn't college. Some kids can come in like Julio Jones or Alshon Jeffrey and make an impact. But you need a good coaching staff to make a championship team. We are so very close on defense but are still miles away on offense. (Its got to sting that your 'hotshot' OC isn't even a finalist for the Furman HC job)

*Napier rant (skip if you are sick of this): I feel bad for Billy. His stock has plummeted. If he had been QB's coach and the recruiting coordinator and not the offensive coordinator he would be in such a better position career-wise when you think about it. He even said at the time he would have gladly accepted it, a bump up from TE coach and a little pay. Then we pull in a big name OC, (Malzhan was available!!) who grooms Billy to replace him. This didn't happen because Dabo thinks he is an offensive mind. I smell an ego problem with this one. Maybe he wanted to have more control, or maybe he didn't want to be known solely as a figurehead. Anyway it was a decision that threw Billy to the wolves. Here is boy wonder in action.

But...I have to give the staff credit. Brooks continues to be my favorite coach on the staff. Rumph is working his rump off (sorry had to say it), Harbison is key in Georgia and even Steele has been working it.

We have confirmed visits with the top uncommitted prospects in the country. We even have Clowney coming in!! Steward, Hughes, Anthony, with the possibility of Grant and Lateek Townsend for LB's. Those are at least three top 50 players on any list. Then you have Pagan and now Drew!! This is big. If we pull in three of those names we will have an amazing defensive and offensive class.

With Florida's demise our main competition is Georgia and they are probably weaker than they have been in a long time. We have competition for every player but that is to be expected when you are gunning for such high recruits. So hats off to the staff for staying motivated and hitting the trail with some authority. Clemson loves Moms should be our newest recruiting theme.

If you can't coach, go recruit. It won't build a championship team but it'll keep your head above water and might win you an ACC Championship. (which still wouldnt mean you were a championship team...haha)

Auburn Predictions and Ramblings

So we are finally beginning the season. Gameday. First I love Brent Musburger--he loves Clemson and the Esso Club and coined the now infamous phrase the 25 most exciting seconds in ALL of college football. A bold statement by any announcer but Musburger exudes class. He also does his homework and is very competent.

I guess I should really start over--if we win, we are beginning the season(and should pass South Caroline). If we lose the season starts with ACC play. Ha.

Another thing--South Carolina has beaten Southern Miss and then a substandard Georgia team and we are crowning them Natl Champs. Its pathetic. Sure, give credit where it is due--you beat Georgia, pat yourself on the back but the ESPN/SEC bias gets nauseating when its talked about incessantly and the Cocks shoot up to #13?? Its insane. Then I start seeing pictures of Marcus Lattimore everywhere and even a blurb about him as a Heisman contender. Really media, are we that starved for content?? Georgia had a horrible run D last year--give me a break. Now they play Furman. Where is all the crying about the powderpuff schedule?? huh?

So lets talk Auburn before I throw up even more in my mouth. Auburn is one of the cooler programs in the SEC--good people, they hate Alabama and Georgia. They have unreal expectations (just like us!) and fired Tuberville and got Chizik who was hired over Gill Turner. Seems like its been working out pretty good so far. They got some limo's for recruiting. Challenged the UT Wildboys for the biggest recruiting stunts and hauled in a good class. Even got a top RB in Dyer.

First Auburn has Cam Newton who is just ginormous. It really is Daquan Bowers at QB. He has a rocket arm but hasn't been tested in terms of accuracy but led his Jr College to the Jr College Champs so its not his first rodeo. I guess I'm saying that this guy isn't just a hyped athlete who hasn't learned to play QB. Runs like a gazelle mixed with a freight train, if that helps.

Since we made Chris Turner of Maryland look like an athlete last year--pretty much any QB can run on us. We have also historically sucked against misdirection. We all like the same gap assignment--what can I say...

So for RB they have Dyer (protypical back) and McCalebb (explosive guy) who aren't proven as everydown backs yet but have the talent. Our LB's are beat up with Maye coming off injury and Tig hurting his elbow so I have no confidence there(I am actually really disappointed with the LB play thus far--thought Corico would take that proverbial 'next step') and our D-Line can sometimes disappear in big games. We need our safeties to step up and CB's not to blow coverage.

So Auburn will score points but we need to create turnovers on defense. We need to have a Miami game where we give up yards and points but we also make some big plays that give us a chance.

On Offense we know what we get out of KP and hopefully what we get out of our RB's. We need no turnovers and we need the Offensive Line to be able to get some push at the point of attack. They have a veteran defensive group with top notch LB's who are All-SEC, no glaring weaknesses. But they have given up a lot of points in the past and DC Ted Roof won't be doing all that much blitzing. We have a chance to put up points but if WR's don't catch balls it will be a long day. I am interested to see what Napier has in store--his progression as a play caller is perhaps the most important thing of all.

I keep hearing how Clemson has the advantage in special teams and I have to scratch my head. Auburn has a preseason Groza candidate and we have a freshman kicker. Sure he can make XP's and made a 47 yarder (all great things, don't get me wrong) but the Cat Man is going on the road to a hostile environment with plenty of pressure. It is just another animal altogether. Their punter averages 40 yards a kick, ours does too minus one 70 yarder. Gilchrist has been solid fielding kicks but hasn't proven that he has the top end speed to take it to the house.

If I take the orange colored glasses that are glued to my head off for a minute I say Auburn by 4. But since that won't happen I am going Clemson 28 Auburn 27.

A Word On Schedules

Every year a portion of the Clemson fan-base starts whining about playing a few cupcakes. For some reason they have it in their heads that playing 2 all-mighty SEC schools is not enough and that we should be playing like 4 top 25 teams(if not top 10 teams) with our Out Of Conference schedule.

For some reason Shamecocks like to get in on this conversation as well. So here you go--this year we play Auburn(top 25, no. 22), USuCk, North Texas, and Presbyterian. South Carolina will play Clemson, Southern Miss(7-6 last year), Furman!, and Troy. Clearly we have the tougher OOC. So the Cocks aren't a good barometer for anything so why don't we look at the Natl Champs Alabama--they should have an ideal OOC schedule. Alabama kicks off against San Jose St!! They play no. 19 Penn State, Duke!, and Georgia State (a team that just recently formed a Div 1 football team). Again, we have the tougher OOC.

How about Georgia? They start with Louisiana Lafayette, a Colorado team that was 3-9 last year, Idaho State!, and GT. We have the tougher schedule again. In fact, we could do this with the majority of the ACC and really the country. We have probably the 3rd or 4th toughest OOC in the ACC. Even VT who plays Boise St then plays James Madison, East Carolina, and Central Michigan. The 12th game added by the NCAA essentially scheduled a creampuff for the entire country.

12 games is a long season and you need those easy games for player development. We need Tajh Boyd to get meaningful minutes, the linebackers to get experience(especially with Cooper and Maye going down), the receivers to get a clue, and to build O-Line depth. You could easily argue that if we hadn't had the TCU game then we wouldn't have lost to Maryland. Take away those two losses and you have a shiny record and a top 15-10 finish, and a better bowl game at season's end. With the stupid Sun Bowl replacing the Gator Bowl that win will become even more important. I know everyone wants to pay to watch an amazing game and we want to play the best competition, it makes you better but every year its not always in the best interest of the team. If you want it for yourself then it becomes borderline selfish--and OOC games can impact your entire season (and your career) like Alabama did. So lets keep 2 SEC teams and then we'll have a schedule better than 80% of the teams in College Football. So quit whining...