The "Big E" Edition

Clemson basketball loses one of the greatest to ever wear orange and white as Elden Campbell passes away at 57.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time, or Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Now finally, Clempson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Hello everybody, and Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the south Land. Clempson
Sports Talk for you each and every afternoon as you
make your way around the great state of South Carolina
and beyond, listening to us on incredible radio stations like
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(01:13):
The website. Put the dot com on a dog one
it that's Clemson Sports tall dot com and the show
The Shakespeare south Land brought in and partbur good friends over
at Mets Plumbing mets plumber dot com two two six
seven one to eight. That's Mets Plumbing two two six
seven one zero eight. All right out of the gates.
Early signing period, early signing day, what Dabo Sweeny called

(01:36):
Orange Jacket Day. We'll hear something from Sweeney in a
little bit after Clemson's day. We'll talk about some of
the other teams out there in the world of college
football when it comes down to recruiting. Obviously, still in
the midst of the season, not the regular season, just
one regular season game remaining Army Navy. But we've got
conference championship games coming up this weekend. And I guess

(02:00):
more specifically, you know, all these power for teams signing
players today over the next couple of days. The signing
period is opened. Most of that will be done today,
I'm sure, and then you've got the portal period and
then YadA, YadA. I mean, just the calendar of this
thing is the reason that Lane Kiffin is gone. Some

(02:22):
news on that front as well. We'll get back into
that as Lane Kevin leaves Old Miss to go to LSU.
I mean, it's just a whole mess with the way
the college, you know, with the way college football is
currently structured, surrounding the calendar. And then also some sad

(02:45):
news to report, as former Clemson Tiger power forward Elden
Campbell passed away at the age of just fifty seven.
Campbell was the all time leading score and All American
and a three time All acc player while at Clemson.

(03:06):
He also played for the Los Angeles Lakers. That news
coming out earlier today. If you want to read up
on it, we've got it over on our website, Clemson
Sports Talk dot com, and we'll begin there even in
the midst of national signing Day, because certainly life is

(03:27):
more important than who you sign in college football. And
for me, you know, being just nine years younger than
Elden Campbell, my kind of what you might call formative
years of watching college basketball came when Elden Campbell was
a star at Clemson.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
Elite.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
Campbell came to Clemson as a freshman in nineteen eighty
six and eighty seven and helped the Tigers alongside Horace Grant,
go twenty five and six into the NCAA Tournament. Then
as a sophomore, after Grant had left, he stepped into
a starting role and averaged a career best eighteen point

(04:17):
eight points per game. It was named a third team
All ACC selection. As a junior, he was a second
team All ACC choice and averaged a team best seventeen
and a half points per game for Clemson's NCAA tournament team,
And as a senior in nineteen eighty nine, he teamed

(04:37):
up with Dale Davis to give Clemson one of the
top front court combinations in college basketball, certainly in Clemson
basketball history. Both of those individuals were Honorable Mention All
Americans by the Associated Press, and it was the only
time that Clemson's ever had two All Americans on the
same team. Campbell led the Tigers in scoring that year

(04:59):
with sixteen point four points per game. Clemson won the
ACC regular season championship, the only time in school history
they pulled off that feet off, and they were twenty
six and nine, advancing to the Sweet sixteen in the
Ncublea Tournament. Of course, that NC DOUBLEA Tournament would come
to an end on Tate George's last second shot, full

(05:21):
length pass down the court that would go in and
send the Tigers home. It's a heartbreaking loss, one of
the more difficult and more memorable losses in NCAA basketball
history for anybody. I mean, it's one of those last

(05:42):
second shots that just rips your heart out. Campbell finished
his career at Clemson with eighteen hundred and eighty points,
a record that has stood for thirty five years. He's
still first in career made field goals, tied for first
in career double figures, second in block shots, third and

(06:04):
twenty points scoring games, seventh had made free throws, and
eighth in career rebounds. Just a stud now. I hope,
I hope that Clemson will honor him this year with
a patch with either his initials or his number certainly
on there. One of my buddies, when I texted him

(06:26):
the news today, he wrote back, HB said, man, I
hope they do something like that, and Hb's right, I
hope they do as well. Cliff Ellis, who has been
a guest on this program many times, said quote, I'm
deeply saddened to learn of Elden Campbell's passing. Elden was
a great player for four years, especially in the eighty
nine to ninety season when he was a major reason

(06:48):
we were won. We won Clempson's only ACC regular season championship.
He went on to a fifteen year career in the
NBA and won a World championship. But most of all,
Elden wasn't out standing giving person. This is a sad
day for the Clemson family. Eldon love Clemson. He came
back and supported the program after he retired. He exemplified

(07:10):
what Clemson was all about. The Other thing I always
liked about Elden campbellon when I interviewed him, and we'll
play some of that interview that we did with him
a few years ago. Campbell was a first round draft
choice of the Los Angeles Lakers, and I grew up
as a huge Laker fan. He played for the Lakers
for nine years and is still third in Lakers history

(07:34):
in block shots, trailing only Kareem abdul Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal.
He played in the NBA Finals for the Lakers against
the Bulls his rookie year, and Campbell went on to
play fifteen seasons in the NBA, playing for four years
with the Hornets, then with the Detroit Pistons for two seasons,
including a championship with the Pistons in three to four.

(07:59):
Campbell retired at the end of the two thousand and
four two thousand and five season, finishing finishing his NBA
career with ten thousand, eight hundred and five points, six thousand,
one hundred and sixteen rebounds, and sixteen hundred and two
block shots. So not only one of the greats in

(08:20):
Clemson history collegiately Elden Campbell, arguably one of the greats
in Clemson basketball history in the NBA as well, and
so certainly our thoughts and prayers to Elden Campbell and
his family. As I understand it, he passed away. It
was not a not a long sickness. It was a

(08:45):
sudden situation, and our thoughts and prayers certainly go out
to his family. Eight zero three four five zero zero
eighty six text line, phone line if you want to
text us your memories of Elden Campbell or your thoughts
about him. You know, he in the photo that we

(09:06):
use today on our website, and it's the one that
Clemson used as well. It's one of him shooting a jumper.
I can't tell where this shot is taken. Based off
of some of the outfits in the arena, it looks
like it's a neutral site game. Now, granted there was

(09:27):
a time where people didn't wear, you know, all orange
to a basketball game or whatever, but there are people
were in like green and red, almost like Christmas e colors.
Then there's some Clemson fans. There's a guy that looks
like he might be a Kentucky fan. So I'm thinking
that's probably from an NCAA tournament game. But the reason

(09:49):
I bring it up is, you know, Elton Campbell played
in the days where the flat top, the flattop was
the look that a lot of guys wore. And you
don't see the flat top very often anymore. I don't
know why the flat top went away, quite frankly, I mean,
and it wasn't just guys like Elden Campbell rocking the

(10:10):
flat top. It was guys like the late Eric Montross
as well who rocked the flat top. I mean, the
flat top in the late eighties, early nineties. It's a
pretty smooth look. I don't know how tough it was
to cut your hair like that. I'd probably look pretty
funny if I had a flat top today. But back
in the day Elden Campbell, that was to look everybody

(10:34):
was rocking. So again, sadly Elden Campbell passing away today
at the age of fifty seven, we'll play some of
our interview that we did with Elden Campbell. Golly, when
was that?

Speaker 4 (10:45):
Was that?

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Back during COVID. I'm gonna have to cause remember during
COVID we went on a that was a weird time
where we had to go on like a string of
interviews to fill to fill. Tom and Eldon came on
the show at some point. You know what, I need

(11:05):
to dig in and see because I'm looking here, I'm
mad I don't see the archive of that interview with
Elden Campbell. I'm gonna have to dig in further and
see if I can find it. Campbell was recently, you know,
a little over a year ago, was named to the
twenty twenty five Southern cal Basketball Hall of Fame. And

(11:32):
you know, you can make an argument it was one
of the greatest Clemson basketball players, or the greatest, I
should say, might be the argument that you would make
about potentially being one of the greatest in Climpson history.
Another name you threw out there, certainly his former teammate
Horse Grant, and Grant may have gone on to be

(11:52):
the greatest Clemson player in the NBA. But I'm gonna
have to do some digging now to find that interview
because I thought it was gonna pop right up, but
it didn't. All right, eight three four five zero zero
eighty six, will turn our attention away from that's sad news,
and we'll talk about recruiting here in the bottom half
of the segment, plus a nour number two. We hope

(12:14):
to be joined by Chad Morris, so that's always fun.
As his son Chandler in the Virginia Cavaliers at Tony
Ellie get ready for the ACC Championship game up in
Charlotte this weekend. But things got rolling as they typically
do in Tigertown for the early signing period. Right at

(12:37):
the seven o'clock bell, basically seven oh two, a couple
of commits come in. Connor Salmon, wide receiver out of
Bullet School in Maryland. He's from Roundhill, Virginia, and Shaver
Young comes in out of Knoxville, Tennessee, the Web School

(12:58):
of Knoxville. Cornerback Sam is a wide receiver, by the way,
a burner you're talking about, a fast guy, he is
a fast wide receiver. Of those two guys coming in
at seven oh two, then one minute later, two more
prospects got their facts through as Leo Delaney, the offensive

(13:20):
lineman out of Providence Day School. Clemson did not get
their guy a year ago out of Provadence Day School,
but they do this time around landing Leo Delaney part
of a six offensive lineman class for Matt Luke. We'll
talk about that more on that in a minute. At

(13:41):
seven oh three, Clempson got their tight end, Tavion Wilson,
out of Huntington, West Virginia's Huntington High School. I was
looking at his bio. I didn't realize this. I think
he played quarterback. I believe. I read it was this season.
I believe he played quarterback for his high school team
this year. I mean, I don't know if he's if

(14:03):
it's a situation where you're just putting the best player
out there with the ball in his hands as much
as possible there, Listen, listen, I'm from a two way
high school. I mean that was the strategy for the
most part. I mean, far be it from me to
tell a coach don't put the ball in the hands
of the best player every play. And so he played

(14:25):
quarterback I think this year for his high school. Let
me just double check that fact, because nothing like Swannee
goes on the air telling you one thing. And I'm wrong,
but I'm pretty sure he's a multi sports star. And yeah,
right here, fourteen hundred and seven passing yards, nine hundred
and fifty rushing yards. He also had eleven hundred and
three receiving I don't know if he threw it to

(14:46):
himself or what if he did. If he did, this
is the guy you've been wanting, but Tavion Wilson there
at tight end, getting in early at seven o three.
At seven oh four, a couple of more commits come through,
as Carter Scruggs, the offensive lineman out of Leesburg, Virginia
Alden County High School, and Brayden Riley, a linebacker out

(15:09):
of Cincinnati, Ohio's Saint Xavier High School, all came through
at seven o five. Three more came through Ken Trevion
Polo Anderson, safety out of Dorman High School over in Spartanburg,
and Chance Barclay, an offensive lineman out of Minneola, Florida,
the first academy, giving Clemson their third offensive line commit

(15:34):
by seven o five am excuse me. Then interior defensive
lineman Cam Cody at seven oh five out of Savannah,
Georgia's Benedictine Military School. Then a couple of minutes later,
wide receiver Gordon Sellers out of Providence Day School, a
teammate of Leo Delaney, committed. Then at seven twelve, the

(15:56):
top prospect in the class for Clemson, named ros out
of Jacksonville, Florida, the Bowls School wide receiver committed, and
then three minutes later the fourth offensive lineman of the day,
Adam Guthrie out of Washington Courthouse, Ohio Miami Trace High
School came through. Speaking of the state of Ohio Gebhart.

(16:18):
We talked about Caden Gebhart yesterday. He did end up
committing to Ohio State, so he did back off and
flip his commitment. He's a safety prospect, so making Polo
Anderson the loan safety in the class. And again, the
kid lives six miles from Ohio State. And even though
he told Jason Priester that he would not be flipping,

(16:40):
he indeed ended up flipping from Clemson to the Buckeyes.
You get some and you lose some from time to time.
Then about forty five minutes later, brought Bradley, quarterback out
of Birmingham, Alabama Spain Park High School, committed, along with
one minute later Grant Wise, the offensive lineman out of
Payce High School down in Florida at eight oh three.

(17:02):
Bryden Williams coming through, another offensive lineman and the sixth
offensive lineman of the day for the Clemson Tigers to
commit out of Lawrence Free State High School in Lawrence, Kansas.
Then j R. Hardrick at eight twenty six, the defensive
end out of South Pittsburgh High School. Not in Pennsylvania,

(17:22):
that's South Pittsburgh, Tennessee. So going back into back into
the volunteer state for another prospect, Clemson does add him
and Shaver Young from Tennessee at eight thirty eight out
of Dallas, Texas, Marcel Gibson now the South Oak Cliff

(17:43):
High School cornerback. And then at nine to twenty maybe
the most significant piece of the puzzle, quarterback four star
Tate Reynolds out of the Queen Creek, Arizona's Queen Queen
Creek High School. His commitment came through. And then finally
long snapper at two for Jackson Reach out of Hermosa Beach,

(18:03):
California mirror Coasta High School, got his signature on the
line in Tigertown. And so Clemson gets their group together
all total in the class nineteen prospects, with the Tigers

(18:25):
potentially still doing some work out there to complete this class,
but a good start for Clemson for sure. And you
know we've addressed the calendar the situation because of what's
happened in Oxford, Mississippi, with the situation when Lane Kiffin

(18:49):
in the midst of a college football playoff run Kiffen
packing up his bags, and we'll have more on that
in just a little bit. But this early signing per
again is a big part of the problem as well,
and it is my hope that we can move this

(19:11):
signing day up, put it before the senior year concludes,
maybe very early on in the season, and then grant
kids the ability to transfer out if a coaching change
takes place after the fact, but more importantly, hold off

(19:33):
for the signing day. If you don't sign during the
early period and make it extremely early, then you can't
sign until February and let prospects move because it's like
you're juggling and you've got too much. You don't have
enough hands to handle all the things you're trying to

(19:54):
keep up in the air. Quick breat we'll come out.
We'll Here's someone what Dabosweeney had to say about the
signing class right after this Clemson's sports salo on swinback
with you Early Signing Day twenty twenty five for the
twenty twenty six class taking place today up in Tigertown.
We kind of ran through some of the names, and

(20:16):
nothing really unexpected at this point outside of cad and
Gebhart decommitting from Clemson and committing to and signing with
Ohio State at safety. Nonetheless, this day does not have
the same pomp and circumstance and excitement that it once
did when it was in February and everybody looked forward

(20:40):
to it. Now it falls in the middle of preparation
for conference championship games and college football playoff and it's
just it's terrible timing. I think the coaches know it.
That's a good thing. That means we'll probably get changed
at some point. Anyhow, Clemson for the first time in

(21:01):
a while, really not in preparation for major postseason play.
So Dabo Sweeney obviously still gets a chance to meet
with the media. But you're kind of it has a
little different vibe to it, I'll say. But here's his
opening statement on Orange Jacket Day and Clemson.

Speaker 5 (21:21):
Yeah, so Orange Jacket Day and got this in two
thousand and eight, so still fitting well. Signal that we
just got a whole new bunch of Tigers showing up
or about to show up to Tiger Town. But man,
what a great day. Always a great day. It's a
special day for so many reasons. A dream achieved for

(21:42):
young people that have dreamed of playing college football and
for their families. And it's a special day for us
because we got a group of young men and their
families who chose us. That just never gets old to me.
I mean it really, it really never gets old to me.
I don't take it lightly when a young man who

(22:03):
can pretty much go where he wants to go, him
and his family say that's where we want to be
and that that's that's that is an awesome thing for me.
It's a blessing. And uh, I'm always excited to start
a new journey with a new group. It's always kind
of sentimental a little bit this time of year when
you're kind of wrapping things up.

Speaker 6 (22:23):
With your seniors and you've.

Speaker 5 (22:25):
Done a lot of life with these I mean, I've
done a lot of life with these guys, and it's
it's it's awesome in fact that somebody sent me a
but well, I can tell you it wasn't somebody.

Speaker 7 (22:33):
It was.

Speaker 5 (22:33):
It was Austin Bryant's mama. She sent me a podcast
yesterday that Austin Bryant did. I don't know when he
did it. I don't know if it was recent. He
did some podcasts with the guy in Nashville, Tennessee.

Speaker 6 (22:47):
I think he's another former player.

Speaker 5 (22:49):
Uh, but it just and his mom sent that to
me yesterday and I sat there for an hour last
night and watched this Austin Bryant podcast and it just
blessed my heart. I mean, it was just it was
just a I mean because he's thirty now and it
was such a blessing to me because they was asking

(23:09):
him about his recruiting process and how he got to
Clemson and this and that, and he's making fun of
Coach Sweeney.

Speaker 6 (23:14):
But he but he's like, man, But Coach used to
always say and he's like, man, he's right.

Speaker 8 (23:19):
I used to sit there and moment like, well just stop,
let's shut up, he goes. But now look back and
I'm like, man, I get it. And it's just, you know,
it just it's awesome.

Speaker 5 (23:29):
And so you do this life with these guys, you know, this,
this this group of seniors that are rolling into life
now and and and some juniors that'll move on, you know,
and it's you've known them for a long time, and.

Speaker 6 (23:42):
It's it's special.

Speaker 5 (23:44):
But on the other side, you get this whole new
wave of young excited, eager, a little bit scared, they
won't admit it. Talented group of freshmen rolling in the
door that are leaving home for the first time, that
are that are coming to do life with you and

(24:05):
do football life with you, and they're putting their trust
in you.

Speaker 6 (24:09):
That's that's exciting.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
That's Dabo swinging a part of his opening statement. They're
kind of going walking you down a little, you know,
sentimental to a degree. You're talking about Austin Bryant and
to think that Austin Bryan is thirty kind of blows
my mind anyway. But Dabo Sweeney also talked about this
group that he's bringing in and what he thinks about
these young men.

Speaker 5 (24:32):
And I think this group, you know, it's like your children.
You know, you love all your children, right, I mean
every say, well, which one of your children?

Speaker 6 (24:40):
You got three kids?

Speaker 5 (24:41):
You love all your kids. And they're all different and
they're all unique. And it's the same thing with all
my teams. You know, I love all my teams. They're
all different, they all unique, they all have different stories.
They all have their own story that's unique to them.
And it's the same thing with their recruiting classes. And
so this is my seventeenth class. But what I will
say about this group is they're unique. I believe they're.

Speaker 6 (25:04):
Similar to my twenty ten class.

Speaker 5 (25:07):
And the reason I say that is these guys stuck
with us in the midst of the worst season we've
had in fifteen years around here.

Speaker 6 (25:16):
That says a lot about who they are.

Speaker 5 (25:19):
Because there's not one person in this signing class that
somebody didn't try to talk out of coming to Clemson,
that somebody didn't talk negative about Clemson. Why you do
you know, especially you know the noise when it's just
it's deafening. But this group of young men and their
families stuck with Clemson, and I just I can't say

(25:41):
enough about what that says about who they are. And
in this day and age and when when you get
so much negative stuff and you know, everybody, everybody's you know,
calling you and it's like, man, you don't need to
do this and that, blah blah.

Speaker 6 (25:55):
Blah blah blah.

Speaker 5 (25:57):
And this is a group of young people that stuck
with us. And I say, you know, similar to my
twenty ten class, because that's what happened with that group.
And I look back today, I look back to my
signing class of eleven.

Speaker 6 (26:11):
It was my twenty eleven sign class.

Speaker 5 (26:13):
But after the twenty ten season, when we're six and seven,
and I look at some of these names on here,
and trust me, I was a second year head coach.
I had about fifteen total wins to my name. I
don't know what I would have been there fifteen and
it wasn't good.

Speaker 6 (26:28):
It wasn't many.

Speaker 5 (26:30):
Maybe I had nineteen wins counting the interim wins, but
I wasn't nineteen and fifteen or whatever I was. It
wasn't real sexy to come to Clemson. But I said
back then, in fact, I looked back at my notes.
I said then that this group right here is they're
going to come in here and they're going to change Clemson.
And I look back at the young men that came
in here in that class.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
I mean, and we'll put coach on hold there because
he runs through the list and he's right. I mean,
these guys took a risk Clemson back then, and it
absolutely paid off. Some of the names at the time
they committed. You didn't go, oh man, that's a great pickup.

(27:11):
That's gonna work out, and some of the names that did.
You're gonna go wow, that was a huge pickup. And
there were a couple that were big pickups that ended
up having their own off the field stuff as well
that kept them from maybe having a bigger impact. But yeah,
we'll hear who some of those names were in that
class back then when we return Keep it a lot
right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and on

(27:33):
the iHeartRadio app Clempson's for Salt lot and swan back
with you on a Wednesday afternoon. Chad Morris coming up
around the bend this recruiting class at that most when
he talked about I think it was Chad Morris's first
recruiting class. We'll ask him when we get on the
air with him in a minute. But here's some of
the names that came in for Clemson back in twenty eleven.

Speaker 5 (27:55):
Corey Crawford, Joe Gore, Cole Style, Ryan Norton, I mean
am and Lacop And I know he was a kicker,
but how about amm and lacop causing a fumble against
Notre Dame one of the biggest plays in twenty fifteen
made an impact in that game. Mike Bellamy and again
Sammy Watkins came to Clemson. We're six and seven, Sammy Watkins,

(28:22):
Stanton Seconder, Deshaun Williams who just finished playing, Kevin Dodd,
a two star recruit, a guy named Adam Humphries who
had no offers, Sharon Peak, Isaiah Battle, Grady Jarrett, Eric McLean,
mister Clemson, he was a tight end.

Speaker 6 (28:42):
Look at their tight end.

Speaker 5 (28:44):
Tony Stewart, bj Goodson, mar Tavis Bryant, Stephen Anthony, Robert Smith,
Roderick Byers.

Speaker 6 (28:51):
I mean, these are these are they?

Speaker 5 (28:53):
These are a group of guys that could have gone
all these different places, but they chose to come to Clemson.

Speaker 6 (29:01):
And you know what they did. You can just track
what they did.

Speaker 5 (29:05):
And we won the league the next year, won ten
games for the first time. And I say all that
to say I feel the same way about this group,
because this group right here, these nineteen guys that just
signed up to come play for the Tigers, despite you know,
everybody trying to talk them out of coming, and you

(29:26):
know all this stuff.

Speaker 6 (29:28):
I just believe it's gonna be a special group, and.

Speaker 5 (29:30):
I believe they got great things that they're destined for,
and so I'm just super excited about them. They align
you know, with the with the purpose and the values
of our program. And again, I can't wait to get
started to actually get to work with them. These are
much needed additions to our team. And they bring talent,

(29:52):
they bring character, and they bring commitment, all right, Because
these nineteen guys, they are the epitome of commit and
I'm really proud of that. You know, one of the
greatest coaches of all times said, it takes talent to win,
and it takes character to repeat.

Speaker 6 (30:07):
We are a program of character.

Speaker 5 (30:09):
That's why we've repeated many, many, many times in my
seventeen years, whether it be great seasons, state championships, ACC championships,
division championships, national championships, playoff.

Speaker 6 (30:23):
Wins, all right.

Speaker 5 (30:26):
And these guys bring the talent and the character and
the commitment that it takes to repeat excellence. And I've
got no doubt that this group will do that. They
will help us continue to be a program of excellence.
So just so excited about these group of guys that

(30:46):
committed to us, stuck with us, and can't wait to
watch them, you know, do great things.

Speaker 6 (30:51):
Its Clemson Tigers.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
That's Dabos. When you talked about this twenty twenty six,
recruiting class. Here's a little bit more about the guy's individual.

Speaker 5 (31:01):
Big picture stuff from our class. We signed nineteen guys today.
We're still chasing another end state guy. We'll see what
happens later this afternoon which way that goes. But we've
signed nineteen guys and twelve on offense, seven on defense,
and one on special teams. Fifteen of those guys are
gonna be mid years, so they'll be moving in here

(31:23):
just soon, and you can't wait to get started with them.
Thirteen different states, which I think just you know tells
you the reach of Clemson football. I mean from coast
to coast, from California to South Carolina, all the way
down to Florida.

Speaker 6 (31:39):
And Texas and everywhere in between.

Speaker 5 (31:42):
So three from Florida, two from North Carolina, two from Ohio,
two from Tennessee, two from Virginia, one from Alabama, one
from Arizona, California, Georgia, Kansas, West Virginia. We've got two quarterbacks,
three receivers, one tight end. Six well on the offense,

(32:04):
one DM, one d tackle, a linebacker, two corners, one safety,
and one long snapper. On defense, we got six guys
that have already won state championships, and we got six
guys that are still playing for a state championship. So
a lot of champions in the signing class and coming
from great programs. And again offensively, two quarterbacks. We don't

(32:29):
offer many guys. You know, we don't throw out offers
very lightly around here. If you just track how we've
recruited quarterbacks since I've been the head coach, you know,
were very very diligent. We do a lot of due diligence.
We're very convicted and how we go about our decisions.
Seventeen years, we've won a bunch of games. Not perfect,

(32:50):
but won a bunch of games.

Speaker 3 (32:52):
That's Dabosweeney again reiterating what we talk about here on
the program quite a bit about the exclusivity that Clemson
tries to create in recruiting with the number of players
they offer. And that was one of the you know,
Dabo Sweeney a few weeks ago had talked about they
were gonna have to reevaluate some things, and I thought
that might be one of them that they were gonna,
you know, kind of open things up a little bit

(33:12):
more on the recruiting trail to try to benefit this program.
And we get talked with Chad Morris about Clemson's sort
of the exclusivity of it all and the way Dabos
Sweeney goes about it, is that something they could continue
to afford without being you know, at the elite of
the elite level where they have been in recent years,

(33:33):
or you know, is this something that's gonna have to
be addressed at some point along the way. Again, Clemson
has been a minimalist when it comes to the transfer portal.
They are absolutely minimalist when it comes to the number
of offers that they put out to prospects, and that
can burn you in the long run. But you heard

(33:55):
Dabos Sweeney there still very convicted that the way Clemson
does it works. And I thought it was interesting that
he brought up the you know, the point about consistency
and repeating his champions and how Clemson has done that.
And when he started talking I thought about it. I'm like, yeah,

(34:16):
you know what, He's won two national titles and the
rarity of that in and of itself is is something
that I think. You know, when people talk about, well,
would Clemson ever get rid of Dabos Sweeney, and I
always say, no, I don't think that's ever gonna happen.
I think he would have to leave. I don't think
Clemson's going to fire him. I mean what he has
achieved to win two national titles. Like I feel like

(34:39):
if you sat down with Danny Ford today and say, coach,
how hard is it to win a national championship in football?
He would tell you how difficult it is? And then
when you say how difficult is it to win two?
He would probably tell you is danger impossible? And to
a degree, that's you know, that's what Dabosweeney and and

(35:01):
Kirby Smart have achieved. Dang near impossibility just doesn't happen.
It's very rare. All right, quick break, we'll come back.
We'll put a bow one hour one Right after this
final segment of our number one coming up, Chad Moore's
former Clemson Tiger offensive coordinator, joins us. And of course,
the show that shakes the south Land would not be
here without all of our loyal supporters, including the folks

(35:24):
over at Alumni Hall right there on the corner of
campus on College Avenue in downtown Clemson. It's Alumni Hall
for all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise, hats, T shirts,
Telgate gear, and Moore. Go check them out today on
our website or online at alumni haul dot com. And
if you're a Virginia fan getting geared up for the
ACC Championship, stop by Alumni Hall's Virginia page and check

(35:46):
out all of their Suite Virginia Tech gear as the
Hokies are headed to Charlotte for the ACC Championship. All
your favorite schools Alumni haul dot com. And again, if
you are a Clemson student, faculty member, or in the
military and you're in store downtown clemps, you get ten
percent off of shopping in store. All right, A little
bit more from Dabos Sweeney kind of up against the

(36:08):
clock here, a little bit more from Dabos Sweeney today.
Plus I've been dealing with I told you about my
throat's kind of been bothering me a little bit. I
may be off the air tomorrow and Friday. We'll see
how she holds up. Doing better. Today, I've tried to hydrate.
I found out hydrating is actually really good for your
vocal courts. No idea. I mean, I knew drinking a
little water would be good to you wet your whistle,

(36:30):
as they say, But apparently if you're not drinking enough.
In general, the old wet whistle doesn't want to function
quite as well, so I must be on the dehydration bus. Anyway,
here's a little bit more from Dabosweeney talking about the
quarterbacks they're bringing in.

Speaker 6 (36:45):
We're very convicted in our process.

Speaker 5 (36:47):
These two guys fit everything I was looking for in
the position, and that's brought Bradley and Tate Reynolds. And
I'm so glad I can finally talk about him. You know,
Rock is a He's a winner. This kid I always
always I kind of describe he's kind of Baker Mayfields
if you will. He's just he's a winner, and he's
always been a winner. He's always been a multi sport star.

(37:10):
He's played at a really high level in the state
of Alabama. He's always been a committed guy to where
he was and just, man, I just think he's a
really talented player, and you know, just excited to get
him here. He's not afraid to compete. That's another thing
I love about Brock. He's not afraid to compete. In fact, he.

Speaker 6 (37:31):
Looks forward to that, and so I'm excited about him.

Speaker 5 (37:34):
Got a great mom and dad and Scott and Kathy
and and then Tate Reynolds. This is one of the
most unique kids I've recruited, and this is a special talent.

Speaker 6 (37:44):
He's a hard guy to describe.

Speaker 5 (37:46):
He can fly, he's big, he's strong, he's got a
cannon for an arm.

Speaker 6 (37:52):
I've had these guys in camp.

Speaker 5 (37:54):
You know, we've we've again for this kid to come
all the way from Arizona because he, trust me, could
have gone anywhere, but it just was the right fit.
You know, as a kid that's not been a he's
not been a quarterback camp guy. He's an elite baseball
player as well. Although he's not gonna play baseball this spring.
He's he's he wants to come compete, you know, and

(38:16):
that's that's.

Speaker 6 (38:17):
Part of why he's doing what he's doing.

Speaker 5 (38:19):
He wanted to come mid year and he wants to compete,
and uh so he'll have the opportunity to do that.

Speaker 6 (38:24):
But Tade is uh he's he's an elite, elite talent.

Speaker 5 (38:28):
I mean, he really is in every aspect of it
towards Hamstring this year.

Speaker 6 (38:33):
So he you know, he's limited.

Speaker 5 (38:35):
But this kid again never never a seven on seven guy, never,
And he goes out to the Elite eleven and finished
I think third or fourth in the league.

Speaker 6 (38:41):
Eleven has really never been.

Speaker 5 (38:42):
A quarterback camp guy because he's always been playing baseball.
But I think this guy has tremendous upside and UH
can't wait to get started with both these quarterbacks receiver.

Speaker 6 (38:55):
I mean, Gris killed it. I mean I think I can't.

Speaker 5 (38:57):
I think I think Gris has done an amazing job
recruiting the room and developing these guys, you know, from
Antonio Williams to Tyler Brown, to Cole to Westco and TJ.
And what they've been able to do and what they're
going to continue to do. Man, we knocked it out
of the park, just like we went to Florida and
in that twenty eleven class after a tough season to

(39:21):
get Sammy Watkins to go down there and get Burrows,
who I think is you know, as good as anybody
in the country. He is a great player and a
great kid. His mom Lakeisha and dad Eddy, I mean
just just great people. Connor Salmon coming out of you know, Virginia,
Alex and Michelle, they're Virginia Tech grads.

Speaker 6 (39:41):
But this is a kid that we got on early, and.

Speaker 5 (39:43):
He is elite, elite speed guy, Like he's as fast
as guy as we've probably signed in a long time.

Speaker 6 (39:51):
I mean he can run, run, run, run, you know,
so trains.

Speaker 5 (39:54):
With Olympic people, He's he's got national times. I mean
this guy is he's big, big bodied kid that can
really really go.

Speaker 6 (40:03):
So super excited about Connor. Great great fit for us.

Speaker 5 (40:07):
And then the same thing with Gordon Sellers, another big
body who has a ton of diversity to his game,
coming from one of the best programs in the country
up Providence today with coach Greer.

Speaker 6 (40:20):
Uh, super excited about him coming back.

Speaker 5 (40:23):
And let me just say that, you know, going back
up to brock Spain Park High School, Timpacacus was his coach.
Tate Reynolds is coming from Queen Creek High School and uh,
you know coach Travis Schureman, Uh, he does a great job.
And I'm glad I got a chance to visit both
of those places. And Tate's parents, Paul and share all

(40:46):
their amazing parents, big football family.

Speaker 6 (40:50):
Uh Connor the Bullet.

Speaker 5 (40:53):
School in Maryland, but he's from Virginia and coach Springs
there got a chance to go there the bowl school
with the coach Toblin with the NAIM and then Gordon
Sellers again coming up from from Providence Day up in
Charlotte with Coach Greer and his mom and dad, Gordon
and Rowe and just super excited. I believe Roe actually

(41:15):
I think she got her graduate degree here as well.
But these are three elite, elite, talented young wide receivers
and I'm super excited to add them into the room
and and and get that process started with them. We
signed one tight end. You know, Kyle's done a great
job of identifying the right guys.

Speaker 6 (41:37):
You know, we haven't offered.

Speaker 5 (41:38):
Many guys, but but when we've got them committed, man,
they've been locked in. And he's done a great job
putting that room together. I think our tight end room
is one of the best rooms in the building. And
no different here in Tavon. Tavion's a five sport guy.
He's been a great athlete coming out of Huntington High
School up in West Virginia. And I think he's my

(42:00):
first West Virginia signing. I believe, really, yeah, thin he's
my first and there you go, first one since the sixties.
But coach Coach seals Uh has done a great job
his mom, Jackie and his dad Deontay uh Tavion has
had to.

Speaker 6 (42:14):
Play quarterback this year for his team. But he's a guy.

Speaker 5 (42:17):
He's just a great athlete, basketball, baseball.

Speaker 6 (42:19):
He's done it all track. Uh so we're excited to
add him.

Speaker 3 (42:24):
So there you go to cut coach off right there.
We'll be right back with Chad Bars right after this.

Speaker 4 (42:30):
Each time for.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
It is our number two. That's the drivetime rader on
the show. The shakesare south Land Clympsones. The sport stoff
brought to you in part by our good friends over
at Mets Plumbing mets Plumbing dot com two six seven
one to wait, that's Mets Plumbing two to six seven,
one zero eight. Give him a call today. Mets Plumbing
dot com is the website. All right. Former clips the
Tiger offensive coordinator Chad Morris joins us out of the

(43:33):
gates hour two. Coach, welcome in, congratulations. I know you
guys are excited about Chandler and Virginia taking on Duke
this weekend in the ACC Championship.

Speaker 4 (43:44):
Yeah, you know what, loudon if you would have had
Virginia and Duke on your Bingo card. You would uh
you would have probably done pretty good right now, but
I did not have that.

Speaker 9 (43:56):
But uh, I tell you what, I'll take it.

Speaker 4 (43:58):
I'm excited. We are. It's just been it's been a
magical year as we've as we've had and you know,
and having obviously you having me on the show is
it's been it's been very special as well. But to
be able to follow this journey as a dad and
then help them out along the way, it's been special.
It really has. It's it'll definitely be a time I'll

(44:20):
never forget.

Speaker 3 (44:21):
Yeah, really cool. I'm glad we kind of have this
archive for you in the podcast. You can always go
back if you want. Go, Man, what was that? You know,
what were we talking about that week? And you know,
one of the things that has come out though about
this whole situation with the Atlantic Coast Conference and and
I'm not gonna pretend that we're I'm not gonna talk
about I'm gonna put you in a situation where you
got to talk about the Duke Blue Devils, Okay, I'm

(44:41):
just gonna talk about any given year, should the Atlantic
Coast Conference reevaluate though, how the teams are selected, and
would you be in favor of the highest ranked teams
in a tiebreaker scenario? I mean, would that not be
better overall for the league at the end of the
day when it comes down to positioning for the college
football player off.

Speaker 4 (45:02):
Yeah, I think I think that's that's that's you know,
that's that's true, and I think that's fair. But but
you know, you know, when these tie breakers were done,
no one probably could have envisioned it to work out
the way it has. Uh And so you know, it
was probably an afterthought. I say an afterthought. It wasn't
never an afterthought. It was probably something put on an

(45:23):
agenda that went way down the list and for years
it's all happened this way and it would never get
to this, so we you know, we just kind of
pass it off as whatever. I'm sure moving forward, I
would be one to bet that, you know, there'll be
a lot more consideration when you start planning these tie breakers.
And uh, but hats off to Duke. They did what
they had to do to get in, and that was

(45:44):
to win. And you know it's it's uh uh, you know,
exciting for them, and I know they're excited, and man,
he's excited and uh, but yeah, you know, I think
when you look at the whole big picture of things, Uh,
I think that's a legitimate conversation piece.

Speaker 3 (46:00):
Well, it's not so much about the teams as it
is the conference, right, I mean, it's really more about
the league because of the value of playoff spots, Like
the conference almost can't afford the situation that they may
have gotten themselves in if Duke were to somehow win
this weekend against Virginia and the ACC ends up without

(46:23):
a representative in the college football playoff, it's much too valuable.
They've they've kind of put themselves in this corner.

Speaker 4 (46:30):
Yeah, I think that would be a travesty personally for
the ACC in that case. I can't you know, for whatever,
I just can't see the ACC being left out. I
know the commissioners came out and said they deserve to
have two teams in it, and rightfully so. But yeah,
I think that would be really a bad look at

(46:52):
the end of the day, if something happened like that.

Speaker 9 (46:55):
I can't foresee it.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
Lowton, I really don't. But but again, you know, it
goes back to this is another thing that's happened because
of the portal and the parody in the league, and
it's just it's anybody on any given Saturday can win.
And it's we're in the past. You know, You've had

(47:17):
your dominant teams and more than likely they would were
gonna win. But now it's wide open. It's anybody's day
on a Saturday.

Speaker 3 (47:26):
No, you're all over it again. Chad Moore is hanging
out with us here on the program and speaking of that,
this calendar has become the college football calendar has become
a real topic of concern for everyone out there, first
and foremost because of the situation that we've seen at
All Missed now with Lane Kiffin leaving to go to LSU.

(47:47):
Obviously you've got some ties to that situation, with your
daughter being a part of his staff at Old Miss
and now the guys that are there, and National Signing Day,
the early signing period falling right now in between uh,
the end of the regular season and conference championships. I mean,
I know the purpose of why we wanted to move

(48:08):
the early signing period up and not have that day
in February be what it once was. But coach is
somebody that's been in this game. I mean, do you
think that the calendar is perhaps the biggest issue right
now with the sport.

Speaker 4 (48:24):
I think it's the main issue. I truly believe that,
and it has to be addressed. You know, when you
have coaches being fired in the middle of the year,
early in the year, middle of season, whatnot, it is
it's you know, and it's all about trying to get

(48:44):
a coach on, you know, on the staff before signing day,
and so it just it's a trickle down effect. I think,
you know, if they want to continue to look like
the NFL model, then it needs to kind of go
that direction. And and and you know, I know, I
under stand why the NCAA does what they do. They
focus the calendar around the academic season and all, and

(49:06):
I get that, but that has to be put to
a side now. There's just no way it can continue
to sustain without having what's what's happened over this past
week to two weeks, you know. And in the end,
if we're saying it's truly about everything is about the kids,
then let's really look at that then, because the thing

(49:28):
that's being suffered now is the kids. I mean, look
at the look at those kids at Ole Miss, you know,
those guys were, you know, as opposed to, hey, we're
not making any changes or you can't you know, contact
or getting you know, you can't hire a head coach
of the season's over with, You can't you know, or
negotiate or talk to another coach, whatever it may be.

(49:50):
Whatever rules are in place, they have to be to
where it doesn't.

Speaker 9 (49:54):
Affect the kids. I mean that they just had the best, the.

Speaker 4 (49:57):
Best season in the history of the school and gonna
go into the playoffs and you know, obviously we all
know what has happened.

Speaker 3 (50:04):
Well, and I think too, right, like in the NFL,
and you correct me if I'm wrong. I think there's
a window that you can't go out and get a
coach like it's a certain timeline, all right, And that's correct,
And that's really what would have protected I guess you'd

(50:26):
say it would have protected Lane Kiffin. It would have
certainly protected Old Miss. And ultimately the storyline that could
play out is as crazy as Old Miss winning a
national championship, their coach not being a part of it,
and then getting a million dollar bonus from his new school.

(50:46):
It's beyond bizarre what we could see play out. I
don't know that we will see it, coach, but it could.
And that's that's a telling story about the situation that
we're dealing with in college football right now.

Speaker 9 (51:00):
It's it's just it.

Speaker 4 (51:01):
It just blows my mind of where where this game
is gone in such a short short window of time.
And yeah, that's uh, that's that will be a story
for the ages on top of the story for the
agent right well.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
And the good news is for at least Charlie Weiss,
he's able to return and he's gonna be the offensive
coordinator for the remainder of the season. That's a good
a good sign, I guess for Old Miss. And I
know they moved up last night in the release of
the college football playoff rankings. But either way, he did
board that plane on Sunday, as it was alleged he

(51:42):
you had to do if you were going to be
a part of that staff at LSU. But they are
gonna let him come back and finish up the year again.
Joining us here on the program Chad Morris, former Clipson
Tiger offensive coordinator, former head coach of both s MU
and Arkansas again, his son Chandler and Tony Elliott and
the Virginia Cavaliers are going to be playing in Charlotte

(52:02):
this weekend, and apparently Dabo Sweeney is going to be
a part of the uh I think the ACC Network's
coverage of the event. He's been up there to the
a SEC Championship game enough, it's probably pretty fitting that
he'll be a part of that. With Tony Elliott coaching
the Cavaliers in this ball game, yeah.

Speaker 4 (52:18):
He's he is. I've talked to coach and he's gonna
be I think you can have a couple I think
a two hour segment on the show. I'm actually gonna
get I have a segment on the show as well.

Speaker 3 (52:29):
Oh nice.

Speaker 4 (52:29):
I think I'm in around the five to five thirty
time slot in there. But I know Coach is going
to be there for four to six or four to
six thirty, and and I'm gonna be at the game
as well, he and he and Cat and so. But yeah,
it's a you know, really really again, as I said
as we started the show, really neat really just a
just an honor to be to be a part and

(52:52):
to see and.

Speaker 9 (52:53):
Be able to witness this all year long.

Speaker 4 (52:55):
And and so good for Tony. So it's so good
for him. And everything they've gone through at that university,
and oh yeah, and just.

Speaker 9 (53:03):
Such a tribute to their athletic director, to.

Speaker 4 (53:06):
Carla on On. When things were really really tough over
the last couple of years, the easy thing to do
would have been to get rid of Tony, but she's stuck.
She's stuck with him. The university stuck with him and
gave him the resources he needed and he went out
and to have the year he's having right now. It's

(53:28):
just it's great to see that there are people out
there that do that well.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
And I remember when the tragedy took place, I had
to you know, coming on the air that next day,
whatever it was, and I said, if there's a man
that is built to get through this with this university,
it's Tony Elliott. And it's been incredible to watch it.
I can't imagine how Dabo Sweeney must feel. You could
probably give us some insight into what that's like when

(53:54):
you have somebody, maybe from your coaching trigue, go on
to great success. And for that matter, the distinct possibility
that two former assistant coaches at Clemson, and two that
you know all very well, Tony Elliott and Brentvinables could
very well be in the college football playoffs this year.
Your thoughts on maybe how you think Dabosweeney feels about

(54:14):
this moment that's in front of Tony Elliott on Saturday night.

Speaker 4 (54:19):
Well, first of all, Coach is so excited. I mean
he is. He's so he takes such great pride in
his staff and when you have guys that go on
and do great things, I mean, it just it's kind
of like a proud dad moment. And I know Coach
feels that way. He's excited, and obviously he wishes he

(54:41):
was on the other side of the field to be
playing come in that would be even more cool than everything.
But you know, given the circumstances, he's so excited and
so proud, and not just him, but him and Kathleen
both because there's so much vested time and the ups
and the downs that you go through as a coaching
staff and as a lead and and to to see

(55:02):
to see one of your protege go on and and
have success, uh and playing in a championship. Uh, it's
really cool. And and you know, and and I've talked
to coach and he's excited about being up there, but uh,
you know, he would every Friday he would load and
the channel would walk across the street and get in
the car and Coach when he's taking him and Clay
and and and the boys, Drew and Will He's take

(55:25):
him to school every Friday. And to be able to
see that, and I'm sure he'll share some of those stories,
you know when he when he's uh when he's on TV,
but uh, uh really neat and I know he's really
excited and and and should.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
Be again Chad Moore hanging out with us for a
few more minutes.

Speaker 4 (55:42):
Coach.

Speaker 3 (55:43):
We mentioned earlier it was the early signing period today,
So as someone who has recruited players, what is this
day like for coaches? All the time and the effort,
the phone calls, the text. I don't know, I must
I'm assuming you guys have more than one telephone. But
what what does this day like for coaches out there?

Speaker 4 (56:05):
Well, it's it's it's an exciting bitter end of a recruiting.

Speaker 9 (56:10):
Process and an exciting.

Speaker 4 (56:11):
Start of another journey. The development, uh, the the the
watching the young man transform from a from a high
school uh living with his parents or grandparents, to transition
into adulthood and to knowing that you're going to have
an impact in this young man's life, uh, more than
just football. So it is, it's it's you've put a

(56:33):
lot of time, a lot of investing and time away
from your own family and many many phone calls and
letters and to see it come to an end and
then the next journey begin. And so you know, and
at that point that the coaches are, you know, they're
kind of like, okay, now I'm ready to I'm ready
to step back, take a quick break, and then get

(56:55):
ready to to jump back on that treadmill. That's uh,
that's running at a speed of about twenty clip anyway,
So uh, that never stops. But you you know, you
you spend a lot of time recruiting your own roster
right now, and so the recruiting never ends, nor should it.

Speaker 3 (57:11):
Yeah, that's a great point. So let me ask you this.
We talked about the Catapult software and things of that nature.
What do you utilize as a coach? And I'm sure
it's different at different schools, uh in terms of like
what you might call, uh to kind of keep up
with the players that are out there, and have you

(57:33):
spoken to this guy you know kind of a like
a CRM a client. Like a client, Well, what what
do you use? Is there something that you use?

Speaker 4 (57:42):
Yeah, you know, looking at the kids in the portal,
there is there is a there's a portal software that
you get. There is a what they call PFF data,
the Professional Football Focused Data, uh that that focuses in
on or the performance focused data that folks because it
is on the the you know, the kids that are
getting into the portal or have gotten in the portal.

(58:05):
Now you go in and you pull up every one
of their snaps. You can you know, you've got it
to where you can filter it and break it down
to every catch, every drop, whether it's every block on
a double team. I mean, you just it's endless on
what you can filter as you start looking at the
kids that are in the portal and getting in the portal.

(58:26):
And so, like I said, the recruiting process never stops.
You do have a recruiting department that's that dives into it.
But you know, one of the one of the great
things that I always appreciated what we did and we
did it at Clemson and I carried it to SMU,
carried it to Arkansas, was we wanted to track the
kids that we didn't get too, and we wanted to

(58:48):
see their progress or lack thereof through their career and
and the kids that we would have on our board,
and so we would we you know, and I remember
coach would always say that, you know, you really tell
what your recruiting class is really like two years from now,

(59:11):
three years from now, it's hard to judge whether what
a good job you did or lack thereof in one year,
give it two to three years. Let's track these kids,
Let's see what they did. And now we're able to
go back and look. And so you're really thinking, as
a coach recruiting two years out. So let's think and
recruit from a roster that's going to be two years away.

(59:33):
And then let's track these young men and see did
we hit did we not hit? And and and keep
and keep that software running on the side, and so
we're able to pull that up and go, okay, let's
look at this kid, that man we really wanted but
we didn't get. He went to X y Z University. Uh,

(59:53):
let's see how he did. And we track him and go, okay, man,
he was everything we thought he was. So that tells
you as a as a talent evaluator that hey, look
I didn't get him, but man, I'm on the right guy.

Speaker 9 (01:00:06):
Or you take a guy you thought.

Speaker 4 (01:00:09):
Was good and you track him for two years and
he doesn't pan out, then you kind of look and go, Okay, well,
maybe maybe I need to look at how I'm gonna
reevaluate these guys. And so, yeah, there's always you're always
trying to study yourself. You're always trying to study better
ways to evaluate and are you Are you a good evaluator?

Speaker 9 (01:00:28):
Bottom line?

Speaker 3 (01:00:30):
Chad Morris with us here final thing coach for you.
On recruiting and more specifically, dabos Swingey today talked about
how the twenty eleven recruiting class was really the one
that kind of sparked what Clemson would become. If I'm correct,
that's your first recruiting class, right, and if so, what

(01:00:52):
was that daylight? Because Dabosweeney said, hey, look, we were
a six and seven team, yet we had all these
guys that bought in and we knew that they were
going to be game changers.

Speaker 4 (01:01:00):
You well, as we've talked several times on the show,
that that class was. I remember getting hired there and
I hadn't even had a chance to put my bags down.
And they had me going and seeing every one of
these offensive kids that were close to committing or had
been committed to us. And I remember going to Sammy

(01:01:21):
Watkins house number one and and at the time, Sammy's
brother played for Urban at Florida, and so we were,
you know, Brad Scott had Sammy locked in. We felt good.
But Sammy wanted to meet the offensive coordinator and he
wanted to what was my plan? You know, what was
my plan as a coordinator for Sammy Watkins. And I

(01:01:42):
remember walking in sid in Sammy's house with his with
his mom and his stepdad and and and told him.

Speaker 9 (01:01:48):
That I promise you.

Speaker 4 (01:01:50):
We're gonna give you as many as many touches as
you want, and as many touches you can handle, and
and and and I said, listen, not only that, but
we're gonna throw the ball deep. We're gonna have we're
gonna have you moving all over this field and being
as created as we can possibly be with you. And
sure enough that held true, and Sammy believed in me
and believed in what we're gonna do. And and obviously

(01:02:12):
we see the results of it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:14):
But hey, coach, I'll tell you what. Let me put
you onhole. We got a hard time break coming up.
We'll come back. We'll wrap up with Chad Morris right
here on the show, The Shakespeare South Hank. Keep a
lot for more Clempson Sports Talk on Fox Sports Radio
fourteen hundred and of course on the iHeartRadio app rocking
and rolling along with you Clemson Sports Laws Swan Chad
Morris on the guest line. Coach, you were talking about
the twenty eleven recruiting class. Dabosweeny mentioned them today, talked

(01:02:39):
about this group that they currently signed and what he
thinks they can be versus that group which sparked great
success in Clemson history.

Speaker 4 (01:02:48):
That class is Coach is so right. That class put
put Clemson trajectoring obviously in the in the right direction
in a year that we had to win. I mean,
that was a critical year. Coach came off of six
and seven season. He had to make some changes, and
and and and we knew it. We knew coming in

(01:03:08):
if another six and seven season, this wasn't gonna end
well for anybody. And so it was we were doubling down,
we were locking arms. We were coaching for our jobs
and we were, we were rolling, and and we knew
the best way to do this was was through recruiting
and and in getting out our system and putting our
system in place and rolling and and getting guys to

(01:03:29):
believe in it. And so when you have guys that
I remember that class, and that class was so special
and they they were they were as much of pioneers
of moving Clemson forward as as there's probably been in
a while. And because you had taj Boyd there and
Taje was was coming through the process and he was
going into becoming the the you know, the starter, and

(01:03:52):
and so we had to put everything together and that
that was a that was a huge class for us,
There's no doubt about it. And and you look at
some guys that were that were coming out of that class,
I mean, you know that was I think, if I'm
not mistaken, Stephan Anthony was a part of that class. Yes, yeah,
they were really as you look, and if you put

(01:04:14):
that on the software and fast forward those guys two
years and watch their production level, I think we did
a pretty good job recruiting that year.

Speaker 3 (01:04:21):
Yeah. I mean, look, several five stars. The one that
still kills me though, and I'm gonna ask you that
says you get out of here today so we.

Speaker 4 (01:04:28):
Get Let me before you say it, I want to
say it's Mike Bellamy.

Speaker 3 (01:04:31):
No, no, not Mike Belby. That's a good one though.
I mean I like Mike Belmy. I actually said earlier,
I can't imagine what his career could have been if
you had kept his head above water.

Speaker 4 (01:04:41):
But let me tell you, yeah, he was phenomenal, phenomenal
Martavius Bryant. Were you gonna say him, No.

Speaker 3 (01:04:48):
I was gonna ask you about I was gonna ask
you about tight End.

Speaker 4 (01:04:52):
Eric McLane, Oh yeah, I heck yeah. Well, you know
when we got Eric, Eric obviously just a huge, huge
contributor for this program. Yeah, but you know from from
from from where we were in the tight End room
and watching Eric develop, it was kind of going back
to that Tyler Shatley role that we felt like that Eric, Yes,

(01:05:17):
you're gonna you're playing and you can, You're gonna be
You're gonna be a huge contributor for us. But man,
let me just tell you, instead of sitting here and
playing twenty snaps a game, you could come in and
if you're willing to come into the offensive, line and
you wind up playing eighty snaps a game and really
making a difference for us and man over time.

Speaker 9 (01:05:35):
Obviously you saw that transition.

Speaker 4 (01:05:36):
But but but again another loved Clemson and his his
his parents, his dad. Just just being there and just
to watch the growth and watch that program grow and
seeing Eric grow with it was was tremendous.

Speaker 3 (01:05:50):
Well, Coach, Safe travels to Charlotte, the Queen City this
Saturday under the lights, Virginia a chance to win their
first ACC Champion and Chip game, taking on the Duke
Blue Devils. It's been a phenomenal season and I can't
wait to see you on television this weekend, Coach, and uh,
best of luck to you guys. We'll be rooting for
you for sure.

Speaker 4 (01:06:12):
Well again, as as I say every week, I appreciate you, Lawton.
Like I said, we love our love what we've done
this year, love our Clemson connections and all of the
passionate fans. And I know, deep down in the bottom
of the heart, I know we all wish it was
Clemson in Virginia, But I know that Clemson fan base
is going to be rooting for those Wahoes and for

(01:06:33):
Tony and for Chandler, and.

Speaker 9 (01:06:35):
We appreciate that.

Speaker 4 (01:06:36):
And it's going to be a be a great Saturday night,
and you know, I'll be the I'll be the guy
that be in a fetal position up underneath the underneath
the bleachers at some point. You know, I'm gonna do
my best to enjoy it and excited about it.

Speaker 9 (01:06:51):
And thank you again.

Speaker 3 (01:06:52):
Oh man, it's amazing, coach. Good luck to you guys.
And I've already told the listeners. I said, look, guys,
you go get a ticket. Enjoyed the game, even though
Clempson is not playing, go root for Tony and the Cavaliers.
So hopefully we'll see some Tiger fans there in the
Queen City along with you guys. So best of luck, coach,
safe travels, and we'll talk to you next week.

Speaker 4 (01:07:10):
Thank you. I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (01:07:12):
There you go. That's Chad Morris again talking about Clemson's
recruiting class back in twenty eleven in the impact that
those guys have on the program. As the Tigers wrapped
up another signing day today, and we did get some
news actually during that interview with Chad Morris, Clemson ads

(01:07:33):
another you know Dabosweeney mentioned earlier the Tigers are trying
to land another in state prospect. Well that did end
up coming to fruition. Clemson was able to flip Mike Foster.
Mike Foster's out of Indianland High School, so they flipped Foster,

(01:07:57):
who was previously committed to East Carolina. Foster sent out
a quote defensive end said quote, I chose Clemson because
from the start of my football journey, it was the
goal I set for myself. It's been my dream for
a long time. After talking with the coaches, I know

(01:08:18):
this is the program where I can be developed and
become the player I meant to be one with a
future in the NFL. So the Clemson Tigers get another
prospect in the fold there with Michael Foster, defensive end
out of indian Land High School. A zero three four
five zero zero eighty six. That is the text line

(01:08:40):
in the phone line again, probably gonna take the day
off of the air tomorrow and Friday, simply because of
the fact that trying to rest my voice just a
little bit over the next couple of days. But here's what,
here's my promise to you. I'm going to hydrate. I'm
going to hydrate during these days and I'm going to
try not to use my voice. Like today, I tried

(01:09:02):
not to use my voice a whole lot. So we'll
see if that gets it all better for Monday. So
don't expect don't expect me to be here on the
air tomorrow. All right, coming up, I'm gonna dig during
the break again, I mentioned out the gates former Clemson
Tiger Elden Campbell passing away. Just a incredible, incredible basketball

(01:09:28):
player at Clemson. But we sat down with Elden Campbell
several years ago, and I would have I would have
bet my bottom dollar that that interview was posted on
Clemson sports Star dot com. But I went into the
archives today when I got the news and I didn't
see it. I'm gonna check it on my computer here

(01:09:50):
at the house, and then I'm gonna dig a little
deeper to see if I can find it somewhere. And
if I can dig up that interview with Elden Campbell,
we're gonna play that here on the program for you
the bottom half of the hour. All right, keep it
a lot right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred,
Lawton Swan, Clemson Sports Talk. All right, So, for whatever reason,
I never published the Elden Campbell interview on the website

(01:10:11):
like in an exclusive. I did some digging. I did
find the audio during the commercial break. Elden Campbell, former
Clemson All American, passed away at the age of fifty seven,
and that news came out earlier today. But we sat
down with Elden back in twenty twenty in the middle
of COVID. One of the things that we did here
on the program, because you didn't have a lot of

(01:10:32):
sports to talk about, was I really started spiderwebbing former
players and guests. I would just, you know, have one
guy on, and then when I talked to him, I said, Hey,
who's number you got in your rolodex, Like, help me out,
help me bring somebody else on. And it may have
been Grayson Marshall who helped me get Elden Campbell, or
it may have been his former head coach, Cliff Ellis
who helped me get him on. But I had him

(01:10:53):
on for twenty minutes. We did the opening segment everything
with Elden Campbell here on the program. So in honor
of his memory is legacy, we're gonna listen to a
little bit of that here on the program as I
know all of Clemson Tiger Nation deeply saddened at the
loss of Elden Campbell, the all time leading scorer in
Clemson history, a record that has stood for thirty five years.

(01:11:13):
Here's our time with Elden Campbell from back in twenty twenty. Eldon,
welcome into the program.

Speaker 4 (01:11:18):
My man.

Speaker 3 (01:11:19):
Glad to have you on the show. And I gotta
admit I'm a little bit jealous of the fact that
you wore the jersey of my favorite team, the Los
Angeles Lakers, the purple and gold of the Laker Nation.
Just such an awesome honor to be able to talk
to you, more so than even that you're a former
Clemson Tiger. The fact that you're a former Laker has
put you above a lot of Clemson greats for me.

Speaker 7 (01:11:42):
All right, cool, thank for appreciate it.

Speaker 4 (01:11:44):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:11:45):
I'm want to start first by how a kid from Inglewood,
California ironically ends up in Clemson. You know, being a
young man that was six' ten six eleven at the,
time obviously you were well sought. After what was it
about The tigers and Coach Cliff ellis that brought you To?

Speaker 7 (01:12:01):
Clemson, WELL i mean a lot of people asked me that,
question and it's like for, me you, Know i'm of,
COURSE i was born and raised in la BUT i
did a lot of growing up in The. South you.
Know my father was From, Tipton. Georgia every summer we'd pack,
up drive across, country had To, Tipton, georgia and we'd
spend you, know over a month. There so you're talking

(01:12:24):
about those of some of the best time of my
life being down, there you, know with just the hags
and a fishing and the chickens and everything. Else so
WHEN i come to take you, know WHEN i come
out To, clemson you, Know i'm up familiar with The,
south you, KNOW i know the, culture and so wasn't
that they shocked to? Me everybody was, thinking everybody that

(01:12:45):
thinks it was it was not that big a deal to.
Me but but then, again you, know Just clemson just the.
Atmosphere you, KNOW i watch you know a lot OF
i watch a lot more college football now and THEN
i do, basketball and you, know you hear how when
can't go, there you, know to visit a. Program how
they just love the. Environment and it was the same

(01:13:06):
thing for, me you, know just you didn't like to
fail to fill, up AND i just another one to
be part of a program that was going to be
up and. Coming so so for, me it was just
those factors that made it just to play through WHERE
i wanted to.

Speaker 3 (01:13:21):
Be, Well AND i think About clemson basketball at that,
time and you, know it's never been necessarily a program
with a boatload of tradition by any. Means but you,
know for you to accomplish what you guys did and
win the regular SEASON Acc championship and then you know
all the special things that y'all were able to put,

(01:13:42):
together obviously you've built yourself quite the. Resume you got
a chance to play With Horace grant, there you played
With Dale, davis and all three of you guys end
up going on to GREAT nba, Careers and you, know
just from that, STANDPOINT i, mean you could argue that
the pinnacle Of clemson basketball was when you guys were.

(01:14:02):
There what does it mean to you to kind of
have that in your back pocket anytime somebody talks About clemson.

Speaker 7 (01:14:08):
Hoops, well, YEAH i mean now that you, Know horrors
being there whether the factor also you, know you KNOW
i got to be there and learn from him from
a year and sort of build off of, that you,
KNOW i, think and then when When i'm there and
and sort of development of a, player then here Comes
dell to Join aloan to add a little bit more,
muscle a little more beef on the. Inside you, KNOW

(01:14:32):
i think from, there you, know we're able to accomplish
a lot of those. Things and we had a bunch of.
GUYS i, mean we had guys from all over you.
Know WHEN i got, there you, know you know you
talk about coming FROM. La WHEN i got, there we
already had two guys that was FROM la on the,
team and then WHEN i get, there we bring in two,
more so you, know we had AN la. Connection but you,

(01:14:53):
know then, again LIKE i said With, dell you, know
they're helping me beat on. Inside you, KNOW i think
we were able to come or something that hadn't been done.

Speaker 3 (01:15:01):
Before Elden campbell here On Clemson Sports. Talk, yeah go, ahead, sorry.

Speaker 7 (01:15:05):
No, No and that was just one of the things
WHEN i WHEN i came, THERE i wanted to be
something that was going to be. DEVELOPED i wanted to
be part of them THAT i was going to be,
building and we were able to do.

Speaker 3 (01:15:16):
That Elden campbell here On Clemson Sports talk today talking
about his time In, tigertown And elden is a guy,
that's you, know nearly seven feet. Tall it's unique because
people just expect you to be a great basketball. Player
people just expect that you're going to go to THE.
Nba and so from that, STANDPOINT i think it's probably
a little bit unfair because there are a lot of

(01:15:37):
seven footers that don't make it into the. League did
you feel that pressure growing up being a taller, kid and,
really at what point did you start to recognize, that,
HEY i might develop into a guy that can make
it into the.

Speaker 7 (01:15:48):
LEAGUE i think it was pretty early. On you, KNOW
i think besides my, height just the athletic ability THAT
i had was probably better than everybody. Else's you, know
even LIKE i, said even early, on just just say.
Running you, know, tall goosey, kid But i'll run, everybody you,
know tow us to. Jumping, SO i, MEAN i THINK

(01:16:09):
i recommended pretty early. On but at FIRST i Thought
i'd be uh playing pro football and pro baseball BEFORE
i played it goes to THE. Nba that was my playing.
ANYWHERE i was gonna play a couple of years pro.
BASEBALL i was gonna play a couple of years pro.
Football didn't go to THE. Nba but you, KNOW i
think around the seventh, grade eighth, GRADE i started to

(01:16:30):
hone in on basketball because you, know my height was
it was sort of hard to hit a curve.

Speaker 3 (01:16:35):
Ball, yeah, RIGHT i would imagine. It, SO i, mean
is that height is? That is that something that runs
in your? Family or are you abnormally tall by comparison
to your your siblings and?

Speaker 6 (01:16:45):
Such?

Speaker 7 (01:16:46):
Well, no my dad was six, four MOMS i guess
maybe five and, nine so taller than the, average both of.
Them So i'm six to. ELEVEN i had a, brother oh,
brother older brother he was he's six.' NINE and i
have a younger brother. Six nine. Oh wow BUT then

(01:17:07):
i have. A. Sister YEAH then i have. A sister
uh she's the second oldest and she's. Five seven so
we got the height she. Necessarily didn't, but yeah, WE'RE
yeah i mean. WE'RE tall, i mean but the, you
know nephews and cousins and everybody else Aren't that tallably
do have, a couple, you know over, six feet but
for the, most part we fort of stand out in

(01:17:28):
the height and.

Speaker 3 (01:17:29):
The family they go a portion of our interview from
twenty twenty with now The Late, elden campbell who passed
away yesterday at the age of. Fifty seven.

Speaker 6 (01:17:40):
What have you done for?

Speaker 7 (01:17:40):
Me lately.

Speaker 10 (01:17:43):
It's a.

Speaker 6 (01:17:43):
Fair question just don't lose sight of the, bigger picture.

Speaker 7 (01:17:48):
Don't.

Speaker 6 (01:17:49):
Forget history lucky for Us, at clinton the answer to
the questions what have you done for?

Speaker 4 (01:17:57):
Me lately and what have?

Speaker 10 (01:17:58):
You done always what. The same.

Speaker 6 (01:18:06):
We win sometimes, sometimes.

Speaker 10 (01:18:20):
Time sometimes sometime that sometimes.

Speaker 3 (01:18:52):
Final segment On, a wednesday again national signing Up in
tigertown clubs and now with twenty signees in the Far After,
michael foster the defensive end Out Of Indianland, high school
came through with a Flip for clemson at four thirty
six IN, the pm Given the tigers a second defensive

(01:19:18):
end in. The class and, you know one of the
Things That chad morris said when we talked with him,
earlier was, you know they track the guys that that
they don't, hit on and that's, you know the guys
that maybe you offered but they didn't end up at.

(01:19:41):
Your school and, you know that's one of the THINGS
that i think we will certainly look at with this
group over the next several months and Years because clemson's
twenty twenty six were, recruiting class, you know took a

(01:20:02):
pretty significant hit given the success or, lack thereof That
the tigers had. This Year And, drake quinn who would
have been one of the top defensive ends in, the
country Commits To ohio state after originally being Committed, to clemson,
AND actually i guess technically Signs With. Ohio state but,

(01:20:24):
you know this is a a year where, You know
clemson had to absorb a lot on the recruiting trail,
for sure and undoubtedly up until the past few weeks
when they've actually won. SOME games, i mean there was

(01:20:44):
a real chance that they weren't going to make a,
bowl game that they were going to finish under. FIVE hundred,
i mean there was a lot that did not look
Good from. Clemson's standpoint But the tigers have emerged with
some really talented wide receivers and now to find the

(01:21:07):
peace offensively that you compare with him at quarterback is
gonna be. The key and, You Know, dabo sweeney, in
fairness he did mention the fact That the tigers are
gonna have to use the portal and he even said that,
you Know the tigers are gonna use the quarterback, excuse

(01:21:30):
me use the portal more than they have in the
past because it's just a necessity kind of giving the
landscape and giving. The roster he also Talked About christopher
vezena and the fact that, this is, you know a

(01:21:53):
kind of a. Turning point but sween you Mentioned That
tate reynolds isn't gonna, play baseball or at least, right
now it doesn't think that's in the cards for him at.
This point but Here's what dabosweene had to say when
he was asked about.

Speaker 6 (01:22:07):
THAT fact i think that's down. The road but he's
coming midyear. To compete, you know he wants to come.

Speaker 5 (01:22:13):
In HERE and i mean we got We got we've
got some dudes on this campus that all want to
be the guy and that's what they came. HERE for,
I mean ceev has been been chomping at the bit
and waiting on, his time and his time. Has come
and we got a Kid named dnson who IS is
i think. Pretty, Special uh and we got two that

(01:22:34):
we just signed that they're coming here. To play so
it's gonna be it's gonna be a Fun spring i'm just.

Speaker 6 (01:22:41):
Gonna take a quarterback from the order.

Speaker 5 (01:22:43):
TO convene, I mean i think we got what we
just signed too to, come compete and We got dnson
here uh.

Speaker 6 (01:22:50):
To compete and, you know WE'VE got cv who's really.

Speaker 5 (01:22:54):
Only played one, true game you know from a, Start
standpoint who's who's here?

Speaker 6 (01:22:59):
To compete who we.

Speaker 5 (01:23:01):
Only offer two quarterbacks in? His class him And. Arch
manning that was only two. We offered and we beat
a lot of people to. Get him and this kid's
done his part and he's been waiting, his time and
now it's. His time now he's got to win. THE
job i mean he's obviously he's kind of where, you
start but you got to. Win it same Thing. WITH
dnson I mean dnson didn't come here just standing on
the sideline for he came here.

Speaker 3 (01:23:22):
To compete there, You Go dabo sweeny talking about the
quarterback Situation, at clemson and so now, we'll see, you
know do they use the portal to bring in? ANOTHER
guy i feel like you want to get somebody this
experienced if. You could but perhaps they really Believe In,
Kate club perhaps they really Believe In tate Reynolds And

(01:23:45):
chris denson and that they've got. Enough there it's, a risky.
Risky situation let me check, the calendar. The opener, oh
yeah THAT'S. Against lsu that's gonna be quite the Storyline
With lane kevin there his first game as the head
COACH at Lsu and clemson rolling. Into town, you know

(01:24:07):
it's not gonna be the Midnight Rider Kay club nitt
rolling in with the black stetson on and the long.
Black coat, Oh no by, the way how do you
like the product Placement For ka clubnick there With the?
Samsung telephone, YOU know caid got a Deal. With samsung
that photo that's taking Got that samsung right out there. On,

(01:24:28):
display anyway we'll talk more, about it Possibly. ON monday
i DON'T think I think i'm Gonna take Thursday and
friday off just to kind of let the vocal. Cords
rest they feel a lot, better TODAY but i think
a couple more days will do them. Some good, but
anyway we'll have full coverage of everything going On in
tigertown on, Our Website clemson sports talt. Dot com all Right.
Until monday, as always you'll take care now And.

Speaker 4 (01:24:51):
Go tigers