The "Clash of Coaches" Edition

Who reigns supreme in college football coaching? Could the showdown between Clemson and Georgia feature the top two masterminds in the game today?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time or Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan Swanny.
Now finally, Clepson Sports Talk has come back two drive time.

(00:51):
Hello everybody, Lowton Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the South Way and
Clemson Sports 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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(01:11):
the world on the iHeartRadio application. Download it today. It's
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Onet that's Clemson Sports Talk dot com eight three four
or five zero zero zero eighty six. Clemson Georgia August thirty,

(01:32):
first over in Atlanta, Marquee matchup out of the gates
for two of the top teams in the history of
the college football playoff era. And for Clemson, as I
said yesterday, this is one of those seasons where it

(01:53):
could also be somewhat considered maybe make or break for
this coaching staff in terms of their stats on the
transfer portal and nil. And for Georgia it kind of
feels like the exact opposite. Like Georgia has been pretty

(02:14):
intense in their utilization of both aspects of building a
program in the modern era. And I almost feel confident
in saying that any team who is living by that
sword might even die by that sword. But with the

(02:39):
vast majority of teams taking a huge advantage of it,
I don't think one way or the other the outcome
of this game or even this season for Georgia can
really create a referendum on anything outside of maybe you
could say, well, their recruiting numbers, We're not as good

(03:04):
or as highly thought of the players. We're not as
highly thought of as people thought. And for Kirby Smart,
one thing has become a parent is that minus a
guy like Nick Saban, the top coaches in the world

(03:30):
of college football, especially when you account for the fact
that Jim Harbaugh has moved on from Michigan, the top
coaches in college football. Two of the three in my estimation,
are gonna be facing off in this game coming up

(03:51):
later this month. As Dabo Sweeney, wherever you want to
put him, it's hard to put him outside the top three.
Dabo Sweety Kirby Smart are going to be facing off
in the opener, and again, salary wise, et cetera, et cetera. Hey, look,

(04:13):
I don't count that into a justification of somebody's worth
or value. How much you make to me does not
create a circumstance where you're instantly the best guy in
the game. But Kirby Smart, by most accounts, is considered

(04:34):
number one. I think anybody that's been logically keeping score
at home would unequivocally put Dabo Sweeney number two on
that list. And then if you talk about statistically in
terms of wins, a guy like Ryan Day, and maybe

(04:57):
maybe in terms of winning percentage is the better way
to put it, a guy like Ryan Day in Ohio State,
I think would have to be considered one of the
top three. And the winner of this opener between Clemson
and Georgia won't necessarily change that pecking order in any way,

(05:20):
shape or form. Now, I would imagine that there are
probably some people at other programs around the country, maybe Utah,
where you take a guy like Kyle Whittingham, who's been
in that program since what like four nearly twenty seasons,

(05:43):
and I think he was there even before that as
an assistant coach. But for a lot of people, because
of a consistent level of success, even though a year
ago they were a team that was eight and five.
I think a lot of people feel like Kyle Whittingham
needs to be in that conversation. Now. There are names

(06:07):
out there that I think some fan bases would like
to put in that list. I think Oregon would like
to see a guy like Dan Lanning in that top
three top four. I don't think so. I think he's
outside of that. I think Florida State fans would want
to see Mike Norvel in that top three, top four.

(06:27):
I think he's also outside looking in, like there's a
level of being left wanting that you just have to
be if you don't have the national title on your resume,
and having not even coached in a national championship game,
for those two guys would be enough for me to

(06:48):
keep them outside or right at the cusp of that
top five. The other thing that I think we see
and learning college football here recently is minus Sabin, minus
Jimbo Fisher, the number of coaches who have won national
titles has diminished to just three. With Clemson, Georgia and

(07:12):
then of course at North Carolina you've got an oldie
but Goody and Mac Brown who picked one up during
his tenure in Texas, and so I think that, look,
I'm not trying to put mac Brown in the top five,
and I don't even think Mack Brown would be in

(07:34):
my top ten right but when you're starting to look
around the country, Steve Sarkesian speaking of Texas would be
a name given the fact they made a run to
the College Football Playoff a year ago, would be a
name that people would want to discuss. I think Kirby Smart,
excuse me, Kirby Smart. Lane Kiffin at Old Miss would

(07:59):
be a name some people would want to discuss. But
I struggle putting a guy like Kiffin in that top
five because you got to be in the college Football Playoff,
in my opinion, And so that's where I think Ryan

(08:20):
Day at this point career record fifty six and eight,
thirty nine to three and Big Ten play hasn't been
able to get past Michigan the past few seasons. But
I think the expectation for most people is that this
year will be a year where Ryan Day and Ohio
State are in the College Football Playoff. I think people

(08:43):
believe that this year is a year where Ohio State
will win the Big Ten championship and If you do that,
you've got a shot, obviously to battle through that new
twelve team college football playoff. And maybe this is a
year by the end of the you know, by the
end of it all that he finds a way to

(09:05):
win the elusive national title and solidifies himself as one
of the top three coaches in college football. But yeah,
I think those are the majority of the names. I
think that it's clearly Smart Sweeney in some order. I

(09:26):
feel like, based off of longevity at this point, I
would think Dabo Sweeney would be number one on that list.
I would think Kirby Smart, if you were ranking it
by where your team is right now, would likely be

(09:48):
at the top spot on that list. One other name
I didn't throw out there, Kellen de Boor at Alabama.
It's really really tough I think to lock him in

(10:09):
to a top five, top three spot, given the fact
that we haven't seen anything that he can do at Alabama.
He might say with Swanni, he took Washington, they were
fourteen and one a year ago, played for the national title. Look,
I can't discount that, but that was at Washington. Then

(10:32):
you might have something on the other side of the coin.
Go yeah, exactly swany that was at Washington. But I
think at this point to elevate a guy whose team
made a run, and again a run in the four
team college football playoff era would mean really just winning

(10:56):
a game in the playoff to me, should not solidify
or bump him into that top three. I don't care
about what he did a year ago at Washington. It
means something, but in the terms of ranking him as

(11:17):
one of the top coaches above Sweeney and Smart in
college football, that's not happening. I don't care that he
ended up in Alabama to replace Nick Saban. I don't
care about any of that. I don't think that in
any way, shape or form, determines who he is as

(11:41):
a coach. And I think the championships, to me, are
the biggest outlier that you need to lock in on,
and that's Clemson, Georgia, Georgia, Clemson, in whatever order you
want to look at it. And then I started to
think about the longevity of success, and that's where I

(12:03):
land with Ryan Day played for national titles, hasn't won one,
The consistency in the Big Ten, the fact that they're
probably going to be there again this year after him,
If I'm going longevity. There's no doubt it's Whittingham at Utah.

(12:26):
Great success probably overshot the mark in terms of success,
certainly overshot the mark in terms of consistency. After that,
I think I'm probably leaning in on Dan Lanning and
likely Steve Sarksian after that. Behind sark I'm guessing at

(12:57):
this point it would be Mike Norvell, maybe Lance Lighthold.
But I I think you gotta you gotta win bigger
bloom where you're planted, right, And while nine and four

(13:19):
at Kansas is tremendous, it's still to me there has
to be some other type of successful piece that goes
along with it to be a catalyst to bump you
up even further. That's how I would kind of have

(13:44):
it all shake out, And again there's some wiggle room
for me at the top and throughout, based off whatever
criteria you want to have. I did see that at
back in April ESPN rank the top coaches in college football,

(14:09):
and I don't remember if we talked about it, or
if I was on a spring break or what, but
they had Kirby Smart number one. And if you have
Smart number one, I don't really have a problem with you,
we could make an argument there are a couple of
plays away from being in their third consecutive College Football

(14:32):
Playoff and potentially on the path to playing and winning,
because I think they were probably the best team in
the country last year. I think if they played Michigan,
they would have beaten Michigan, they'd be the three time
champs and you in a row and Kirby Smart would
be on top of you have more titles than Dabo,

(14:52):
so on and so forth, And the only argument at
that point I think against Smart being number one in
this current era of college football with Saban retired and
some of the other big names out of the sport.
The only other way that I think, even at that point,

(15:15):
if they won three, that you supplant Smart with Sweeney,
which I think will be incredibly difficult, might be the
question of, well, who'd you have to beat to win
your title? And this might be why some would have
Sweny on top because Georgia's beating of TCU two years

(15:43):
ago in the College Football Playoff I think will likely
in the fourteen playoff era be sort of considered to
be the easiest matchup that in a team's ever had
to win a national championship, and it's part of the reason.

(16:10):
Just after that game, when Georgia beat the breaks off
of the horn Frogs, I put out a tweet that evening.
Final score in that game was sixty five to seven.
By the way, I put out a tweet that evening,

(16:34):
and I said, what's more impressive Georgia beating TCU sixty
five the seven or Clemson beating Alabama forty four to sixteen,
And overwhelmingly people said Clemson beating Alabama. Now, Georgia's first

(16:58):
title came at the hand of the Crimson Todd, Georgia
winning that one thirty three to eighteen. But Sweeney's titles,
both of them came over the Alabama Crimson Todd. And Man,
when I look back at the history of that four
team college football Playoff era, I just can't help but

(17:19):
think of think of the missteps, you know, the kick
return by Alabama in twenty sixteen, some lapses in Clemson's
secondary that gave up several big touchdowns for the Tide
in that game in that what was the twenty fifteen season,

(17:41):
twenty sixteen national championship game. That's that's something I'll always
hate about the way this thing is format. But that
forty five forty loss Kenyon Drake kick returned on side kick.
I mean, that's a game you feel like got away
from the Tigers more than even that LSU matchup a
couple of years later in twenty twenty, which was the

(18:05):
twenty nineteen season, that Alabama twenty fifteen season national championship.
That's one and so I think it's one two Sweny
going back to the coaches, one two Sweeney smart either way,

(18:29):
and I can make arguments for both. And then I
think it's Ryan Day without without a national title, and
I think that that's just that's just the top three,
and I don't think there's much argument for it. And
if you're trying to weasel or worm in, like Kellen

(18:50):
the Boor or Kyle Whittingham and your top three, I
think you're just weaseling for the sake of weaseling. I
don't think there's a whole lot of logic in it.
And you can say, well, yeah, but Ryan Day hasn't
won the Big Game either, swanee, but he's been there,

(19:13):
and he's had one of the best records in all
of college football, and he's recruited some of the best
players in the country, and there's really no reason not
to think that he's not going to be back in
the College Football Payoff this year, that he's going to
be one of the top teams in the country. And

(19:35):
of all the coaches on the list that don't currently
have a national title, he'd be my a one from
day one that I would say would likely win his
first College Football Playoff national championship this season. So that's
the way I look at the top ten coaches in
the world of college football a break, we'll come back

(19:57):
with more. On a Wednesday afternoon, Clemson Sports taught the
show The Shakespeare Southway, and so we were talking about
the top coaches in college football. It does take a
little luck, does take a little luck to get there
as well. And Steve Sarkeesian name that was mentioned during
that last segment. His team, the Texas Longhorns, right number

(20:17):
four and both pole as well. Yesterday evening the news
came out they lost a second running back with a
season ending injury, as true freshman Kristen Clark tore his
achilles tendon in practice. That news came out yesterday afternoon

(20:40):
or yesterday evening. As I mentioned, Clark will missed the
remainder of the season just six days after it was
announced as CJ. Baxter, who started in the opener for
the Longhorns a year ago, will undergo season ending knee
surgery that leaves the Longhorns now with just three scholarship

(21:01):
running backs. Jayden Blue, who's appeared in twenty three games
at Texas, rushing for four hundred and thirty one yards
and three touchdowns, he's the guy that's expected to carry
the biggest load for Texas at this point. Behind him

(21:23):
sophomore quin Traveon Weisner, who played in all fourteen games
a season a goal on special teams, and freshman Jared Gibson,
who was ranked as the number two running back of
the number fifty nine prospect in the twenty twenty four
recruiting class, so Clark. According to Steve Sarkisian on Monday,

(21:52):
Sarkisian had told reporters that despite fumbling in the scrimmage
over the weekend, and we're coming along further than some
people might think. And what that means is is that
Texas a team that's poised to present itself as one

(22:16):
of the top twelve teams in the country and be
in the College Football Playoff has some legitimate concerns at
running back. Now they're running backs. Coach is to share
a Choice, former Georgia Tech running back and Quinn you

(22:40):
We as the starting quarterback, said quote, it definitely hurts
to see them go down. Injuries do happen. That's a
part of the game we play. He said. I think
Coach Choice and Coach Sarkesian do a good job of
recruiting running backs that can ultimately fill in the position
if need. I think we have guys that are going

(23:02):
to be more than capable of stepping in and filling
those roles. So Texas makes their debut in the SEC,
and now they'll do it off of the heels of
a visit to the College Football Playoff a year ago,
and they'll do it without a couple of key running

(23:22):
backs who could certainly or would certainly help them offensively.
Their first game is on August thirty, first at three
point thirty on ESPN as the Texas Longhorns will take
on the Colorado State the second week of the season.
It'll be an SEC Big Ten matchup, as Texas will

(23:47):
go to the Big House to face Michigan. That'll be
a noon kickoff on Fox. Then the Longhorns will face UTSA,
the road Runners, and it looks like that game's at UTSA.
I believe they have a dome stadium. I think they
might play where the San Antonio Spurs play. Then they've

(24:10):
got a four game home stretch, kicking off with Louisiana Monroe.
Then they'll take on Mississippi State at home, Oklahoma at home,
and Georgia at home. For a road game at Vanderbilt,
then they'll host Florida, go to Arkansas, host Kentucky, and

(24:31):
Texas will finish the regular season with a road game
at Kyle Field in College Station against their arch rival
for the first time in a long time in a
conference matchup, this time in the SEC. As Texas A
and M and Oklahoma will face off this year. So

(24:54):
for Texas, who is the top four team? You could
easily discuss a lost to Michigan, a lost to Oklahoma,
a lost to Georgia, and a lost to Texas A
and M. I mean, that's how incredibly difficult the schedule

(25:14):
is when you maneuver through the SEC. And I'm not
a big oh, the SEC is so much tougher than
everybody else's conference. That's never been the person that I
am with that league. But I am a person that
can look at it from top to bottom and recognize

(25:36):
that the path to the top of that league, the
path to the College Football Playoff, the path to winning
seventy five eighty percent of your games, it's incredibly difficult,
and so you know when you have some injuries and

(25:59):
you kind of go through the ups and downs of
a season. Even in the preseason, a team that many
people out there would say they believe has a legitimate
shot of winning the national title, all of a sudden,
you could see how they could collect three or four losses.

(26:25):
And I think the majority of sports enthusiasts believe that
if you lose more than two more than two games,
you're probably out of the hunt. To imagine a team
with three losses being in the hunt, to me just

(26:51):
it's hard to imagine. Now. Texas might have the resume
to do it if they were to beat Michigan and
then lose three other games. Maybe, But I think if
there's a team that has that third loss, whatever they've done,
and maybe the way you do it, if you're Texas's,
you win all those big games, and then what if

(27:12):
you lose three somewhere else along the way, or maybe
you win all but one of those big games and
you trip up in two others. Like there might be
a way to kind of backdoor your way in with
three losses. But I think most of the teams we've
seen in the college football playoff this year gonna have
two losses or less. All right, quick break. We'll come
back with some more injury updates nationally when we return,

(27:35):
rocking and rolling along with you on the show that
Shakes the south Land. All right, So this is a
weird story that I saw in the news, and I
it doesn't make much sense, but I'll lay it out
for you. So there was a man whose wife they
were at Disney Springs, which is if you've ever been

(27:58):
to Disney, it's a free place that you can go
where there's a bunch of food, restaurants and other stuff
to do. It's not like the rides at Disney by
any means. This is down in Orlando, and there may
be a Disney Springs in California for all I know,

(28:19):
but this is for Disney World, outside of Disney World.
And so this gentleman and his wife went to a
restaurant for dinner, and the waiter. According to the story,
the waiter assured the gentleman that the food they were

(28:41):
ordering could be made allergy free, because I guess his
wife had a big allergy, like a huge allergy. Now,
I also want to recognize here that my scope on
allergies and severity of allergies is not very good, Like

(29:05):
it's just above me being able to play the piano.
Not great. And if I thought that my wife had
an allergy, that could be potentially life threatening. And I
know this sounds like a way that people just could
not live, but I don't know how often we would

(29:28):
eat out anyway, and I don't know what qualifies for
a life threatening allergy. But get this, the guy's wife,
they ate a meal at this restaurant, and she dies

(29:50):
after the waiter apparently assured them that the food could
be made without, you know, affecting her allergy. Whatever that
allergy was. Like again, it's hard for me to imagine
if your wife has that sensitive of allergies that you're
out eating all the time, but maybe some of you do.
And so anyway, tragically, again she lost her life. And

(30:15):
so the husband sued Disney and then Disney came back,
and Disney, of course of ESPN, I mean this is
kind of a tie to sports. Disney came back and
claimed that the gentlemen can't sue them because he signed

(30:43):
up for Disney Plus. He did a month trial of
Disney Plus. And you might say, Swannee, I remember it.
Math They said a plus B equal c or a
square plus B square equal C squared. This doesn't make
any sense. How is that? How is signing up for

(31:06):
Disney Plus? How does that alleviate Disney from being on
the hook for your death in a food situation? And
I again, I don't know how the allergies and food

(31:27):
and things that nature work for businesses. I have no
idea the ends and the outside, Okay, but what I
do know is it doesn't make one ounce of sense
that if you sign up for Disney Plus to watch
it your house, you've somehow signed up for oh, I
don't know, dying at a restaurant at Disney because you

(31:51):
had a severe allergy being something that you can't sue
them for. Like if you order to go to a
ride at Disney and somehow tragically lost your life on
a ride a roller coaster? Are you telling me that

(32:12):
somewhere in the contract that you signed to get on
Disney Plus is enough to give them a loophole to
get out from paying anything. Now, I will say, okay,
that I understand that when you buy your tickets to
the theme park, there's probably some small print on there

(32:36):
that says something like, Disney, he's not liable for your death.
Disney Springs, the place where this gentleman's wife died from
the food that she ate, is not a place you
need a ticket, so you wouldn't necessarily have that that
transactional occurrence. And Disney not so foolish. They they know

(33:03):
that if somebody dies on one of their rides, they're
gonna be sued, and they're gonna try to go back
to that fine print on that ticket as being the reason,
you know. And then of course the lawyer for the
other person's trying to prove that there was there was
not intent, but that that there was there were things
that weren't checked out appropriately and all of that, and

(33:27):
that's why the person, you know, this person ends up
dying on a ride or whatever like, that's how that
lawsuit goes. But to imagine that you've somehow now granted
away your legal ability to to sue Disney for your

(33:50):
wife dying because you signed up for a thing that
you use at home. Bro, I'm no lawyer. That seems
like a losing case for Disney. Not only that, I
don't know what Disney's worth. I don't know how much
money They've got. You look, you look pretty bad. I

(34:15):
wouldn't want to take that before a judge because you
look really bad, especially given how much money you have.
I mean, this gentleman's wife died. And again you can
make the argument I don't know enough about Like I said,
I don't know enough about food allergies. We can make
the argument that if your allergy could potentially be that severe,

(34:36):
you probably shouldn't be eaten out anyway. But you have
your right to eat out. You have the right to
ask if this thing is potentially gonna be you know,
cross contaminated or something. But just because you signed up
for a Disney plus month subscription years ago, is the
thing that you signed that keeps you from being able

(34:57):
to get any money? To me, seems wrong? One hundred wrong.
All right, we'll hit a break, we'll come back, and
now we'll get to some other injuries in the world
of college football. Right after this rocking and rolling along
with the show that Shakes the south Land. So got
sidetracked by a crazy story out of Disney. But we

(35:19):
began earlier talking about the fact that Texas lost a
second running back, this time Christian Clark, true freshman, after
he tore his achilles in practice this week. They'd already
lost CJ. Baxter to a knee injury that's going to

(35:40):
keep him out of all season. Baxter a year ago
rushed for six hundred and fifty nine yards and five touchdowns.
In his final game of the season against Washington in
the College Football Playoff, he thirty seven thirty one loss.
Baxter had nine carries for sixty four yards and a touchdown.
So Texas is going to have to go to the bullpen,

(36:04):
so to speak, in terms of their running backroom, and
it looks like it'll be the blue kid who has
played some that will have to tote the load a
little more load than he probably expected to toe with
the talent that Texas has now on the injury front,

(36:27):
there are a couple of others out there that we
need to get into. We'll stick with the SEC and
one of the new teams in the league, Oklahoma wide
receiver Jaden Gibson. He's out for the year after suffering
a significant knee injury during fall camp last week. Brent

(36:48):
Vittibles confirmed that news yesterday. Jaden Gibson, six ' five,
two hundred pound junior wide out from Winter Garden, Florida,
had fourteen receptions for three hundred and seventy five yards
and five touchdowns a year ago, so they lose one

(37:09):
of their potential big weapons heading into this season. The
MRI revealed damage that will keep him on the sidelines
for the entire year, of Vnable saying, quote, you hate
that for anybody, the season comes to an end prematurely,
but as a group, we feel really good about our

(37:31):
wide receivers. Gibson was the number thirty six ranked receiver
in the twenty twenty two recruiting class. The best news
for Oklahoma is that the wideout group is expected to
be pretty deep, led by Dion Burks, who's a transfer
from Purdue. Oklahoma's also got Jalil Faruk, Nick Anderson, Andre

(37:57):
Anthony and Brennan Thompson battling for playing time. As Brent
Vinnables and the Oklahoma Sooners will open his third season
as the head coach at home against Temple on August thirtieth.
The Sooners are currently the sixteenth ranked team in the country.

(38:20):
Another player who's going to be out with an injury
for the year Missouri defensive end Darius Smith. He hurt
his knee in practice and he will also be out
for the entirety of the season. According to the Tigers
Eli Drinkwitz. Smith transferred to Missouri from Georgia, where he

(38:42):
played in sixteen games over his first two seasons. Darius
Smith is sixty five and forty pounds rusher was competing
for the starting job against Michigan State transfer Zion Young.
Drink Wood said quote, we are devastated by the injury
to Darius. He was having an outstanding camp and was
poised to have a great year. We will support Darius

(39:04):
in his recovery and look forward to him returning stronger
than ever. Smith did not red shirt while he was
at Georgia, so after red shirting this year, assuming he
stays at Missouri right portal players going to portal, he
would still have two years of remaining eligibility. Missouri, by

(39:29):
the way, opens up their season on August to twenty
ninth in a matchup against Murray State. Smith has never
had a huge year. Darius Smith, the former Georgia Bulldogs,
never had a huge year, just seven career tackles through

(39:50):
two seasons in Athens. But again, he was hopeful to
have a big year this season with Missouri, and instead
I'll have to sit and watch now. Final one. Not
an injury front, but a transferred quarterback front. Tyler Van Dyke,
who transferred from Miami to Wisconsin, was named Wisconsin's starting quarterback.

(40:19):
That news came out earlier today. Van Dyke, who's been
one of the guys that's done the old portal dance
that we've become accustomed to in the world of college sports,
was once a starting quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes back

(40:39):
in twenty twenty one, where he threw for twenty five
touchdowns and six interceptions in nearly three thousand yards. Now
he'll finish his college career playing in the colder temperatures
up in Wisconsin, and he will do so as the
starting quarter back for the Badgers. Wisconsin season gets underway

(41:05):
August thirtieth against Western Michigan. That's a Friday night game.
The Badgers were disappointing seven to six a year ago
in their first season under head coach Luke Fickle, who
made his way to Madison, Wisconsin after being the head
coach at Cincinnati, and you may recall he got the
Cincinnati Bearcats into the college football playoffs. Van Dyke was

(41:31):
the ACC's Rookie of the Year back in twenty twenty one,
but struggled with injuries and inconsistency over the last two
seasons before losing the starting job to Emery Williams. He
got it back when Williams was injured a year ago,

(41:54):
but now Van Dyke at Wisconsin, he'll be the new
starting quarter back out of the Gates or the Badgers.
As I mentioned just a few minutes ago. All right,
eight oh three four five zero zero eighty six with
a quick break again. If you got some time during
the break, check out our website, Clemson Sports Talk dot Com.

(42:16):
With a break, we'll come back with our number two
on the Wednesday edition of the Show That Shakes the
South End. Stay with us right here on Fox Sports
Radio fourteen hundred. It's time for Clemson Sports Talk with
Lowton Swan. Call me Swanny.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
Hold.

Speaker 1 (43:08):
It is our number two. That's Drive Time writer on
the show that Shakes the south Land, Clemson Sports, Salt
Load and Swan hanging out with you eight zero three
four five oho zero zero eighty six as you make
your way home on a Wednesday. Don't forget about the
website Clemson Sports Talk dot com Clemson Sports Talk dot com.

(43:32):
So the Clemson Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs will face
off in Atlanta during the AFLAC Kickoff game coming up
August thirty first at noon. Now, the noon kickoff is obviously, uh,
the stranger of the maybe that's not even the right where,

(43:57):
not even the stranger, But the strangest part of the
entire deal the fact that that game's not an evening
game in Atlanta and traffic's terrible getting out of there
is I would say, beyond bizarre. But the honorary captains
of the twenty twenty four A Flank Kickoff game were

(44:21):
announced earlier today, and you can read about this over
on our website. Will give you a good bit of
it here though. On the program, as it was announced
that former Clypson Tiger AJ Terrell and Kevin Butler that
duo will serve as honorary captains of the or of

(44:48):
their respective album oters. AJ Terrell, whose brother Amon is
on this Clemson team. Ajterrell, who plays for the the
Atlanta Falcon he will be the honorary captain for Clemson,
and Kevin Butler will be the representative for the Georgia Bulldogs.

(45:12):
For Terrell, of course, he played for Clemson under Dabo
Sweeney from twenty seventeen to twenty nineteen and certainly was
a part of his brother's decision undoubtedly to make his

(45:34):
way to Tiger Town and be a part of this
Clemson University football team. Terrell's picked six for the Tigers
in the National Championship Game was won for the Ages

(45:55):
as he broke on a ball on the what third
fourth of the game and took it to the house.
During his tenure, he appeared in forty four games with
thirty starts for Clemson. In addition to AJ Terrell. And
this is one of the cool parts. You know, we

(46:16):
talked with the CEO and president of the AFFLAC kickoff
game up at the ACC Championship for CEO and President
of Peach Ball, Inc. Gary Stoken, and you know, one
of the great things about what they do with this

(46:36):
event is they, you know, make sure that they're doing
a lot for the community and because it is a
kickoff for the Cause initiative, along with September the following
day being National Childhood Cancer and Sickle Cell Awareness Month,

(46:57):
The honorary captains will be joined by two current college
students from each representative school, both of whom have their
own inspiring pediatric cancer stories. Taking the bill with A J.
Terrell will be Grayson Gentz, who is a Clemson sophomore
who was diagnosed with leukemia in the summer of twenty

(47:18):
twenty two before entering his freshman year of college. Kevin
Butler from Georgia will be accompanied by UGA freshman Ethan Daniels,
who was diagnosed with B cell lymphoblastic leukemia in March
of twenty seventeen and celebrated his last day of chemotherapy

(47:38):
in twenty twenty. Ethan was treated at the AFLAC Cancer
and Blood Disorders Center, and as part of the kickoff
for a Cause, Clemson's the Tiger and UGA's Harry dogg
the two mascots will go head to head in a
friendly rivalry at the AFLAC Fan Experience to raise funds

(48:00):
and awareness for pediatric cancer. Bands are encouraged to rally
behind their favorite mascots and vote in the Mascot Challenge
to support children's hospitals. So pretty significant, you know, moment
when you get these individuals who've battled cancer out there

(48:23):
on the field, I would imagine there will be a
lot of people with tears in their eyes, just you know, knowing,
you know, what those individuals represent. The other individuals who
are there that have been affected by cancer, especially those
in some way, shape or form that may have been
affected directly by by you know, pediatric cancer. All of

(48:49):
that will be a part of that day and that event.
And additionally, taking a look at some of the numbers.
Since nineteen ninety five, AFLAC independent sales agents employees in
the Affleck Foundation have given more than one hundred and
eighty three million to the AFFLAC Cancer and Blood Disorder

(49:14):
Center at Children's Healthcare in Atlanta. Peach Bowl, Inc. Has
donated more than twenty million to create the Peach Bowl
Legacy Fund that is currently supporting fourteen clinical drug trials
for children. And I'm assuming that the A and the

(49:35):
C and Legacy is capitalized because of AFLAC Center. So,
you know, as cool as it'll be, and I'm sure
as humbling as it is for Kevin Butler and for
aj Terrell to be selected for this, it's also significant,

(49:57):
you know about what AFLAC, the peach Ball, and more importantly,
college football. You know, this big megaphone that we've got
has managed to do to change the lives of so

(50:22):
many people. And I was talking to somebody today, you
know about the excitement that you get when college football
ramps up, and part of it is this underbelly of
the sport that's positive. There's a lot of negative around
this sport, especially in this kind of dirty nil era
where some players or some teams i should say, are

(50:45):
breaking the rules and making promises to kids before they
arrive on campus. I mean, you could go on and
on about the programs that are doing it the wrong
way and the ones that are doing it the right way,
and it feels almost like a certainty that most people
are doing it the wrong way because there doesn't seem
to be a real way that you can tie the
hands of anybody or smacked the risks of people, you

(51:12):
know who are breaking the rules, And so we just
have to you know, we just have to kind of
live in this system, and I think it it's probably
I would make an argument, and I don't know this,
like I don't have any data to back it up,
but I would make an argument that this NIL college

(51:34):
or the NIL transfer portal era has probably lessened the
amount that people really care about the sport across the board.
I mean, it's school to school, coast to coast. I
know it's affected people at Clemson. And the irony of

(51:54):
it is is that this is a time where schools
need more than they've ever needed the fans, and the
fans are saying to themselves, we can't continue to give
at the rate you want us to give because the
rules changed. It almost feels like in some respects it's

(52:18):
gonna take some rich finance, you know, financre or however
you say that word, right, some rich guy to come
along and say, okay, look I'll put the bill for
this university's team. And that may be where we go
with it. Like it could be that college sports, college
football at least breaks away and it becomes a you know,

(52:40):
a mini NFL, and you have some people that come
in and say, hey, I'll buy into this team. I'll
be part of the ownership team of Clemson. I'll be
part of the ownership team of South Carolina or whoever,
because the fans, quite frankly, are fed up with giving, giving, giving, giving, giving,
and watching players leaving, leaving, leaving, leaving, leaving. When they give,

(53:06):
the fans, when they give, they expect some loyalty and
when you just walk, kind of like what happened with
Juice Wells, you have teammates out there calling you judics
Wells on social media and fans buying into that, and

(53:27):
quite frankly, there are pri I look, no Carolina fans
has said this to me, but you don't need to
say it for me to know it. There are many
of you out there. Well, okay, maybe Many's not right.
There are some South Carolina fans out there who I
have no doubt want Juice Welles to get hurt, want

(53:55):
him to get hurt now. Prior to nil, even if
if a kid transferred, there would have been a small
group of people that might have felt that way, and
I would have argued with those people said, man, look,
it's a college kid. Let him make a college decision.
But when you have this circumstance where it feels like
Juice well stayed on campus kind of snookered the Gamecock

(54:19):
faithful for money and then bolted, not for the NFL,
for another team in your league, to go to Old Miss. Yeah,
I get it from the Gamecock perspective of being ticked

(54:40):
off about it, and I don't like to think that
fans would hope somebody gets hurt. But believe me, on
October fifteenth, or excuse me, October fifth, when South Carolina
and Old Miss face off, you better believe the Juice

(55:01):
Wells better have his head on a swivel after the play. Seriously,
after the play. Wouldn't shock me in the least to
see somebody clean his clock when he's not expecting it.
Linebacker secondary, little short dump off into the flats, he's

(55:25):
kind of walking back. I could see one of those
dudes just obliterating him. And in this you know the
old mercenary is gonna mercenary if you're gonna go out
and just chase the cash in this era, that it

(55:47):
leaves behind a bad residue, and it's a residue that
Turpeta can't take off. But believe me, if Juice Wells
this is the thing is that game? Where is that game?

(56:07):
Is that in Colombia? Yes, let me tell you something.
Mark my words. If Juice Wells gets hit late in
that stadium, dirty hit, dirty hit, dirty hit, okay, because
of the way he handled his situation in Colombia, that

(56:31):
place will go bonkers. They will GAMECOCKX you. If I'm
lying you, let me know eight O three four five
zero zero eighty six. Mercenary is gonna mercenary. And when
your fan base or your ex fan base believes you
are a mercenary chasing only the cash, and these guys

(56:56):
are working their nine to fives to try to squeeze
every ounce to get to four six tickets to a game,
and you're getting oodles of money, hundreds of thousands of
dollars potentially, and you don't play, and your team has
a terrible year and you don't come out there and support,

(57:17):
and then you bail. Mercenary is gonna mercenary, And the
gamecock fans are gonna say, you know what, dude, when
you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
And when you get your clock clean, when you get
one put right in your ear hole, late hit personal foul,

(57:41):
the gamecock fans are not gonna care I you know what,
outside of being absolutely uncouth. I would imagine the guy
that's got his finger on the button for fireworks on
a touchdown celebration, as soon as that hit happens, will

(58:04):
probably have a little in his mind to go, man,
should I hit the fireworks now? Is this a time
for the fireworks? Boss? And the only thing keeping that
from happening is the fact of how bad it would
look if like the coaching staff were celebrating when that

(58:24):
hit takes place. And I'd be shocked if it doesn't.
And it may not be completely after the whistle, it
maybe during the play, but it's gonna be a lookout block.
It's gonna be a hit he ain't gonna see coming.
It's gonna be a blind side. He blindsided game cognation.

(58:44):
There's gonna be a game cock that blindsides him. If
the cameras cut to Shane Beemer, Shane Biemer looks stoic.
Shane Biemer probably even in that moment before sing at
the player that did it, he won't be cheering. But

(59:07):
the fans in Section A through whatever section Carolina's gotten
their venue or however it's laid out in Williams Bryce. Oh,
they're gonna They're gonna be alright with it. Mercenaries, Gold Mercenary.

(59:33):
Speaking of Juice Well's former South Carolina transfer, he did
participate enough early in preseason to raise some eyebrows, although
he hadn't done much Gamecock fans are like shocker. Wells
has been off of the side, wearing a black, non

(59:54):
contact jersey for most of the viewing periods. Lane Kippen
saying a couple of days ag I would put him
in that category of portal players that we're really anticipating
getting to full strength, who are not there right now.
Kevin did not specify what's ailing Wells, who arrived at

(01:00:17):
Oxford this offseason after spending two years at South Carolina.
He struggled with an injured foot in Colombia, appeared in
three games in twenty twenty three season. Prior, he was
an All SEC second teamer with sixty eight receptions for
nine hundred and twenty eight yards and six touchdowns. I'm

(01:00:41):
telling you, you know what wouldn't surprise. Here's what I'll
tell you. He's not gonna give you the chance game cognation.
Follow me on this one. Juice well is gonna pull
the old ailing foot when it comes time to face

(01:01:07):
off with the South Carolina game Cocks. He's gonna pull
off the man. Coach. I don't think I can go train.
The staff will be like nah, coach. He's clear he's
gonna be like coach. I just don't have it today.
I can't get out there.

Speaker 3 (01:01:24):
I guess that's your theory.

Speaker 1 (01:01:27):
I think it's probably gonna be my fact. Now that
I think about the odds that Juice Wells steps on
the field against South Carolina, I don't think it's very good,
not because of an actual injury. A matter of fact,
it wouldn't surprise me if Lane Kiffin says, hey, Juice,

(01:01:51):
we'd love to have you, but we're not gonna run
you out there against South Carolina, because, let me tell
you something, buddy, if it was one of our guys,
we'd clean your clock. We would clean your clock. So
I guess at the end of the day, gibbing Jus

(01:02:12):
Wells's history game kyp Fans, odds are he might show
up for that game. He might warm up for that game.
I don't think he'll step on the field against Carolina
because he knows what's coming Stay with us Clemson Sports
taw the show The Shakes the South Land A three
four five oho zero zero eighty six. Earlier this week,

(01:02:36):
Clemson sophomore defensive end TJ. Parker met with the media
to talk about how fall camp's going, and Parker was
asked about what he'd seen from the team overall so far.

Speaker 4 (01:02:49):
Have a really good.

Speaker 3 (01:02:49):
Football team both sides. It's seen a lot of positive
and both sides of ball, especially on defense. A lot
of young guys are coming up, flying around, understanding.

Speaker 5 (01:02:57):
What I do.

Speaker 4 (01:02:58):
And you see.

Speaker 3 (01:02:59):
A lot of guys that transition from spring to fall
camp feel more comfortable, more fluently.

Speaker 4 (01:03:05):
So we're just doing good job, working and getting better.

Speaker 1 (01:03:08):
Parker was also asked about the mentality of Clemson's defense
as they look to bounce back from a season that
started off, you know, four and four, And I looked
back at the touchdown run a guy like Riley Leonard
for the Duke Blue Devils, and I just see constant
mistackles and you know, Barrett Carter can't bring him to

(01:03:29):
the ground, and Clem's are just looking a little, I
don't want to say lazy, but a little out of sorts.
Here's Parker talking about that mentality of the defense.

Speaker 4 (01:03:40):
How's that this immediately flushed it. You know what I'm saying.
Things happen, so we came that's not the whole game.

Speaker 3 (01:03:46):
So you know, once happened, talk about it, We're good
all to the next you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (01:03:51):
So we got the next play up mansontality. So I'm
just gonna keep.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
Going our next play up mentality. And you think back
to to the issues that Clempson had in the secondary
in that Gator Bowl matchup against Kentucky. So it was
something that lingered throughout the year. They had their moments,
for sure, but it definitely lingered at times. Now. Parker

(01:04:17):
was also asked about Peter Woods. I don't have a
great nickname for Peter Woods. Big peat And of course
check it in at three hundred and sumi pounds a
little more than what Clympson expected, about twenty pounds more,
and he was asked. Parker was asked about Peter Woods
in his versatility to play at defensive end.

Speaker 4 (01:04:39):
Man, he's a freak. You know what I'm saying. It
don't matter where you play at he going We're gonna
get it done. He's like, he moves super well.

Speaker 3 (01:04:47):
You couldn't tell that he's three nineteen yards or whatever
the weight they said.

Speaker 4 (01:04:50):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (01:04:51):
He has that natural ability to move and change the
direction very quickly. So once it gets down to that, wait,
it's gonna be scary for a lot.

Speaker 4 (01:04:57):
Of people to say about.

Speaker 1 (01:05:00):
TJ. Parker was also asked about his initial impression his
initial impressions of Darien Mayo. Mayo was a kid six
seven six ' eight, huge defensive end, probably got a
lot of work to do to be ready to play.
But here's what Parker said about what he's seen from
him so far.

Speaker 3 (01:05:21):
May He's a ballplayer. He's still obviously learning to play,
but he just got here. He's learning to make a
huge strides. But man, he can make plays from what
I've seen in scrimmage, Mamie, like three tackles in a
row or something like that.

Speaker 4 (01:05:33):
And he's just such a freak athlete. I love to
see what he's gonna do. And I'm helping them as
much as I can.

Speaker 1 (01:05:40):
That's TJ. Parker, Clemson defensive end talking about freshman defensive
end Darien Mayo. Speaking of freshman Parker was also asked
about some of the young guys defensively, light linebacker Sammy Brown,
defensive back Ashton Hampton, and what he's felt like he's
seen from the young guys on that defense is sip
side of the ball.

Speaker 3 (01:06:01):
Sammon Brown is doing really good. Actually happened is open
for me. He came in the summertime. He's opening a
lot of everybody else eyes.

Speaker 4 (01:06:10):
He's doing very good. This is something INNI.

Speaker 3 (01:06:12):
Obviously t J Moore, Brow Westll on the other side
of the ball doing really good. Really that class in general, Ricardo,
they all doing really good.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
So Parker was also asking about his health during the
spring and newfound strength and speed that he's got right now.

Speaker 3 (01:06:31):
Obviously, I had knee surgery. I'm fully healthy from that.
My weight got up super high. I think I had
one point. I was probably like eighty maybe on the
heavier end. And my biggest thing me and him de
chilled me to really lock in my body weight and
still letting body five percentage, and I took that super serious.
I'm down twenty five pounds since March. I don't know

(01:06:56):
my body five percent yet. We did that, but I've
been working really hard make sure i'm on top of
my diet and things like that, so I feel much better.

Speaker 4 (01:07:02):
I'm playing much faster, so we benefits.

Speaker 1 (01:07:06):
Here's Parker talking a little bit more about his nutrition
and making sure he's fuel in his body right again.
Down twenty five pounds after kind of going up to
three excuse me after going up to about two hundred
and eighty.

Speaker 3 (01:07:20):
Just eat anything, I still cook, you know what I'm saying.
I just watch what I eat portion wise and stuff
like that.

Speaker 4 (01:07:24):
Make sure every they're right. Our nutrition is Megan.

Speaker 3 (01:07:26):
She does a good job with me every meal and
sending a picture of her my ingredients and stuff like that,
just to make sure that I'm putting it in the
rest of my body.

Speaker 4 (01:07:33):
Instill about.

Speaker 1 (01:07:37):
TJ. Parker again, Clemson defensive end. He was asking about
his mentality during camp and treating every game this season
like it's a big game.

Speaker 4 (01:07:51):
You know we're gonna play.

Speaker 3 (01:07:51):
We're gonna play to the best of our ability no
matter who we play. First, I feel like we're gonna
get better every day for us. Obviously we played George
for that's a big game, you know what I'm saying.
But we're gonna take a day by day to make
sure that we're the best team for us and.

Speaker 4 (01:08:04):
Then when it comes down to go playing for Georgia
is the ready.

Speaker 1 (01:08:09):
One of the other things that Parker was asked about
is quarterback Kate Clubnick and his growth as a leader
and the fact that it's been noted by several people
that Kate Clubnick's been much more vocal this year as
the leader on this climbs the Tiger offense.

Speaker 4 (01:08:27):
I see it a lot.

Speaker 3 (01:08:29):
It spoke out to me during especially during summer. We
had a lot of summer workouts. He voiced up a
lot of times, and we was behind the defense, was
fully behind them.

Speaker 4 (01:08:36):
You know what I'm saying, And that's what we're gonna
need to get to the next level.

Speaker 3 (01:08:40):
As Kate, you know what I'm saying, being more vocal
and leading, I'm saying he's doing a great job of that.
He's having a great count so far, you know what
I'm saying. So I'm just tooer proud of him. In
the sprise he's made his last season, I'm excited to
see him go swinging.

Speaker 1 (01:08:50):
Final thing from Parker, he was asked about the improvements
of Clemson's team and the group being locked in with
the togetherness that they've currently got.

Speaker 4 (01:09:00):
Everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:09:01):
Of course, Fwinny says, if you want to do something
that I've never been done before, you got to do
things that you've never got And I feel like I've
seen that from everybody. Even since we ended last season,
a lot of people have changed the way they spend
time doing treatment or getting their body right, stretching in,
whether that's conditioning body, whatever you got to do to
get better.

Speaker 4 (01:09:20):
Flood the team is much more locked in and we're
much more together. Spend a lot of time.

Speaker 3 (01:09:24):
With offense, with defense and stuff like that just to
build that bond. So when we do hype each other
up and compete, we all know it's not just you know,
I'm getting on you because I don't like you, just
giving you because we love each other.

Speaker 4 (01:09:36):
I Flood the team as much stronger together, So we'll
see a lot of good.

Speaker 1 (01:09:39):
Things that you're that's Clemson defensive end TJ. Parker, and
you know, we try to give you as much of
that content as we can here on the program. When
we come back. Wave would Ass, Clemson linebacker met with
the media just a few short days ago. We'll hear
what would As had to say about how fall camp's

(01:10:01):
going when we return. Clemson Sports thought the show that
shakes the south Land. Monday, Wave wood Ass, Clemson linebacker,
met with the media to talk about how fall camp's going.
First question wood As was asked was about how the
scrimmage went over in Death Valley on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:10:20):
I think it was a really competitive scrimmage overall both ways, for.

Speaker 4 (01:10:27):
On both sides of the ball.

Speaker 2 (01:10:28):
Defensively, I feel like the perform how you would perform
in a first scrimmage.

Speaker 4 (01:10:34):
There's always work to be done, which is a good thing.

Speaker 2 (01:10:37):
He's only learned about a lot about ourselves where we
need to improve.

Speaker 4 (01:10:39):
Which is.

Speaker 1 (01:10:42):
Wave wood Ass talked about the Clemson Tiger defense and
what they learned from them, you know, from the opening
scrimmage of the year, which obviously you can't take take
away a grain of salt. He was asked about the
members of the freshman class too that have stood out
to him so far.

Speaker 2 (01:11:03):
Yeah, Ashton Hampton, for sure, he's been flashing on camp.
Looks really good. Sammy Brown of course say my little
brother has done all right. It's got work to do,
but he'll get there eventually.

Speaker 4 (01:11:21):
Yeah, I think it looked good.

Speaker 1 (01:11:25):
Kind of funny kind of funny to hear way wood
Has talking about his brother Drew, and yeah, he did
all right, and then he kind of chuckles about it.
But you know, anytime you got your brother on the team,
you know, I think there's a big advantage for his
younger brother because you know, Wade's able to communicate to him.

(01:11:47):
I would think relatively well about what he needs to
do in order to see the playing field and improve
his game and and all that. Wood As was also
asked about his role heading into his third season.

Speaker 4 (01:12:08):
I want to step up as a leader.

Speaker 2 (01:12:10):
I serve myself as a leader on this team and
helped push us to what our goals are, which is
to get back to the top of the mountain show.
So I would say that's really it for me.

Speaker 4 (01:12:22):
Man who develop as a leader so I.

Speaker 1 (01:12:24):
Can That's Clemson linebacker Wade wood Ass and the expected
starting lineup at linebacker, I think by most people's thought
process would be Barrett Carter Wade wood Ass, and I
think most people would kind of hope that Sammy Brown

(01:12:45):
might be that third linebacker for Clemson this year. Wood
Ass was to ask about how he's helped the former
five star linebacker so far this year.

Speaker 4 (01:13:00):
A lot of times.

Speaker 2 (01:13:01):
Young linebackers get caught up and being super fast, but
I mean we're all gifted nationally to be really quick.

Speaker 4 (01:13:07):
So really slowing.

Speaker 2 (01:13:09):
The game down for him because he's he's one of
the fastest dudes on the defense, So slowing the game down,
making sure he really knows what his job is, I
think we'll help him perform.

Speaker 1 (01:13:23):
So there you heard way would As say, Sammy Brown
is one of the fastest players on the defensive side
of the ball. And when you combine that with the
versatility and speed of Barrett Carter, with the versatility and
speed that you've seen from wood As during his tenure,
as I've argued, I don't know if it's going to

(01:13:44):
be the best linebacker group you've ever seen at Clemson.
I mean, those are some those are some huge shoes
to fill, but it might be the fastest group of
lineback that you've ever seen go, you know, side to side.

(01:14:06):
Just these guys should be able to cover multiple positions
comfortably out of the backfield, and I think their versatility
is an absolute monster in terms of positives for Clemson

(01:14:27):
heading into this season. Way wood As was also asked
about the Clemson offense, and we played some of the
comments that we've heard earlier this week about the comments, say,
you know some of the players saying, man, it looked
like it was a completely different offense and dabos when
you said, they don't know what they're talking about. Here's
what has this perspective on the Tiger offense so far.

Speaker 4 (01:14:48):
Yeah, I see a lot of.

Speaker 2 (01:14:49):
Maturity from them. I'm really proud of all the markets
played in an offseason. They've really come together.

Speaker 4 (01:14:56):
I'm excited to see how they perform.

Speaker 1 (01:14:58):
Some wood as there saying that he's seeing that maturity
that we've kind of heard about quite a bit from
this Clemson Tiger offense as they gear up for an
opening game matchup against the top ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Sticking
with the linebackers, another name you might want to remember,
put this one in your your hat. Kobe McLeod of course,

(01:15:21):
his brother Ray Ray. Kobe's a linebacker. Jamal Anderson is
a young linebacker. And here's Wade wood Ass talking about
how those guys have done so far.

Speaker 2 (01:15:32):
Yeah, they've definitely grown up a lot. They've helped close
the gap, so there's we have more.

Speaker 4 (01:15:38):
Backer room now. I'm really proud of them growing up
this Austin just a miss spraying summer and even.

Speaker 2 (01:15:48):
Steps every day.

Speaker 1 (01:15:51):
So there's a little chatter in the background, and Wade
wood Ass doesn't speak too loud, but I hope, I
hope you could to hear him there. Final thing from
wood Ass he was asked about his comfort at playing
that middle linebacker spot. What's it? You know, what's his
comfort level being at the mic linebacker position.

Speaker 2 (01:16:14):
I've gotten way more comfortable just in camps making mistakes obviously,
because that's what that's what you learned from. So making
a lot of mistakes has really helped me to get
more comfortable. And no, okay, well I can't do that again.
So just thinking more, changing the way I think on
the field as well, thinking more big picture stuff rather

(01:16:36):
than just okay, what is my responsibility?

Speaker 4 (01:16:38):
Think of more where do I fit in the scheme?
Where are we where our weaknesses and working off of that.

Speaker 1 (01:16:46):
That's Clemson linebacker Wade wood Ass and again you heard
him talking about the middle linebacker spot. That's where he
will be expected to play for Clemson, and it just
kind of showcases his versatility because he was sort of
a safety for Clemson. You know, in some respects in

(01:17:08):
his first year, and it's probably the reason his descriptor
caused him a defensive weapon whose versatility has led to
his usage of both linebacker and safety and again to
have a middle linebacker. If I think back like James Kalsky,
I think back like Ben bullwaer, dude. I didn't want
those guys covering anybody out of the backfield. This is

(01:17:29):
a guy. Wait what you should be able to cover
people out of the backfield? Final segment coming up right
around the bench, Stay with us right here on Fox
Sports Radio fourteen hundred.

Speaker 5 (01:17:41):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Look you for us at Clemson. The answer to the
questions what have you done for me lately?

Speaker 4 (01:18:00):
What have you done? Always are the same. We win sometimes.

Speaker 1 (01:18:54):
Final segment on a Wednesday afternoon Tomorrow, timber Ray set
to join the program eight zero three four or five
zero zero zero eighty six. I know we talked about it.
Great article up with a photo exclusively given to clempses
Sports Talk from Adam Randall of the Clemson Tiger football

(01:19:18):
team in there prove it Jerseys in the wide receiver room.
In the wide receiver you prove it Jerseys that right
now is up on our site. Also a premium article
and interview with Samari Smoke Matthews that was behind the paywall.
Why Swanny, Why well, Hey, the people that write got

(01:19:41):
to eat two one dollar gets you in the door.
After that, sixty three dollars and seventeen cents for one year.
So you heard me, Game Cocks sixty three seventeen So
you could.

Speaker 3 (01:19:59):
Continue to go over the fence at the best radio.

Speaker 1 (01:20:02):
Showing the nation the late great Cleveland man dropping that bomb.
Aight oh three four to five h zero zero eighty six.
That's the text line in the phone line. One final
thing talked about Clemson Georgia a lot to prove for
the Tigers in that opener, and that's not going to
change betwixt now and kickoff.

Speaker 4 (01:20:25):
But.

Speaker 1 (01:20:26):
Discussing Clemson's opportunity to make a run to the College
Football Playoff ESPN College Game to host Reece Davis has
both Clemson as an ACC champ and a top four
team in the Cosgeotball Playoff and Florida State as an

(01:20:49):
a large team in the Collge Fotball Playoff this year,
rees Davis saying that Clemson's demise has been greatly exaggerated
and that the rest of y'all going to come on
in on the Roy bus and watch the Clempson Tigers
come back to the College Football Playoff as the ACC champions.

(01:21:13):
Reece Davis also said he thinks Florida State wins the
regular season game against Clemson because it's in Tallahassee, but
Clemson wins the rematch in Charlotte because the Tigers will
be desperate to get into the playoffs and Florida State
will already have a spot sealed up, and he believes
at that point both teams will make the College Football Playoff.

(01:21:36):
So Reheese Davis has the Tigers and the Knowles both
in the College Football Playoff twelve team playoff. ESPN's Pete
Fammel wasn't quite sure. He said, it's kind of now
or never for k Clubnick. I do feel like Garrett
Riley wasn't improvement there, but I don't think I'm sitting

(01:21:58):
here to tell you that he's the second coming of
his brother Lincoln.

Speaker 2 (01:22:04):
He said.

Speaker 1 (01:22:04):
I want to see more of them on offense more
of them schematically. Phil Moffa is a great back, but
I don't love what they have behind them. They're just okay.
Famill is picking Florida State to win the Atlantic Coast
Conference and to secure the league's only spot in the
twelve team playoff. Twelve team playoff will feature twelve a

(01:22:26):
twelve team field, with five spots for conference champions and
seven for at large bids. Top four conference champs will
occupy the top four seeds and get a bye to
the quarterfinals, which will be held at neutral sites. The
first round will be played at seeds five through eight.

(01:22:49):
That's probably part of the college football Playoff conversation we've
talked about the least, the fact that you've got chance
this year to host a college football playoff game. I
mean that seems pretty cool, right, Like you look at

(01:23:10):
the Clemson schedule and you go, yeah, yeah, yeah, there
it is games one through twelve regular season, gonna go
the ACC Championship game, and then we're gonna be in
the College Football Playoff. Is one of the top you know, five, six,
seven or eight seeds and we're hosting a game. We

(01:23:31):
got Penn State coming to Death Valley, like dream games
that we've talked about for years. And for that matter,
maybe you're on the outside and you're a team that's
on the road. So instead Clemson hosting Penn State, maybe
Penn State's hosting Clemson. I don't think Florida is gonna

(01:23:55):
be in the college football playoff conversation, but I've always
wanted Clemson to play at Ben Hill Griffin. This new scenario,
this new format, presents that option, and it's probably something
logically that we have not talked about enough. Swanny, I
want to see Clemson play in the Big House. You
might see it this year. Swany. I'd like to see

(01:24:17):
the Tigers play at Texas. Maybe it happens, Swany, I
want to see Clemson play in Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Hey,
if the chips fall the right way, you might get
sign yourself up for that tomorrow. That's one of the
beautiful things about this scenario, and it's something I think

(01:24:37):
we've all kind of glossed over because your eyes on
the prize and not on the process. Imagine the possible
games you could see this year. All Right, we gotta
get out of here. We'll be back tomorrow. Until that's
always I'll take care now and go Tigers.