The "Derby City Bowl" Edition

Clemson heads to Louisville with a chance to virtually lock up a bowl berth with a win in the Derby City. 

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Now finally, Clempson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.

(00:50):
Hell everybody, Lowton Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the South Laying. Clempson
is sports Talk for you each and every afternoon as
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(01:12):
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O three four five oh zero zero eighty six. That's
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(01:34):
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Thank you to Met's Plumming for being a part of
the show. All right, all the gates our one JP
Jason Priester from the Clemson Insider. Now a number two
we will be joined by Tommy Bowden, and we will

(01:57):
have some audio from our time with Mark Packer earlier
in the weekend on the program in our number one.
As I am still just trying to work through the
vocal core thing, I don't know what's going on. I mean,
I got a couple of hunches on that, but I
mean it clears up for a few days and then
it kind of comes back. So we'll see how it

(02:18):
all shakes out over the next two hours here. Clemson
football tonight, obviously, as the Tigers take on the Louisville Cardinals.
The Cardinals are seven to two Clempson four and five,
seven point thirty on ESPN. Then tomorrow Clemson basketball up
in Washington, DC at the Wizard's Arena, So I guess

(02:38):
technically a neutral site game against Georgetown. It'll be a
home game for the Hoyas for sure. But that's twelve
pm on Peacock, all right, without further ado, Jason Priester
joins us right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred.
You could check out his work on the Clemson Insider
dot com and he is on Twitter at jp Underscore

(03:00):
Priest Jason. What's up, buddy, how are.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
You it's been long man, how's yours been?

Speaker 2 (03:06):
It's good. Look, I do think this though, talking about
the week, I think a quick turnaround for Clemson coming
off of the heels of their victory over Florida State.
I think it's a real positive quite frankly, that they're
playing tonight and not having to wait an additional day.
And I know we're not talking about waiting an additional
week to play by any means, but I think for
this Clemson team to get back out there on the

(03:28):
field as quickly as possible giving the results last Saturday,
probably a good thing.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, I would tend to agree. You know, you want
to carry that get back out there and carry that
positive momentum over as quickly as you can. Thought they
did a lot of good things against Florida State, particularly
when you compare what you saw on defense compared to
what which you saw against Duke. I mean, don't get
me wrong, it wasn't all perfect by any stretch, but

(03:55):
I thought there was some improvements made and there was
a lot to build off of. So yeah, that's nothing
wrong with getting back out there, you know, a day earlier.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well, and the other thing too, And look, I think
one of the jobs that you have when you cover
a team as closely as we do is that you
give fair and honest assessments and don't just lean in
on the orange shaded glasses. One of my tweets that
I put out after that game is Clemson had better

(04:24):
be thankful they didn't play a better team than Florida
State because Clemson would have lost. I mean, that felt
more like Florida State lost that game. Then Clemson just
went in and kicked down the doors and won it.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
Ah, they absolutely had some opportunities, you know they had.
They were the victim of several drops. Castellana's overshot, a
wide open guy down the field, it's probably a touchdown
if he's on target with that throw. At the very least,
if Florida State's able to take advantage of some of
those busts on the back end, we're talking about a

(05:01):
hold a ball game in the fourth quarter instead of
a two score game throughout, and very, very easily could
have ended up being another loss for Clemson.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Again. You could follow Jason Priester on Twitter at jp
Underscore Priest. He covers the Tigers for The Clemson Insider.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Now.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
This past week, one of the things that we certainly
got to see more of. At least it felt like
the team was beginning to trust Gideon Davidson and running back.
I think you and I would both label ourselves surprised
that he has not had more opportunities thus far this season,
but kind of given what we saw last weekend and
the potential of what we could see from him this weekend,

(05:43):
does Clemson maybe have a nice combo there with Adam
Randall and Gideon Davidson. Finally, Yeah, I think they do.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
Man, it absolutely took longer to get here, and I
think probably any of us thought it would. I thought
for sure we'd see Gideon david center or start seeing
a lot of him far earlier than we did. But
but now that we're here, I do think they got
a pretty good one two punch there. Adam Randall, He's
been plenty serviceable for Clemson this year, particularly when the

(06:13):
offensive line gives him some room to run. But we're
still talking about a guy who who who was converted
from a wide receiver to running back less than a
year ago. I think Gideon Davison probably gives you a
little bit of a different dynamic there. He's probably the
more wet well rounded back. He's got the potential to
probably be one of the better running backs in the

(06:36):
country before his careers sad and done. He's a guy
that I think Clemson probably needs to lean on, even
maybe even a little bit more heavily than they had
the last two games. I just think he gives he
brings something different to the table, particularly with the way
Clemson's offensive lines kind of played some this year. They
haven't always been, you know, the best when it comes

(06:57):
to the run blocking, and I think he's probably more
app to be able to make something out of nothing
as opposed to Adam Randall.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
And then on the other side, for Louisville not having
Isaac Brown at running back, how significant of a loss
is that, Because listen, he's a guy that burnt Clemson
up for one hundred and fifty one yards a year ago,
had a big forty plus yard run in that ball game,
and then also a little later in the season, I
think he went for like a bucks seventy eight, And

(07:25):
I mean he's an electric playmaker for them, maybe not
only in the you know, just in the running game,
but also in special teams if necessary. How significant is
that loss in your mind going into the tonight's matchup.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Man, he absolutely ate Clemson's lunch last year. You know,
that's a pretty big loss. You know, Isaac Brown he's
their leading rusher, or he was when he went down
with the injury against Virginia Tech. But I think their
other Brown's been pretty good. Yeah, has been pretty good
in his absence. You know, he'd rushed. He had a
lot of rushing yards against Cal last week, one hundred

(08:00):
and thirty six. He was close to one hundred against BC,
close to one hundred against VA Tech. He averages more
than six yards of carry. So he's been pretty good too.
He's their second leading rusher. If Clutch has got any
hope of winning this game, it starts to stops with
slowing that running game down. You know, Louisville likes to

(08:20):
use a lot of misdirection. They got a lot of
eye candy, like to work off that play action and
try to catch you with your eyes in the wrong place.
And it starts with that running game. They're really gonna
have the key on Brown, the other Brown, Keywan Brown,
that is again, I think he's been he's been pretty
good in in Isaac Brown's place. You know, he's gonna

(08:45):
to me. It starts and stops with with slowing him down.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
You know, it's funny when the availability report came out
on Wednesday, I thought it was a little bit of
gamesmanship at first, but then about forty five minutes later,
you know, the Louisville football count admits that they accidentally
left off Isaac Brown, and I really started to wonder
if that was more so about maybe not pressure from Clemson,

(09:10):
but you know, maybe pressure from the outside saying, are
you guys sure that this isn't right or do you
think they made an honest mistake.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
I lean towards thinking maybe they made an honest mistake.
I mean, they made no bones about him, you know,
his injury and him being out for a while, that
he's not been out that long yet, So I honestly
think it was a was in at Verton, and then
after some of the backlash on Twitter, you know, they
had they had to come out and correct it.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
It was an interesting one again. Jason Priester on Twitter
at JP Underscore Priester. He covers the Clemson Tigers for
the Clemson Insider and he hangs out with us here
on the program from time to time. On a Friday.
As Clemson gets set for a seven thirty kickoff on
a Friday night in the derby city, Louisville, Kentucky, should
be nice weather there. I know you're on the scene,

(10:00):
but what do you expect in terms of fans on
a Friday night. I know Louisville's a little more loose
I would say maybe than some college towns in terms
of the people that might be available to attend a game,
Like it's tough for people to get to Clemson in
my opinion, on a Friday night, regardless of who you're playing.
I mean, what do you expect the stadium is going
to be like tonight?

Speaker 3 (10:20):
I you know, I'm not really sure. This is my
first trip to Louisville, so I can't say that I've
experienced before experienced it before, you know in the past
that they seem to do pretty good attendance wise on
Friday nights. They've played here before, you know, some on Fridays,
and they're doing the big blackout thing tonight. I was
just telling, you know, one of my coworkers that I

(10:43):
was very curious to see how field full of the
stadium would be, you know, seeing as it was a
Friday night. Saw what. I've seen a lot of Clemson
fans around here early in the day today, so I
imagine there'll be plenty of orange out there too. But
that's one of the biggest things I've kind of been
looking forward to is kind of this experienced environment here

(11:03):
at Louisville.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Well, and of course last season, Yeah, last season they
get their first win ever against the Clempson Tigers in
the ACC, and you know, their first few years in
the league really kind of challenged Clemson. Then we're close
with the Tigers. You had that great duel in Death
Valley as well between Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson, and
certainly Clempson came out on top. But it wasn't until

(11:25):
last season when the Cardinals finally topped the Tigers in
conference play or technically in any play. The two had
never met before Louisville came into the ACC. But what
what do you think about their quarterback Miller Moss. I mean,
you know, I called him yesterday he's a He's a
steady player that doesn't kill them, but he does turn

(11:46):
the ball over. I mean that's the best way I
can describe him. Right, Like he's not a guy that's
gonna make so many mistakes that you just your team
falls apart. But he's just kind of steady. But he's
he's apt to make a mistake almost each and every game.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, he's throwing it eight interceptions this year. That that's
kind of one of my keys to the game. You know,
it goes back to stopping to run and making Miller
beat you with his arm. I mean, I get it,
Clipson's experienced some issues on the back end of that defense.
But if you get some of that cleaned up, not
saying they're not gonna have any bus at all, but
if you get some of that cleaned up and cut

(12:23):
that number down the way you did from Duke to
Florida State, and cut the number of them down again
for this week, you know, I think you've got a shot.
I mean that this is not one of the and
this is not a knock on him because they don't
ask him to do a whole lot, but he's not
been one of the more elite players in conference play
this year. I think they're passing offense doesn't even rank
inside the top ten in the ACC. And as you say,

(12:48):
he's averaging by one interception a game, so he will
throw it to the other team. And I think that's
another critical pieces. As few times as Clemson has won
to turnover battle this year, I think you know, we
saw him do it last week, played a big part
and that win. I think they need to do it
again tonight.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
It would be great to see, in my opinion, this
Clemson Tiger defense and this more specifically that defensive line
really show up. You know, I saw some of the
mock draft reports that have come out lately, and the
guy that's really taking the biggest hit is is TJ. Parker,
and I just wonder if some of that will resonate

(13:28):
with him in these final three games of the regular
season where Clemson's bowl fate is on the line. And
you don't want to be a part of the team
that equalled the nineteen ninety eight Tommy West led Clemson
Tiger team that went three and eight.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
You also don't want to be the first team of
the Dabosweeneeira, you know, to not make a bowl game.
You don't want to be part of the team with
the worst record in his history, you know, which is
six and seven back in twenty ten. You'd at least
like to tie that at the very least. But yeah,
I do think, you know, TJ. Parker's play on the

(14:11):
fields finally started to leave that some of these mock
drafts dropping him down a little bit, and probably rightfully so.
He just hasn't been what anybody envisioned for that he
would be for that defensive front this season. You know, personally,
I would like to see more of Jehem Lawson I
think will help. It's been a big, a big addition

(14:32):
to this team, but it's seen lost and kind of
grow over the past few years. And he's been a
really good player when he's been on the field this season.
But for whatever reason, you know, Parker's just been he's
been one of the most inconsistent pieces on that side
of the ball for the Tigers. It's kind of, you know,
it's almost inexplicable, you know, I mean, you just don't
really you just don't understand it. You don't know what's

(14:53):
what's driving it. He's just been nowhere near to the
close we close to the guy we saw over the
back half of last year when he was so dominant.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
Then we flipped things to the Clympson Tiger offense. Another
guy whose stock has dropped, but he's played up in
this past couple of ball games. That's Kaye club Nick.
Where do you kind of put him right now? Because
this could be a signature game. If they can go
on the road and get this win, it almost secures
Bowl eligibility. I think you feel really good about them

(15:22):
getting the six wins with Furman coming up next weekend
if they win tonight. But what would that do for
Kyklubnick and maybe how people have perceived him this year?
If Clempson can venture on the road and beat a
seven to two Louisville squad.

Speaker 3 (15:37):
Well, it certainly wouldn't hurt his legacy, that's for sure.
You know, that's another guy who's taking a beat in
the in the mock draft since the beginning of the season.
And you know, for whatever reason, he just did not
start starting the season playing well, you know, throughout pretty
much all of September. But he has been really good

(15:57):
over his last four games. He's hitting on close to
eighty percent of his past attempts. He's thrown for more
than eleven hundred yards, eight touchdowns, and here's the biggest one,
only one interception. You know, he was a little little
kind of slippy with the ball security over the first
few weeks of the season, He's really gotten that cleaned up.
And I also think he's really seeing the field better.

(16:19):
For whatever reason, he just was not seeing it over
the first few weeks. You'd see guys kind of running
wide open and Club That never look at him. But
at least he's back to scanning the field and going
through his progressions at least on most plays now, and
it's really kicked up to production. I think Club's is
gonna be able to score enough points to win. And
a lot of that's, you know, due to the way

(16:40):
Club That has been playing and the emergence of kind
of Tristan Smith. Over the past few weeks. TJ More
is playing a lot better and Antonio Williams continues to
be Antonio Williams, but most of that's due to the
production from Club and I wouldn't expect any different tonight.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
You know, he's over talking about Kay Club. Nick Jason.
He's over a month out from that ankle injury that
he suffered on the road at Boston College and and
we know high ankle springs are difficult to bounce back from.
And you even saw a week ago when he kind
of took a bit of a ding on it, if
you will, where it was it was ailing him, ailing

(17:19):
him some. Can his legs finally become a factor, because
that might be a big key to winning against both
Louisville and South Carolina here in the final three games
of the season. Or do you think that he's still
too limited with his mobility because of that ankle injury?

Speaker 3 (17:37):
And let's not forget that that Dabo Sweeney said that
he was barely able to walk due to a quad
for or you know, he didn't seem to be bothered
by it too much against the Seminoles, but and Dabo
did say he was much better than his during his
Tuesday pressure. But yeah, I think I think k that
is best when he's able to do both, he becomes

(18:01):
kind of that dual threat guy. Haven't seen much of
that since the ankle. Andrea, you know, I'm not sure
he's fully all the way back yet. He would like
to think that they would kind of be cautious with
him in that regard. Didn't run it very much against
Florida State. I don't know that I'd expect him to
run it a whole lot tonight again.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
That's Jason pre start hanging out with us from the
Clemson Insider. We got about a minute and a half
until the break. We'll put you on hold. Jason will
come back because I want to dig in a little
bit further into this matchup with Jason and also talk
a little bit about the Atlantic Coast Conference, which is
shaping up for a wild finish. I don't even know.
I mean, if Louisville wins tonight to go to five

(18:40):
and two in the league, they may very well be
right there in the mix, given the fact that there
are currently four teams in the conference at five and one,
with Duke having a chance to move to five and
one and to drop Virginia to five in and two
on the season. And speaking up of the Virginia Cavaliers,

(19:02):
I just saw an article just a little bit ago
that mentioned the fact that Chandler Morris is possibly going
to be playing for them, which would be a huge
deal for Virginia. So we'll see again whether or not
that comes to fruition. The final release from the Atlantic

(19:25):
Coast Conference will come out tonight. Excuse me, my days
are off. The final release will come out on Saturday.
The release will come out tonight at eight o'clock. Yesterday's release,
Chandler Morris was listed as questionable for the Virginia Cavaliers.
All right, we a quick break, will come back and

(19:46):
we'll be joined further by Jason Priester plus and our
number one. We'll hear a little bit from our conversation
from earlier in the week that we had with the
pac Man Mark Packer right here on the show, A
right quick break. We'll come out with more on a
Friday afternoon. Back it on a Friday afternoon, a football Friday,
Clemson and Louisville under the lights in the Derby City,

(20:07):
the Cardinals seventy two, Clemson four and five. Jason Priester
from the Clemson Insider with us here on the program JP.
We talked about playing under the lights on a Friday night,
just personally, I mean, how do you like it? I
hate it? I mean, and I think this is I
think Daboswenni also hates it. I don't know if he
would use the word hate. I've kind of taught my
kids over the years to not use the word hate,

(20:30):
but I especially when you talk about hating people. But
I hate Friday night football because I just think it
steals so much from fans from the school that's hosting.
In terms of recruiting, it steals from recruits that would
have really wanted to be at this game. What do
you think about Friday night football at the collegiate level.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
Absolutely despise it. Have never I've never forgiven to acc
for agreeing to do it. The SEC doesn't play on
Friday nights. We don't see the Big Ten play and
on Friday nights, don't really see the Big twelve playing
on Friday nights. I don't think at all you know that.
I think the a SEC is the one that the
power conference that does it the most, and I just

(21:10):
don't get it. It's kind of like you say that
the Friday night especially in you know, in the Southeast,
where a lot of these schools are from particular, or
at least some of the a SEC schools from the South.
That's for high school football, that's what the spotlight should
be on. And when you get games like this, it
takes away from that. It takes like you say, recruits

(21:32):
can't even come visit schools on those weeks because they're playing,
especially this deep into the season, they're playing playoff games,
and you're really taking the spotlight away from some really
good games, not just in South Carolina but in Kentucky too.
I mean, it's just I've never liked that. I wish
they'd do away with it, but unfortunately TV rules these

(21:52):
days and they tend to get what they want.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Well. And before we circle back to Clemson and Louisville,
I do want to kind of get your thoughts on
what's going on in the Atlantic Coast Conference With the
way the standings are currently shaping up. You've got four
teams at five and one with Georgia Tech, Virginia, Pitt
and SMU. You've got Duke at four at four and one,

(22:16):
Louisville is four and two, and Miami is three and
two and the highest ranked team in the conference. How
do you kind of see these final few weeks playing out.
I mean, there's a lot of chaos that could go on.
But right now, if I said, hey, Jason, we're going
up to Charlotte for the a SEC Championship game, what
two teams do you think we're gonna watch? Who would
you tell me?

Speaker 3 (22:36):
I would absolutely have Georgia Tech as one. You know,
I thought they were a sleeper coming into the season,
and outside of that one week where they just didn't
play well and got beat, they've been a pretty formatal
opponent for most teams.

Speaker 4 (22:49):
You know.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
The popular picks probably Miami, but I think they're gonna
drop one another one before it's all said done. Give
me Pitt. I think if I had to pick right now,
I think I might ride the Georgia Tech and Pitt.
You know, just just a hunch.

Speaker 5 (23:09):
You know.

Speaker 3 (23:09):
I've kind of I don't want to say I've always
liked Pat and Ardoozy, but I like the way his
teams play sometimes, particularly in November. That defense is always
going to be pretty stout, you know. And I kind
of got to kick out of some of his comments
the other day about the Notre Dame in game, how
he'd like to he'd rather lose one ten to ten
to Notre Dame and win the next two games. You know,

(23:30):
I thought those were kind of eye opening, you know,
kind of describing the state of the sport these days
and how all of the focuses on making the playoffs
and whatever else happens is just kind of icing on
the cake.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, yeah, No, I mean I get it from his
standpoint and it could come down to that matchup between
Miami and pitt potentially the final game of the regular
season for both of those schools to decide who might
get there. I still don't want to count out Tony
Elliot and Virginia obviously with what they've done. You know,
it looks like Chandler Morris might be playing this weekend.

(24:04):
That would be a big deal for them as they
face off with Duke. But either way, I mean the
ACC's teams right now, I think the best case scenario
for everybody would be that Miami. If you want to
get two teams in, right, Miami wins out and then
Virginia and Georgia Tech played for the ACC championship. Something
along those lines would probably be best for the league

(24:27):
from top to bottom. Again, He's Jason Priester. The Clemson
Insider is the website on Twitter at jp Underscore Priester.
All right, let's circle back. We got about three minutes Jason,
this Clemson Louisville matchup. Obviously, so much has changed from
where we kind of viewed this game in the early
season versus where it is now. I'll tell you what
really makes me nervous, maybe more than anything is Jeff

(24:49):
Brohm and his ability to coach his team up. I mean,
they came into Death Valley last season and they just
flat out whip Clemson. Clempson had not been whipped like
that in Death Valley since Florida's. They came in and
beat the Tigers. Uh and obviously Florida State and twenty
thirteen whipped them even more so. But you know, when
Clemson had been beaten at home prior to this, it

(25:10):
was just a late field goal. You know, you just
kind of got in your own way, maybe on a
play here or there, but I mean that was really
the fall of Clemson's kind of armor at home what
happened a year ago. And I worry that he'll have
his team schemed up to beat the Tigers tonight as well.

Speaker 3 (25:30):
You can bank on one thing, He's gonna scheme it up.
He's one of the best at and the country at
doing that. I think he's one of the brightest offensive
minds in the country. We saw it last year that
that game was not nearly as close as the final
score would indicate. They just came in and thump Clempson
pretty good. Like you don't really see them get or
you didn't used to get see them get thumped at

(25:51):
home that way we saw.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
They ripped the armor off. They made Clemson look vulnerable
at home, and other teams have taken advantage since.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Then, probably sealed with Goodwin's fate too, with the way
they were able to run the ball for well over
two hundred yards. That that's why it's so key tonight
to kind of not let that happen again. You can't
have a repeat of which saw and depth Valley last year.
That Louisville just absolutely cannot be allowed to run the
ball it will the way they were last year. It

(26:20):
just opens up so much for him and and that
Cardinals offense if you can slow that running game down
and and and play some disciplined football and not have
so many busts on the back end, like we were
talking about earlier. I think the emergence of Corey and
Gibson helps you a lot in that regards. He's been
really good in the limited you know, snaps we've seen

(26:43):
from him over the past couple of weeks. Looks like
the light is finally starting to come off for him.
If he's out there a little bit more and plays
the way he's played in the past two weeks. That's
only gonna help you. But they cannot be allowed to
just control the line of scrimmage the way they were, well,
the way they did last year. I think a couple
of Clemson's defensive lineman got hurt in that game too.
Last year they just absolutely dominated into trenches. And if

(27:09):
you allow them to dictate the face the way they
did last year, it's going to be another long night, man,
because they've got some They've got some dudes on the
on that team, and they've got one of the best,
brightest offensive minds in the country.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
There you go, follow them on Twitter at jp Underscore.
Priester Jason enjoyed the game tonight.

Speaker 3 (27:28):
Always a pleasant my friend, appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (27:30):
There you go, quick break. We'll come out with some
of our conversation with Mark Packer right after this Lawton Swan,
Clemson's Sports Talk on a Friday. We're gonna jump into
our conversation with Mark Packer from earlier in the week momentarily,
But first let me remind you about our friends at
Alumni Hall right there on the corner of campus on
College Avenue in downtown Clemson. Roll your officially licensed Clemson
merchandise and those incredible Nike Trifit polos that you know

(27:53):
I love again when you're in there, ask them about
their Alumni Hall Rewards program and Clemson's students, faculty, military
get ten percent off of shopping in store. Plus if
you go to Alumni Hall dot com, they've got more
than just Clemson gear. You got a Virginia friend of
Virginia tech friend. Go check out all the stores that

(28:13):
Alumni Hall has available online. But if you're in Tigertown,
shop in store at Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop.
All right, earlier in the week, Mark Packer's speaking the
Tiger fans got a chance to be a Tiger fan.
He's a Clipse to Tiger graduate, and we talked with
him right here on the program about being honored in
Clemson for that Florida State game of getting the DOTDI

(28:34):
in Tigers.

Speaker 5 (28:35):
Well, it was number one. I was beyond honored when
they asked me back in June or July, I guess
it was. And I thought they had screwed up. I said,
you want me to do what now? And pack we
want you to dot the I and I said, well,
I don't really It was the dignitary. I'm not sure
I've really kind of funder that category, I said, but
I would be honored to be there. So, you know,

(28:58):
having two daughters that have graduated and going of course,
you know, being a graduate from eighty five and spending
so much time on any Clumpson, but also in the
acc it was just a great night to be there.
And you know, now that I've retired, I can go
to games now and be a fan. You know, I've
been doing that stuff for thirty years. Where you're working,
and even on the Southern Fride Football Tour once I

(29:19):
did for like thirteen years, we would go to you know,
great games each and every week. You're still working, you know.
I mean it's kind of it's wild, it's fun, it's
all that great stuff, but you know, you're still working.
But now I can just go with family and friends
and tailgate and all that stuff, and being back on
that campus. I love to play so much, and you know,

(29:39):
to be honored, And it wasn't so much me being honored.
It's just an honor to be a part of a
tradition that I've one of the reasons I love Clumpson,
you know, the clumpson football games for a thousand reasons
and the dotting of the eye and the spelling of tigers.
I knew what the band was gonna do. They swarm
me the secrecy to tell me, you know, don't tell
anybody what the band's gonna do. They're gonna light up
the tiger things. So the whole night was great, the

(30:01):
whole day was great, and our family thoroughly enjoyed it.
So it was a thrill of a lifetime. And again
I really appreciate Don Scott and all the Clemson marketing
people and all the folks that reached out months ago.
And again it was just a joy to be there.
It really was.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, it really was cool to see the band members
with those led lights on their shoulders, the way it
lit up the word tigers. And then, you know, thinking
about you, your professionalism for all these years, whether it
was your show on w fn Z or your show
on the ACC networker on Sirius XM. People knew you
were a Clemson graduate, but you did as good a

(30:36):
job as anybody, maybe better than anybody, in keeping that
fandom down and really talking, you know, realistically about the team.
That's one of the things I've tried to do here
in the midlands of South Carolina with Clemson's sports talk, right, like,
you gotta be just the guy at the bar that's
friends with everybody talking about their teams. How fun was
it for you to maybe kind of rip that mask

(30:57):
off for a minute and just celebrate the way you did.
I thought it was so cool watching you lead the
clu Son chant at the end of Tiger Rag.

Speaker 5 (31:05):
Well, like I said, you know, doing it professionally, you know,
you get the mindset, at least I did at a
really early stage of my career that Hey, you know,
I always thought about the person watching or listening to
a show, and regardless of what team or school or
conference they root for, you know, they want a fair shot.

(31:25):
They want somebody to kind of just set it straight.
And doesn't mean that you're right all the time, but
I think if you're fair in judgment, regardless of what
your background is, you want the person at home, he
or she to feel that, hey, you know what, this
guy's at least gonna tell me something that's not hot air.
It's not the ESPN. Let's create a narrative nonsense that

(31:46):
we have now. So that's always been in my DNA,
so you know, once once we're off the air, whether
it be on radio or television, you know, I'm a
Clemson guy. I mean, I want the Tigers to win
every single game. But on the air, you gotta be right.
I mean, if I was still doing stuff this year
on the air, you'd have to come clean with Clemson football.

(32:07):
I mean right to be four and five. And nobody
in their right mind, the most brilliant, smart people in
our business would have ever guessed that Clemson would be
fighting for a ball bit heading in here to the
last couple of weeks. And you know, it's one of
the funny things that every year when the AP pole
comes out. It's always been my one of my favorite

(32:28):
days of the year when the AP pole comes out
with the preseason, because I've been it's so goofy twenty three,
I think twenty two. At the last twenty three years now,
somebody in the AP preseason top ten ends up the
season unranked in the middle of August. Everybody's feeling good
about their teams regardles of who it is, and you

(32:49):
look down that AP preseason Top ten, and you know
I would always do this. I'd say, hey, I'm going
to read off the top ten teams, and I'm promising
you one of these teams. At the end of the year,
you're going to go what happened? And you never can
you go down that list. You're like, it's impossible for
these teams have bad years. It happens every year. So again,
twenty two to the last twenty three, and you know

(33:10):
you got Penn State at number two, Clemson four, LSU
at nine. Hey, in all likelihood, all three of those
guys are gonna be the outside looking in as far
as the top twenty five goes. So it again, it happens.
Nobody is immune to having a tough year. So if
I was on the air now, as much as I
love Clempson, you'd have to say, hey, listen, Dabo's swingey
on truth Sir, I would tell you this is not

(33:32):
what anybody expected. And even when you watch them, it
just doesn't seem right right. I mean, just you know,
sometimes the ball bounce is wrong way the nil some kids,
some take the money they don't have to hunger. And
there could be a thousand reasons you come up with it.
But it's been a fascinating year in college football and again,
I can't think of another time in my professional career

(33:54):
that we've gotten this late end of the year. And
if I said to you, hey, who's the best team
in the SEC, see, you may get four answers. If
I said to you, hey, who's the best team in
the ACC, you might get six answers. Based on what
we've seen here the last couple of weeks.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
Right in all.

Speaker 5 (34:10):
Seasons, even in the Big Ten, I mean, Ohio State's
number one team in the country, I'm not sure they're
the best team in their own league, especially after what
Indiana pulled off on Saturday. So again, college football is crazy,
it's wild, it's unpredictable. But again, now I'm a fan.
And then, like I said, it was so much fun
just to put your feet up, have some bourbon, talk,

(34:30):
some trash, you know, laugh, cut up, you know.

Speaker 4 (34:34):
It was just such a cool.

Speaker 5 (34:35):
Experience being a fan, like I said, being down on
the field, the energy level, it's really a tribute to
both Clumpson and Florida State. Both of them are having
years they don't want to have. But yet that place
was filled up righty to rock and roll Saturday night.
It was just a cool time to be.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
There, that's Mart Packer again here on the program on
a Friday afternoon. All right with a quick break. Well,
actually that's from earlier this week. I should say that
that's from earlier this week. All Right, wait a quick
we'll come back with a little bit more from our
time with the pac Man. On Monday plus hour number two,
we're joined by former Clips Tiger Head coach Tommy Balden.
Stay with us final segment of our one coming up.

(35:10):
Tommy Balden, former CLIPS the Tiger Head coach, joins the
program again clumps of getting geared up for their matchup
with Louisville tonight. But first we jump back into some
of our conversation with Mark Packer, and I asked him
what he's been up to since he got you know,
since he retired.

Speaker 5 (35:26):
I wake up every day going, okay, what isn't when
I'm in the mood to do. I gave up golf
when my girls were born, so I've not hit a
bad shot in twenty eight years. So again, I I
just turned sixty three, and I kind of feel like, hey,
I got a whole new world in front of me.
So again, where this thing goes? I have no rook
the idea. But like I said, what I did Saturday

(35:46):
night in Clemson is something I've not really been able
to do for thirty some odd years, and that is
just go to a ball game, put your feet up,
chill out, eat some ribs, eat some barbecue, drink some bourbon,
tell some stories, laughs, high five too, pictures, and again
that's what life's all about.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
Your dear friend Tim Bray, who joins us every Thursday
to talk about the ins and the outs of Clemson
sports and certainly college sports in general, was also officially
inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame. It had
to be really neat for you to also be there
during that time for him being honored. What has he
meant to you over the years, And talk to the

(36:23):
listeners a little bit about your unique relationship with Tim.

Speaker 5 (36:26):
Yeah, Tim and I used to be roommates. And in fact,
I spoke at the Ford Hill Clemson Club on Thursday
of last week and Larry Penley and Tim Bray were there.
And those are two of my dearest friends, and they
represent what the institution's all about. Just quality people that
you'd go to bat form under any circumstance. But Tim

(36:49):
was an old roommate when I was running the Clemson
broadcast group back in the mid to late eighties and
were running the radio and the television networked at Danny
Ford television shows and the Clemson football, basketball, and baseball networks.
I roomed with Tim, I was living with Tim at
his home. So we've known each other forever and ever ever,
and he is just a salt of the Earth's great

(37:13):
first period. And I know he's got notre dame tis
and I've got no problem that either. But man, he's
just a great person. He do anything for you, and
not only that from a professional standpoint, nobody, in my opinion,
has done a better job for an institution than what
Tim Burray has done for Clemson. And to see him
recognized in the Hall of Fame and get that recognition

(37:36):
Saturday Night and Death Valley, it is well well deserved
and probably way overdue. And if there's ever anything that
you ever wanted to know about Clemson sports, he literally
is a phone call away or a conversation away, and
it will not take long for him to come up
with the answer, assuming that he doesn't know it off
the top of his head. But he is a just

(37:58):
a class guy, a great representation and what comes to
university is all about and like I said, could not
be happier for all the accolades that come in his way.
He's just a great dud, you know.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
I think one of the valuable things that could come
out of this is whether coaches like Dabosweeney want to
believe it or not. I do think success can bring
a level of I don't know this necessarily arrogance, but
you think that your way is always going to work
and sometimes you need a reset and that's probably true
in business as well in life in general. What do
you think this season can do for dabos Sweeney in

(38:32):
terms of maybe taking him forward again in his development
as a coach, because he's still young in the business
so to speak.

Speaker 5 (38:40):
Yeah, and it's funny, you're a thousand percent right, And
it's not just a sports thing, it's a life thing.
And you know, you go back, if you read enough
of people have had unbelievable success, one of the things
they almost always talk about is not what made them great,
it's where they failed and learned and then adapted. And

(39:00):
that is true. Whether I don't care you picked the
line of work and show me the best in the
world at what they do. I guarantee you can go
back and find hiccups where all of a sudden, hey
there was a dip, there was a failure. But man,
it's how you respond. And it's funny. I mentioned having
that speech the other day at Clemson last week, and

(39:22):
my message to the Clemson family was, this is an
incredible opportunity. I said, you know, I used to work
with a guy that every time I came to him,
I said, listen, I got a problem, and say, pack
you never have a problem. What you have is an opportunity.
And that was so true, and this is true in life,
regardless of what you're facing. It's not a problem, it's

(39:44):
an opportunity, and it's the opportunity is for you to
solve it and get better. And that's exactly where Dabbo
and Clemson Football fund themselves. Despite all the incredible success,
which you can't take away, and it's one of the
things that makes you who you are. Dablo's got a
front row seat to go back now and say, Okay,

(40:06):
this one didn't work, So how do I fix it?
And so you know, if you stay status quo and
the results are the same. Then that would be a
problem because now you do have a problem that you
didn't figure out how to solve the opportunity. So Clemson's
got that chance to figure that out. Dablos has that too.
And I went back and just out of curiosity, looked

(40:26):
at some of the greatest coaches in the history of
college football and guys like Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno, Barry Switzer,
Urban Meyer, Nick Saban and start looking at how long
did they go in between winning national championships, and you
will find there is a kind of a consistent six
to eight year gap sometimes between the greatest coaches of

(40:50):
all time. And like Barry Switzer won it in seventy five,
he didn't win the next one until nineteen eighty five.
That was a ten year stretch. So you know, listen,
Clemson in twenty sixteen, twenty eighteen incredible football teams to
the best teams of all time. But you know what,
the game's changed. I mean, the world has changed in
the last five years, so you've got to change with it.
So again, I think Dabo is really smart. I think

(41:12):
he has a great hand on what he's doing, and
you know, he'd probably be the first one to tell you,
on another truth serum that he never expected this team
to be four and five, right, there's no way now
with the returning coming back and everything else. So he's
gonna have to fix it. He knows he's about to
make some changes. And as I mentioned on that speech
last week, the word opportunity, we as Clemson fans now

(41:34):
are going to have that same opportunity. I mean, there's
it's easy to jump off the bandwag and say, oh
this sucks, I'm not gonna watch it. I'm not supporting
that you're allowed to do that as a consumer, but
you will find out who the real Clemson fans are
that stand behind this and say guess what, We're no,
we're not happy about being four and five. We may
end up four and eight for anybody knows. But moving forward,

(41:56):
we got an opportunity to figure out how to get
back into the conversation where not only are you a
major factor of the ACC but you're a factor from
a nationals perspective. And again, you've got great resources, great people.
Now you got to pitch the right buttons and get
a great game plan. So it's gonna be fun to
see how that approaches that in the off season heading

(42:17):
into twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
There you go. That's Mart Packer on the flip side.
Tommy Bowden, former Clips of Tiger Head coach, joins us.
Keep it locked.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
Each time for Clips and sports talk with Luwton Swan.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
It is our number two. That's drivetime right here on
the show. The shakesare South Planta, Clemson Sports talt On
Swan hanging out with you on a Friday afternoon, a
little football Friday up in Louisville, Kentucky. Former Clypson Tiger
Head coach Tommy Balen joined us momentarily. We'll get his
thoughts on playing Friday night football, his thoughts on Jeff

(43:28):
Brohm as a play caller, all of that and much
more here on the program. And don't forget our number
two brought to you in part by our good friends
over at Mets Plumbing mets plumbing dot com two six
seven one oh eight. That's Mets Plumbing two two six
seven one zero eight. Go check them out today, you
know online at Mets plumbing dot com. All right, Tommy
abouten choin his coach, welcome in, Happy Friday. Hope you

(43:52):
had a great week as a former coach at the
collegiate level, what do you think about college football on
a Friday night?

Speaker 6 (44:00):
You know, I remember when the ESPN started going to
a Thursday night and then some Friday night games, and
of course I was against it because of high school football.
You know, it's such a huge part of this time
of the year of the community, small communities, larger communities,
and you wouldn't want to do anything to detract from that.
And I was always fought back when I was coaching,

(44:24):
but now it just seems like, you we're going on
Tuesday night, Wednesday, thursnight, Friday night, Saturday night. But I'm
definitely not in favor of it. I'm all for high
school football and them being a priority. You know, the
count that's like Sunday's NFL day, that Friday is high
school football.

Speaker 4 (44:41):
You know.

Speaker 2 (44:41):
One of the things that I think about is the
difference in what Friday night football looked like when I
was growing up and my father was the principal at
the high school, and the number of fans that were
in the stands and how much energy there were in
smaller towns for high school football, and tragically, in a

(45:02):
lot of places, it's really declined a lot. And I'm
not saying that the game has declined at the collegiate
level or that the talent pool has declined, but I
do think about some of those players that are out
there in these small communities that maybe aren't playing football
because nobody's really showing up to watch it anyway. And
I just wonder, over the long haul, is there a

(45:24):
way to turn it around, because I think the Internet
and the availability of being able to watch whatever you
want to watch on a Friday night has really stolen
in a lot of respects from high school football in
some areas.

Speaker 6 (45:37):
Now I definitely agree with you know, just it just
seems to be less interested. I can remember my first
start recruiting. It was, you know, it was exciting to
go to these high school games and the cheerleaders and
the crowds and the high school students and cheer all
that stuff is there's so much excitement I win those games.

(45:57):
Is like I say, it's kind of a lost art now,
that type of environment. And it's a shame because high
school players, you know, at that age, you know, fourteen fifteen,
sixteen seventeen, right around eighteen, it's such an exciting part
of their life, and these experiences are something that they'll
remember their whole life. And they had a bad experience
or one that's really flouderling that they have to either

(46:20):
drop it or cut back. You feel sorry for that
because there's so much excitement that as you back in
the day when it met a little bit more. It's
just it's a great time and it has great memories
for a lot of people.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
Yeah, and some players obviously come from you know, great
players at Clemson, the Kwan Bowers came from the Bamberg area.
You know, Ricky Sap, kind of the same thing. Smaller towns,
smaller schools, great players. And that translates to the other
sports too, because Bamberg, I don't know if you know
this or not, but Bamberg had Preston Wilson and Mookie Wilson,

(46:55):
and I mean, I mean, it's a fantastic little community.
I'm just not sure how many great players are coming
out of those small towns anymore are getting recognized and
taking it back to your coaching days, whether you were
at Clemson or whether you were at Tulane as the
head coach or as an assistant at Duke or wherever,
do you like how do you locate the guys that

(47:16):
are in these smaller communities, Like when do they get
on your radar? And how do they get on your radar?

Speaker 6 (47:21):
You know, since you mentioned Bamberg and the kwan Bauers,
you know, he came to camp and I offered him
like a ninth grade. You's got to doing backflips to
the ninth grader about six three two thirty five. You know,
those are easy decisions. But you know back years ago,
you know, there was there was just film, and then

(47:43):
from film it went to video from video and you
know what's those huddle links that they have now, it's
it's so much easier to evaluate them now that you
don't have to get to the game. Back when I
was started coaching, you either had to get to the
game or wait to the pate to get to the
film get to you in the film. Usually a lot
of times didn't get there until way after the season

(48:04):
because the film exchanges between high schools. But it used
to be a lot more difficult. Now it's a lot easier.
You don't have to get out as much. And then
you know, when a full time coach came on campus
Friday afternoon and you got that logo of a Tiger
Paul or USC or a block A at Alabama or

(48:25):
the Golden Blue au.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
At Auburn wherever I was right.

Speaker 4 (48:28):
You know, people knew about it.

Speaker 6 (48:29):
They all knew. They all knew where you're sitting there,
new years standing on the sideline. They knew when you
came into the school.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
But those those.

Speaker 6 (48:37):
Times, because of video and the easily accessibility to it,
that those are kind of again that's another lost art.

Speaker 2 (48:44):
Was there ever a player where maybe just a fan
from Clemson that you may have been an imptate donor
or whatever, that said to you, Hey, we've got this
kid at our local high school. Will you got to
come see this kid play? Like do you ever have
any of that as well?

Speaker 4 (49:00):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (49:00):
Yeah? And they were usually nine and forty five pounds running.
It's all those five foot nine, one hundred and sixty
pound quarterback. It's another Doug flute. Oh I mean I
got a Doug flute, you know. Yeah, those are the
uses of the guys that the alumni call on. You know,
it's it's the banker's son or the the boosters. Nephew,

(49:25):
you are somebody like that, right. They don't call about
the Kuan Bars and Ricky Sap. Everybody knows about them.
Oh yeah, you get calls all the time, but it's
usually more like a Division two, Division three caliber type player.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
Okay, I'll throw you one more curveball in that same front.
Was there ever one that you got the call and
you went and looked and went, Holy smokes, how do
we know about this? How are we like the only
people that know about this guy?

Speaker 6 (49:51):
You know, I can't remember something like situation like that
because when you recruited an area you knew about in
the eighth grade, a ninth grader and tenth grader because
the high school coach says, hey, I got one in
eighth grade. Now you're going to be coming back and
beating my doord out for years.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
When you when you recruit a school.

Speaker 6 (50:11):
You know that that's the type of relationship you bald
with the coaches and the people in the community and
the boosters in the community. But you know about so
much in advanced very seldom was there surprises like you
Like you're mentioned that there are are hidden secrets. Now
there might be late developing guys and you know, six
foot four, one hundred and eighty five pounds you know,

(50:32):
they change it go over twenty pounds in a year.
But the secrets that booster calls said, hey, coach, is
we got a guy with these kind You usually know
about those guys when they're in seventh grade, eighth grade,
ninth grade, and you're very familiar with them by the
time they get to high school and eligibility wise.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Tommy Bowden with us year on the program, talking a
little bit of recruiting from the coaches kind of view
of it all. Did you fly out like on a
would you like if if you had a kid in
Myrtle Beach or somewhere, would you fly there on a
Friday night and then fly back and then coach a
game on Saturday? What did that window look like for
you guys as coaches back in the day.

Speaker 6 (51:12):
It depends on what resource you had. When I was
at Duke, we flew out after practice on Thursday night
and got into your area on Thursday night, worked all
day Friday, flew back Friday night. Now at Clemson you'd
have to access to a private plane Alabama private plane.
Off the private plane, so after practice they would take

(51:33):
four or five coach and drop them off in spots
and then on Friday night. They would pick you up
in spots. You might get in twelve or one o'clock
it night on Friday night. But it depends on what
I had to fly com on. We didn't have private
plane access to private planes like Duke would be an example.
We'd go to Roleg Durham Airport fly out. You usually
recruit the bigger cities because you were going to private schools,

(51:56):
so the bigger cities where they head of private but
at the schools that had the private planes, you take
four or five coaches out on Thursday night after practice.
Some of them had to take off you know, maybe
in this the last four or five periods of practice
to get to a game Thursday night. But they would
usually go out Thursday night, work all day Friday. Then

(52:17):
you put these spot pick them up. And that's why
the schools that have access of as private plans, it
really really helps when when when when getting your coaches
out and being known and being seen that what's hold
up at the prospects, you know game in person?

Speaker 2 (52:32):
Can we talk about how stressful that must be? I
mean that that's got to be rough. And then I
imagine because that's happening on what home games. Right most
that's only happening in the home game weekends that you're
doing that, some of those same players are turning around
and visiting your school the next day and they got
a drive or whatever however they get there. I mean,
that's just that's a lot that goes on that people

(52:54):
don't think about when they talk about Clemson preparing the
face Louisville or Florida State on Saturday.

Speaker 6 (53:02):
Yeah, you know, and you gotta let the right guys
see you. For example, I would I would go to
school back in the day and then hang around the
school before the game and let the player see you there.
You're going, he thanks you, They're the whole game. Then
you go to another another school, drive you know twenty
like when I recruited Jackson, Florida. Then you drive to

(53:24):
another school and let that play. You stand by the
gate when they come out for the game, and then
you might stand at the gate at the end of half.
They see you, more coaches all. Then you get in
the car and you drive to another game where they
see you after the game. So you try to make
three or four guys think that you've been the whole
game at their game by by getting places where they

(53:45):
they're gonna see your face and see you there. And
yet there's a lot of stress you got us you're
on the go. I mean when you go, you're you're working,
you're working twenty four to seven. Then if there's fog
rolls in or something, you might not be able to
get back in to wherever you're going. So it's going
to be a really really late night with a game
the next day.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
And then how hard is it when you've got a
really good relationship with a recruit And I'm sure that
you could probably name some of these guys that you
just had a great relationship with, but for whatever reason,
maybe it's just that's where they wanted to go somewhere else.
Maybe it was some shady underground recruiting stuff that we
don't need to know about on the air where you
just felt like, man, I can't believe that guy went

(54:25):
somewhere else, And now you just felt like your girlfriend
dump chair or something.

Speaker 6 (54:28):
I guess yeah, when you work AIDS, because what you
do is you try to develop such a close relationship
they can't tell you no to your face. And unfortunately
you've got the player, but the other schools got the
mother because they're working for a booster to bank and

(54:49):
there's other things going on. It was nil before they
had nil, is what it was. And as hard as
you work the player and you didn't come up with
some money or some refoorce for the parents or their father,
all of a sudden came up with the car. Mentor
was working them. You were working the kid, and the
other schools working the mentor. They're gonna listen to the mentor. Yeah,

(55:11):
those are things that there are a lot it's a
lot more, a lot different now where the cash is
acceptable and the cash is the way you go. Whereas
the schools that weren't cheating back in the day that
there were cheaters.

Speaker 3 (55:25):
That's that's what happened.

Speaker 6 (55:27):
You got the key in a coach, I'm coming and
his mother don't sign because they got the mother.

Speaker 2 (55:32):
Mm hmm Wow. Tommy Balden giving a scoot.

Speaker 4 (55:36):
C J.

Speaker 6 (55:36):
Spiller would be an example because University of Florida Urbansmeyer's
wife did a great job on CJ's mother, and Dabo
did a good job on CJ. We had CJ. They
had the mother and the mother had signed. So those
things happened. A good bit of the time.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Wow, what a story there. Tommy Balden with us here
for a few more minutes. Let's shift gears to the game. Well, first,
talk about what you saw this past weekend with Clemson
in Florida State eight. I've not to hear on the radio.
I'm sure my listeners are tiring, are tired of hearing
it this week. I really thought if Clempson had played
a more capable ball club, they got beat this this
past Saturday. They were fortunate that Florida State sort of

(56:14):
shot themselves in the foot. Did you get that same
impression watching the game? It was more Florida State lost
it maybe than Clemson just went there and punched the
Seminoles right in the mouth.

Speaker 6 (56:24):
You know, when you watch Clempson this year, it's very
different from Clemson teams in the past. BLUs some teams
that you knew what you were gonna get on game day,
you knew you were gonna get a team defense to
get after offense that'd be sharp. They challenge and make
big plays, and you don't. You don't see that the consistency,
and the same thing with Florida State. So you were
seeing two teams like you just mentioned that you know

(56:47):
which one is gonna give it, give it to the other.
And unfortunately they've been playing like that this year. Florida
State played like it last year and this year Clempson
more or less just this year. It's very unusual for
clumpson to be But yeah, that was a game that
wasn't like those games in the past, whereas two really

(57:07):
talented teams played with great execution. And yeah, that kind
of felt the same way you did. And be asked
to see what happens tonight Louisville a lot on the line,
Clemson fighting for a bowl game, but you don't know
how much those players that are getting paid are gonna
want to go to play hard to get in a

(57:28):
really really low level ball game, which Clemson hadn't been
too in years.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
Yeah, it's it's it's something the possibility that they don't
make a bowl game since before you arrived at Clemson
back in nineteen ninety eight, my junior year of college,
when Clemson went three and eight, a rough, rough season
there before you arrived in Tiger Town. Obviously, that'll be
a big story if they were to lose this game,
Needing to win their final two games against Furman, in

(57:55):
South Carolina. But speaking of this game in particular, a
year ago, I really thought it was Jeff Brom and
Louisville who sort of busted Clemson right in the nose
in Death Valley and maybe prove that Clemson could be
vulnerable at home under Dabos Sweeny. I think that's carried
on quite a bit. How much do you know about
coach Brom and the job that he does really scheming

(58:16):
things up offensively, because I'll tell you they do such
a good job that even without their starting running back
Isaac Brown, who's out for this game, coach, I'm really
concerned about what he might be able to do to
get Clemson's defenders in bad positions or bad spots maybe
a better way to put it. During this ball game.

Speaker 6 (58:35):
He's one of the Jeff Brown, he's one of the
better head coach of play callers in college football. When
you watch him attack defenses, they look like they really
always one step ahead of the defense, which is what
a good coordinator is allowed. You know, that's what he does.
That is what his knack is for calling plays that

(58:56):
some guys have it, some guys don't. But yeah, you know,
playing that little a lot on the line. Clemson is
still kind of seen as the gem of the ACC.
They're not this year, but beating them is a lot
of credibility, Just like the feeling that Davo had about
beating Florida State. He said, Hey, you never get tired
of beating Florida State, and then you never get tired

(59:16):
of beating Clemson. Clemson, even though they're not having a
great year, gets gets it's gonna get Louisville's best shot.
And they've got a head coach right now that can
play and really put a lot of stress on defenses.
And and then his track record at Jeff Brohm of
beating ranked teams, and you see why people are mentioning
him from some of the positions that are coming over.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
Yeah, and that the intrigue on that is, you know,
he played high school football there in Louisville. He went
to Louisville. He got his start as a coach with
a semi pro team there in Louisville called the Louisville Fire.
And I just think about, then, there's a guy whose
name is going to be on the radar of all
these other places, but this is his home, Like this

(59:59):
is this, this is more home for him than Clemson
is for for Dabo Sweeney, for example. I just think
Will Will would he leave this job and what would
it take him to go and be the head coach
of another school, because I think he's gonna get a
lot of offers from some of these SEC schools for sure.

Speaker 6 (01:00:18):
I look at him as the same way I look
at Brent Key at Georgia Tech and what he said, Hey,
if you cut me, I bleed Georgia Tech. Well, it
depends on where you cut him. If you cut him
with a flesh room, he's gonna bleed Georgia Tech. If
you hit it in an organ, he's gonna bleed Green.
And that's what these larger schools have. They got more green,
they got more resources. So yeah, I say, yeah, if

(01:00:41):
you cut me, he's gonna bleed Louisville until you cut
deep enough and he's gonna bleed.

Speaker 5 (01:00:44):
He's gonna bleed Green.

Speaker 6 (01:00:45):
And I think Brent Key's gonna be the same way.

Speaker 5 (01:00:48):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:00:49):
But yeah, but you know, look.

Speaker 7 (01:00:52):
At their stadium, look at the size of a look
at the resources that have and look at the resources
at a l s U, at an Auburn and those
places in the history and tradition and all that, and
then you know it's just it's a completely different environment.

Speaker 6 (01:01:05):
And sometimes that's what attracts a guy like Brent t.
That's what attracted me to Clemson was it's a big
time environment where they take it very, very serious. They've
got the resource, who got the money a lot more
now than when I came. But they think that's going
to be in the back of well, yeah, Brom's mind.

Speaker 2 (01:01:27):
And in fairness, every once in a while, we only
have a less than a minute, but you can certainly
agree to this. Every once in a while, you get
to go back home. And example might be rich Rodriguez
right returning to West Virginia. It might be a while
before you get back if you leave, but a lot
of these guys do end up getting back at home.
If that is the case, we'll see what happens with
Jeff Bram after the season. Again. Tommy Valence here every Friday,

(01:01:49):
the former clips the Tiger head coach hanging out with
his coach. Enjoy the weekend of college football. I hate
to say these words to you. Friday night, Clemson football
tonight against Louisville. Enjoy the game.

Speaker 6 (01:01:58):
Though it'd be a good game, give us something to
do on Friday night.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
So there you go, Tommy Bowden and again Clemson and
Louisville tonight at seven point thirty up in Louisville, Kentucky
the Derby City. Huge win for Clemson if they can
get it. We'll give you our prediction an hour number
two on the guest line, Double Oh. We'll get to
it r after this day with us, Lawton Swan Clemson

(01:02:26):
Sports saw the show The shakespare south Land again. That
was Tommy Bowden a few minutes ago on the guest line,
I said, guest line for double O. Double Ow's on
the phone line. He's been hanging out with us for
a few minutes during the break, Double oh, sorry to
keep you waiting, my man. What's on your mind?

Speaker 4 (01:02:45):
Well, I don't mind being on hold. I ain't got
nothing else to do right now, so holding it don't
bother me. It's okay, we're talking. We're on air now,
ain't we.

Speaker 2 (01:02:55):
Yeah, you're good. You're good. What's on your mind on
a football Friday? Is Clemson get ready to face Louisville tonight?

Speaker 4 (01:03:02):
Well, I was just listening to mister Priester and he
was putting down some good stuff, and I think that
Clemson is going to take care of business in Kentucky
this evening.

Speaker 2 (01:03:17):
Well. I mean, look, Clemson, I think is feeling more
confident than they were early in the season, even with
some of the losses like the Duke loss, right, I
think they played better. The question becomes, where do you
rank this Louisville team in terms of the teams that
Clemson has played this year? And you might very well

(01:03:39):
say that they're the second best team that the Tigers
have faced. So that could be the problem is that
this Louisville team, I think it's probably the second best
team Clemson's face this year.

Speaker 4 (01:03:50):
I think you're right on You're right, Yeah, you're putting
it down perfectly. What you're saying is absolutely true Lawton,
that Clintson is looking and improving, okay, and Louisville they
are going to be you know, without their start running back,

(01:04:13):
so their offensive production I don't think will be as
good as normal. If I think if our defensive backs
can you know, stop the passing game and cover some receivers,
you know, not leave not letting them run wide open
out there, you know, and do their job, then we

(01:04:37):
could beat them, and I think we'll beat them by three.
My prediction would be twenty four to twenty one.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
Low scoring. I think that's gonna be key keeping that
offense in check. I agree with you on Matt Jeff
Bram's are really good coordinator. We talked about that with
Tommy Balen just a few minutes ago. I could see
some that similar to that. Honestly, Uh, I think you've
got to figure out how to frustrate their quarterback, Miller Moss.

(01:05:07):
You know it's Clipson defensive line, that key defensive up.

Speaker 4 (01:05:13):
But that's a key. Yeah, you got to put pressure
on that guy.

Speaker 2 (01:05:17):
Yeah, you like defensive line play. I mean you're you're
big time William Perry fan. I mean you liked all
those guys.

Speaker 4 (01:05:23):
That's sorry for interrupted again. That's what I played when
I played ball, I put I played both sides, tight
end and deep defensive end. And yes, I like playing
defense better than I played like playing offense. Because we
never they never throw the ball, we never passed, we
were all running. We never kicked the field goal, but

(01:05:45):
we did it. We never kicked an extra point. And
I love playing defense more than I like offense. And
we all we we We never never passed the ball.
We we ran ran the ball. We had a guy
named Isaiah Hip played for the Brown. He would go
around in and.

Speaker 2 (01:06:02):
Be gone, what seasons did you got him?

Speaker 4 (01:06:04):
You don't remember him, do you?

Speaker 2 (01:06:06):
No? No, no, you're you're a little older I think
than I am. I was looking, what yeard you guys
win the football state championship? Seventy four?

Speaker 4 (01:06:14):
Uh, Lawton, it was seventy seven, I think. But don't
hold me on that. Don't hold I can't because I'm
trying to remember the exact year, but I can't.

Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
It was seventy three, seventy four. It looks like they
won state championship.

Speaker 4 (01:06:30):
Yeah, I think it was that. I think it was
that before before I was you know, the team I
was on did not win it. But but the year before,
I think it was the year before I started my
freshman year. I think they won a state championship.

Speaker 2 (01:06:44):
Huh man, how about that?

Speaker 4 (01:06:47):
He's Wolbright. They got the Chapin Stadium named after him,
and his three sons played at Chapin and then they
went and played for South Carolina. Rex Marty and oh
my gosh, I can't remember Rex Marty and I can't
remember the three three of his sons played, Rex Marty

(01:07:09):
and God, I can't believe I can't remember the last.

Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
I think everybody listen, the people out in Chapin will
know who it is.

Speaker 4 (01:07:18):
Oh, absolutely they know. And I believe the state championship was.
I think you're right. Seventy four.

Speaker 2 (01:07:27):
I think it was seventy three. Seventy four is what
I see online. I'm just looking at right, that's right,
looking at the.

Speaker 4 (01:07:38):
Before my freshman year. Yes, I was. I think I
was JB when they won.

Speaker 2 (01:07:44):
You were just a young whipper snapper.

Speaker 4 (01:07:46):
I was a young whipper snapper playing ball, probably.

Speaker 2 (01:07:53):
Pee football, but.

Speaker 4 (01:07:54):
Yeah, exactly, Chapin Elementary football field.

Speaker 2 (01:07:58):
So you've got you've got Clipson winning the night by
three one, yes, sir, all right, I'll lock it in, buddy, Hey,
have a great weekend. Enjoy the game tonighty one.

Speaker 4 (01:08:08):
More thing? Yeah, I think you you said a good thing,
lawton about you know, if we can get by Louisville
tonight and we can beat Firm and we'll beat Bowl,
we'll be heading towards towards the Bowl.

Speaker 2 (01:08:20):
So galloway tonight, that's key.

Speaker 4 (01:08:22):
I agree, Thank you, buddy.

Speaker 2 (01:08:24):
Later there you go. That's double oh. A little uh
little throwback to back of this football playing days out
in Chapin. Yeah, a little papal for the Chapin Eagles
and appreciate double O. Get me on the rabbit hole,
down the rabbit hole of the most state titles in

(01:08:49):
South Carolina high school football history? Who are those teams?
Who has the titles in this state? Well, I am
going to let you know when we get back, so
make sure you keep it a lot right here on
Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred the Midlands and around the
world on the iHeart Radio app. One teaser on this team.

(01:09:14):
This football team has seventeen state championships, seventeen state titles.
Who is it? Find out there are five schools I
will tell you in the state of South Carolina that

(01:09:34):
have ten or more state championships. So we'll give you
the rundown of those schools when we get back. Keep
it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen undred
the Midlands and around the world on the iHeartRadio app.
As the show that Shakes the South Land rolls on

(01:09:55):
on a Friday afternoon. All right, stay with us Clemson Sports,
Salt Loaw and swine Back with you. So double O
got me down a rabbit hole when I was looking
to see what year what year they won the state
championship out a chapion in football, seventy three and seventy
four the most state titles, though in South Carolina high

(01:10:18):
school football history the Gaffney Indians with seventeen. Now, it
was different back in the day. You would have one
state champ at all levels every year. I don't know
when they broke off and began having different classifications, but

(01:10:39):
Gaffney won in nineteen, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine,
thirty one, thirty four, sixty, sixty three, sixty four at
sixty five then eighty five, ninety two, ninety seven, three,
zero five, six, twenty twelve, and twenty twenty one. So

(01:11:01):
Gaffney the all time mark. Somerville and Abbeville have both
won twelve. Somerville won in forty eight, forty nine, fifty five,
fifty six, sixty nine, seventy eight, seventy nine, eighty two,
eighty three, eighty four, eighty six, and ninety eight. What's
funny about that is for me, no offense to all

(01:11:25):
you Somerville fans listening in the area or online on
the iHeartRadio app. Somerville felt like a bigger power in
my life, but has really only won won title since
nineteen eighty six, forty years. That's kind of shocking. Abbeville

(01:11:50):
won in kind of a modern power. Seventy one was
their first, eighty one ninety one, so every ten years
they won one, then six, twenty ten, twenty eleven, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen,
twenty and twenty twenty two they went on a big
run there. A Burns has eleven. The Rebels won in

(01:12:14):
seventy six, seventy six, eighty two, eighty six, two oh three,
oh four, oh five, oh seven, oh eight, twenty ten,
and twenty eleven, so a dominant stretch from two thousand
and two to twenty eleven for Burns and then Woodruff
has ten fifty six, fifty seven, sixty five, seventy five,

(01:12:37):
seventy six, seventy seven, seventy eight, eighty, eighty three, and
eighty four. So Woodrof has not won a state title
since nineteen eighty four. Late views on that list with
nine state titles, dutch Fort also has nine, many of
theirs coming recently. Dutch Fort won their first title in
twenty thirteen and has won twenty sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen ten,

(01:13:00):
twenty twenty two, twenty three, and twenty four, meaning that
Dutch Fork has won what every state title at their
level since twenty sixteen except for the twenty twenty one
state championship. Columbia High School has eight, their last state

(01:13:20):
championship coming all the way back in nineteen forty three,
if that, If that you want to feel old about it,
and then Greenwood and Clinton both have eight. Batesburg, Cambden, Spartanburg,
and Myrtle Beach along with Chester have seven state titles,
and the Swansea Tigers have six, three of which they
got when I was in high school. They won in sixty,

(01:13:43):
seventy four, seventy five, ninety two, nine three, and ninety four.
The most consecutive state titles in state history belong to
dutch Fork that stretched from twenty sixteen to twenty twenty.
Florence woodrooff Burns and christ Florence woodroff Burns, Christ Church
and Dylan have all won four consecutive state titles. So

(01:14:06):
that's kind of a look at the history, if you will,
of high school football. The most coaching victories in the
history of the state. John McKissick five hundred and ninety
four wins in fifty nine years. That's ten wins the season.
I mean, that's about solid as you can get at
the high school level. And second on that list is W. L.

(01:14:32):
Varner at Woodruff, who coached for forty three years and
won three hundred and eighty three, meaning that mckissickus has
two hundred and eleven more wins than his closest competition.
I mean, that's that's saying a lot, is it? Coaches?

(01:14:53):
Coaches just don't coach the way they used to. And
mckissic's number, according to this release, is the national record.
Huh Now, I'm just kind of looking at some of
the other random statistics, most passing touchdowns in a career.

(01:15:20):
I didn't know they had all this about high school
football in the state. This is nice. This is nice.
Like when I was in high school, the only thing
he had was the High School Sports Report. It's kind
of a little newspaper that would come out with maybe
an article or two about your high school if you
were lucky. Oh okay, here we go. I mentioned the

(01:15:41):
you know, when did they switch like to multiple schools
winning the state championship. It looks like that happened must
have been around nineteen sixty seven, sixty eight. I'm not

(01:16:07):
one hundred percent sure looking at this, but that might
be the case. I definitely see like the first Yeah,
I don't know. This is very confusing. Anyway, that's kind
of a fun little walk down memory lane. Broll you
high school football fans on a Friday nights. Clemson and

(01:16:28):
Louisville encroach on our football Friday nights here in the
state of South Carolina. Longest winning streak in South Carolina
high school football history belongs to Simms High School. From
nineteen forty six to nineteen fifty four, they won ninety

(01:16:50):
seven consecutive games. And looking at it, that was apparently
the black high school in Union before integration. It closed
in nineteen seventy. There is a historical marker there as
segregation took place. Founded in nineteen twenty seven in the upstate,

(01:17:12):
Willie Jeffries.

Speaker 5 (01:17:13):
Who.

Speaker 2 (01:17:15):
Went on to be the head coach at South Carolina
State University, apparently played for the principal there, James F.
Moore at one point, So a little connection to the
little historical perspective on a Friday. All right, quick break,
we'll come back. Final segment and prediction right after this.

Speaker 8 (01:17:35):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just on't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately? What have you done?

Speaker 5 (01:17:54):
Always are the same.

Speaker 8 (01:18:01):
We win.

Speaker 6 (01:18:43):
Sometime.

Speaker 2 (01:18:48):
Final segment on a Friday, May. I am glad to
finally kick my feet up and relax. What a week
this is been busy. Holy moly. Clemson Louisville seven thirty ESPN.
Sh You know, look, I I talked about earlier that
Louisville might be the second, maybe the third best team

(01:19:09):
Clemson's face this year. The problem with that note and
saying that it should also be added, Clemson should be
the best team of all of these teams that they
have faced. I mean, that's the real crux of the matter.

(01:19:29):
Clemson should be the best team of all the teams
that they faced, and they haven't been. I mean, they've
been bad. It's tough to watch. Yeah, I could see
somebody feeling that way about some of what you've seen.
But at some point, I think you have to be

(01:19:51):
kind of like Dabosweeney when Tyler from Spartanburg called him, Hey, Tyler,
I've listened for you, and you've listened to enough of them,
And I've listened to enough of Clemson and enough of
what you've seen from them on the field. I've listened
to it enough. It is time for the Tigers to deliver.

(01:20:17):
Not the Florida State win, not going to North Carolina
or Boston College, none of that. That all amounts to
a hill of beans. This is the game where you
can set a mark and say, you know what, all
of the bad that we had in this season does
not define who we are as a team. This is

(01:20:40):
the game. And there's another one that comes up in
a couple of weeks against South Carolina that is the
very same that can tell the very same story about
who you are because you haven't beat anybody worth a
crap this season, not troll, not North Carolina, not Boston College.

(01:21:03):
It's certainly not that train wreck that they've got rolling
out of Tallahassee right now at Florida State. This is
the game where you can finally say in the mirror,
you could say it in front of a camera. If
you're Dabo Sweety, I knew this was in this team.

(01:21:25):
Of all the teams in the country that we did
the preseason projections on win lost total, Clemson consistently for me,
and not because I covered them, because of who they
were playing. I thought had the best chance of winning
ten games this season.

Speaker 4 (01:21:45):
Man, you are one pathetic loser.

Speaker 2 (01:21:48):
I also thought Clemson had a chance legitimately to go
undefeated this collection of talent, and there are certainly shoes
on the defense that I did not expect, But in
terms of recruiting and retention, this team has more talent

(01:22:11):
than probably everybody they faced. Tonight is the night that
you have to go prove that. Tonight is the night
where you finally stand and say we are better than
our opponent. And ironically, ironically, I think this is the

(01:22:33):
first game. I believe this is the first game Clemson
has been an underdog all season. It might have taken
Clemson getting to this point before they can finally stand
at attention and say, nope, we're better than our competition.
The problem is, Jeff Brom is a really good coach,

(01:22:55):
and Jeff Brom I can assure you will not let
this Louisville team come out and play flat. But here's
what's happened in the two hours that we've been on
the air. The line has shifted another point. Clemson is

(01:23:18):
now only a one and a half point underdog. It
started at three and a half. It has worked its
way back. People are buying in on Clemson, and I
am too. I'm taking the Tigers to go to Louisville
and to come out of there with a victory tonight.
This is not against my better judgment. This is me

(01:23:40):
believing that finally it improved confidence and improved running back room,
with Adam Randall having a complimentary back in Gideon Davidson,
with Clemson having an opportunity in front of them to
play and win in a game on the road that
can turn the momentum of this season, and more than anything,

(01:24:04):
this is Bowl eligibility in my opinion. I'm not saying
you can't beat South Carolina, but what I am saying
is this is a bowl game. If you treat it
as such, they will win. Clemson wins tonight, the Tigers
top Louisville twenty seven twenty four. I think it's gonna

(01:24:24):
be tight. I'll stick with a three point spread. Kind
of like what double Low said before. I'll take Clemson
to win twenty seven to twenty four. What does that
put me at fifty one on the over under being
at fifty point five. Yes, there you go. That's the number,
twenty seven to twenty four Tigers. We'll see if we're
right on Monday. Until then, as always, I'll take care

(01:24:46):
now and go Tigers.