The "Feeling Good" Edition

When is the last time Clemson Nation felt this optimistic about an upcoming season?

Episode Transcript

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(01:50):
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(02:14):
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(02:39):
You guys live in the future of me here on
the program again A three four five zero zero eighty six.
That is the text line in the phone line. And
you could be a part of the program anytime, any place,
anywhere on our website, clymsessports talt dot com. I started
to think about how you feel and what I mean
by that is, you know, the optimism that you have

(03:01):
right now about this Clemson Tiger football team and how
you feel about it coming into this year by comparison
to maybe years past and what season. And I actually
put this out on Twitter, with all the optimism, when's
the last time you felt this good about a football
team in Tiger Town? Because I mean, there was a

(03:24):
stretch and you know this, and I know this because
you listened to the show The Shakestare south Land. During
that time, there was a stretch because Clemson was so
much better than their contemporaries in the Atlantic Coast Conference
and we're playing on an elite level that every single season.
When we came into the beginning of the year and

(03:46):
you looked at the schedule, you thought to yourself, well,
probably at worst it's ten and two in the regular season.
At best, it's twelve and zero. And obviously, over the
past couple of years, that level of optimism got away
from Clemson for a couple of reasons. Number One, last year,

(04:09):
you opened the season against the Georgia Bulldogs and they
had been a juggernaut on the college football front for
several years, and so you kind of knew, okay, well,
that game is gonna be won. And then you look
down the line a little bit and you pick and
choose these matchups where you know you're gonna have your
hands full. This is a season though, that you're coming

(04:30):
into where you've had this resurgence and you were back
in the College football Playoff, and you've got a lot
of returning starters, especially on the optensive side of the football.
You've got a new defensive coordinator, and that's enhanced the
optimism in Tigertown much more so than when Brent Vinables
left and you were placed in with Wes Goodwin. People
are like, wait a second, what was that? But you
go out and you get Tom Allen from Penn Satan,

(04:51):
people go, wait a second, what was that? And so
now people are really excited about the situation on the
defensive side of the ball and seeing what this group
can do with takeaways, etc. On the grid iron. But
for you, the fan, the casual observer, the folks that
lock in to the Clemson Tigers throughout the year, when's

(05:12):
the last time you felt this optimistic about a football
team in Clemson? Is it heading into how you felt
in the twenty sixteen season off of the heels of
a run to the national championship. Was it maybe how
you felt following winning your second national title forty four
to sixteen over Alabama and then jumping back into the

(05:36):
twenty nineteen season when you make a run all the
way to the national championship against LSU, Was that the
last time you felt this good? And speaking of LSU
this season, you open with the value Bengals in death Valley.
That's Clemson's death Valley, mind you. But when's the last
time you Tiger Nation felt disoptimistic about a Clemson Tiger

(05:58):
football team heading into the season. Let me know what
you think in the comments if you're watching on TikTok.
I think for me, just kind of off the hoof
and thinking about it, I think my level of optimism
about this season is sort of where things were for
Clemson following that twenty nineteen season when the Tigers went

(06:22):
to the National Championship and got beat by LSU and
had a chance to win thirty in a row and
back to back national titles. And I still look back
at that game and think about what could have been
from the standpoint of how this dynasty would be perceived
with three national championships. You know, it's you know, it's amazing.
I think the difference in how you would see it

(06:43):
and view it and how it would have been seen
and viewed nationally if Clemson had won that game against LSU.
But when you reset and sort of settle in, you know,
I think you kind of knew that following year that
it was gonna be a little bit tougher. What you

(07:07):
could not anticipate that following season was COVID nineteen. And
you know, that's something that I think from the standpoint
of college football, certainly changed the complexion of things when
you had the shorter schedule and you know, you played

(07:29):
less games, and there was even the Florida State game
being postponed because Clemson had one guy that you know,
popped a positive COVID test on the way down to
Florida State. Which I'll say it again, either you trust
the test or you don't. I was a guy that
trusted the test. Clearly Florida State was not. Because again,

(07:54):
if one guy was positive, that didn't mean that ten
guys were positive. And if one, if no guys are
positive before the game, it doesn't mean five guys aren't
gonna be positive during the game. But when you test,
that's the test, and if the positive guy goes home,
that game should have been played. Still the most absurd

(08:14):
you know why they didn't play it. Clemson would have
run through Florida State like a hot knife through butter
that season. They didn't want that smoke, believe you me.
But of course that Clemson Tiger football team in twenty
twenty didn't have a t Higgins. You didn't have that

(08:38):
elite wide receiver to the degree that you had had,
especially given his size. That team didn't have Justin Ross
because of Ross's congenital neck issue, and so you know,
you didn't you didn't quite have the offen and sive

(09:00):
arsenal that you would have hoped, especially off of the
heels of the season that Ross had as a freshman
and then you know, having a really good sophomore year
as well. But over the long haul, you know, I
still think you felt really good about the ball club.
You had Trevor Lawrence, you had Traves etn You know,

(09:22):
I would argue that group was much more settled at
running back than this one is. But this group is
much better. This this group this season is much better
at wide receiver. You know, that team had Brayden Galloway
at tight end who never really never really turned out

(09:42):
to be a huge performer for Clemson quite frankly back
in the day. And it'll be interesting to see how
things develop at tight end for the Tigers, whether that
ends up being a guy like Christian Bettencore, you know
who steps up. And really, I think if I've had
a crew of Clemson football since winning the national title

(10:04):
in twenty sixteen, is that even though you've had some
guys that have gone on to play in the NFL,
like Davis Allen, who's playing in the NFL, you haven't
had anybody that's managed to piece together the type of
success that the Tigers had at tight end during that

(10:30):
time when it felt like Jordan Leggatt made you know,
every big play possible. So kind of my gut, you know,
because I think after you played for the national title
in twenty fifteen and you had a lot of pieces
coming back, I think everybody felt great. I would say

(10:50):
they felt better than they do about this coming season.
I think after winning the national title the following year,
everybody felt really good. But you knew you were losing
Deshaun Watson. So maybe twenty seventeen, you know, the one
year would Kelly Bryant at quarterback. You did go to
the College Football Playoff, You're the number one seed, gotta

(11:13):
beat Balabama, So maybe that would be the other year
people might lean in on twenty eighteen. You had Trevor
Lawrence certainly that there, and obviously Kelly Bryant too, but
it was kind of a back and forth through the
first four games, and then and then Trevor takes it

(11:37):
over and never gives it up and leads to a
national title. That following year. I know your optimism was
greater than it was now because you had basically everybody back.
You know, the defense certainly had some big pieces that
it lost, but I think you still felt like you
had a juggernaut offense that could outscore anybody. But my

(12:00):
guess is that following season, after you got beaten the
national championship by LSU, I'm thinking the way people felt
about twenty twenty is probably the last time Tiger fans
were disoptimistic. And I've got a feeling that's gonna kind
of be the vibe because I think you're way more
optimistic than you are right now following national championship seasons

(12:26):
for the most part. So we put that out on
social media. If you want to go over there and comment,
we'd love to get your thoughts on it. I'd love
to hear what you think about your level of optimism
this season. And I know it's hard to measure. It
is hard to quantify it because you've you've been very
optimistic for a while. I think a year ago. I

(12:49):
think a year ago you backed off of your optimism
just a little bit because of the way the previous
season went. When you had a lot of optimism about
k clebnicket quarterback because of his performance in the a
SEC Championship. I think you were willing to overlook the
performance in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee as being you know,

(13:11):
jitters for a young guy, and so you felt good
you had Duke in the open of that following season
and that thing goes twenty eight to seven and you're
just stunned. But I don't think any of you are
as optimistic that year as you are now based off
of what you just saw from k Clebnick a year ago.

(13:33):
Knowing the wide receivers and where they are, believing that
there's got to be in that running back room, there's
got to be a running back that may not be
Travis etn right, but there's got to be a running
back this close or a couple of running backs that
are capable of giving you Phil MafA type numbers, not
individually but combined, you know. So I think that's where

(14:01):
people are right now. I'm thinking twenty twenty is going
to be the year. So taking a look at some
of the early responses. Charles says twenty twenty, Jim says,
my maximum optimism was for Trevor sophomore season in twenty nineteen.
That was the one where the Tigers can be short.
And Jamie says twenty seventeen, that's the Kelly Bryant year one.

(14:25):
So basically twenty twenty and twenty seventeen or two that
I brought up, and I think I think those are fair. Now,
I might argue that most of you might feel a
little more optimistic about this season than you did in

(14:48):
twenty twenty seven, even though you won a national title,
because you were losing, You were losing Trevor Lawrence, you
were losing to Sean Watson. But I think, I think
that when you saw the way Kelly Bryant was playing,
and it wasn't you know, it wasn't Deshaun Watson level,

(15:11):
but you were so much better than everybody else that year,
it was hard not to believe. It was really hard
not to believe that you were going to run the
table and get yourself or give yourself a chance to
run the table and get back to the College Football
Playoff and the only game Clemson lost that season, of
course was at Syracuse when Kelly got injured, but other

(15:36):
than that, they won every game. Finished the season with
the lost Alabama twenty four to six in the Sugar Bowl,
finish year twelve and two. So I'm with Charles, I'm
with Jamie. You know, I think there's more optimism than
twenty seventeen. I think twenty twenties probably the main one
people are going to offer up. And then I think

(15:58):
I would ask, because of the results of those seasons,
do you feel like this is gonna be another year
where you make a run to the playoff but you
don't have the juice to finish the job because neither
one of those seasons did you get out of back

(16:22):
then what was the first round? Both of those seasons
finished with the Tigers losing in their semi final matchup
in the College Football Playoff. Let us know over on
Twitter you can go respond. The post is still up
at Clemson Sports. Don't forget. Coming up this afternoon, Clemson

(16:46):
Tiger baseball will be back on the diamond as they
host Stamford for a three game set this weekend. Things
get underway right as we go off the air today.
Up at Doug Kingsmore Stadium as the Tigers in the
Cardinal not Cardinals if you're still learning. The Tigers and

(17:07):
the Cardinal face off at six pm at Beautiful Tiger Field.
Now historically speaking, you know, one of the things that's
unique about adding Stanford and cal to the league is
that you haven't played these teams all that often in anything.

(17:31):
I mean, when there's three thousand miles between the two programs,
it's a little bit difficult to, you know, to schedule games,
et cetera. Stanford enters the game eighteen and twelve, five
and ten in the ACC, Clempson thirty one and five,
nine and three in the league. Stanford does, however, lead

(17:54):
the overall series against Clempson two games to none, playing
in nineteen ninety five and two thousand, so these two
teams have only faced off two times on the diamond.
With a potential three game sweep this weekend, Clemson could
flip the series history uh and take a three to
two advantage. The Tigers are twenty and three at home.

(18:16):
They enter today's matchup following a four to two victory
on Wednesday night after two late game home runs by
Jacob Jarrold boosted the Tigers over Gardner Webb. Clempson's pitching
staff enters the game with a four point three seven ERA,
giving up just two twenty one oppon his batting average,

(18:38):
and they have a two point fifty eight two point
five eight walk out to strikeout to walk ratio. The
Tigers average about seven point six runs per game right now,
batting two seventy eight with a four forty two slugging percentage.
The Tigers are led in home runs by Jacob Jarrold

(18:58):
after his two home runs in the last ball game.
Josh Payno has six home runs this season and Colin
Priest at DH also has six clemsones. Let in RBIs
by Josh Payno, he has thirty six on the season.
So that's a quick look at some of the stats.

(19:20):
Your other guys pressing for that RBI League dominic LISTI
with thirty three RBIs and Luke Gaffney with twenty eight RBIs.
The Tigers just continue to play really, really good, and
this is another key series for him. As I mentioned
the other day, you know, the level of plays about

(19:43):
stiffing up with Louisville and Florida State on the docket
coming up, plus Georgia out of the conference, so time
to tighten it up, pick up a two out of three,
or go ahead and break out the brooms against the
Cardinal this weekend. Stay with us, ro rolling along with
you on a Friday afternoon. All right, you know it's Friday,

(20:04):
busy week My my busy Friday. My daughter plays JB soccer,
my son plays varsity, and I'm always really tight on
time if I don't do a little finagling, if you will.
So we're gonna jump into a couple of segments with
William Qualkinbush here on a Friday afternoon. He talked about
the travel. You know, Stanford's coming to Clemson for this
ball game tonight in this weekend, and man, these West

(20:26):
coast trips are tough. Qut went to cal with the
Tiger baseball team and gave us his reaction, Walt, welcome in, man,
How are you, Bud?

Speaker 3 (20:33):
Oh, it'sddy. I'm doing great. I know what day it is,
what time's on, I'm in. We're in a good ad
stace today. You do it well?

Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah, look I get first. I've talked about it. I
talked about actually leading into the weekend as well. Just
knowing once you confirmed to me that you were gonna
be on the call for Clemson baseball out in Berkeley.
Give me the grind because I know you and I
are much older. I'm much older than you, but you
and I are still much older than these players. What's
that first ever West coast turnaround? Like in your mind,

(21:01):
not just for you, but for these players.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
So h so this is kind of a travel day.
So Thursday is basically a travel day. I mean it's
basically just dead. You've got a whole travel day. And
the thing about a place like cow is that you're
not flying into you know, like an airport that's twenty
minutes from the campus, Like, so it's going to take
you an hour to get to Berkeley. We stayed at

(21:26):
a hotel about a half hour out of Berkeley just
for the number of rooms in the volume. I mean,
there was a lot of family that was there, so
like there was it was good. It was a nice area.
The wee Walnut Grove was the name of the area
that we that we stayed at. It's like thirty minutes
to get to the ballpark and then back, and it's
probably fifteen miles. So I mean Thursday as a travel day.

(21:46):
The team got there, uh, went to the hotel, and
then it took them like two hours to get to
campus because of traffic. Wow in like the suburbs of
San Francisco, right outside of San Francisco, So it took
them two hours to get thirty minutes. And uh so
that like that already, and I traveled in later than

(22:07):
they did, so I kind of met up with them
at the ballpark. They cut their training in half Friday night.
The game doesn't start till nine Eastern. So already if
you thought, well I can just take it and stay
on Eastern time, well, when you're not eat the meal
post game until twelve thirty am Eastern, that's basically done.
So then you're you're fully in Pacific time at that point.

(22:28):
And then uh, you know, like I listened to the
spring game in route to the uh to the ballpark,
and uh it was over by the how I got there,
which is great. I got to hear almost every every
uh every play of the spring game that was on
the air with U with Don Monson and Ross Taylor.
So we did that Saturday Sunday game airport and then
you know, red Eye I was leaving a little bit

(22:50):
earlier than both baseball and softball. By the way, softball
was out there doing exact same thing. They beat Stanford,
and uh, you know, get the Charlotte, get on the
pawn hopper, eighteen minutes in the air. I'm at GSP
at eight thirty, drive home, take a shower, go to
the station, and uh, you know, I caffinated just enough
to stay away to watch the National Championship game last

(23:11):
night and then watch her green row eight and two
as at the Giants. So today I'm feeling a little
bit more. Yesterday I was like an adrenaline day. But yeah,
it's not gonna play of arn't. The players aren't resilient.
But you could see Swannie all that to say, you
could see how that would take a toll maybe at once,
but like three or four times, Like you could see

(23:33):
how I could really take a toll on a team.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
Well, and I was looking at the schedule. It looks
like the Atlantic Coast Conference did about as good a
job as you could do, because it appears what they
did was if you play at col you get Stamford
at home, and if you play at Stanford, you get
cal at home. I think they really tried to maneuver
those schedules. My question was gonna be and I didn't

(23:56):
have the time to run through it. But because I
know this, Clemson softball was playing in California, two quap
is that the other plan that they put in place?
Do you know, did the ACC strategically match up where
like did the softball and baseball team? Were they able
to fly out together? I mean, I know it's two
completely different areas in the state, but how does that work?

Speaker 3 (24:15):
So I could tell you this, I don't believe that
that was on purpose by the ACC. I think it
just sort of happened that way. And I can also
tell you that there were conversations about baseball and softball.
Their travel arrangements that they had made were different going out,
but they had talked about commercial flight going out and
then sort of getting a big charter playing coming back

(24:38):
so that they could be you know, you can leave
a little more timely manner, yet still overnight. But it's
not like you know, ten am eleven am getting back
to campus that sort of thing. Yeah, you're talking about
like you know, four am or five am. It's like
a you know, a really bad travel day in your
normal your normal week. So I mean that that I

(24:59):
think was discussed, but it turned out that it was
just economically more feasible to just do it. And it
it also turned out they tried to get on the
same flight they couldn't. So what's interesting. Softball was supposed
to leave after Baseball Baseball got on the earlier flight,
but then baseball flight was delayed because the plane was
flying from Atlanta to San Francisco, the weather on Sunday
impacted the ability to get out. And so what happened

(25:20):
is you got Crimson Softball, Clumpson Baseball, and Georgia Tech
Baseball all sitting like two gates apart, like the one
gate to the other gates, and all three of those
teams are those gates kind of go ome and I
want to go off the airport, but I was right, well,
if everybody's there, I'm gonna go see So I kind
of came and hung out for a little bit with him.
It was it was kind of interesting because, like I say,
like it the travel dynamics, you would you would like

(25:43):
to think that they would make it a little more
feasible for a baseball softball budget, but it turns out
actually from a budget standpoint, it was better for them
to travel separately on different commercial flights than to try
to charter a plane, which would have been, uh, would
have been more convenient.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
Wow, wamqualking but she's on Twitter at quaw talk. Now
from the other standpoint, could you imagine what the grind
is for Stanford and col No, Now I can't.

Speaker 3 (26:08):
I mean, you know, I would remember having a conversation
with some of the women's basketball folks from Stanford and
call I mean we've played them in women's tubes, like
in January, early January, so this is early in the year,
and they were they like to a person, they were like, yeah,
this is not gonna work long term, and it's not
it's not feasible, and it's more like basketball. Now in basketball,

(26:29):
they did do it kind of what you said, where
if you travel west, for example, to play Cow you
play Stanford. So it's like you travel out Wednesday or
Tuesday and you're playing Thursday and then you just stay
out there. You just go from one to the other
and play Sunday. And for those who go know, and
I didn't realize exactly how close Stanford and cal are,
like an hour apart, maybe a little bit less than that.

(26:50):
Stanford's a little closer to like San Francisco where cows
a little more inland. But uh yeah, so like like
I think softball had like a twenty minute drive to
the year for at the most of the hour plugs
or even two hours with traffic that that baseball had
trying to get out of Berkeley. So beat that to May.
I mean, you know it, it's still is the grind.
I mean, think about doing that one time, staying out west. Now,

(27:12):
think about a basketball schedule where you're playing twenty games.
You're doing that five times women's and men's basketball. That
is gonna take a talk volleyball. I mean, like I say,
volleyball can have to do it. You know, the other
sports can have to do it that are more single
game focused. That's just a hard, hard way to live.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
Quick breat We'll come back with more from our time
with Qualk on Tuesdays, stay with us the show that
Shakes the south Land Clemson Sports Talk. So we were
talking about William qwalkin Bush on Tuesday about the travel
across the country and he went a little further in
the detail on that. Obviously, with Clemson going out to
cal now Stanford back over facing Clympson this weekend, and
what that three thousand mile trek across the country one

(27:51):
way he thinks does for or does two of these
student athletes.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
I think you'll I think you will see that be
one of the reasons why there will be some sort
of shifting of tectonic place, so to speak, in in athletics,
because nationwide travel is just not sustainable without multiple other
schools in your time zone that you can sort of
be travel buddies with, and the Big Ten sort of

(28:18):
has it. Although Oregon and Washington are not that close
to USC and UCLA. I mean, if there were twins
of fans who flew from Orange County, California up to
the San Francisco you can't just too along up there.
I mean that's a long way. It's even further of
course to Oregon and Washington. So, like I feel, if
there needs to be like fourteen pots at minimum in
these leagues to make it work their while. If you're

(28:40):
a two person like stick out like a sword Thom's
Graphics geographic partner, it's just not gonna be sustainable. Your
team's gonna wear down over the long all of the season.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
I agree, man, one hundred percent. That's why we wanted
to ask you. Now, let's talk about the game. Obviously,
the venue look pretty unique to me. It looked like
it was a rather small menu. Cod Back Inch is
a native of the state of California from down in
like the San Jose area. How many Tiger fans showed
up and what was that experience?

Speaker 3 (29:08):
Like, I mean Friday, you know, we're kind of we're
kind of out amongst the people. So their French box
is a little small. They had an upper game ops
and and even I think TV was in a sort
of separate area. But yeah, it was, it was small.
They put radio out among the people and it was
I mean, the Clinton attention was noisy. It was it

(29:28):
was close to a neutral venue at times. And you know,
I thought it'd be a high water mark crowd on
Friday because Ayton Canna had a couple of ros of
family in there. Uh, they had like youth Day where
they had youth teams come in from the area and
like standing on the field before the game. Some of
them one kid do out the first pig, that kind
of thing. So I'm thinking, Okay, eleven hundred their max
attendants going into a week, it was like six to

(29:49):
eighty something, so I'm thinking, okay, eleven hundred, that's gonna
be good. Well, dog gone. They had more fans on Saturday,
and then they had more fans again on Sunday. It
was three beautiful days. If that helped, But it was
the Clinston folks that came out and were supported the
West Coast, Clemson folks, and Clemson folks who traveled in
parents extended family. It was a surprising amount. There was

(30:10):
a surprising amount of orange and purple in the stands
and it helped the team. Eric Baggetts told me in
pregame on Saturday, you know, you normally get the sweets
down the silence when you do something good on the road,
but in this case, it was loud. I mean, like
I said, it seemed like a smaller contingent. I mean,
it's not like it was a It was a roar
in the stand but you heard legitimate cheers, and you

(30:32):
heard the clapping, and you deal with two strikes and
you heard the cheers when the Tigers took the lead
there on Friday, and he said that was a major
boost of the players. I think it was a factor
all weekend. That cow was able to bring some people,
but that Clinton brought an energetic, large group that made
that made that venue feel more neutral at times, and

(30:54):
I do think that was one of the many reasons
why they were able to get out of there with
the sweep.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
They'll be back on the diamond to marrow against against
Gardner Webb and then a weekend series against Stamford, your
Clemson Tiger baseball team. From that standpoint, quot, let's talk
about the product that you saw on the field this
past weekend. You know, a couple of games where they
sort of had to come from behind and win, and
then the blow out there in the mid game on Saturday.

(31:18):
You know, they're one of the top five teams in
the country. They're certainly not without issue. But what do
you make of kind of who this team is right
now as we push forward through the season.

Speaker 3 (31:29):
Well, let's start with this quality stars statistically is six
or more innings given up three or fewer earned runs.
Tires played three games this weekend, they had three quality starts.
That's what you want right there now. I kind of
think six innings three earned is a little bit of
a low threshold. So like you should be a little
better than that. All three guys were better than that.
Ethan Darden gave up two solo home runs and another run.

(31:50):
He did exactly what you wanted him to do. He
gave him a thirteen run lead for crying out loud.
You know, there's only so much to do for that.
What you don't want to do in that situation is
got there in nibbles. So he's really the strike zone,
probably a little more haphazardly than the other otherwise would
And uh so that was probably the weakest start of
them all, but it was good. It was a piper
sore eyes reed than Darden. I thought ayden kennot was fantastic.

(32:12):
The ballpark was playing big on Friday night. He attacked
his own, wasn't afraid to let Kal hit it. There
an aggressive team that didn't strike out a lot, and
so they weren't gonna strike out in this series. So
Cannock just sort of induced a lot of weak contact,
and certainly Bja Bailey did the same thing else Sunday.
And on top of that, the Tires played three entire
games with no heirrors. And not only that, I thought

(32:33):
its intually, I thought I listened to Eric back and
stay it's been interview earlier today. As a matter of fact,
not only did it play air free baseball, but they
had elite like game changing defensive plays. Jaron Curify was possessed.
There was a play on Friday where it's the ground
off the middle. He's shaving it up the middle, so
he's kind of there. The ball kicks off the front
side of the back up in the air, sort of

(32:55):
the spinning towards the dugout. And I said it was
like mister Miyabi, like Barbe to Miyagi, like he he
witched his glove up at the last second to his ear.
It's down by his knees trying to catch the ball.
He whips it up to his ear, grabs the ball
and throws the guy out. He made a full extension
dive of the play. If the middle jumps up and
throws the guy out, that thought he had a single
to the outfield. Tim Kendrella made a bag at catch

(33:17):
in less than a field for no reason and also
Rob Dexter basis it's not a home running and rights
to the field brow into the wall on on Friday, uh
the west side of the India was phenomenal. Just every
single player made unbelievable plays. Defensively, there were no holes.
And then we had it got to the lineup who
just did what they do very incredibly opportunity on Friday

(33:39):
and Sunday, just big hits, drawing a couple of walks.
You know I'm doing that. But then the grand stamp By
priest and the way they played batting practice ball on
Saturday built that league just unbelievable. I thought it was
the best three game series of physically playing the game
of baseball that I've seen Clinson have this this season

(34:00):
so far, particularly given it fact it is onto Row,
three thousand miles from home. I get the team that
was capable of making you look dumb if you're not
playing well.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
So there you go. That's some of our time with
William qualkin Bush again from earlier in the week, And
thank you for allowing me the leeway to maneuver that
around just a little bit for you on a Friday,
and we try to anytime we do that, we try
to put in the opposite hour, right because I get it,
like some of you get in the car at four o'clock,
some of you get in the car at five o'clock.
Most of you that get in the car at four
o'clock are not in the car at five o'clock. So

(34:29):
if I reset an interview and I put it in
the opposite hour, for most of you, it's new. So
just wanted to give you a little bit of that again.
The Tigers are on the Diamond tonight as they face
off with Stanford game one six o'clock tonight. That game
will be televised WHOA on an actual network, WHOA that

(34:50):
you can get on TV, WHOA espn U Tomorrow's game
six o'clock on the ACC network, WHOA Sunday's game three
pm on the ACC Network. Yo, what's happening? Put them
on some television channels. You'll have to get the remote
out for this. It's exciting. All right, quick break, we'll
come back. We'll put a bow on our number one.
Final segment of our number one coming up around the bend.

(35:12):
Will Van Dervoort, the Clemson Insider, joins us here on
the show That Shakespeare, South Lane, Clemson Sports Talk, and
of course, the Clemson Tiger baseball team. Tonight at Doug
Kingsmore Stadium will host Stanford again. While you're up at
Tiger Town, don't forget you can stop by one of
our loyal sponsors, Alumni Hall right there on the corner

(35:33):
a campus on College Avenue of downtown Clemson, just a
stone's throw from historic Riggs Field Bowman Field. Right there
on the corner. You can't miss them. Alumni Hall for
all your Climson apparel, hats, t shirts, gifts, tailgate equipment, trinkets,
what nots. Don't forget all Clempson students, faculty, and military

(35:56):
receive ten percent off when shopping in store. And you
can get to Alumni Hall's website through our website Clympsonsports
Talk dot com. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop.
Gonna talk a lot of Climpson Spring game with Will
Van Dervoort coming up in our number two. Plus we'll
hear some from Dabo Sweeney in our number two as well,

(36:19):
as I mentioned yesterday, just trying to get through all
of that thirty six minutes of Deabo Sweeney. So we're
also getting closer to the NBA playoffs, and it's like
a daily thing here with the Denver Nuggets in the
Los Angeles Clippers. A little back and forth. Who's gonna

(36:42):
be the four seed? Who's gonna be the five seed?
Go look at those Western Conference rankies, folks, they are
it is tight. The Lakers are forty nine and thirty one,
The Nuggets are forty eight and thirty two, The Clippers
are forty eight and thirty two. The Warriors are forty
seven and thirty three. That's the third, fourth, fifth, and

(37:04):
sixth place team. The seventh place team, the Grizzlies, have
this identical record as the Warriors as well, forty seven
to three, and the eighth place team, the Timberwolves, are
forty seven and thirty three. So with two games remaining,

(37:26):
if the Timberwolves, the Grizzlies, or the Warriors win both
of their games, and the Lakers, who are forty nine
and thirty one, were to lose both of their games,
the Lakers are the three seed. In some semblance, there
in the right you know, in the right what's the
word I'm looking for universe, In the right universe, it

(37:49):
might feasibly be it might be possible that the eighth
seed were to jump all the way up to like
the fifth or fourth seed, maybe all the way up
to the third seed. I have no idea who's playing who,
and I don't have time to go through all the
scenarios that could play out. But it is a tight

(38:09):
race out in the West. But I'm gearing up man
basketball NBA postseason, That's what I like it, I don't.
I've almost put basketball in the same realm as i've
put baseball major League baseball. That is, I do not

(38:33):
watch Major League Baseball at all until the postseason. As
a matter of fact, there are several years where I've
made that my goal not to watch a single live
pitch of Major League Baseball. I've done it. I've done

(38:54):
it until the postseason, and you guys will see you're
out of your mind. Swanty. Not that I don't keep
up with it. Get the Braves updates on my phone
every day, Live updates the Braves man with a woof woof.
For the start, they are now three and nine. Tough
start for a team that was seen as the second

(39:14):
best in baseball. But they did have a tough series
against the Los Angeles Dodgers early in the year, so
maybe the resume is more about who they played than
how they've played. We'll see if they can get there.
How they've played up, shifting gears away from the MLB

(39:36):
and the NBA real quick, a little closer to home
for all our Game Cocks peeking over the fence and
hanging out with us on a Friday afternoon, so you could.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
Continue to peek over the fence at the best radio.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
Showing the naked Malaysia. Full Wiley, one of the stars
for the South Carolina game Cocks this past season, plans
to enter the transfer portal. According to reports, full Wiley
is a native of Columbia and averaged eleven point seven
points per game, two point eight rebounds per contest, and

(40:09):
to assist last season, of course leading the game Cocks,
helping lead the game Cox to a national championship and
then this season leading them back to the national championship game.
So that news coming out just a little bit ago.
Full Wiley was the number thirteen recruit back in the

(40:31):
twenty twenty three class. She was the SEC Tournament MVP
as a freshman, helping the game Cocks to a thirty
eight no season. Five point ten came off the bench
in all but three of her seventy seven games at
South Carolina. I don't know where she'll go, but I
can guarantee you Clemson would take her. The game Cock women,

(40:55):
by the way, did land the top score. This might
have been something that may have had something to do
with full Whiley's decision if she does indeed go through
with it. Today A Latson transferred from Florida State to
South Carolina, and again she was the leading scorer in

(41:15):
the country this past season in women's basketball per game.
So I don't know, man, I could just tell you
shown Poppy is trying to build something and if you
could get one of the top thirteen kids, I don't
care where she played. Latson, by the way, the other
transfer that came to Columbia twenty five point two points

(41:36):
per game with the Florida State Seminoles. But I know
Malaysia full Wiley is a local name, and having played
her high school ball over at Keenan, wanted to put
that out there for everyone again. Coming up an hour
number two, we'll be joined by Will Van Dervoort, senior

(42:00):
writer for The Clemson Insider. He will join the program
to talk about Clemson's spring game, give us some insight
into what he saw on Saturday up in Death Valley.
All Right, we hit a quick break we'll come back.
Willie V will be on the program with us right
around the Ben on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and

(42:21):
of course on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
Each time for Clipson Sports Talk with Luwton Swan.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
It is our number two. That's drivetime right on the
show The Shakespare Southland, Clemson Sports, Talt Loud and Swan
hang out with you on a Friday afternoon, and of
course the show that shakesa Southland and brought you in
part by good friends over at mets Plumbing seven three
two drip, drip drip, you know the jingle seven three

(43:29):
to two drip. That's mets Plumbing, mets plumber dot com.
Better at our one, clearly better at hour one. Don't
believe me, Reset the conversation, go back in the podcast
Mets Plumbing, mets plumber dot Com. That's a tough note
for me. But that's why I'm blessed with beauty and

(43:49):
not a singing voice. I'd much rather be beautiful and
not be able to sing, then be ugly and have
this great singing voice. I mean, I'm just saying, all right,
m Weber two, Will Van Dervoort, the Clemson insider joins
the program. He was at Clemson spring game this past weekend.
Will what's up, buddy, Welcome in.

Speaker 4 (44:09):
Hey, long, how you doing, buddy.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
I'm good man. It's the weekend, and for me in
the education business, this is kicking off a late spring break,
so I've got a week off from the day job.
I'm excited, man.

Speaker 4 (44:20):
I bet you are. Man, So what are you gonna do.
You gonna do anything deciding or you're just gonna stay
at home.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
Uh, We're gonna take the kids to see my dad
in Beauford, So we're gonna go to the beach for
a few days. But yeah, I mean mostly relaxed. You
try to, you know, try to put the feet up
a little bit.

Speaker 4 (44:33):
I work hard, yeah, man, as you should. Man, that's
what you should do. Man, get send some time with
the family. That's that's great. I love it, dude, that's.

Speaker 2 (44:40):
What you should be there. We go. Well, hey, look,
the Clemson family spend some time together on Saturday over
at Death Valley for Clemson's spring game. And you know,
one of the things that a lot of people said
they liked about it. We can talk about the game
in a minute, but was the fact that because it
wasn't on television. Will I mean, it was like going
through a car wash. You were in and out of
there in like an hour and a half. How was
it for you guys covering it?

Speaker 3 (45:02):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (45:02):
Man, let's see, I got home. It started at one.
I think I was home by four thirty, so you know,
you've been there in those late nights when we don't
get out of there till three in the morning or so.
So it was awesome.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
Man.

Speaker 4 (45:17):
You know, I live here in Clemsons. I lived just
a few minutes from the stadium, and it was just
nice getting home and having a normal evening off. I mean,
I think by six thirty I was done working, you know,
and I had my whole Saturday night off after the
you know, It's like it was like having a Saturday
evening off I And it was great because the Final
four was going on, right, so I got to watch

(45:38):
the Final four and so yeah, it was it was cool,
you know. So I'm all about man and Dabbo even
mentioned how you know it was nice at not being
on TV. They were able to get done a lot
faster than they normally would. It was like governing a
normal practice, if you will.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Now when I was thinking about it, I think the
last time I remember Clemson having like a spring game
like that, right with the way it was set up
offense and defense and and everything. I think it was
probably either early Tommy Bowden or late Tommy West. I mean,
I don't know, do you recall the last time that

(46:15):
Clemson had a spring game that wasn't I guess we'd
label uh, you know, two teams being competitive against one another.

Speaker 4 (46:22):
Yeah, I think it was the Tommy Baldeniers. I think
maybe late Tommy Bowden. I remember covering it just like
as a regular scrimmage before, and that was early in
my career covering Clemson. Uh so yeah, I would say
probably two thousand and seven. Maybe. I know pretty much

(46:44):
Dabo has been doing it this way pretty much the
whole time he's been coach, and so I do remember
covering it as a.

Speaker 3 (46:50):
Offense versus defense before, So it.

Speaker 4 (46:53):
Would have to have been late Tommy Baldeniers.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
Again, he's on Twitter at steel or will he covers
Clemson for the Clemson en sider of the senior writer
over there? Will Van Derboort hanging out with us, and
so well, let's talk about the game I think, you know,
most notably, Tristan Smith was a name people wanted to
see because he's never played at the Power four level,
and again, the spring game is not a power for

(47:16):
ball game in my opinion. But I mean he was
kind of the breakout performer and a welcome sight I
think for Clemson Tiger fans that are looking for an
additional piece and maybe maybe more specifically will maybe a
piece that's a little bit different physically than some of
the other guys they have at wide receiver.

Speaker 4 (47:33):
He fits a spot that they need. And that's why,
you know, you've heard Dabo say over and over again,
and we've all questioned, like, you know, when tale is
Dabo going to use the poor what he says he's
going to do this. But when you look at Tristan Smith,
he's a guy that since a certain need Clemson didn't have,
or really, I guess you could say they sort of

(47:54):
had it with bringing Stool, but not as much because
britty throw was a tight end and he wasn't used
in the same way you can use a wide receiver,
especially office you know, those back shoulder fade and things
of that nature. And so I think Smith a guy
with a six foot five body frame. You saw how
high you can jump, right, You saw that with that catch.
He's got a high radius. We've heard all spring about

(48:17):
some plays he was making, especially in the red zone
area and things of that nature. And then he goes
out there and makes it play like that and not
only catches the ball but then runs away from the defense.
I think that's the thing they gave you, like, ooh, okay,
maybe he's more of a T. Higgins type guy than
just a Mike Williams guy that can go up and

(48:38):
get the ball right. But he's got this breakaway speed
possibly that T Higgins showed off a lot, which helps
you in your vertical game. So now you can throw
some balls down field further like you did with T.
Higgins right where you can just throw it up for
grabs fifty yards down the field and you feel like
that guy can go up and get it. He'll go
up and get it right. So he and then and

(48:59):
then in the red zone what he can do in
the red zone. So he brings a different element to
the wide receiver room that they just haven't had since T. Higgins.
Now he's got to go do it against somebody else, right,
so we'll find out against LSU. But I think when
you look at it and you see what he's capable of,
and you saw that athleticism in the spring game that

(49:20):
he showed off that he's been showing off all spring
from what we've been hearing in practice, I think it
was good to see for Clemson. And I think it's
definitely a guy that is going to be a piece
player that is gonna that Clemson is gonna need in
certain situations. And I think he's a guy that maybe
can go up and get it where you know, TJ.
Moore is probably the next closest guy that can do that, right.

(49:41):
I think he showed that a little bit in the
game against Texas, but he's still that's not his things,
you know, that's not his major thing to do. And
so I think this is gonna be Tristian Smith things.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Will Van Dervoort with us here on the program today.
Will this might be a little bit of a hot
take alert kind of thing, but I'm gonna make a statement,
you tell me, And I did not prep him for this, everybody,
So he's gonna have to come off the cuff, all right.
So I think over the past decade since Jordan Leggett
left Clemson, tight end has been the most disappointing position

(50:15):
on the team. I think, from top to bottom ten years,
that's the spot that's been noticeably absent on a fairly
consistent level. Would you agree with that? And if you
do agree with that, do you think that this group,
you know, this tight end group has a chance to
emerge as a weapon for this Clemson Tiger offense.

Speaker 4 (50:38):
I do agree with that. And the reason I agree
with that is even though I know some people out
there say, well, one second, Jake green School just set
all kind of records and all, yes he did, but
there's also moments when if you look at the diffence
between a Jordan Legott and Jake green School in the
big moments when they needed a big play, Jordan Leggott

(51:02):
made it every time, did he not? I mean he did.
He just always made the big plays in the big moments.
Jake Bridgestol really didn't do that. He had big games,
you know, in big situations, but he didn't have in
that key moment when they needed that catch, that play
from the tight end. Shake Greenstel didn't really do that.

(51:25):
And so as talented as he is and as good
as he is, and I won't take anything away from him.
It's just he never really seemed to show up in
those moments. And I'm not saying that's Jake's fault. It
could be other reasons. The factors that fall into that,
I don't know, but I do know Jordan Leggott was
always there when they needed them, and he was always
making big plays. If you go to the Florida State game,

(51:45):
if you go to the National Championship game, you go
to the Louisville game, right, you know, I can go
on and on the NC State game with examples right
where he made big plays near the end of the
game to help Humpson win the game. And you know,
I just didn't see that. We just didn't see that
all the time from Brittany. So he wasn't as consistent.
And I think that's what we're saying here, there's Compston

(52:07):
has to be consistent at that position Jordan Leggett, and
I think that's the better way to say it. And
so when I look at this group here, I like
what I saw at times out of Olsen pat Henry
last year. I think he surprised me with how open
he was at times right, And I don't know if
that's because Jake Brinsteel's out there and they're all concentrated

(52:27):
Jake green Steel, I don't know, but he was wide
open man at times. I mean just wide open and
then and so he's shown some big play potential. I
think when you look at a guy like Josh Sapp,
he's a guy that can run good routes. He can
be that britting steel kind of guy, you know. I
think we need to see what he can do. We
haven't seen that yet. I think the talent's there, but

(52:50):
I want to see. Is he going to be a
Jordan Leggott. I don't know, you know, is that too
much to ask? I think. You know, Christian bente Cure,
we heard a lot about him last year when he
was red shirted, being compared to lots of Dwayne Allen. Now,
this is what they mean when they say they remind
him of Dwayne. He reminds him of Dwayne Allen. Dwayne

(53:11):
Allen could be very physical at the point of attack.
That's why Dwayne Allen played nine years in the NFL. Right,
It wasn't because of his catchability, it was because of
Dwayne Allen's blocking. That's why Dwayne Allen played so long
in the NFL, and so they they like his physicalness
at the point of attack, but they also like him
like Dwayne Allen did at Clemson was does how to
run routes good. Chris Browns so he unlike a breeding

(53:35):
stool or even if Jordan Leggett, you know, he can
get in there and block and then can release and
run routes and they really like him and so so
I think the potential is high for him. And then
you know, obviously Logan Brooking is another guy that I
think the potential is high for him as well. He
looked pretty good in the spring game. We'll see, you know,

(53:56):
if that carries over into the fall and if he
can be consistent. So they got four good guys there,
I think, you know, but I don't know really what
to think just ye out of any of those guys,
I don't think it's totally been proven what they can do.
We have to see it. I think that if I
had to be a guest, you say, Okay, who's going
to be the star of this room, just facing off

(54:17):
of last year, I'm gonna say Christian Pinca George is
the guy that potentially can be that that kind of player.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
Will Van Dervort with us here on the program today,
all right, So sticking with the offensive side of the ball.
Final thing, Yo, I liked Phil MafA, but Phil Mafa's
not Travis Etn And I don't know what you'll ever
see a Travis ATN. But that's the big piece to replace,
right And obviously that room is one where a lot

(54:42):
of people are going to be focused on this season.
Who in your mind right now, a couple of guys
that I don't think one guy can do it, but
I think you might could get a couple of players
at kind of combo to give you a film MafA
type numbers. What's your vibe after seeing most of these
guys during the spring game.

Speaker 4 (55:00):
My vibe is, and you'll remember this, my vibe is
twenty seventeen running game. Do you remember going into that year?
But he's like, who's gonna be the running back? You know,
what are they gonna do? There's just you know, we
got all these guys, but nobody's dominant. You got this
freshman coming in, but he's a freshman. Can we really
count on him? What's he gonna do. And then halfway

(55:20):
through the season, Travis Etn was the star. We all
knew he was gonna become, right, and he kind of
started taking over that role and became the number one
running back. I think that's what you're gonna see this year.
I think Adam Randall starts the season out, I think,
but Adam Randall is not in every down back. He
is a guy that I think, really what he's gonna

(55:41):
benefit Clintson is his in the past game and what
he can do when you get the ball out to
him in the flats. If you remember in the spring game,
there was an instance where they threw the ball out
to him and he was able to break away and
make a big play just using his vision and his
want to, if you will, to break through tackles. And

(56:01):
that's something he's going to give the offense that they
really haven't had the last few years. Is that kind
of guy that really forces the defense to respect the
running backs coming out of the backfield, and you haven't
seen that since Travis Etn. And then speaking of Travis
et and I think Gideon Davison is going to become
your main Bault career because we're hearing from all the players.

(56:23):
This is not Dabbos Sweeney preaching because he's trying to
keep his young freshman happy. This is you know, Kate Klubnick,
this is Antonio Williams, this is you know, you name
it on the offensive side of the football, and even
a couple of guys on defense during the springing interviews

(56:44):
mentioned Gideon Davison as a playmaker and what he can do.
And so I think Gideon Davison is you know that
even Kate Clubnick says he reminds him of And he
ain't the first person to tell me this, He's just
the first person that's on that that I would say
that came out publicly and said it. But he compared
him to Travis e Ken says he's got that explosion,

(57:05):
that quick step and then he can just explode and
he's gone. And Clincton hadn't had that since Travis e
km right, And so I'm not saying he's gonna be
the a SEC's all time leading rusher or anything like that,
but I do like to say, you know, players no
game right, players know when they're seeing somebody that's really good,

(57:27):
they know it better or as well as coaches do.
And when a player is telling you, this guy's really good.
When a defensive player is coming in, you know and
telling us, I think it was Peter Woods. Actually, when
I got Peter Woods is telling you about how good
Gideon Davison is. That tells you how good Gideon Davison is.
This isn't a Dabbos Sweeney kind of talking up his player.

(57:50):
This is another player on the other side of the
football talking up his teammate and telling you what you
guys can expect from this guy. And so I think
he becomes the main guy, you know, by the middle
of the season. I think Adam Randall, Adam Randle is
your main starter. And then I think you just got
a couple other guys at Keith Adams junior and maybe
Jarvis Green. And we'll see with Jay Haynes when he

(58:11):
gets back because he was coming on last year. But
we'll see where he's at in this tech in order too.
But he's coming off a knee injury, so I'm not
really expecting much for him coming right off that knee injury.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
Senior writer for The Clemson Insider Will Van Dervoort hanging
out with us here on a Friday afternoon. All right,
let's turn our attention to the defensive side of the ball.
We got about three and a half minutes, so we'll
have to be quick. Your thoughts on what you saw
from Tom Allen's defense will on Saturday, and what are
your expectations for that unit right now?

Speaker 4 (58:41):
Well, I'll tell you what I know. A lot of
people couldn't see it, but the tackling was way better.
It was noticeable, you know, And so I think if
you watched that Texas game and then you came out
watched the spring game, you saw that the fundamentals of
tackling were definitely emphasized, and you can already see it
taking shape and taking fold. Now they got some more
of it to do, and they'll continue to do it

(59:02):
through the summer and all that. I think that's the
number one thing I noticed. The number two thing I
noticed was I was more impressed at the linebackers than
I thought I was gonna be. I thought, Wade wood
As looks like he's gotten better. Obviously, Sammy Brown is
who he is, but Jeremiah Alexander showed me that he's
gonna be a major player on this defense this year,

(59:24):
and he's gonna get out on the field more people think,
probably as you expect from a guy coming from Alabama,
I guess. But he looked really really good, really really
comfortable in the defense and played well. Peter Woods looked good.
I mean, man, he's so trimmed down. And then you
got you know, other guys like TJ. Parker and those
guys that played that they looked so much better too.

(59:46):
Didn't see them as much as we saw some of
the younger guys. Mayo really stood out a defensive end
of me. And that's something you wanted to see because
depth is going to be an issue right.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
Still. Even with a.

Speaker 4 (59:57):
Guy like will help there, but you want guys behind
him to start progressing. And I think we're seeing that
in Mayo, and so that's good for Clemson. Lost and
looked really good as well, So I think they're in
better shape there. Uh the secondary, it's hard to tell, man,
they have so many guys out and they're playing all
these young guys. But the good news is that young
guys are getting to play. They're going up against first

(01:00:18):
teamers and getting first team reps, and that's gonna benefit
I think Clemson later on when they start getting you know,
the other starters back into the fold, and then you
got more debt because these guys are getting more snaps.

Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
Well, talking about mayou man, he he is so tall
and long. I just I mean, I never was around
ed too tall Jones, but when I was walking by
him after the ACC Championship game, that's all I can
think about it. I'm like, dude, this guy is a monster.

Speaker 4 (01:00:46):
Yeah, six sixty five, you know, too tall. I believe
with six', nine so it's not too far from, that but,
yeah he, is and he's bulked. Up HE i think
he's bigger than to sixty. FIVE i think he's probably
sitting more around two seventy two seventy five, range which is.
Good but what we saw a lot in this, game,
guys was a lot of a lot of. Explosion he

(01:01:10):
came off the line really, well was getting in the
backfield and make him. Plays he Was he was constantly
a problem and that's what you want to. See so he's,
PROGRESSED i think better than WHAT i imagined he was going,
to right because all that seems like every TIME i
watch him in practice he's getting jumped on by Coach. Trunk,

(01:01:30):
yeah so it was good to see him out there making.

Speaker 3 (01:01:33):
Some, plays and Even dado brided about him in.

Speaker 4 (01:01:35):
The post game and about how far he's. Come so
if he continues to, improve they really like. Him when
they think he's gonna be a playmaker for him this coming,
Season he's gonna be a guy that can count. On
that's What i'm getting from the.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
Coaches follow his work on The Clemson insider dot. Com
He's Will van. Dervor will, buddy have a great, weekend.
Man we'll talk to you Next.

Speaker 4 (01:01:54):
Friday all, Right, loton thanks for having.

Speaker 2 (01:01:57):
Me, buddy there Go Will Van deivore from The Clemson.
Inside all, right quick, break will come. Back we've been
playing a little bit Of dabos swenyes. Audio we're gonna
probably push some of that into next week for you
here on the program as. Well Following clemson's spring. Game
so you Heard Will vanderwort there giving you other breakdown
of the. Game he was there Last saturday with a quick.
Break we'll come, back a little update from the. Masters

(01:02:20):
all of that and more right here on A friday
Afternoon Lawton swan with you on A friday Afternoon Clemson SPORTS.
Tll we've been getting through over the past few days
some of dabos wwenyes audio Following clemson spring, game and
one of the key points he focused on Was clemson's
ability to convert during the two minute drill at the
end of each quarter that they put together during that spring. Game,

(01:02:43):
yeah that was.

Speaker 5 (01:02:44):
Good you, know the last one was a little funky
because obviously you have the, lead so you don't you,
know so we, decaid let's treat this as an end a,
half and you, know we probably would have clocked it
on the twelve seconds there in a, real, real real
world got the first down, clockett but we we really you, think,
okay because you probably could ten seconds still get two.

Speaker 4 (01:03:03):
Plays but it was.

Speaker 5 (01:03:04):
Good it was good experience that all worked out really.
Good just just, naturally we got some good two minute
opportunities and we made it a normal clock when we
got into there was some running clock in the second
or in fourth, quarter but when we got into two minute,
drives we just let it be. Normal so you, know
you keep creating good.

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
Habits That's Davo sweeney from Last saturday or this Past.
Saturday after clips of spring. Game Will Van dervoart was
on the show just a little bit ago he talked
About Jeremiah alexander In Alexander's, Play Here's Dabo. Sweeney when
he was asked about what it means to him that
the transfers have had the ability to make an impact

(01:03:44):
on the team, Already.

Speaker 5 (01:03:46):
WELL i, MEAN i, mean we if you're, gonna if
you're gonna take a guy out of the, PORTAL i,
mean you, know if we get it, right we're gonna
get a guy that's gonna come help. Us and you
know it's not. Again we we were a developmental program
and as long as we continue to get the top
high school kids that we want and then bring them
in here and develop. Them you, know last year everybody

(01:04:09):
SAID i need to get rid Of kade Club nick
and we're never gonna win With kde Club. Nick and
he's terrible and, swing he's crazy and he's go get
this hot shot. Quarterback and well now everybody says he's
the front runner for The.

Speaker 6 (01:04:20):
Housman it's.

Speaker 5 (01:04:22):
Amazing you, Know uh He's that's WHAT i, hear you
know Somebody's and that's WHAT i Told. Kate better not
listen none of. That don't listen to all that. Crap
last year that you ain't good enough to get it.
Done and don't listen till they tell you you're the
housman guy or you're the. Whatever all, right just do the,
work all. Right and so, again as long as we're

(01:04:42):
getting guys that we think will come in and buy
in and, develop that's always the route we. Go but
if you get a gap in your roster.

Speaker 2 (01:04:51):
And you you.

Speaker 5 (01:04:53):
Or you have kids leave post sprame or like happened
last year where you lose a, kid pull them that
there's no high school kid to go get of the
caliber that we. Needed, hey we'll use. It we'll use the.
Portal and again we've we've signed what five guys in five.
Years it's probably the fewest of, anybody but they all
fit our need and they've all been exactly what we.

(01:05:13):
Needed and again we needed a guy just Like Tristan,
long a guy that.

Speaker 6 (01:05:20):
Had some, confidence.

Speaker 5 (01:05:22):
A guy that had some production and you, know but
a guy that also you, know not coming in, here you,
know thinking he's just gonna show up and be the
guy like we got guys. Here you, know we need
him to come in here and go earn it and
prove it and compete and really make the group, better
and that's what he's. Done. Jeremiah you, know we were

(01:05:43):
not going to take a. Linebacker we probably were going
to take one In. May that was originally what our
thought process, Was we're.

Speaker 6 (01:05:49):
Going to go through the.

Speaker 5 (01:05:49):
Spring but when he came, available it's, like, well let's
see if we get that. Guy so he's a perfect
fit for. Us tristan was a perfect fit for us.
Culture you, know our process isn't any. Different and then
you know when we when we lost in him late
and there's, nobody there's nobody of that caliber to. GET
i was, like, well let's let's look at all the,
ends AND i JUST i thought we'll help was the best,

(01:06:10):
one and you, know and we got. It so it
just shows that our process works regardless whether we're recruiting
high school kid or recruiting the portal. Kid you, know
we're trying to get the right guys that really align
with who we, are how we go about our business,
here what the expectations, are what our core values, are

(01:06:30):
and and also you, know fit the role that we
need them.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
To Dabo, sweeney speaking to, transfers was also, asked with
the spring portal window opening, up if he would consider
maybe adding some more. Guys there are there any more
pieces that clips could?

Speaker 5 (01:06:44):
Add, yeah we don't need anybody right. Now we feel
good about where we. Are you, know it's something that
but that's it's Where i'm sitting here.

Speaker 4 (01:06:51):
Today ask me next.

Speaker 5 (01:06:52):
Week uh you, KNOW i, mean who knows those are you,
know the things you just have to respond.

Speaker 4 (01:06:58):
To but.

Speaker 5 (01:07:00):
If everybody, stayed everything stayed the same, today we feel
good about our. Roster we We we've got a lot
of work to, do but we're Gonna we're ready to
go to battle with the guys we. Got let's go.
Compete we we. Gotta we like our. Guys so you,
KNOW i ALREADY i already got to cut. Guys you,
KNOW i got some walk on kids that aren't going
to be. Back and you, know so everybody stays out

(01:07:23):
have to cut some. More but we are you, know
if we tried to go get some other guys, out guys,
Leaving so we'll, SEE i, mean who, knows who? Knows
you may we've been really good with the retention AND
i would expect that to stay the. Same and you,
know maybe there's a couple of guys that move. ON
i don't, KNOW i really don't have no, idea but
AND i don't lose any sleep over. IT i really.

(01:07:44):
Don't so whatever, happens and we just go respond to.
It and we can't and we.

Speaker 2 (01:07:49):
Will But daboswinga was also asked about the competition at
punter and how that's gone thus. Far. Competitive it was.

Speaker 5 (01:07:59):
Competitive they couldn't punt it to my little Man harrison.

Speaker 1 (01:08:02):
LIKE i wanted to at The.

Speaker 5 (01:08:05):
Spiller spiller got my little Man harrison ran up in.
There he wasn't he was ready to. Go uh eight years,
old eight years, Old he's.

Speaker 2 (01:08:11):
LIKE i got. It but, uh it's it's been.

Speaker 5 (01:08:14):
Competitive it's been, competitive so more work to be done,
there but we like our.

Speaker 2 (01:08:19):
Guys Debo swingy was also asked about how he feels
the spring went for his interior defensive.

Speaker 5 (01:08:25):
Lineman same, thing no K, part No Steph. Island so
those guys kind of out of the. Way really forced
the issue With, amari With, burley with with No, champ
No Champ thompson as. Well it was great for. Them
we Needed Vic burley to take a step, forward and,
uh he definitely had the best. Spring he's had the,

(01:08:46):
best you, know fifteen days of football practice that he's,
had so.

Speaker 2 (01:08:51):
That was good to.

Speaker 5 (01:08:52):
See Heaven Is heavens has shown Some he's shown some
grint and some. TOUGHNESS i think he's he's taking full
advantage of.

Speaker 4 (01:08:59):
It is.

Speaker 5 (01:09:01):
Many he's gonna he's gonna be a go ONE. U
SO i think that group all benefited from. It you,
Know peter got the work that he needed to, get
but the whole, group you, know was just. Incomplete but
it'll pay off in the long run for those guys
with the amount of reps that they.

Speaker 2 (01:09:16):
Got so there you, go just a little bit more From.
DABO'SWEENEY i was actually looking at the. AUDIO i think
there's only about two minutes or so remaining From sweeney's
time with the. Media since we've broken it up for
you for the few, days So i'll tell you what
we might. Do might just come back and finish that
off and get you closer and closer to the weekend.

(01:09:38):
Again eighth three four five oh zero zero eighty. Six
that's the text line in the phone. Line that's twenty
four hours a, day seven days a. Week somebody asked
me the other day to, say how DO i Participate
swani that just call that, number text that number we'll
get you on the Show keep A lot right here
On Fox Sports radio fourteen HUNDRED lowd And swan with

(01:09:59):
you on A. Thursday so before we get back To
Dabo swingy's, AUDIO i gotta SAY i don't do like
Rotten tomato or. WHATEVER i think that might be like
a generation behind me in terms of movie viewing and
putting in your, ratings but you, know everybody seems to
swear by, it like that's the that's the place to.
Go all. Right SO i somehow got on a kick

(01:10:25):
of watching some some like documentary, PIECES i guess you'd,
say LIKE i for the first time, EVER i Saw Schindler's,
list and that kind of got me, Thinking, OKAY i
wanted to do a couple of y'all want to do
some more Like World war two, Movies and SO i

(01:10:51):
had Watched Schindler's, list and THEN i decided to, watch,
well the next THING i think it offered me or.
Whatever it was nineteen, seventeen which is Not World war.
Two obviously this Is World War. One BUT i watched that,
movie and that movie was spectacularly. DONE i mean it

(01:11:12):
was shot almost like a one shot the way it.
Felt no cuts in the. Camera you wouldn't believe if
you hadn't seen. IT i was, floored AND i think
that movie got decent. REVIEWS i didn't check it On Rotten,
tomato but my buddy Suggested. Dunkirk he, said have you Seen?

(01:11:35):
Dunkirk AND i was, like, NO i hadn't Seen. DUNKIRK
i don't know anything about. It and SO i watched
that AND i got through it in a couple of.
Days but The Rotten tomato score For dunkirk was like
ninety three, percent WHICH i though would be. GREAT i
thought it was a great. Rating that movie was. Awful

(01:12:02):
did not like. IT i was. Bored matter of, fact
the characters were rather. Dull but that's my new. Thing
Now i'm gonna. Try i'm gonna try to watch as
many of the more Modern World war, one maybe Even

(01:12:25):
World war, TWO i, mean reverse At World war, two
maybe Even World war one movies after this weekend and
watching some. Movies BUT i was absolutely floored that that
movie had such good. Ratings after watching, IT i thought
it was a. Dud if you Liked, dunkirk let me

(01:12:47):
know why you liked, it and did you and if
you watched nineteen seventeen did you do you Believe dunkirk
was better than? That all? Right back to our poll
question real quick that we put out asking about the

(01:13:08):
years and your thoughts On clemson and the last time
you were you felt this good about The tiger football.
Team several people have chimed in on that. Front Sc
coast said he'll never feel optimistic again after the last four,

(01:13:31):
years and the response was you must be a fun
fan to hang. Around he, Said i'm not drinking the
kool aid UNTIL i see the results off season Hype,
Now i'm not, Interested mabel. Says after the twenty seventeen,

(01:13:53):
Season kevin chimes in and said he hadn't felt this
optimistic since twenty, twenty but at that TIME i didn't
know we would have a season or. Not to be
fair and uh. Rsb his name Is. Steve steve, Says
i'm feeling pretty. Good i'm feeling pretty. Good he used

(01:14:16):
a gift from Oh, Man, Steve you're gonna be so
mad at. ME i can't think of the name of that.
Show curb your enthusiasm, there you curb your? Enthusiasm all?
RIGHT i mentioned, EARLIER i thought we had about two
minutes left To Dabo sweeney's, audio but it looks like
it's about. Seven so we're just gonna press through and
we'll get back To dabo the final couple of things

(01:14:39):
with you next. Week okay AGAIN a three, four, five
oh zero zero eighty. Six if you want to chime,
in if you want to give us your thoughts on
when's the last time you felt this? OPTIMISTIC i, DO i.
Do i'm intrigued by S. C coast's, take and again
he's the guy that says never again after the last four.
Years i'm intrigued by that thought process because, YEAH i,

(01:15:02):
mean there's always there's always been, hype But clemson delivered
in those other. Seasons they certainly have not delivered over
the past four. Years one could argue that at the
crux of the, batter maybe more than, anything is your

(01:15:23):
belief in whether or Not Kid clubnick can make the
key plays in the big games when, necessary and based
off of the results last, year while there were absolutely
flashes and The clemson's losses really outside of The texas,

(01:15:44):
game you, know in their loss To South, Carolina louisville And,
georgia you almost feel Like Ki clubnick did not make
the plays that you have to make to win games like,
that and think about the point totals he scored three Against,

(01:16:05):
georgia twenty one Against, louisville and fourteen Against South. Carolina
like when this offense scored three touchdowns or less this past,
season they were oh and, three oh and three in those.

(01:16:25):
Games in games where they scored three touchdowns or. More
the only loss they had in the game of that,
MAGNITUDE i, believe was The texas. Game so the question
becomes if Kay klubnik is better in those big, games
those biggest games and The louisville. GAME i don't know about,

(01:16:55):
you but The louisville game feels a little bit of
like an, outlier quite, Frankly but in the biggest of,
games Did cade play his best? Ball AND i think
the answer the answer to that question outside of the

(01:17:17):
matchup Against texas is probably. No and that's reason that
guys like Sc Coast tiger or just Se coast whatever
his name was over On twitter probably are a little
bit hesitant to buy in final segment of the week
around The, bend stay with, Us.

Speaker 6 (01:17:35):
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 lucky for us At, clemson the answer to the
questions what have you done for me?

Speaker 2 (01:17:53):
Lately what have you? Done always are the. Same we
win final segment on A friday, afternoon WHERE i Am Justin,

(01:18:53):
rose who's been finished for a while at The. Masters
today is still leading at eight, under just one under par,
today allowing the field to really. Narrow bryce and D
chambeau at minus seven at my, Time rory McElroy And

(01:19:14):
Corey connors along With Terrell hatton are all tied at minus,
six so a three way tie in third. Place and
then you've got your defending, Champ Scotti scheffler and another
four player or another three players tied at minus five
With matt, McCarty Shane lowry And Jason. Day So i'm

(01:19:42):
kind of surprised that the numbers weren't better today for
a guy Like Justin rose because of how much rain we.
Got i'm assuming they got that rain over To gusta
yesterday AND i would imagine that slowed The greens down
significant lead by comparison to where they were On. Thursday either,

(01:20:07):
way let's see the projected cut line is at plus, two,
right now that's the projected cut. Line Former Clemson Tiger
Lucas glover did not make the. Cut he finished plus,
eight eighty fifth out of ninety five players For. Glover just,
atrocious atrocious play For glover On thursday plus. Eight he

(01:20:37):
was plus two, today finishing ten over Par so again
the weekend beginning to shape up with The. Masters brilliant
coverage of that over the next two days ON, cbs
as that network has had The master's broadcast for nearly seventy.

(01:20:58):
Years and again our very Own Christopher thompson on the
scene IN augusta for the, tournament giving you. Updates all,
right final thing here on A friday, afternoon saw this
on the Old twitter, sphere and LIKE i told you,

(01:21:19):
yesterday this has kind of become my new, thing marking
some stuff THAT i think is unique and. Impressive and
this guy has on a green. Jacket it Was Chris,
vernon and he does kind of the weird not, weird

(01:21:41):
the Unique masters intro or. Whatever but then all of
a sudden he starts almost like wrapping the scores at The.
Masters so instead of you, know hitting you With Justin
rose at eight, under this is what it sounds like
this is this got a lot of traction yesterday the

(01:22:01):
twenty twenty Five. Masters you better.

Speaker 1 (01:22:04):
Duck he's going.

Speaker 3 (01:22:11):
On he's going, on.

Speaker 1 (01:22:17):
Going.

Speaker 2 (01:22:18):
On Scottie sheefer three, Three Scottie sheffery, Three heading three.

Speaker 5 (01:22:31):
Had, three Juffn rother, Three.

Speaker 2 (01:22:38):
Justin rose is three. UNDER i could not help. MYSELF i,
mean this guy's got a, cane he's got some sunglasses,
on some big. Jewelry he's got like four live mascots
behind him in the studio and he's he's just wrapping
going through with a big like with a hip hop
beat behind. Him all the stats and people were retweeting

(01:23:01):
this dude yesterday left and. Right his name Is Chris.
Vernon he's AN nba podcast host For The, Ringer AND
i mean it was. Wild it was. Wild last thing From.
Augusta they had a little scene before the tournament with

(01:23:22):
several players talking about the impact of the tournament and
what it means for, them And John legend actually played
some of the. Audio here's a little bit of that
cut FROM. Cbs what's you call? What Magdolia lane was everything.

Speaker 6 (01:23:40):
You thought it was gonna. Be what's going through.

Speaker 4 (01:23:44):
This?

Speaker 2 (01:23:44):
Feeling anywhere else you.

Speaker 1 (01:23:47):
Can't, No, no there's something different about.

Speaker 5 (01:23:50):
It just it's very very hard to.

Speaker 2 (01:23:51):
Explain it's it's hard to put in a.

Speaker 1 (01:23:53):
Word it's just a very special.

Speaker 4 (01:23:55):
Place even to this, day driving Off Magdolean, lane it
just gives me.

Speaker 3 (01:23:59):
Chills there's a reason in certain places make us feel
a certain.

Speaker 6 (01:24:04):
Way sure enough you pull In, Magnolia, lana it just
takes a breath.

Speaker 4 (01:24:07):
Of better than anything that your imagination can come.

Speaker 2 (01:24:09):
Fro it doesn't get all the, beauty the aura putting
on the. Tradition it's a destination for anyone who loves
golf to watch their dreams come, true lived up to
Everything i'd ever. Watched that little cut scene from The

(01:24:31):
masters was absolutely. Phenomenal it's over on Their twitter account as.
Well go check that. Out all, right we got to
get out of. Here thank you guys again for me
to part of the. Show go check out the website
this weekend if you never Have Clemson sports talt dot
com and we will talk to you On monday at four.
O'clock until, then it's Always i'll take care now and Go.
Tigers