The "Five Home Losses?" Edition

If Clemson loses to FSU, it will mark the first time in Tiger history that they've lost five home games in one season.

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:16):
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 Land. Clipson
Sports Talk for you each and every afternoon as you
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and beyond, listening to us on incredible radio stations like
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(01:14):
but the dot com on a dog gonet that's Clemson
Sports Doll dot Com. On the Thursday, timber Ray set
to join us in an hour and Ember two and
of course to show the Shakespeare south Land, brought to
you in part by our good friends over at Mets
Plumbing a mets Plumbing dot com. Two two six seven
one await that's two two six seven to one zero

(01:36):
eight A three four five oh zero zero eighty six.
That is a text line in the phone line for
the show. So we've talked about the decline of Clemson
football this season, and really I think it's fair to
say the decline of Clemson football since the twenty twenty season. Now,

(01:58):
the fall off hasn't been maybe as stark as it
feels today, given a three to five record, given the
fact that you were in the College Football Playoff a
year ago, given the fact that you know, Dabo Sweeney
has been, beyond the shadow of it out, one of

(02:20):
the most consistent coaches in college football. But some of
the numbers that are beginning to trickle out about this
season and the what ifs, so to speak of this
season are stunning in a lot of respects. Will Van Dervoort,

(02:40):
who joins us on Fridays, texted me this earlier today
that if Clemson loses to Florida State on Saturday, it
will mark Clemson's seventh straight home loss to a power
conference foe, and if that happens, it will tie for
the longest such losing streak in Clemson football history, dating

(03:04):
back to nineteen oh seven through nineteen seventeen. I mean,
that's that's a wild one. Now. The other thing that

(03:25):
stands in contrast of all that's been good during Dabosweeny's
tenure is this fact. Currently sitting at three and five,
this is the first team since Dabosweeny's second season when

(03:46):
Clemson was seven and six to lose five or more games,
and I got a text message. I have not been
able to verify this, but my brother in law told me,
and I haven't seen this, but I'm going to look
into it as I can. Here on the program today,
my brother in law, Harry, texted me and said that

(04:08):
his brother told him that Clemson has never lost five
home games in a single season. And I don't know
if that is or isn't the case, but I can
tell you in Dabo Sweeney's tenure, it's absolutely the case

(04:30):
because when you go back to twenty ten, a season
where Clemson finished six and seven, the Tigers lost at
home just twice. So this type of deal five losses

(04:51):
at home, which is what Clemson would be looking at
this season, is it's remarkable or I don't even know
how you put this into words, how bad that is
by comparison to what Clemson's done in the past, And

(05:16):
it's mind blowing because Death Valley still stands as one
of the top venues in the college football playoff era,
and this season has been an unmitigated disaster at home.

(05:38):
But to think about that fact they lost to LSU
they lost to Syracuse SMU and Duke at home. A
remaining home game that is losable against Florida State. That
would be five home losses in a single season. To

(06:03):
find that, you have to look at any year where
Clemson lost five games, But the odds that those five
games that they lost at home would be slim to none.
And the only season that I could reasonably look at
would be nineteen ninety eight, when I was in college

(06:23):
at Clemson and the Tigers went three to eight to
kind of a starting point, if you will. That season,
Clemson lost to Virginia Tech at home, Wake Forest at home,
NC stayed at home in Georgia Tech at home. They
did not lose five games at home when they were
three and eight. I mean, this is a number that

(06:50):
is potentially correct and may very well go deep into
the archives, and it might be in the notes. It
might very well be in the notes. But I do
feel like in order to find something like that, I mean,
you've got to look at a spectacularly bad season. Nineteen
seventy five, Clemson was two and nine, lost the two

(07:15):
Lane at home, lost the n C, stayed at home,
lost to Florida State at home, lost to Maryland at home,
only four losses at home. They had five road losses
that season. Even in a two and nine year nineteen
seventy five under Red Parker, Clemson was three and eight.

(07:40):
In nineteen seventy lost at home to Auburn, at home
to Duke, at home to North Carolina, and at home
to South Carolina. Only four losses at home. This stat
might be right. Timberray joined us in Hour number two.
I was certainly ask him. In nineteen sixty four, Clempson

(08:03):
went three and seven. They lost two games at home.
They lost five games on the road. This game this season,
I should say, appears to be a statistical anomaly. In
nineteen fifty two, Clempson was two six and one. They

(08:29):
lost at home just one time. Y'all, this is uh
looking pretty valid. I wasn't sure until I started to
dig in. In nineteen thirty three under Jess Neely, Clempson
went three six and two and lost one game at home.

(08:55):
And then you start to get into years where you
didn't play enough games to lose five that I think
this is correct. Nineteen twenty five, let me double check
this one. Bud Saunders and Clempson went one in seven,
they only lost two games at home, three games at home.

(09:18):
I think this is right, Like of all the good Dabos,
when he has done he might become the first head
coach to ever lose five home games in a season.
You talk about, you talk about just a crazy number
for a guy that did some crazy things in terms

(09:39):
of his success and how consistent Clemson has been. I mean,
he has been the epitome of consistency. To lose five
games at home, to lose seven consecutive games to power
five teams at home, It's not like the times have

(10:05):
passed dabosweeney by. It's like the times blew the doors
off of Dabo Sweeney. I mean, honestly, that's what it
feels like. The doors have been blown off of Clemson's invincibility.
Nobody at this point should walk into Death Valley fearing

(10:26):
this Clemson tire team right now, Bobby listening to the
program in New Jersey, says Swanee. I like to say
that this team is embarrassing, but we both live through
the Tommy West era and live to tell about it.
As I have said, Dabo's accomplishment should give him a
pass for the atrocious play this year but not if
we see the same next year. In addition, if he

(10:48):
were to be fired this year, Clemson might be no
better than the fifth best job available. Who are we
gonna get? Certainly nobody with a resume of two championships.
Even some of the potential candidates for big jobs have
been given large extensions and are effectively off the market.
Dabo is going to have to evolve as a head coach.

(11:08):
He would need to make staff changes and embrace the
portal to fill in talent gaps to avoid this mess
next year. That's Bobby A from New Jersey. Good point, Bobby. Additionally,
back to this statistic that blows my mind about five
games at home. I think the other thing that you

(11:31):
have to consider is that for so many years you
didn't play five games at home, so you certainly couldn't
lose five games at home. But since you've played five
games at home, it appears would be the first year
that Clemson could ever lose five games at home. A

(11:52):
zero three, four, five, zero zero eighty six. If you
want to get in on the conversation, much like Bobby
and Newer did, Davey d listened to the program a
couple of days ago, said Swanne. William Qualganby said fifteen
players out of the portal for four of the Tigers.
He says, since Clemson has limited experience with the portal,
do we bring in a person that has experienced getting

(12:14):
players out of the portal or is someone already on
staff to do that? Well it sort of I guess
that's a twofold operation. So Danny Pierman is a part
of that group, the former Climbs, a tight end coach.

(12:38):
And the other name that just joined the program this
past season. Oh man, it just went out, just went
out of my brainkle what's the guy's name? He came
from the NFL. Let's see, Jordan Sorels is the general manager.

(12:58):
Kevin Kelly. There we go, director of player Evaluation and Acquisition.
You know, people talk about people talk about this Clemson's
staff and what they would certainly label as nepotism. You know,

(13:19):
the people that are on the team who are related
or or on the coaching staff related to Dabo Sweeney
or friends and family as people call it, sort of
like the old cell phone plan. Remember you have friends
and family, you could call them and it didn't count
against you. Some of the things that concern me. I

(13:39):
think when I look at the support staff, let's call them.
One thing that jumps out more than anything I think
is Tyler Clements as the director of recruiting. I mean

(14:00):
that really kind of jumps out at me.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
Now.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
The name might not mean a whole lot to you,
and he's been around the program for a while. I
think he's been in his tenth season with Clemson. But
Tyler Clements is the son of Clemson University President Jim Clements.
I like Jim Clements. I honestly don't have anything against
Tyler Clements. You know, you can look at the staff

(14:26):
and go, well, Taj Boyd's on staff and CJ. Spiller's
on staff and Cole Stouts on staff, and I can't go, Yeah,
those guys played at Clemson. They played the sport. But
Tyler Clements being the director of recruiting overseeing on campus

(14:51):
recruiting events such as official and unofficial visits in junior days,
I just don't you know how much you know, And
I don't know what all was involved in being the
director of recruiting. It sounds like a bigger title than
what is listed underneath his job description or what they
say about it. That one sticks out to me like

(15:15):
a sore thumb, though when I go through it, I mean,
it really does. Because we could talk about, Hey, you
wish coaches would go cut their teeth somewhere else, You
wish the guys that you brought in had more experience.
But I just think about Tyler Clements, and I can't
help but think he's sitting there because his dad is

(15:38):
the university president. And that's essentially the reason. I mean,
that's the way I see that job right now. And
that's a key one in my opinion, because it certainly
feels like recruiting, which is not led by Tyler Clements
by any means, that's led by the coaches. Recruiting is

(16:02):
missed far too often, far too often, And so I
would imagine that, you know, as we meander towards the
end of this season, the staff changes that will be
made will certainly hit hard and heavy on those individuals

(16:29):
who are in those name positions that you know, the
offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, YadA, YadA, YadA, on down the
list through the kind of ancillary names. But here's just
a couple in the friends and family Tyler Grisham, former
Clemson players, the wide receiver coach CJ. Spiller, former Clemson player,

(16:54):
the running back coach Nick Easton, former Clemson player, defensive
tackles coach, Ben Bullware former Clemson player. Linebackers coach. DeAndre
McDaniel's a former Clemson player. He's a dB coach as
zero coaching experience outside of Clemson. That's the same that
could be said for CJ. Spiller, Tyler Grisham, and Big Bullware.

(17:16):
By the way, you got Lorenzo Ward on staff. Now,
he's a former Alabama teammate of Dabo Swingeys, but he's
got thirty years of experience. He's been around the game.
You've got the Kwan Bauers, former Clemson player, assistant defensive
ends coach with zero coaching experience outside of Clemson. Taj Boyd,
former Clemson player, assistant quarterback coach, zero coaching experience outside

(17:38):
of Clemson. Cole Stout former Clemson player. He is an
assistant wide receiver coach with zero coaching experience outside of Clemson.
You got Elijah Turner, former Clemson player who's an assistant
cornerback coach with zero coaching experience outside of Clemson. You
got Andrew Zou, former Alabama player assistant running back coach,
thirteen years of coaching experience at the high school level.

(18:00):
You got Ryan Allen, the son of defensive coordinator Tom Allen,
with zero coaching experience prior to this season. He's the
assistant special teams coach. You got Corey Crawford, former Clemson
Tiger player, assistant defensive line coach with zero coaching experience
outside of CLEMPS. You got Tyrone Crowder, former Clemson Tiger
player assistant offensive line coach with zero coaching experience outside

(18:22):
of Clemson. Drew Sweeney and Will Sweeney, both sons of
Dabo Sweeney, assistant wide receiver coach and assistant tight end coach,
zero coaching experience outside of Clemson. You got Brandon Thomas,
former Clemson player, assistant offensive line coach, zero coaching experience
outside of Clemson. Nolan Turner, former Clemson player assistant safeties coach,
zero coaching experience outside of Clemson. I mean, that's a

(18:51):
lot of individuals, and there are still more. There are
still more, but maybe not any more that really directly
influence the game day situation and preparation per se. I mean,
that's that's part of the problem. You hear how many
times in that list I said zero coaching experience outside

(19:16):
of Clemson. And I'm not saying you can't have homegrown guys,
and I'm not saying that you can't be successful, but
I've put just those main jobs up against what it
was when when times were great, twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen.

(19:36):
I'd love to see the additional staff members and who
those individuals were prior to these people being hired to
do this job. I'd love to see that because it
feels like a sharp drop off, no doubt about that.
A three four five zero zero eighty six. All right,

(19:56):
quick break, We'll come back with more here on a
Thursday afternoon. Well, I'm back with you on a Thursday afternoon,
Timberrey coming up in our number two A zero three
four five zero zero eighty six. Sorry, earlier in the
week we played some of Davos Sweeney's comments. I'm gonna
be honest with you, I've kind of forgotten where we
left off. It's been a few days. The time change
everything's got me shook a little bit, I guess you

(20:19):
would say. And I gotta advance the time on this
show just a little bit because Christopher Thompson not able
to help me out today leaning in on our good
buddy Brody from one to four point seven, and he's
got a hectic schedule, so I gotta squeeze some stuff
in as fast as I can. So we're just gonna
pick this up with Dabo Sweeney talking about the play

(20:41):
of Braden Jacobs as he moved to offensive guard during
this matchup against Duke this past weekend.

Speaker 4 (20:48):
I mean, absolutely, we ain't taking him out of there.
He's one of the best five. I ain't no doubt
about it.

Speaker 5 (20:53):
I mean, he's super proud of him. I mean, he's
you talking about a kid that cares too, man. I
mean I love that about him. I mean he really
really cares. I mean that's a big, grown man, full
blown tears when the game's over.

Speaker 6 (21:06):
Man.

Speaker 4 (21:06):
It's tough, tough locker room. That kid really cares.

Speaker 5 (21:09):
It's important to him, and he's gonna be a he's
a he's a good player now, but he's gonna be
a great one.

Speaker 4 (21:15):
Uh tackle. He can play wherever.

Speaker 5 (21:18):
I don't ever see him being a center, but he's
I think an elite tackle or guard, whatever, wherever, wherever
you need him. To be uh, but he did a
good job and hadn't played guard, so he's pretty much
just a tackle. But for him to be able to
go in there and and operate, and Lenthicum did a
good job, and Tristan having Tristan in Lenthicum, you know,
in between those two guys, two veteran guys. Uh, that

(21:41):
that certainly helps, you know, have him all on the
same page. But he did a he did a heck
of a job.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
All right. Listening back to that, I do think you
did hear that from Dabos Sweeney earlier. This week's all
advanced it just a little bit more. Dabos Sweeney was
asked about kay club Nick's ankle and just kind of
how he's been throughout this week and work his way
up to playing in that Duke game last weekend.

Speaker 4 (22:03):
Kade's a warrior man.

Speaker 5 (22:04):
That guy is unbelievably committed and he'll be that way
till the last play.

Speaker 4 (22:08):
I mean, he's just a guy. He's done.

Speaker 5 (22:10):
He did everything he could to play against SMU. I
mean literally like round the clock, you know, treatment and
hooked up the machines and everything he could to try
to play in that game, and and.

Speaker 4 (22:22):
Just man, But that's who he is.

Speaker 5 (22:24):
I mean, the kid cares, he loves to play, he's
got no fear and uh man, he's he's got great
respect from his teammates. And you know, when he makes
mistakes or has a bad game, he'll come right back.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (22:36):
He's just the same guy every single week when it
comes to how he goes about his business.

Speaker 4 (22:41):
And he's really played well.

Speaker 5 (22:43):
I mean he's had I mean I get him four
at least probably three, three or four games in a row.
I think he's played really, really good, really well for US.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
Dabo Swiney was also asked about sort of post game
you know what player spoke? Did any guys stand up
and speak to the team after such a disappointing loss
to Duke.

Speaker 5 (23:03):
Yeah, yeah, we'll keep that in house. So, I mean,
these guys, these kids care, I mean, they're they're that's
somebody asked me that last night. It was one thing
where they was one thing, one thing that I wish
people really knew about our team, you know, other than
the helmets and the numbers that they wear and the
names on their man these are these guys care deeply.

Speaker 4 (23:25):
And uh it hurts because of that.

Speaker 5 (23:28):
So you know, we got a great group, a lot
of a lot of good words, but you know, we
gotta we got to go find a way to to win.

Speaker 4 (23:37):
That's what. That's what that's what's where the fun is.

Speaker 2 (23:40):
Dabos Wheney was asked about the message to some of
the younger players and trying to encourage them to believe
that the future was still bright.

Speaker 5 (23:47):
Yeah, same thing. I'll keep all that in house. I mean,
you know what we talk about. I mean, it's it's
a you know.

Speaker 4 (23:52):
A good opportunity. Again, there's opportunity and everything.

Speaker 5 (23:55):
I mean, this is a bad season, but it's not
a bad tenure if you will, or whatever.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
I mean, we've had. We've had a lot of great moments.

Speaker 5 (24:04):
And people sometimes get mad if we talk about anything
good we've done around here. But if I don't talk
about it, nobody else is uh, nobody's gonna talk about it.
Everybody talks about is what's bad. Nobody want to talk
about eleven championships in fourteen years.

Speaker 4 (24:18):
So I don't talk about it. Nobody else talked about it.

Speaker 5 (24:21):
So I think the biggest thing is perspective, you know,
making sure kids have the right perspective, because all they
get is inundated with garbage.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
And if you let garbage in, you get garbage out.

Speaker 5 (24:33):
So you know, opportunity to teach, lead, coach again, create perspective,
create vision. You know, those are all things that you
do as a coach. So you got young players again,
You've got your second year guys. They've come here, they've won,
they've gone to they won a championship, they've gone the playoffs,
and now they've got a season like this, so it's like, okay,
that's a and then your conversation with your seniors is

(24:55):
very different. They're all at different places. You know, it's
talking to t last night. You know, he's he's won
three championships since he's been here, and he's got a
different perspective than.

Speaker 4 (25:08):
TJ.

Speaker 5 (25:09):
Moore that comes in here and wins the championship and
goes to playoff and you know, has a great game
in the playoff game, and then all of a sudden,
now we come back and you know, you're doing a lot.

Speaker 4 (25:17):
Of good stuff, but you ain't winning. It's frustrating. You know,
it's it's a team and.

Speaker 5 (25:22):
So and then you got or the or the freshmen
that have just got here and this is their first season.
So there's just a lot of different messages and different
things that you talk about depending on the group that
you're with, whether you're Walker Parks or Venables, Tristan Lee
or your gid just showing up, you know, So just

(25:43):
opportunity to to.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
Help lead and teach and learn and grow and keep moving.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
So when he was asked if he felt he would
have a hard time convissing fans that this season was
just a one off, I don't.

Speaker 5 (25:55):
Have any control over that. I mean, that's up to
that's up to you know, everybody to make up their
own minds. All that I'm all I can say is,
you know, again, eleven championships in fourteen years, so not
twenty years ago like the.

Speaker 4 (26:06):
Past fourteen years.

Speaker 5 (26:07):
Eleven and played for three more, two more national championships
and another conference championship. So again, if people don't believe
after all that because of one bad season, and that's
I mean, I can't do anything about that.

Speaker 4 (26:20):
I mean, it's a stinks. I'd be pissed.

Speaker 5 (26:23):
I am pissed, you know, because I'm a fan too,
you know, But it's also my It's what I do
for a living, It's what I do. It's my calling.
I don't blame people to be mad. I'm mad too.
I'm frustrated, but I'm gonna fix it. But if people
don't believe that, you know, fifteen years ago, we had
a losing season, you know.

Speaker 4 (26:39):
I mean, if I can just.

Speaker 5 (26:40):
Tell you, right, I know where I was fifteen years ago.
I was pretty miserable driving home from Charlotte. I was
pretty frustrated. I had a lot of frustration, and I
had no track record at that point, you know, and
honestly fortunate to get another year. I mean, you know,
if it wasn't Tarry down Philips, I probably wouldn't have

(27:00):
gotten another year.

Speaker 4 (27:01):
I was really fortunate to get another year.

Speaker 5 (27:03):
But I made some decisions that were critical and some
that weren't very popular.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
But what I believed, and that's.

Speaker 5 (27:10):
Honestly probably something that I've probably not done it. If
I evaluate myself, I've probably gotten away a little bit
away from my instincts and not trusting some of my instincts.
And that's that's one of my things I've got to
get back to. And some people say I'm stubborn, but
I think I have conviction.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
So a little introspective look from Dabo Sweeney well, Hillbrate,
We'll come back with more from what coach Sweeney had
to say earlier this week. Stay with US Clemson's Sports
South Long Swine. Back with you on the Thursday afternoon,
Tim Ray coming up around the Bend again. We were
listening to some of Davos Sweeney's comments from earlier this week.
He was talking about, you know, sort of trusting his
instincts and feeling like he had not maybe done that

(27:51):
in some situations. Here's more from Sweeney on that.

Speaker 5 (27:55):
You know, I just think I look back on that
and I can just tell you when I got home
from Charlotte and I was I'm a young coach hanging
on with by a thread, and you just had a
losing season and you're not a popular hire anyway. I
guarantee if people would have said I'd still be here
in twenty twenty five, nobody would have believed it at
that time. A lot of y'all wouldn't have believed it.

(28:16):
You definitely wouldn't have believed it. But I'm still here.
But I love you, man, and I know you love
me deep down, love hate relationship, but you wouldn't have
But I'm still here.

Speaker 4 (28:25):
But my point is, if God had just.

Speaker 5 (28:28):
Come down in the den and sat there with me
and cath in that horrible moment of like, Okay, tough decisions,
tough conversations, challenge on some core beliefs. Am I going
to stick to what I really believe in? And if
I lose, I'm okay. And I've always said, you know,
I'd rather win doing what I believe is right than

(28:50):
to lose knowing that I didn't. That's just what I've
always believed, you know, made some decisions.

Speaker 4 (28:55):
But if God had come in there and said, Okay,
here's what's going to happen.

Speaker 5 (28:59):
We're going to have fourteen great years, eleven championships, play
for two more national championships, another but fifteen years from now,
you're twenty twenty.

Speaker 4 (29:09):
Five, it's gonna suck. Would you sign up for that? Went?

Speaker 5 (29:15):
Are you kidding? I had to said, sign me up.
And so that's where we are, you know, and I'm
not immune. I don't know of a coach out there
that who's had any type of tenure, who hasn't had
a bad year somewhere along the way. And this is
just part of this is not a period, it's a comma.
It's a part of our story. Twenty ten is a
part of our story. It was awful. We lost five

(29:36):
to the game Cocks. That's a part of our story.
That was awful, but it was a part. It's a
part of our journey. It's a part of our story.
You know What's also a part of our story. National championships.
Nobody wants to talk about. And again, if I don't
talk about anybody else, gona talk about everybody Else's gonna
say when he's crazy and they suck, it's a bad year,
and focus on all bad. But I mean, somebody got
talked about it because we're not a part of the machine.

(29:56):
At Clemson. We ain't a part of the machine. We've
always been outlier. We've always been a disruptor. We always
have me, you know, And so that's just that's the
fact too. We don't have people sitting around talking about,
you know, our league or our program twenty four to
seven and all that stuff.

Speaker 4 (30:13):
We don't have that, but we want anyway, and we'll
continue to win.

Speaker 5 (30:16):
So I guess my point is is if people don't
believe after what they've seen, then that's fine. That's a
decision everybody make. But I know what I believe and
I know what, I know what we'll do. So I
got no doubt. I mean, it's just part of the story.
Just like twenty ten, I said last night, everything bad
in my life, something great came from it.

Speaker 4 (30:39):
And I've had a lot of bad things.

Speaker 5 (30:40):
And I would say, probably you've had some bad things
in your life that as a person with you know,
graying hair, right like you've had some wisdom. You know,
you've probably had some bad things in your life that
good things have come from it.

Speaker 4 (30:53):
And would that be an accurate statement? Yeah, and me too.

Speaker 5 (30:56):
And so this is a bad thing professionally, but something
great to come from it'd be great.

Speaker 4 (31:02):
There'll be a lot of great things come from it.

Speaker 5 (31:04):
And again just personally, I can look back on many
things in my life that were bad. Man, I got
fired in two thousand. I had my dream job at Alabama,
my dream job. I'd probably still be there. I'd probably
never left. I'm coaching White House at Alabama. It's all
I man, I'm thirty, I'm living my dream and we
get fired.

Speaker 4 (31:23):
But you know what came from that.

Speaker 5 (31:25):
I was miserable eighteen months. I couldn't get a job
doing what I love to do. But it made me
a better coach, gave me a different perspective, taught me
that I could be successful doing something else, which gave
me a ton of confidence as a coach, because I
think a lot of coaches compromised because they're fearful they
can't be successful doing anything else. I got back into

(31:47):
coaching with a ton of confidence because I learned I
could be very successful doing something else. But I gave
that up because I knew what I wanted to do.
I knew what I was called to do. But getting
fired at Alabama brought me to Clemson. It's been this
amazing blessing five and four and about to be fired
in O three my first year.

Speaker 4 (32:06):
Something great came from that.

Speaker 5 (32:07):
Right, we had a great little finish and a great run,
and two thousand.

Speaker 4 (32:10):
And eight we get fired.

Speaker 5 (32:11):
That was a miserable day, but something great came from it.
I got a chance to become the head coach at Clemson.
You know, I mean I said this to the team.
I mean my wife and I we had two miscarriages.
We lost a child at fourteen weeks and won at
ten weeks. Newly wed. You know you're trying to get
you know, hadn't been married long, We're trying to have kids,
and it's a devastating thing and a lot of people

(32:33):
have been through that. But when the Lord blessed us
with you know, our will and then Drew and Clay,
I really believe part of what came from that is
we had a deeper appreciation for the miracle of childbirth,
the miracle of being a parent, you know, And I
think we were better parents because of it. So it

(32:53):
was a horrible thing, something great came from it, and
I just, you know, I've just that's my perspective. And
I mean, I didn't get the scholarship that I wanted
my senior year in high school, living in a you know,
one bathroom, government subsidized apartment with my grandmother, and I
didn't get the scholarship I wanted. But because I didn't
get the scholarship I wanted, I learned what a pelgrant was.

(33:15):
I learned what a student loan was, and that allowed
me to go at all to Alabama and chase my dream.

Speaker 4 (33:21):
And when man.

Speaker 5 (33:21):
Coach Curry left and Coach Bowden left, and I'm back
at the bottom, and I'm miserable, and I almost left
because I'm frustrated and it was not what I wanted
in life, and it was bad. Here comes Jeene Stalings
and Woodie McCorvey. Two are the greatest mentors in my life.

Speaker 4 (33:37):
You know, what was.

Speaker 5 (33:38):
Really bad in the moment for me turned out to
be one of the greatest things that ever happened to
me in my life because two great leaders in my life,
two mentors, two father figures, And all of a sudden,
now I'm getting a scholarship and I'm playing, and then
I'm a coach, and they led me into coaching, and
then again we get fired in two thousand to Clemson.

(34:00):
So again that's just that's my perspective. So that's you know,
I have peace no matter what. I'm not always happy.
I'm not real happy, you know right now, because I
take a lot of pride in Clemson.

Speaker 4 (34:13):
I take a lot of pride in what we do.
And I haven't gotten it done. It's my fault, it's
nobody's faulting of mind. I hadn't got it done. Over
seventeen years. I think I've done a decent job.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
I mean, that's a lot from Dabo. That's deep, that's
you know, the story about the miscarriages, and just every
time he thinks, you know, he's been down in his life,
he's he's he's found his way back, and he's found
positives and the negative. And I mean it's a it's
a big broad perspective on where we sit. And it's

(34:47):
not been a good season. It's been a great run.
And look I'm a testament to it here on the radio.
I think about how great Clemson was. Like my first
ten years on the air, we rarely lost a game.
I really, I mean most of the time when I'm
making a prediction, it was like, okay, forty to what
to fourteen? There was always a blowout, all right, final
segment our number one. Right after this final segment of

(35:10):
our renumber one clumpson Sports Tall Lode swan with you
on a Thursday, Timberrey coming up around the ban Ah
three four five zero zero eighty six. So you know,
I know the government shut down is the thing that
everybody's talking about and how long it's been shut down

(35:32):
for sure, And I don't know the ins and the
outs of that, but I know most of you are
concerned about the ESPN YouTube TV status and the problems
that I think somebody like that so many people face

(35:52):
with this is that we all left, We all left
cable to find an alternative that was cheaper, and YouTube
TV it is still cheaper than cable is Slash was

(36:16):
not by much. But now when you add on your
Netflix and your Hulu and your Prime subscription with the
Prime Video and blah blah blah blah and everything that
you watch on Paramount Plus and Peacock, now you're going, oh,
it is more expensive. A la carte was supposed to
be cheaper. What I'm hoping this gets us? Okay, well,

(36:41):
I'm really hoping this gets us. And I would be
for this just a sports package, just sports, because I'm
gonna be honest. All the other stuff I really don't need.
I get over the air. Over the air, there's fifty
something channels locally. They're not all spectacular, but I don't

(37:07):
need most of the junk, and I'll call it junk
that's on YouTube TV. Anyway. I'll watch stuff that I
want on Hulu. You know, give me a package of
where it's just ESPN and that's all, and the Fox
channels and that's all. You know, give me the sports TV.

(37:29):
I don't care, that's what you can call it sports TV.
That's all I need, and I'd be happy just to
pay for that, and I'd cut my YouTube TV subscription.
I do that in a blink. YouTube TV, though, however,
has proposed reinstatement of b ABC and ESPN as negotiations continue.

(37:50):
That news coming out a couple of hours ago. YouTube
shared an email that it's sent to Disney Lee leadership
shared an email it sent the Disney leadership regarding the
lack of Disney channels, most notably ABC and ESPN. YouTube
would like to restore ABCNESPN while the two companies negotiate,

(38:18):
so hopefully we'll get these channels back while they work
it out. And these are mega million, billion dollar corporations,
they really don't need to make much more money. I
think what this is really about. Disney owns Hulu Live,
and Disney owns fu Boo TV, and they want to

(38:39):
move people off of YouTube TV to that, and I
quite frankly don't blame them. I was a little bit surprised, though,
at the numbers of people that subscribe to YouTube TV
like that was shocking to me. It was much lower

(39:00):
than I thought it would be. It's about ten million people.
You might say, well, that's a lot Swanny. I mean yeah,
I mean, I guess if you're talking about ten million
people and you're playing, you're paying, what was it cost
eighty two dollars a month or something like that. If

(39:24):
that's the case, it's nearly a billion dollars, right, It's
like eight hundred and twenty million dollars a month coming in.
But I feel like that is a low number ten
million people. Like if you talk about how many people
are in the United States, three hundred and forty million.

(39:49):
Now I know a large percentage of that ten million
are households. So like if my family, that takes that
number up to forty million, because I'm a family of four,
so I'm multiplying, you know, ten million times four, and
there are larger families out there, But it sure feels

(40:14):
like that number would be larger than it is. I
wonder how many people I will have to look this up.
How many people subscribed to direct TV at his peak?
That would be an interesting number to know. Is it

(40:35):
larger than ten million? I would think so, but maybe
I was yeah, twenty one million, so they had twice
the subscriptions that this has, And that number seems a
little bit low to me, but I I you muchply
that by four that's eighty million. I mean that's a
good many people out of three hundred and forty million people,

(41:00):
but they have dropped off significantly. Just give me a
sports package I can pay for, and I think ESPN
also is trying to create that. But the problem with
that is that leaves off those Fox channels, and those
Fox channels aren't overly valuable to me. But if you

(41:21):
just packaged a sports network and made it thirty dollars
a month, I think most of us would shift to that.
Am I wrong? I think most of us would give
up on this fluff and stuff that we get that
that's on our television today. And it's been it's been tough.
It's been tough sledding without ESPN in ABC and all

(41:46):
of the games over the past few weeks and the
ability to log into your ESPN Plus and watch it.
I mean, it's been that has been a difficult path
to navigate for me, and I would assume for you
as well. I'm actually just logging into my account real
quick before the break to see, yeah, still no ABC.
So the deal hadn't been done yet, but it sounds

(42:07):
like they may put the stations back on while they negotiate.
All right, Our number two, Tim Bray, longtime Clemson s
I D. Joins the program here on a Thursday afternoon.
Stay with us.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
It's time for Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
It is our number two. That's drive time right here
on the show The Shakespeare south Land, Clemson Sports Talk.
Lord and Swad hang out with you. A long time
legendary Clemson sid timbre coming up around the bend in
the show The Shakespare south Land, brought you in part
by our good friends over at Mets Plumbing the mets
plumber dot com two two six seven one the wait,

(43:26):
that's Mets Plumbing two two six seven one zero eight.
Go check them out today online at mets plumber dot com.
Timbarey joins us on a Thursday afternoon. Tim, welcome in
Hope you're doing well. Gonna be a unique weekend for
you and Tiger Town as you DeAndre Hopkins, late Clemson
defensive tackle Chester mcglockton, as you all are inducted into

(43:51):
the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame again. We talked about this,
I guess back in the summer with the News Bro.
But congratulations and what an honor for you and all
your friends and family.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
Yeah, really, thanks a lot, a lot, and I'm looking
forward to it. I got a lot of former student
assistants that I'm gonna see and always good to see them.
My boss from NBC Sports is Tommy Roy is gonna
come up for it. Of course, both of his kids

(44:26):
went to Clemson, so their whole family's coming, so it's
gonna be nice to see them too.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
Well. And so, like I think about your career, how
often I'm assuming this is gonna happen at halftime because
it said during the game. So how many times in
your career have you been on the field during a game?
It can't be much.

Speaker 3 (44:54):
Yeah, you're right, it's not.

Speaker 4 (44:56):
Now.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
Of course, most games when I was SID, I would
go down on the field to be with the coach
right up the with Dabbo or Tommy Bowden or coach
Ford or whatever. Right, so I might be down on
the field for the last five minutes of the game.
So I was, you know, there a lot. But I've

(45:18):
never been on the field for an entire game. Yeah,
I mean, I've only been with the team as they
ran down the hill one time, and that was when
a TV crew was doing a special on running down
the hill, and so I thought I might go to
I might go over there just to make sure that

(45:39):
they they were getting away or get somewhere that we're
not supposed to be. So so I was, and that
was amazed how energized everything is at that rock when
when they're getting ready to run down the hill.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
But I've only done that once, and so I'll I'll
take it a step further now. So your badge that
you wear, I think at least at some point if
it not does it still says all access or full access,
meaning you can essentially go anywhere. But being Timberray, do
people stop you at all? Or do you just walk

(46:18):
past everybody? How does that work for you?

Speaker 3 (46:22):
Well, I mean a lot of people know me, but
I no, I usually don't get stopped. I might get
stopped for people to say hello. I get a lot
more of that than somebody say hey, where you're going?
But yeah, I do have an all access pass with
my picture on it, so I could usually pretty much
go where I want. And I'm still broadcast in the

(46:43):
game Saturday, I'll leave the press box with five minutes
to go in the second quarter to be on the
field for that, I think we're The first thing they're
going to do at halftime is introduce all the people
going in the Hall of Fame. So I'll be down
there for that, and then back upstairs in the booths
for the for the second half. I am missing a

(47:04):
basketball game though, on Friday night, because we the reception
and representation of all the same jacket is is a
Friday night reception, so it goes on the same time
as the basketball game. So I will miss a basketball game.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Again, Tim Ray with this here on the program. So
I have a Clemson Florida State. A couple of game
confessions for you here, Tim that I don't think I've
ever told on the air, but talking about getting into
the stadium or being in places where you are not
supposed to be. My first would be ballt and Bowl

(47:43):
one and back then. Okay, I would help John Scatta
during basketball season immediately Hannah you might know him, a
super fan, and some other guys we were always in
there on the north floor. Well, I had built a
relationship with him, and that was a game where for
whatever reason, is a student I couldn't get a ticket,
and so it was super early in the day, and

(48:05):
I just walked with a purpose, like I knew where
I was going, and I walked past, nobody stopped me.
This is you know, this is pre nine to eleven,
so things were a little more relaxed. I just walked in,
went up into the press box, found John, figured out
how I could get in talking with him and got
that all worked out, and I just tried to look
the part like I just at like I knew where

(48:25):
I was going, and nobody stopped me. That's confession one.
I was illegally in bout and Bowl one.

Speaker 7 (48:31):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
And Confession two is the twenty thirteen Clemson Florida State
game that was the old press box. There weren't enough
seats available, so I got in down on the field
before the game and Dabo Sweeney's old college buddies were
down there for that game, and one of them was

(48:52):
chatting me up when the security was coming by to
like take everybody off the field and to the upper
deck or to the you know, to the press box.
But because I was with that little circle of Dabo's buddies,
nobody stopped me. I watched the first half. It was
a blowout. I watched the first half on the field,
and then when the band came out, I didn't have
anywhere to go because all those guys went into the

(49:12):
the thing with Dabbo and so I just had to
scurry back to the press box and with my tail
between my legs. So two confessions Florida State game off
my chest. I feel much better now.

Speaker 3 (49:27):
You you I know, I don't think you're catholic, but it
feels like he just confused.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
I'm not. That's outstanding. I feel better already, Tim Berey
with this here on the program. Tim, I was looking
a buddy of mine. My brother in law actually texted me.
His brother texted him and said, hey, you know, Clemson
has never lost five games at home in a season.
And I look back, I couldn't find a year where

(49:55):
Clemson had never lost five games at home. If they
lose to Florida State, Tim, that will be five home
loans losses this season. Has that ever happened before? That
you are aware of?

Speaker 1 (50:05):
Now?

Speaker 3 (50:05):
Four of the most. I looked it up this week too.
I know we had four in nineteen ninety eight. It
was another year we had we had four at home,
So this is only the third as it is, I believe, So, yeah,
you're right, and that's and Dabbo, of course, is always
prided on playing so well at home and uh, after

(50:29):
we beat North Caro Boston College for our second straight
road game, which we won, that was one of his
messages to the team. But unfortunately we've we've lost I
guess two mores.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
Into that again, Tim braz turn, Yes, a strange year.
It is a strange year, you know, Dabos when he
called it after the loss to Duke uh, a low
of lows, I guess was kind of the terminology that
he used. But he made a good point, I thought
this week, and I actually played this in our number
one from his press conference on Tuesday, where he talked

(51:08):
about the fact that if you would have told him
early in his career that he could have signed up
for the run that Clemps has been on, knowing that
this year would be the type season that it is,
he would have signed up for that in a blink.
And I think that puts some perspective on one how
good this run has been. And yes, this feels like

(51:29):
a sharp decline, but in the grand scheme of things,
at this point, it is just one unfortunate season. And
I think as a as Tiger fans look at it,
that's the way they've got to see it. They can't
project this out that this is what it's always going
to be like. I think they've got to have a
little faith in their head. Coach.

Speaker 3 (51:53):
Yeah, no, I agree with you. And I think I
mentioned last week the you know, other great coaches who
have late in their careers, but not at the very
end of their careers.

Speaker 4 (52:05):
Uh, you know, had rough season.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
You know, in fact, I talked about it with Dabbo
yesterday after practice that sent them list. I if it
made him feel better or not. But but yeah, I
mean Rockney went five and four and then last to
the next two years he won the national ship. Brian

(52:29):
Kelly went four and eight in twenty sixteen and then
was in the playoff in eighteen and twenty and uh,
Bud Wilkinson's twelve year he was three six and two
and had had a couple more seasons. We only lost
two games after that, and Frank Lay the same same thing.
So it happens to the best of the coaches. And

(52:53):
as I've said, if you're staying long enough you're gonna
you know, you're gonna see just about everything. I mean,
Dabo is the only coach to take a team to
the final four of the college football playoffs six years
in a row. Yep, Saban didn't even do that. And
I don't know that anybody's gonna do that. But but

(53:16):
you know, we're having a losing season right you know,
right now, so it happens.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
I think the other thing is, whether you're in business,
whether you're a sports franchise, you're you're always trying to
stay sharp. And we often talk about, you know, not
having a plateau that certainly exists, but continuing to push
forward and and sometimes maybe something like this can even

(53:46):
help from that standpoint. And Dabos when you talked about
kind of getting away from his instincts maybe a little bit.
And and I just think that, you know, every once
in a while, being kind of brought down a little bit,
and he has had an incredible run is probably healthy
for everyone involved in the aspects of this Clemson Tiger

(54:07):
football program. Would you agree that this kind of setback
will likely, you know, shift things. I'm not talking about
coaches and all that. I'm just talking about maybe the
way they operate in some areas.

Speaker 3 (54:21):
Oh yeah, no, I'm I'm sure. I mean he's done
that in his past. When something bad has happened.

Speaker 4 (54:29):
He's.

Speaker 3 (54:31):
You know, he's made a move to correct it. And
you know, we didn't have a real great offensive year
in twenty ten, and that's when he brought in Chad Morris.
We didn't have a good defensive year in twenty eleven,
gave up seventy points to West Virginia, and you know,
he certainly made a change. So now recently a lot

(54:53):
of his changes have become of what happened because of
his assistant coaches have done so well here and moved on.
But he has made other changes as he did last
year with the defense, in a couple of years earlier
with the offense.

Speaker 7 (55:06):
So yeah, it's you know, it does make you, you know,
appreciate what you had and then hopefully you'll you'll get.

Speaker 2 (55:16):
Back to it again. You guys can follow Tim Beray
on Twitter at Tim Beray and Clemson's Clemson's basketball season.
Tim tipped off this past week as well with a
fifty point home victory over New Hampshire eighty eight thirty eight.
I know there were several other records that were kind
of set in that game as an opener. But it

(55:38):
was nice to see this team because we've we've addressed
this here, you and I. It's a unique era where
for years I felt like the advantage Clemson had was continuity.
And maybe you're facing these five star kids at Duke
and you had four year players and there's certainly some
upper classmen on this team, but it does feel like

(56:00):
an entirely new roster obviously, but really good to see
Ace Buckner play the way he played. And then, you know,
I think, just for me, when they substituted, I didn't
feel a drop off, and that's really what I looked for,
especially early in the season. It just felt like the
different kind of personnel groupings that Brad Brownell was able

(56:21):
to put out there really seemed to work well this
past week. And again it was New Hampshire. I want
to let that be known thereby they weren't playing you know, Duke,
but still I thought that the the the personnel groupings
played pretty well together throughout the game.

Speaker 3 (56:38):
Yeah they did. He kind of said after the game
that there is no you know said you know personnel.
Obviously there are guys by you know by positions, but yeah, no,
that was Yeah. I think we are going to have
as deep as team as we've had since since Brad
has has been here. And the the you know, overall

(57:00):
only six turnovers. You know, early in the season, when
you're just trying to get acclimated with everybody is when
you have usually a higher turnover total. But you know,
that was that was really good. I thought the perimeter
defense was good, and you know, those are all hallmarks
that that Brad you know, looks for to have a

(57:22):
successful team. It is a different team in that I'm
not sure who the league score is going to be
from one game to another. You know, I didn't see
that coming. With Buckner had eighteen points in nineteen and
a half minutes, actually the second most point scored by
a freshman in his first game in Clympson history, only

(57:42):
Olden Eldon Campbell's nineteen his first game in nineteen eighty
six eighty seven was was more so the most fun
I had after the game is I know I still
keep up with Greg Buckner and had a cell number.
He was coaching the Milwaukee Bucks, and so to the game,
he got in the locker room and I'd sent him

(58:03):
the copy of the box score from this game, show
him what his son did. Then I sent him a
copy of his first game and told him and told
him that his son had bragging rights. He looked at
the box score and responded to me, but I had
nine assists, which he did in his first game, which

(58:25):
is the most the most assists ever bought Clemson player
in his first game as a freshman. So and then
I sent him a copy of his son's postgame interview,
which I know he had to smile about.

Speaker 2 (58:38):
Yeah, that's outstanding. And not only that, but wearing the
uniforms that Greg wore, you know during his time at
Clemson back when I was in school, and I listen,
I don't want to sound like the you know, stay
off the lawn, but old man, but those are the
best Clemson basketball uniforms ever. They still look spectacular. And

(59:01):
if they I don't know what their playing is with
him this year, I hope they wear him every game.
They are the best looking uniforms that Clems has ever had,
in my opinion.

Speaker 3 (59:10):
Yeah, I like him. I like him too, And of
course the uniforms that throw a McIntyre war when when
he was playing and he's on the staff, so I
know he really gets a charge out of that, and
I'm sure that his presidence has an impact on that.
But yeah, they are sharp in the c number and
to me, Ace his moves on offense and defense are

(59:31):
just it's almost like his father. It's unbelievable. So those
drives to the basket, just like Greg used to do.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
Yeah, really fun to see him again. Tim Bray with
us here for a few more minutes. All right, let's
shift back Tim to football real quick. Obviously, you know
this Florida State team. You know, I think most people
would look at their records and go, they can't be
the number one offense in the country, but they are.
In total yards, they lead the nation. They're one of
the top ten scoring teams in the country. It's amazing

(01:00:01):
how good they've been offensively to have the record that
they have, and they put up some big numbers in
it against some you know, smaller programs early in the
season that have certainly kind of raised that bar, so
to speak. But I'll tell you, if Clempson's defense plays
the way they've played the past two home games, it
might be a long day for the Tigers in death Valley.

Speaker 3 (01:00:23):
Yeah, they'd be chasing Costallona's the quarterback who was you know,
it's only been six ACC quarterbacks in the last twenty
five years to throw for two thousand and rush for
one thousand, and he's one of them. He did that
in twenty twenty three at Boston College. Of course, two
on that list or Woody Danceler and Deshaun Watson. However,

(01:00:46):
I will make Clempson fans feel a little bit better.
And you know, you talked about how they, you know,
had some really high total offense games against Kent State
in East Texas State, I think it was so I
went online and so Florida State is first in the

(01:01:10):
nation and total offense, but they're twenty sixth in the
nation in total offense and conference games. Clemson is actually
ninth in the nation in total offense in conference games
the full seventeen spots ahead of them and many many
yards better than so they really did kind of build

(01:01:31):
up their stats in those two games. We have just
an eight game sample. Now they've had at least four
in yards in a lot of other games, and so
they're good on offense, but maybe not quite as good
as those overall rankings will tell you.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
Yeah, the thirteen points at Stanford gives you a glimmer
of hope. I think the Cleps's defense has a chance
to slow down Florida State on Saturday again follow them
on Twitter. Tim berat Clemson Hall of Famer and it
happens this weekend in Death Valley. Congratulations Tim again and
we look forward to having you on next week.

Speaker 3 (01:02:09):
Thanks Loton, always good to talk to him.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
There you go, longtime Clemson sid And now this weekend
it's official. I mean it's official when're voted in, I think,
but it's official official this weekend. Hall of Famer, Tim Beray,
stay with us. Lawton Swan back with you on a
Thursday afternoon. Demonte K Part Clipson, interior defensive lineman, met
with the media earlier this week, and the Hartsville native

(01:02:35):
was asked about the areas of improvement for the defense.
Has been such a disappointing year for this group, and
man k Part's a guy who's been with the team
for what like six years. I think he's one of
those super seniors, and I mean he's seen some of
the highs of the high and now to see the

(01:02:55):
lows of the low didn't quite make it to a
national championship, but you know, just on the fringe of that.
When he arrives at Clemson, here's k Part talking about
areas improved, areas of improvement for the defense this year.

Speaker 6 (01:03:10):
Uh, you gotta get eleven guys during their job or
would be perfect.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
He was also asking if he feels that it's difficult
to get those eleven players doing their jobs.

Speaker 4 (01:03:21):
It's not difficult.

Speaker 6 (01:03:22):
We just got to be on the same page and
I have miscues and hit everything at work.

Speaker 2 (01:03:29):
K Part was also asked about what he's seen from
Florida State's offense.

Speaker 6 (01:03:34):
They're they're gritty, gritty group. They're they're good on offense.
They're thinking they ring number one offensively or something like
that in the nation. They're pretty good up front, tough group,
good wide receiver corps.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
And you might think, given Florida State's record, that demonte
k Part must not have a clue what he's talking about,
and you'd be wrong. This team does lead the country
in yards per game. Florida State puts up five hundred
and ten yards per game offensively, that's more than any

(01:04:12):
team in the country, and they are incredibly balanced. They
throw for two hundred and sixty nine point three yards
per game, which is which is good, not great, But
their rushing statistics are incredibly strong. Rushing for two hundred
and forty one point three very balanced attack under offensive

(01:04:36):
coordinator Gus mal Zeim, and they do average forty points
per game, which is I think maybe certainly top ten.
I think it might be eight or some in the country.
I'd have to I'd have to double check it. Maybe seventh.
Looking at the numbers here, I just pulled it up.
I think there's seventh overall in the country in scoring.

(01:05:00):
But yet, incredibly even with those numbers, they're a four
and four team who is one in four in the
Atlantic Coast Conference. They've scored a lot.

Speaker 4 (01:05:13):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:05:14):
They did a lot of their damage to East Texas
A and m at Kent State in the first few
games of the season. But then they're lost to Virginia
they score thirty eight, and they're lost to pit they
score thirty one. They scored forty two last week against
wake Forest. Kate Part was also asked about if the
adversity that Clemson's face this year has affected him.

Speaker 6 (01:05:37):
Of course, we all want to we all want to win,
so just you want to win them all, obviously, but
you can't win them all. So you just describe for
perfect even though when you sometimes you don't reach, necessarily
reach perfect.

Speaker 4 (01:05:53):
So just get back to it, get a better work.

Speaker 2 (01:05:56):
Kate Part was asked all about the team's mentality for
the final four games of the season.

Speaker 6 (01:06:03):
We're fighting for each other, some brotherhood here. We're also
fighting for Clemson because we love Clemson. So that's what
we're going to show up every week and keep fighting.

Speaker 2 (01:06:13):
And speaking of that comment, we actually put together the
article over on our website clemsonsports sun dot com about
that very quote and some of the rest of what
Demante KPart had to say. He was asked to evaluate
how Clemson's defensive line is played thus far this season.

Speaker 6 (01:06:30):
I think we all can be better, not necessarily a unit,
you know, just you always want to do more. It's
always room for improvement as well, so that's what I think.

Speaker 2 (01:06:42):
K Part was also asked about the areas where he
feels the defensive line could improve, just.

Speaker 6 (01:06:49):
Technique, fundamentals, the little things. Little things always shows up
when you need the most in the big moments.

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
KPart saying that the little things were the issue for
or have been the issue for Clemson, and it's been
consistently an issue for Clemson. Demonte was asked about what
he's learned by himself going through this adversity this season.

Speaker 6 (01:07:11):
How they ain't tough.

Speaker 2 (01:07:13):
A man of few words is Demonte k part. He
also was asked about where his perseverance amidst all this
adversity came from.

Speaker 4 (01:07:23):
I mean just just going through this season.

Speaker 6 (01:07:25):
It's been tough, so just the season itself, just learning
it from what we've been through so far.

Speaker 2 (01:07:30):
And finally, final couple of things. K Part was asked
about some of the other super seniors, Walker Parks and
and Tyler vinibles in their relationship.

Speaker 6 (01:07:40):
Those guys are the core of Clemson football. They're there
the embodiment of showing up, going to work every day. Walker,
of course, y'all know, tough, never quit, never going to quit.
And uh TiVo he's just he's a savvy guy. He
knows everything. Those the game in and out. Just those

(01:08:06):
two are the embodyment of Clemson football.

Speaker 2 (01:08:09):
And the final thing from Demante k Part, he was
asked about what gives him confidence that this Clemson Tiger
team at this point can respond to the adversity.

Speaker 6 (01:08:22):
Oh, just because I know what we made of I
know what we got an inside of this program, everybody's
going to show up and do their part and take
accountability for what's going on, and it's gonna get fixed.

Speaker 2 (01:08:35):
So there you have it. Demonte K part talking about
this Clemson Tiger football team and hoping to avoid another
loss at home, hoping to keep bowl hopes alive for
a team that when we did over unders at the
beginning of the year, I honestly believed it. This is
not a lie, but based off of everything that we

(01:08:57):
knew about this group, all the players that were returning
what I perceived to be a very favorable schedule, I
thought this team was the most likely team to go
undefeated in the regular season. And they are three and five.
It's it is a bizarro world season, not just for me,

(01:09:23):
but for pretty much anybody that's covering this Clemson Tiger team.
I think maybe the best news about what happened to
Clemson is that they fell off the radar. I mentioned
this about two weeks ago. They fell off the radar
so quickly that nobody even talks about him anymore. You
don't even get lumped in. You didn't fire your coach
like you don't get lumped in with Penn State and

(01:09:45):
LSU and Auburn and all those teams that are firing
their coaches. All right, quick break. When we come back,
we'll take a look at some of the top matchups
coming up this weekend. Stay with us, LONGD and Swan
Clemson's Sports saw back with you on on a Thursday afternoon.
All right, told you we'd get into some of the
games this weekend. You know, certainly for you guys, that

(01:10:07):
Clempson Florida State game is huge. I mean, to get
Bowl eligible, you gotta win every game available, not technically
but theoretically, because you can't get to the margin of
where you gotta win out with your final three games.
You gotta try to keep a little margin of era.
It would be nice to secure a Bowl berth before
the South Carolina game. That would be the ideal situation

(01:10:29):
for Clemson in my opinion at this point. Beat Florida State,
find a way to win at Louisville, beat Furman, and
you go into that South Carolina game knowing potentially that
they're not going to a bowl game if they lose
this weekend or next weekend, I should say against Texas
A and M and that you are bowling and you
can kind of play not care free. You want to
win that game. It's a you know, the Palmana state

(01:10:51):
rivalry and all, but it's not the game that's going
to keep you out of a bowl game either. That
would be the ideal circumstance is can Clemson beat Louisville?
Can Clemson beat Florida State? Yes? I know they should
be able to. They haven't played like it. They just
gotta they gotta get it together. And and I know

(01:11:14):
some people say, well, Swany, they're just not that good.
What what did they lose from a year ago that
you would say to me unequivocally is the reason that
they've dropped off? Phil MafA, Marcus Tate. I mean, I

(01:11:36):
mean maybe maybe.

Speaker 8 (01:11:40):
R. J.

Speaker 2 (01:11:40):
Mickens was a bigger impact or or or Barrett Barrett Carter,
but man, it just what you've seen given what returned
is bizarre, is bizarre. All right. Anyway, here's what we
got coming up tonight at seven thirty on ESPN two.

(01:12:03):
App State hosts Georgia Southern and for all you River
Bluff Gator football fans, the kicker for Georgia Southern freshman
former River Bluff kicker Trip Bryant. So that's seven thirty
on ESPN two if you got it, and then South
Florida hosts UTSA at seven thirty on ESPN. We've also

(01:12:27):
got several matchups Tomorrow. UCF hosts Houston on FS one
at eight and number nineteen Southern col hosts Northwestern at
nine o'clock on Fox, and then Memphis hosts Tulane at
nine pm on ESPN. That's a big game. That's a
big matchup there between Memphis and two Lane. So we'll

(01:12:48):
see how that one all shakes out. I think two
Lane is what six and two and Memphis right now
are they one loss? Yeat eight and one? Okay? But
this weekend here's the rundown again off of the heels
of the college football Playoff. Number two Indiana Playoff rankings.
Indiana's at Penn State. That's noon on Fox. The Hoosiers

(01:13:12):
favored by fourteen and a half. Number five Georgia's at
Mississippi State at noon on the ESPN. The Bulldogs are
nine and a half point favorites there. That's seven to
eight matchup. We talked about in the Big twelve earlier
also a noon kickoff that's BYU number seven at number
eight Texas Tech. That's on ABC out in Lubbock, Texas Tech.

(01:13:33):
Ten and a half point favorites in that ball game.
Also this weekend in terms of you know, matchups that
you might want to see, Texas A and M number
three heading out to Missouri. That's three thirty on ABC.
A and M six and a half point favorites on
the road. Number nine Oregon at number twenty Iowa. It

(01:13:55):
could be an interesting and tricky game there, three thirty
Oregon favorite only by six and a half. Is there
an upset special brewin in the Big ten? You've also
got number fourteen Virginia, Tony Elliott hosting wake Forest. Wake
Forest has been up and down. Virginia's only favored by

(01:14:17):
six and a half. They've got three overtime victories this year.
Can the Cavaliers find a win against the De Mediicas
this weekend? Louisville, the team Clemson will face next Friday,
is an eighteen and a half point favorite, their number
fifteen in the country as they face cal That's a
seven o'clock start on ESPN two that Virginia Wake Forest game. Also,

(01:14:39):
by the way, a seven o'clock start on ESPN this
weekend from Charlottesville. That's the same time as Clemson in
Florida State, and that line has now dipped to Clemson
minus one and a half at home. I don't think
we're gonna see Florida State become a favorite on the
road against the Tigers. But that tells you what everybody

(01:15:01):
thinks about this Clemson team right now. And then at
seven thirty on ABC number four, Alabama hosting LSU, the
Crimson toidd nine and a half point favorites at home.
And then you know what, for Notre Dame, or excuse
me for Timbrey, we'll mention Notre Dame number ten. Notre
Dame on NBC twenty six and a half point favorites
this weekend seven thirty against Navy. So that's some of

(01:15:26):
the matchups this weekend. Not a glamorous and glorious Slate
seven eight matchup between BUYU and Texas Tech I think
is the most consequential matchup of the weekend. Certainly, any
other Top twelve team that gets beat is a consequential matchup. Oregon,

(01:15:46):
I think with a tougher test there maybe at Iowa
than people expect. And I think Texas.

Speaker 4 (01:15:52):
A and M.

Speaker 2 (01:15:53):
I know, Missouri's kind of magical, so you know, whatever
you want to call them under Eli drink Witz, and
he's a likely candidate at some of these other schools
that are open. But I think Texas A and M
is playing way too good to be considered a team
to really keep your eyes on. I think Texas A

(01:16:13):
and M will take care of business in that game.
I think they're destined for the College Football Playoff at
this point. I mean, if they blow a tire, if
they go Miami Hurricanes on this season, and I'm not
saying go Miami Hurricanes to the point of where you're
out of the college football Playoff or at least out
of the college football playoff conversation, I don't see that.

(01:16:35):
But I think they are destined to be in the
college football Playoff. Even with a loss to Texas at
the end of the season, I think they'd be in now.
I mean, they can't lose out right, but I think
the schedule that remains, I think they're going to be
in the playoff. By the way, speaking of Miami, you
kind of want to get a feeling for what a

(01:16:56):
joke that program is just as a whole, all right,
Clempson in Florida's two teams in the Absolute Tank tickets
as low as forty seven dollars to get into Clemson's
Memorial Stadium. Miami hosting Syracuse tickets as low as six
dollars six dollars to get in. That's the problem Miami has.

(01:17:19):
That's whether it's Mario Cristobal, you know, whoever the head
coach is, doesn't matter. Fan support in Miami is atrocious.
Those tickets are six bucks. Final segment, flip side.

Speaker 8 (01:17:34):
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.
Looky for us at Clemson. The answers to the questions
what have you done for me lately? And what have
you done? Always are the same.

Speaker 4 (01:18:00):
We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:47):
Final segment on a Thursday, long swan thanking to timber
Ray for joining us just a little bit ago. Will
bend the board, will be on the program tomorrow. Will
sent me that stat I mentioned earlier about the fact
that Clemson, if they were to lose to Florida State,

(01:19:10):
will mark the program seventh straight home loss to a
Power conference foe, it'll tie the record for the longest
such streak since nineteen oh seven through nineteen seventeen. And
I guess that doesn't include like losing to like other
schools or whatever, just looking at the power for now.
But then Will did verify and he did the digging

(01:19:34):
on what I did on the air. Clemson started playing
six home games a year, that started in nineteen seventy
and if they lose to Florida State speak, it will
be the first time that they have ever lost five
games at home in a season. Five games at home

(01:19:58):
in a season. Let that one sink in a zero
three four five zero zero eighty six text line phone line. Again,
you can be a part of the program any time,
any place, anywhere. And we did read some texts today.

(01:20:21):
By the way, there is some news Luke Fickle will
return to coach Wisconsin in twenty twenty six. They've been
bad under Luke Fickle, who led Cincinnati to the College
Football Playoff. People thought Fickle might be out, but quote,
the decision comes with a significantly increase in financial investment,

(01:20:46):
so they're gonna let Fickle have another season. And I
think this is a valid point about any jobs that
come open at this point, what jobs are better than
the jobs that are currently open? Right?

Speaker 8 (01:21:04):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:21:05):
Do you want to get into this? And some of
these other jobs are going to come open because guys
are gonna move. But I would think and hope for
most people that it's sort of an upward track. But
some of these jobs are going to want to take veterans,
I think. I think, but whether you're talking about Penn
State or Florida or LSU or Auburn or Arkansas or UCLA,

(01:21:31):
you know, all the jobs that are available, do you
want to become the next available job? I don't think so.
The thing that Wisconsin, the advantage that Wisconsin gets in
any other school that maybe at this point is kind
of questionable with their head coach, the advantage you get

(01:21:56):
is that next season, Florida is not going to be
a open, LSU is not going to be open, Auburn's
not going to be open, Arkansas is not going to
be open. Ucla is not going to be open. Penn
State's not going to be open, right, I mean, you're
not going to be competing against those schools for a
coach next year. Those jobs just aren't going to be

(01:22:18):
open and I'm probably missing. Which one am I missing?
I don't know. I know I'm missing some What Let
me throw us in the Google machine? What power for
football jobs are open? Currently open? I feel like I'm

(01:22:40):
missing somebody big. Let me go through Eastern seaboard, all right,
Penn State, Virginia Tech, Florida, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, UCLA,

(01:23:04):
and Stanford. I think is going working my way across
the country. I think those are the power for jobs
that are currently available. I don't think there are any
other Florida state's maybe I guess could be. But do

(01:23:26):
you want to be in that? Like do you want
to throw your name in the mix? Like if you
were Wisconsin, do you want to get into that coaching search?
I don't think you want to be involved in that.
I think your best to be on the outside, which
may be part of the reason that maybe Shane Beemer

(01:23:51):
is safe at South Carolina. Like do you want to
be in the mix of those names if you're the
game talks for a coach? I would say no, because
I would believe that your school does not measure up
to those schools, not all of them. I would certainly
put the South Carolina program above some of them, but

(01:24:15):
I wouldn't put it above all of them. So then
you're picking fifth or sixth maybe for the coach. Yeah,
it's been a weird season, that's for sure. Weird season
four us all here in the Palmetta State. If I
didn't know any better, I'd say we were like in
bizarro world. Man, that's the only way to this is

(01:24:35):
just bizarro world. All right, we gotta get out of here.
We'll be back tomorrow for the Friday edition of the program. Again,
thank you for being a part of the show until then,
As always, you'll take care now and go Tiger