The "Meltdown in College Station" Edition

We discuss South Carolina's meltdown in College Station, leaving the Gamecocks outside of bowl eligibility for the second time in three years.

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Now finally Clemson Sports Talk has come back two drive time.

(00:50):
Hello everybody, Lowton Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson
Sports tal for you each and every afternoon as you
make your way around the great eight of South Carolina
and beyond, listening to us on incredible radio stations like
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on the iHeart Radio application download today it's free. The website,

(01:13):
but the dot com on a dog gone it that's
Clemson sportsau dot Com eight three four five zero zero
eighty six. That is the text line and the phone line.
And again we appreciate each and every one of you
being a part of the program. On a Tuesday afternoon,
again a very unique weekend in the state of South Carolina,

(01:37):
as the Tigers and the game Cocks both endure one
point games every the weekend. Clemson with a one point win,
South Carolina with a one point lost. Jack Veltree, Gamecockcentral
dot Com joins us on a Tuesday to talk about it. Jack,
Welcome in Man, hope you're well.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
I'm doing good Man.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, listen, I don't know how to quantify what we
saw out in College Station. I mean the first half,
South Carolina looked like a menacing force that nobody would
want to reckon with. And then in the second half,
I think just twenty six plays really struggling, and you
saw A and M. Come on, as somebody that's covered
this team for a long time, where do you kind
of rank what we saw on Saturday?

Speaker 3 (02:19):
I think it's the worst loss of Shane Beamers senior
at South Carolina so far. I just haven't seen anything
really to that level of they played amazing in the
first half for the most part, and then a complete
one eighty in the second half in a complete collapse
to blow a twenty seven point lead. It's they've they've

(02:39):
they've lost some bad games before, they've been blown out,
they've blown leads. It's it's I've seen everything so far
with this team in my time on the beat. But Saturday, Yeah,
that was something that I have not seen here and
with the football program, and it definitely was I ain't
a big gut punch because now you're not going bowling

(03:00):
as a result, but also it's it's just if you
had that game the first half and you let slowly
slip away in the second half.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
The game Cocks will face Coastal Carolina this weekend at
Williams Brice Stadium as a four fifteen kickoff between the
game Cocks and the Chanta Clears and Jack Veltrie and
the folks over it. Game Cock Central will have you
covered there throughout the week getting ready for it as
we close in on the Palmetto Bowl and you know,
just the way it happened and losing by one point.

(03:29):
I even wondered, you know, as kind of watching it,
are you as a team better off if you just
get hammered right, like you just get beat down by
the number three team in the country, or have that
type of heartbreak Like I don't know which would be
more difficult to bounce back from, but I'm imagining the
heartbreak is probably the most difficult side of it because

(03:51):
at some point, regardless of what Shane Beemer said after
the game, they had to feel like they had the
victory there.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think you know the game was
not over at halftime if you still have thirty minutes
to go play, right. But that's the thing is that
you A and M just came out swinging in the
second half and scored on the first four drives, all touchdowns,
so that was enough to get them back in the

(04:21):
game and eventually take the lead. So I just I
think it's just, you know, I don't know if it
was something like and Shane has said they were not
celebrating or anything and not letting up and still being aggressive,
but the defense did not play well at all in
the second half, and then the offense just resorted back

(04:42):
to the way things were under Mike schul with just
a really rough performance. It's just it's just kind of
crazy too. It's befuddling to me that they played the
game they did in the first half, played like the
team they were last year, and then second half, it's
just it was a completely diferent team out there. I
truly can't fully comprehend it. But yeah, I mean, look,

(05:04):
they got two weeks left to go. No bowling for
them this year. It's definitely been disappointing. But Shane has
said publicly today speaking to the media that this team
has responded. While they had a really awesome practice on Sunday,
everyone's in good spirits and ready to move forward here.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
On Twitter at Jack T. Veltrie covering the South Carolina game,
collch Jack Veltrie with us. So from that standpoint, what
are the thoughts about the guys. I mean, when there's
a bowl game on the line and not a college
football playoff game on the line, players sit out. Is
there anybody that's not playing, as you are aware, in
either of these games at this point, Jack? And was

(05:43):
that something that Shane Biemer was asked about.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
No, I don't think so. I don't think that's going
to be the case at all. Honestly. Yeah, you're right,
we have seen that before at different schools, but I
think this is different because you're still got the regular season,
and you know, like I mean, like it or not,
South Carolina does still treat these games just the same,
even if they're not going bowling. I know the year

(06:08):
has been disappointing, and Shane and the players are kind
of talking about how this is like their state playoffs
moving forward to instead playing Coastal and Clemson. So now,
I don't expect to see anybody sitting out or anything.
If anyone is out, it would probably be because of
an injury. But I think they're fine otherwise.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
Well, and also he's kind of got to care and
I guess he can dangle in front of them because
there haven't been many players at South Carolina that they
have beaten Clemson in back to back years, and the
Game Cocks will have an opportunity to do that. On
September the twenty ninth at noon, that game announced this
week could behind the SEC network, Jack, This was a
game that was kind of foretold to be on ESPN

(06:49):
or ABC because everybody thought both Clemson and South Carolina
would be playing in the College Football Playoff or at
least for the right to get there. Man, to see
this thing, I don't want to but smirch the SEC
network all that much, but man, what the shine has
been licked off of the lollipop of this rivalry.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
I don't know about that, honestly. Look, I know it's
kind of kind of crazy, how I mean, this game
was supposed to be on ESPN or ABC and he
got the demotion to the SEC network for this game. Look,
my take on it is it's still a very good rivalry.
It's coming off. I think the best rivalry game we've
seen in South Carolina Clemson Paul medi Bowl history last

(07:33):
year really really great games that with two great teams
going at it. Look, there's gonna be years like this
where both teams are just not very good, and we're
kind of seeing that this year. You know, Clemson's more
likely than not gonna be Pole eligible after this weekend
and they could very well end the season six and six.
South Carolina could go five and seven, maybe four and eight,

(07:54):
who knows. But yeah, I thought I thought it was
kind of funny how the game got to put on
the se Seen network instead of ESPN or ABC. But
it's still a very good rivalry and it's still very intense.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Again, Jack Veltrie with us here on the program. Going
back to South Carolina and in Texas A and M,
we saw Nick Harbor kind of pull up a little
bit on his touchdown reception that ended up being a
weird play and the the you know, the Texas State
Police officer and everything that took place after that. But

(08:27):
I mean, what's the nature of Harbor's injury? I saw
him in the game in the second half, and do
they expect him to rest or is he going to
be ready to go this weekend? I mean, what's that
looking like?

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah, So what happened? Was it was a fourth and
sixth plague kind of at the end of the game
on South Carolina's final offensive drive Harbor Cult like an
eighteen yard pass near the A and M sideline. Literally,
great catch first off by him, he fell to the
ground and the A and M defender kind of landed
on his chests. So I don't know the full extent

(09:01):
of the injury, but yeah, he was in the hospital
in College Station on Saturday and then flew back Sunday
morning and is uh back of the facility now. He's
in good spirits and uh he's progressing, is what Shane
Deemer said today. Don't know if that means he'll play
on Saturday or not. I mean, again, this is a
game South Caroline's not having anything to play for down

(09:24):
the road, so it's not like holding him out it's
going to do too much. Yeah, but I think he'll
be fine, and definitely if he's not good to go
for this week, I would fully expect him to be
ready to go for next week. It may just be
more precaution every than anything. It seems like he's doing fine,
but maybe they want to hold him out this weekend
just because it's like it's Coastal Carolina should be able
to win this game with or without him, so we'll see.

(09:47):
But yeah, Nick, great game for him on Saturday, and
it's good to see that he's doing all right.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
God. You know what was crazy on that that long
touchdown reception was you could see that as a guy
that played sports grow up and has followed him my
whole life. You could see when he hit track gear
and got out of football gear and the other dudes
for a and M, we're chasing him, we're just in
football gear. I mean that was wild, wasn't it.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah, it was crazy just how quick he was moving.
I mean it was we see we hear all about
that that God given speedy as we see it on
the on the track, but to see it translate over
to football, I mean, it's it's crazy, just how quick
he is. It really is amazing.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah, so so fun to watch a guy with that
kind of athleticism out there on the field again. Jack
Veltrie hanging out with us talking about the South Carolina
game Cocks as they get geared up for their matchup
this weekend against Coastal Carolina over at Williams Price Stadium.
Two home games remain for the game Cox, But a
second season in three years not making a Bowl game.

(10:51):
How hot is the seat right now for Shane Beemer?
I mean I don't foresee any moves being made during
the offseason, regardless of what happens in the next two games,
but clearly entering next season, I mean, he's gotta be
on one of the hottest seats in the country. Am
I just misreading the room?

Speaker 3 (11:09):
No, I think you're right. I think he's good to
go for next season. I think he's going to have
the full opportunity to get this thing turned around, as
he has talked about many times. He even talked about
today that this team is going to be right back
in the playoff mix next year. And when the Tuesday
night playoff rankings come out this time next year, South

(11:30):
Carolina will be there right in the thick of things.
So taker's word for it, I guess, But yeah, right now,
and it's hard to be happening right now, But who knows.
I mean, maybe he does have a good offseason here
where he gets theoc higher, right, he nails the offensive
line coach higher, and he brings in talented players. I
know it sounds crazy, you know, he always brings up

(11:53):
every press conference that we're close, We're not that far away,
he mentioned a handful of times today. I really do
believe that, yes, he is going to be on the
hot seat going to next year. If he gets off
to a slow start and this thing is not looking
good mid October, then maybe you pull the plot. I'm
not I'm not sure, but definitely gonna be interesting to
see what he does next year with this team. I

(12:15):
will say this though, is that I think they are
not that far off, honestly, because look at what they
did last year with a semi okay average offensive play caller,
and they put up about thirty points a game. Clayton
White was excellent defensively last year calling plays. I really

(12:36):
think you get a good OC and you get some
better well. I mean, they had good players on this
team this year. It's just just has not worked out.
More so, hit on the portal like you did two
years ago. Get this OC high right, and I really
think this team could be right there in the thick
of things.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
Like he said, Jack, do you think he feels that
he can convince Lenor Sellers to return for another season.
I mean, is that part of you know, we talk
about coaches going into the portal and finding the right piece,
and we talk about him going on the recruiting trail
and finding the right guy. But we're also in a
situation with Lenora Sellers where he could come back and

(13:16):
quarterback at South Carolina another year. I mean, that might
be the biggest sales job that Shane Biemer has to
make during this offseason.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yeah, it's gonna be on that agenda of off season tasks.
I'm sure of trying to convince him to come back. Now,
I don't even know as much as condensing. It's probably
more so just like let's get the let's get the
contract detail squared away, let's get this guy paid, and
let's bring him back. But I think it's more so

(13:46):
kind of like letting Leonora's kind of figure out what
he wants to do, whether it's go to the NFL Draft,
return for another year. Me personally, I don't think he's
going to look into transferring. I just I don't see it.
I think you're the loyal guys in Carolina, and you
know the whole Miami thing out there, I don't know

(14:06):
about that. I'm sure teams are going to be coaching
him just like they seemingly were last year, offering him
millions upon millions of dollars. But he's stuck around after
last year when he easily could have left to go
to another school. And maybe he could do the same
thing again this year. But I think it's either he's
staying at South Carolina or going to the NFL Draft.

(14:27):
But yeah, I think once you kind of give Leonoris
the time to figure out what he's doing, I'm sure
Shane and that staff they probably want to do a
whole lot of convincing, but rather like, hey, here's what
we're bringing in. Here's what our OC situation is going
to look. Click, we want you here.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
Final couple of things for you. Jack Veltrie again hanging
out with us. He's got to get out of here
to another meeting momentarily. But if let's assume Lenora Sellers
were to turn pro, would you say that you feel
that there's enough at South Carolina at the quarterback spot
to compete to get to the College Football Playoff next year?

(15:03):
Or is this they're gonna have to go out and
find that guy if Sellers leave.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
If Sellers left, that's a good question. I think you
are best suited to go out into the portal and
get somebody. I think you do want to go out
there and get a bona fide guy that can come
in and be a starter right away. Shame's whole prerogative
is though we saw this, I think it was two

(15:33):
portal cycles ago, like the winter heading into the twenty
four season. There he had to turn some guys down
because his whole thing is he's not going to promise
anyone the starting job. A core value of this program
for as long as he's been here is that competition
is a priority and nothing is given. It has to

(15:56):
be earned. And so I think when I say go
out there and get a bona fide starter, keep in
mind that that guy is not necessarily going to be
the starter right off the jump just because they brought
him in from the portal. With that said, I think
it allows for an opportunity for somebody like a Cutter

(16:17):
Woods to come in. You know, I'll be red shirting
this year to have a chance to potentially start next
season if Sellers isn't here, And then you also have
a guy, I mean, Aaron Nolan gets lost in the shuffle.
But I think there's a reason why we haven't seen
him at all this season, quite honestly, and then you
have a guy like Landon Duckworth coming in next year.

(16:39):
What is his role on this team kind of look like?
So to kind of answer the question, I think it's
not so much they're gonna go one way or the other.
I think they're gonna explore the option of the portal
and looking for that guy to be a starter if
they can't bring the Lenors back. But I also think
they're gonna keep it in house as well well with

(17:00):
having a blend of like, hey, here's a transfer guy.
Here's another guy from whether it's Cutter Woods, Landed Duckworth,
Aaron Olan, whoever, and those guys are in spot next year.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
Fantastic insight into the South Carolina game coach Jack Veltree
on Twitter at Jack T. Veltrie. Jack, have a great week, man,
and we'll talk to you.

Speaker 5 (17:18):
Soon, all right.

Speaker 3 (17:20):
Appreciate you as always.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
There you go, Solid solid content from Jack about the
South Carolina Game Cocks for sure, and I really believe
that's the sixty four thousand dollar question about the game
Cox is if Lenora Sellers were to return, then I

(17:43):
think it is fair to presume that South Carolina might
have an opportunity to make a run to the college
football playoff, but with all him, I just don't know.
And again, he's only a sophomore, which means he has
two more years he could play a redshirt sophomore, he
has two more years he could play collegiately. And this

(18:07):
season has been a backslide for him, and his numbers
a year ago, quite frankly, weren't just over the moon stellar.
I think realistically what happened with Leonora Sellers was when
he beat Clemson, and I say he not South Carolina.

(18:31):
When he beat Clemson, and with the way he played
and the results of South Carolina had, regardless of his numbers,
the belief was, Okay, this guy's gonna lead you to
a bunch of wins. Well that hasn't. That hasn't panned
out this year, and his numbers are way down. Like
K Clubnicks numbers are not good, okay compared to what

(18:52):
you would want K Clubnix numbers to be, but Club
Nicks numbers far surpass the numbers of Leonori Sellers. Sellers
has thrown for just seventeen hundred and eighty two yards,
nine touchdowns, and six interceptions. And like I say, Kate

(19:12):
Klubney has not been spectacular, but he's at twenty three
to twenty three right, twenty three hundred and twenty three
passing yards with fourteen touchdowns and five interceptions. And additionally,
the other aspect of Lenor Seller's game that everybody thought
would be huge would be his rushing stats, and he

(19:35):
is at one hundred and twenty nine carries for just
one hundred and eighty six yards this season by comparison
to last year where he rushed for six hundred and
seventy four yards. He could afford to play given what
they pay him. He could afford to play two more
seasons collegiately before turning pro to really hone his passing skills,
because that's what he needs in my opinion. Quick Break

(19:57):
will come back with more on a Tuesday afternoon Clemson
Sports Talk Lawton swine Bag. We the only to talk
at Tuesday that was Jackveltregamecockcentral dot Com. Before the break,
we'll get back into some of what he had to say,
uh in just a little bit, because I do want
to talk more about the game Cocks and the potential
that players could have, you know, set out these final

(20:17):
two games. What it says about Shane Biemer and Moore
that it appears these guys are going to be playing anyway.
Clemson will be playing this weekend as well as both
schools here in the state of South Carolina are playing
in state opponents. South Carolina hosting Coastal, Clemson hosting Firman,
their oldest oldest opponent in history. They first played the

(20:39):
Paladins better known then as the I believe the Purple
Hurricanes if my memory serves me correctly, and I think
that's right. But Dabo Sweeney and the Tigers will face Firman.
They first faced off back at eighteen ninety six or
fourteen to six upset victory for Clemson, and the Tigers

(21:02):
have never lost to an FCS opponent dating back to
when those leagues split off in nineteen seventy eight from
the FBS. Herman comes in really down on their luck
as well, much like Clemson. Not a great season for
the Paladins. But the Tigers, and they're faithful, will arrive
inside that valley looking to get Bowl eligible. Here's Sweeney's

(21:25):
opening statement earlier today on the Talk of Tuesday.

Speaker 6 (21:28):
I'm excited to be back home this week, last home game,
and you know special week as always when it's senior Day.

Speaker 4 (21:38):
I've really enjoyed doing life with this group of seniors.

Speaker 6 (21:42):
And you know, you think for us, these guys have
been here, you know for a long time, some six years,
five years, four years, a couple of them three year
guys that are graduating in December. So just a great
group of people and really really out of them.

Speaker 4 (22:00):
And I was.

Speaker 6 (22:02):
Saying that the press conference after the game. I think
a good study would be if somebody would like really
commit to it, like track this group of seniors over
the next twenty years.

Speaker 4 (22:15):
These guys are going to do some fascinating things in
their life.

Speaker 6 (22:18):
So Larry, maybe make a note of that, pass it
down to an endtern all right, who can report back
in twenty years.

Speaker 4 (22:27):
This group they're just great people. I mean, they're great people.
They're incredibly equipped for life.

Speaker 6 (22:33):
They're graduates, they're all champions, and you know, they love Clemson.
They've had a great experience here and you know, obviously
this year didn't go the way we wanted to for
their final year, but man, they have been you know,
I've probably learned more about them this year than any
of those other years just because of you know, the

(22:55):
challenges that we've had and just having to really you know,
handle some adversity and disappointment and things together.

Speaker 4 (23:02):
So I just I just love this group of people.

Speaker 6 (23:05):
I mean, they really are great human beings and I
just think they're gonna do amazing things and as they
as they move forward.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
That's Davos Sweeny again talking about this Clipson Tiger leaders.
You know, I can't call him seniors, but the leaders,
the upper classmen that maybe played in their final games.
One of those that's already played his final game will
unfortunately due to injury, Walker Parks, his career coming to
a close this past weekend in his home state against

(23:33):
Louisville Cardinals. Here was Dabo Sweeney's thoughts all in Parks' career.

Speaker 6 (23:37):
I hate it for Walker, just super disappointing for him,
But man, he the Good Lord gave him two more
years because honestly, I didn't think he'd play. I thought
we all thought he was done two years ago. And
just I mean, he's a miracle honestly that he was
not only able to come back and play, but you know,

(23:57):
play at a high level, and you know, to be
able to for the most part, stay available. He played
sixty two games in his career. I think that's like
top seven all time at Clemson. So hated for him
to miss this week. But you know, kind of ironic
that it ended in Kentucky where it all started for him,

(24:20):
had all his family there. He's a captain and you know,
a game winning drive, you know, and had the key block.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
To spring at him on the long run.

Speaker 6 (24:29):
So just really just again, all these guys, man, they're
just they're just winners. And love them all and look
forward to having a great day with him in the valley.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
It will also be Military Appreciation Day up at Clemson,
which means the Tigers will be wearing purple and the Paladins,
of course are purple. They'll be wearing I'm assuming all white,
and it's going to be a stadium full of purple
and white. And for Furman, they'll feel right at home,
you know, the old the old mother they got up
there at Furman. I don't know if I can see
in the air or not, but you know what, it's
a firm university if you're picking up what I'm putting down.

(25:04):
Dabos Windy though, did talk about their head coach play
Hendricks and his relationship with him.

Speaker 4 (25:12):
Excited about it, looking forward to it.

Speaker 6 (25:15):
And I've got all the respect in the world for
coach Hendricks.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
I mean, he's he is a he's as good as
it gets. I mean, he's just a he's a.

Speaker 6 (25:23):
Great football coach, he's a better person and I've always
enjoyed being around him when I've had the opportunity to.

Speaker 4 (25:31):
So this is it for them. You know, their their
last game.

Speaker 6 (25:35):
You know, their typical Coach Hendricks team, tough, physical, well coached.

Speaker 4 (25:41):
And downhill runners.

Speaker 6 (25:43):
They've got some skill outside they you know, their top
twenty in passing in the country, and so that's certainly
an area I know they'll try to attack us there.
And then you know on the other side, I mean
they've got defensive end that's got thirteen and a half sacks,
number ninety five, who's gotten after you and the same thing.
You know there are four down aggressive defense.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
That's Dabos. When you talked about Firman, and here's what
you have to say about what's on the line for
the Tigers this weekend and how important it actually is
for us.

Speaker 6 (26:15):
Man just just want us to to play well. It's
an opportunity to punch our ticket to postseason.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
You know. Again, that's that's that, that's that from where
we were uh to.

Speaker 6 (26:27):
Be able to fight back and get back to where
we have a chance to get to the postseason. You know,
just proud of the guys for battling all the way
and that's a streak that we have an opportunity to
keep alive and and and create some momentum. I mean,
it'll be three in a row and opportunity to again

(26:50):
finish you know, on a.

Speaker 4 (26:52):
On a strong note.

Speaker 6 (26:54):
So that's our focus and just have a great week
of practice and hopefully we'll be able to play some
guys as well. You know, hopefully we'll have the you know,
we can get some guys in the game that maybe
hadn't played as much. But you got to go earn
that and Firman ain't gonna make that easy, that's for sure.
But look forward to the day, look forward to the week,
and Andrew wise, you guys are up to date on

(27:15):
where we are with Braden and Walker, those two guys,
but other than that, we should be you know, full go.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
So there you go. That's Debos Sweeney earlier today up
a Tiger town. We'll hear a little bit more from
the Q and A session when we get back right
here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and of course
around the world on the iHeartRadio app, Clemson Sports, Salt
Long and the Swine. Back with you a Tuesday, Talking Tuesday,
Dabo Swinging met with the media. Obviously we're getting towards
that time of the year. We talked about this with
Jack Veltrie earlier in the situation in Columbia with a

(27:46):
kid like the North Sellers, and Sweeney was asked about
now that you're at this part of the year, what's
kind of the timeline and how do you work out
like the conversations with players about retention, who's coming back,
so on and so forth.

Speaker 6 (27:59):
Yeah, I mean that's that's really to me. That never stops.
That's always just a part of what we do in
college football. That's spring, that's summer, that's fall camp, that's
end season. That's it's not just like okay, these this
is week we is the week we sit down. I Mean,
that's always just a part of just what you do.
But you'll have deeper conversations with guys. I mean, you're

(28:22):
getting NFL grades back, you know, so that's all things
that you sit down.

Speaker 4 (28:27):
Guys have to make a decision. Some guys will have
to make a decision on do they want to go
pro do they want to stay?

Speaker 6 (28:32):
And then you know the portal has been I mean
it's been moved. I'm glad it's not what two weeks
or whatever. I still don't like where it is, but
at least it's just one and it's better where it is.

Speaker 4 (28:45):
Than than where we had it.

Speaker 6 (28:49):
So you know in December, do you have time in
December to really process all that type of stuff and.

Speaker 4 (28:54):
Go from there.

Speaker 2 (28:56):
Sweeny was asked, even with the changes and just having
one portal window, if he thinks though, there will still
be kind of across the board though, a bunch of
guys who will jump in the portal with the not
not from Clemson, but just coast to coast with the
plans of moving in January.

Speaker 4 (29:12):
For sure. Yeah, yeah, for sure that'll happen, you know.

Speaker 6 (29:16):
I like again, I love the fact that the high
school recruiting is not getting disrupted because it was all
right there together, so you can really focus on your
high school recruits and then you can focus on much
guy doing the portal I mean because, like I said,
if you don't I mean, if you can't fill your need,
like for us, if we don't get what we need

(29:37):
out of the high school pool, or we have a
guy that's committed that all of a sudden he commits
late and we've had that happen and now all of
a sudden, you've got a gap. But now you've got
more time to fill that gap, you know, as opposed
to the way it was. It was all just kind
of right there together. But yeah, you'll have as seasons

(29:58):
in and things like that. I'm sure. I'm sure kids
will make it known. Hey I'm going to be entering
the portal. Uh, but you still can't talk to 'em.
There's still a lot of tampering going on.

Speaker 4 (30:10):
Uh. That's that's just a way of the world. I mean,
it's out there.

Speaker 6 (30:13):
I mean, we've had people reach out to us, you know,
uh and say, hey, I'm such and such and just whoever,
and this guy's gonna enter the portal, you know.

Speaker 4 (30:24):
And I know that people.

Speaker 6 (30:26):
Are having those conversations and even cutting deals, but not us.
We ain't doing that. When guy enters the portal, then
we'll have those conversations. But you know, so we're gonna
do it right. We're gonna do it right. So but yeah,
I mean that'll be and same thing for us, like
when we know what our needs are.

Speaker 4 (30:42):
You know, I don't have to. I don't have to.

Speaker 6 (30:43):
It's not like it's some big secret like I'll let
everybody know. I'll let y'all advertise that for me, like,
hey man, I need safety, I need uh whatever, you know,
you know, I'll make sure y'all put that out there
so people will know. So I don't you know, we
don't have to like I said, I mean, we're gonna
know what we need because again, we know what we're

(31:04):
feeling in high school was and then you know who's
leaving on your roster or whatever your retention situation there
is who goes pro all that. So then you got
now you know in January like okay, well this is
our gap, you know. And again for I mean the
portal that nothing has changed for us as far as
how what our approaches. I mean, what puts us in

(31:24):
the portal is not getting the best high school kid
that we want, or a kid decommits late and you
can't there's no you can't replace it happened last year,
so we went and got will help, you know, because
we had we had a gap. Or you have a
freshman kid that you have to overpay because I'm not
going to overpay for a freshman. I'd rather go get

(31:46):
a guy that I'll pay more for a guy than that.
I know what we got as opposed to a freshman
that you don't. I mean, we won't pay these guys well,
but there's a threshold that I mean, you put yourself
in trouble because there's still freshmen and they still have
never had a peer, and they've never lived away from
home and they've never had money. So I think there's

(32:07):
still a level there. You've got to be smart with freshmen.
That puts you in the portal. Or you have guys
leave on your roster that you didn't want to leave.
That puts you in the portal. You know, you have
to fill the gap. Or you maybe signed a guy
that hadn't panned out like you want, or he got
hurt or whatever you.

Speaker 4 (32:22):
Had to medical or you know, those are those are
the scenarios.

Speaker 6 (32:25):
Those scenarios haven't changed, so that's all the same, but
the timing is different, which is again I don't think ideal,
but it's better.

Speaker 4 (32:34):
It's much better than.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
Where it was debo. Sweeney was also asked about people
out there cutting deals with the agents and things like that,
and since they're not going to play that way, how
big of a disadvantage does that put Clemson in.

Speaker 4 (32:46):
I have no idea. I ain't worried about it.

Speaker 6 (32:48):
I don't care. We're gonna do what's right. I don't
really care what other people do. Compsanly gonna be just fine.
We're gonna do what's right. They always have. There's been
deals cut for one hundred years, you know so, and
we've always won, and we'll continue to win. We'll get
the guys we're supposed to give.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Final thing from Sweeney Tablo. Sweeney was asked about saying
you use the word pay, but you know Joy said
you weren't going to pay players its wwhen he said, no, no, no,
that's not exactly what I framed up.

Speaker 4 (33:20):
No, I never said that.

Speaker 6 (33:21):
I said I don't want I'm against professionalizing college athletics
where we we don't have education, we don't have scholarships,
We just pro football. And that's not the case. I
know there's a lot of but these kids go to school.
They have to go to school. They have to qualify,
they have to they have to take tests, they have finals,
they have degree completion percentages that they have to make,

(33:44):
they have to pass a certain amount of hours. Those
things are real. Those things aren't make believe. You know,
these are student athletes. But the but their opportunity is different,
their scholarships different, the repshare, all those things are great.

Speaker 4 (33:57):
Those things are Those things are great, but they're not.

Speaker 6 (33:59):
It's not just to professional contract and you just show
up and play football like they got it.

Speaker 4 (34:05):
They got it.

Speaker 6 (34:05):
There's a lot that they have to do as college
athletes that hadn't changed it all.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
So they go. That's some of the time with Dabosweeny
earlier today up in Tiger Town as it was a
talking Tuesday, and we could certainly get into some more
of what he had to say. Always interesting to hear Sweeney's,
you know, his take on things, especially kind of given
the way he wants to run this program. And and look,

(34:32):
I know South Carolina fans dislike Dabos Sweeney. I know
Clemson fans dislike Shane Beemer, but I do believe this
at their core, both of these individuals very much are
interested in doing things the right way, and we'll see
how it all shakes out moving forward for both of
these programs doing it the right way under their leadership.

(34:56):
For Clemson, it certainly feels like there has been a
step backwards. Hope to see steps forward. This was supposed
to be a year with a fourth step, but it
clearly has not been. Quick break. We'll put a ball
on our number one right after this. Lawton Swan, Clemson
Sports Talk. Hanging out with you here on the program
ATO three four five oh zero zero eighty six text line,

(35:20):
phone line anytime and speaking to me anytime anytime you're
in Tigertown. Head over to our friends in Alumni Hall
right there on the corner of campus on College Avenue
in downtown Clemson for all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise hats,
t shirts, Tailgate, Geary Moore. Go check them out today
or online at alumni haul dot com and go check

(35:42):
out their sweet hat wall if you're in Clemson. Right
there on the corner of campus campus, just a stoves
throwaway from historic Riggs Field, it's Alumni Hall where Tiger
fans shop eight O three four five oh zero zero
eighty six. That is our number. Here the texta lin
in the phone line. All right, So the lane Kiffen decision,

(36:09):
the lane Kiffin decision. What will it be? Will he
stay at Old Miss? Will he look to go to Gainesville,
Florida coach the Gators? Will he go to LSU? I mean,
he's literally a man in the middle. On three reported

(36:31):
yesterday that Old Miss is looking for clarity this week
about lane Kiffin's future. Members of his family, according to reports,
visited Gainesville on Sunday and Baton Rouge on Monday. LSU
had arranged for a private plane to pick up several

(36:52):
of lane Kiffin's family members to fly them to Baton
Rouge and tour the city. Now, this is clearly about money.
This is clearly not about the opportunity to win. Lane
Kiffin is at a school in Old Miss where he

(37:16):
has proven that he can win and get into the
college football playoff like he has proven that. And yes,
I understand that both LSU and Florida have proven through
the years that they could contend at the top of
college football. But but you are already doing it at

(37:43):
Old Miss, And this I think is a fatal flaw.
For Lane Kiffin. I don't pretend to believe that Old
Miss is a better program from top to bottom than
Florida and LSU, but it is currently a better program,

(38:05):
and it is easier to get to the college football Playoff.
I would argue probably for the next four or five
seasons at Ole Miss, if you just stick with what's working.
I mean it, just to me, I get it. You
want to make as much money as you possibly can.
That's I mean, that's kind of the goal in life.

(38:27):
It's hard for me to say that when I'm a teacher,
you know what I mean. Like, in some respects, it's
like funny for me to say that, because clearly, Swanny,
there would have been jobs where you could have made
more money. But the impact that you get to have
as a teacher is immeasurable, for sure. And I'm certain
there are jobs that pay very well where the you know,

(38:53):
where it's immeasurable what you get out of it. But
either way, okay, either way for a moment, let's just
suspend reality and let's talk about it. You're looking at
a team in Old Miss right now, who is ten
and one and six and one in the Southeastern Conference,
and You're talking about an LSU team that is six

(39:13):
and four and three and four, and certainly people thought
they could have been in the college football playoff hunt.
They are not Florida three and seven and two and five.
And yes, those programs have had much more success historically
than Old Miss. But right now history can be rewritten

(39:34):
because of the way this thing is shaped up. This
college football playoff situation has changed the game and it
gives so much more opportunity to so many more to
be in it and to be in the mix. But
Old Miss coach Lane Kiffin said earlier today on the

(39:55):
Pat mcabie Show, he denied that he had been given
an ultimatum from the administration at Old Miss to make
a decision about his future with the Rebels. Kiffin told
Pat McAfee quote, Yeah, that's absolutely not true. There has
been no ultimatum anything like that at all. So I
don't know where that came from. Like a lot of

(40:18):
stuff that comes out, Like I said, Man, we're having
a blast. I love it here. However, sources told ESPN
that Old Miss officials are pressing Lane Kiffin and his agent,
Jimmy Sexton, for a resolution. Athletic director Keith Carter has
asked for Kevin to reach a decision by this upcoming weekend,
according to reports. Sources confirmed to ESPN that Kiffin's ex wife,

(40:40):
Layla Son Knox, and brother Chris Kiffin's son and brother
Chris Kiffin's son visited Gainesville, Florida on Sunday. Leila Kiffin,
who lives in Oxford, visited Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the next
day with other family members, according to sources, I don't

(41:01):
know about y'all, but that is weird. Your ex wife,
your ex wife is doing your bidding out and about
checking them things out. I guess it's a little bit strange. Now.
Kiffin's current annual salary is nine million dollars with another
two point six million potential bonuses. He's currently the tenth

(41:24):
highest paid coach in the FBS. And I don't really
care what the guy does, Okay, but where your team
currently is is better than where those teams currently are.
Normally you want.

Speaker 7 (41:39):
To go.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
Where it's a better opportunity. And you might say, well,
more money, more this, more that, and I agree, maybe
there is, but look at what he has done. A
fifty four and nineteen tenure in six seasons in Oxford
and a team that is squarely in the mix of
the college football playoffs and will be next year as well.

(42:03):
I have no doubt if he stays, and I don't
really care if he stays or if he goes. But
I can tell you the school he's currently at is
in a better spot. It might not be a better school,
but it's in a better spot than l s U
and Florida. Quick Break Hour number two around the band,
keep it locked.

Speaker 1 (42:23):
It's time for Clipson Sports Talk with Lowton Swan.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
It is our number two. That's drivetime right here on
the show The Shakespare Southland, Clemson Sports Talk log and
Swan Hey know with you. On a Tuesday, Jack Veltrigamecoccentral
dot Com joined us in our number one. We'll jump
into that just briefly in a minute, because I want
to place something for you from Shane Beemer earlier today,

(43:29):
and of course, the show The Shakespare south Land brought
to you in part by our good friends over at Mets
Plumbing mets plumber dot com two two six seven one
A wait, that's Mets Plumbing two two six seven one
eight online at Mets plumber dot com. All right, So
Jack Veltrie joined us earlier and we talked. He had

(43:54):
a meeting, so we needed to record a little bit
a little bit earlier than usual. But you mentioned something
that Shane Biemer said during his press conference earlier today,
and that was this, I.

Speaker 8 (44:16):
Realized that one year ago, Rick, we were sitting here
tonight getting ready to play Wofford, and we're all dialed
into the playoff rankings to see where we're ranked, and
we're not there right now, but I do know next
year at this time, we're gonna be sitting here next
year on this Tuesday night watching the playoff rankings to
see where we are in the ranking show, and we're
going to be firmly in the mix for a collegeetball

(44:36):
playoff Berth next year at this time. And we're all
sick about this feeling, but we're not going to go
through this thing again, and we're going to go finish
this season out the right way, send these guys out
the right way, and then the minute that thing hits
zero hits zero on the clock after the Thanksgiving day
game or Thanksgiving weekend game, we're full speed ahead on
twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
So that's Shane Bieber, no ball game for South Carolina,
claiming that the game Cocks are going to be in
the college football playoff mix this time next season. And
let's just say it hasn't gone over swimmingly online. I

(45:15):
mean the responses things like, I'm surprised he's still employed,
he said, yep, but man, we'll step on Mars the
same day as Shane sees that dream come true. And look,
I said earlier, I think Shane Beemer's running his program
the right way. I truly believe that. But I think

(45:40):
the in all likelihood this time next season, Shane Bieber
is probably looking for a new job, if not before that.
And and some of it certainly has to do with
what you know we talked and listen to dablish we
need to talk about convincing guys come back. South Carolina

(46:04):
has a major quarterback problem looming if you want to
be in the college football playoff mix. And I think
that they've got a little bit of a roster problem
as well, and I think that's part of the reason
that you've seen them struggle even when they perhaps have

(46:26):
had some better performances. And he has been Selos has
been up and down, But he's not surrounded by a
ton of talent, not really. I mean, there's no question
in my opinion, Like when you go back and you
look at Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence, there's no denying

(46:51):
the talent that surrounded those guys. And I would argue,
in k Klubnick's defense, he is not surrounded by the
same level of talent that those two guys were. I mean,
he's probably surrounded by slightly better talent than ToJ. Boyd was,

(47:13):
But there was better talent for Deshaun, Trevor and heck
Kelly Bryant in between them than what Kay Klebnick has
had and what DJ had around him and and then
ultimately all the way back to TODJ Boyd. But I

(47:33):
you know, I think Shane Beemer is certainly super positive.
You you would never hire a coach that would say, well,
this is not our year, We're not gonna make the
College Football Playoff, right, Like, everybody starts with that goal
and then you get punched in the face. And for
South Carolina, this was supposed to be that type of season. Heck,

(47:56):
I would have thought that they and Clemson would have
certainly been playing in a game that could either determine
if one of each team gets in, or maybe with
the way it panned out, perhaps both will get in.
But it's just not the case. And if either of

(48:19):
these teams are in the mix next year, I will
be pretty shocked. I mean seriously, like unless kay Clubnick
gets a fifth year of eligibility, which you know, Dadmos
Sweeney talks about this fifth year thing a lot. I
don't know if he's talking about k Klubnick or what,

(48:40):
or just hoping that we'll get to the point. You know,
Sweeney talks a lot about having five to play five
and that that's something that's on the table just to
kind of eliminate the red shirt year. You should get
five years to play. And I mean, if something like
that were to kick in now, I yes, guys like

(49:00):
kay Clubnick would be eligible to play again. I mean,
is that Clemson's best case scenario for next year. Somebody
are going no, no, no, no, no, no, no, swany No,
we don't want that legislation just yet. We want that
legislation when we got a guy that will stick around.
But the reality is that great players not sticking around
that long anyway. I mean, can we agree to that,

(49:22):
like a great player is not playing his fifth year
of college football, Deshaun three, Trevor three, Kay Klebnick. Is
Sweeney holding out hope for five? Maybe you're not, but
maybe Sweeney is. And I'm not trying to put words
in Dabbosweeney's mouth, but he talks about that a lot.
And there are guys on this roster like Tristan Smith.

(49:44):
They're gonna try to get them an extra year because
he played at a lower level. But nonetheless, I don't
really think Clemson and or South Carolina will really be
in the mix for the college football playoff next season.
Just kind of giving the rosters at this point. And obviously, look,

(50:06):
we don't know who the offensive coordinator is going to
be in Columbia. We don't know who the offensive coordinator
is going to be in Clemson. And I would presume,
based off of the results over the past three seasons,
that Clempson is going to have a new offensive coordinator,
but I don't know that to be true. I mean,

(50:31):
I see what I see, I get the feel about
the game did I get when I watch it? But
I'm not the guy that has to make that decision.
And Maybe Sweeney's not the guy that makes that decision.
Maybe that decision gets made from the donors and the
people from the top down and say we're done with this.
You got to move on from Garrett Riley whatever. I

(50:52):
have no idea, but I don't think next year South
Carolina and Shane Beemer are going to be sitting around
in mid to late November wondering about making the college
football Playoff if Leonora Sellers is gone, anymore than I
think Clemson is going to be talking about it with
Kay Clebnick gone, Because at this point, yes, could you

(51:14):
go out and get somebody in the portal that makes
you that good? Maybe I think Clemson has the better
chance of that in a large part because of what
conference Clemson's played, what conference Clemson plays in. But either way,

(51:35):
for South Carolina to make a college football playoff birth
next season, if we presume that Leonora Sellers leaves, that's
not happening. I mean that might as well be AI
generated video of Shane Beemer again. Here you go, this
is Beamer earlier today talking about next season.

Speaker 8 (51:56):
I realize that one year ago, Rick, we were sitting
here tonight getting ready to play Wofford and we're all
dialed into the playoff rankings to see where we're ranked,
and we're not there right now, but I do know
next year, at this time, we're gonna be sitting here
next year on this Tuesday night watching the playoff rankings
to see where we are in the ranking show, and
we're gonna be firmly in the mix for a collegeotball

(52:17):
playoff berth next year at this time. And we're all
sick about this feeling, but we're not going to go
through this thing again, and we're gonna go finish this
season out the right way, send these guys out the
right way, and then the minute that thing hits zero,
hits zero on the clock after the Thanksgiving Day game
or Thanksgiving weekend game, we're full speed ahead on twenty
twenty six.

Speaker 2 (52:37):
And will they win that Thanksgiving Day game or that
Thanksgiving weekend game, I have no idea. I mean, I
would presume South Carolina wins this weekend against Coastal, and
the way they played in College Station, I would presume
they would be Clemson this year. I mean, given the
way they have played, even with that loss, versus the

(53:00):
way Clemson is played, I don't have any faith that
Clempson is gonna muster up the guts to put together
their best performance of the year against South Carolina. I'm
not saying they can't win the game, but it's not
what it should have been. That's an indictment in and

(53:22):
of itself in my opinion. You knew Clemson in South
Carolina was gonna be a tough one. You knew it
was gonna be a battle. It always is regardless of record.
But even with a epic meltdown, the effort I have
seen from South Carolina consistently this year, game in and

(53:43):
game out against differ competition, has been greater than Clemsons.
But to believe that the college football ferry is gonna
come down and sprinkle some magic dust on South Carolina
next season and get them into conversation at this point
in the year, I don't. I don't see it. I
just don't see it. There's never a favorable schedule ever,

(54:13):
I mean think about that. The Southeastern Conference is so tough,
and rightfully so, I admitted I'm not here going well,
who you play? The South Carolina schedule, though, is so tough.
I just don't know that they're gonna be in the conversation.

(54:33):
They'll play Townsend, they'll beat Townsend. At some point, they
go to Alabama, they will not win that game. They
go to Arkansas, I would say they should win that game.
They go to Florida. I don't know who the head
coach of Florida is, but probably a fifty to fifty

(54:54):
split on that one whether they should or shouldn't win.
Let's lean heavy on We're gonna be positive as we
can be. That's two wins in conference play at Oklahoma,
I don't see it. Versus Georgia at home, I don't
see it. They'll beat Kentucky. They probably should beat Mississippi State. Again,

(55:16):
we're leaning in on positivity here. They won't beat Tennessee
and they won't beat Texas A and M. Next year,
they gotta go to Clemson. I got four wins in conference,
arguably being favorable, and then can you beat Clemson on

(55:40):
the road. I don't know that you can guess what.
That's not Chaine. That's not in the conversation of the
College football Playoff. That's just not.

Speaker 4 (55:54):
Now.

Speaker 2 (55:54):
I don't see how you like the chances that you
are in the college football playoff conversation and in Columbia.
In my opinion, we'll always be few and far between.
And it felt like, based off of what we saw
at the end of the season a year ago, that
Lenora Sellers was a generational quarterback at Columbia that was

(56:17):
going to be a difference maker this year and had
the pieces around him that he could carry and lead
to the college football playoffs. But clearly that is not
the case. And he has not developed in the downfield
passing aspect of his game like people thought. And there's
more film on him, and people are better prepared for him,

(56:37):
and he has struggled to produce as well as he
did a year ago through the air and on the ground.
And I'm not surprised. Film is the great equalizer. Film
at this level figures you out. Anyway, we did talk
with Jack Veltrie a little bit in our number one
and most of the time he's here in our number

(56:59):
two right, but today we had to get him in early.
Here's some of our conversation with Jack Veltri, who covers
the game Cocks for our friends over at gamecoccentral dot com.
As somebody that's covered this team for a long time.
Where do you kind of rank what we saw on Saturday.

Speaker 3 (57:16):
I think it's the worst loss of Shane Beamers senior
at South Carolina so far. I just haven't seen anything
really to that level of they played amazing in the
first half for the most part, and then a complete
one eighty in the second half in a complete collapse
to blow a twenty seven point lead. It's they've they've

(57:37):
they've lost some bad games before, they've been blown out,
they've blown leads. It's it's I've seen everything so far
with this team in my time on the beat. But Saturday, Yeah,
that was something that I have not seen here and
with the football program, and it definitely was. I ain't
a big gut punch because now you're not going bowling

(57:58):
as a result, but also it's just if you had
that game the first half and you let slowly slip
away in the second half.

Speaker 2 (58:07):
The game Cocks will face Coastal Carolina this weekend at
Williams Brice Stadium as a four fifteen kickoff between the
game Cocks and the Chanta Clears and Jack Veltrie and
the folks over it. Game Cock Central will have you
covered there throughout the week getting ready for it. As
we close in on the Palmetto Bowl, and you know,
just the way it happened and losing by one point.

(58:27):
I even wondered, you know, as kind of watching it,
are you as a team better off if you just
get hammered, right, like you just get beat down by
the number three team in the country, or have that
type of heartbreak, Like I don't know which would be
more difficult to bounce back from, but I'm imagining the
heartbreak is probably the most difficult side of it because

(58:49):
at some point, regardless of what Shane Beemer said after
the game, they had to feel like they had the
victory there.

Speaker 3 (58:57):
Yeah, I mean, I think you know, the game was
not over at halftime if you still have thirty minutes
to go play, right, But that's the thing is that
you know, A and M just came out swinging in
the second half and scored on the first four drives,
all touchdowns, so that was enough to get them back

(59:18):
in the game and eventually take the lead. So I
just I think it's just, you know, I don't know
if it was something like and Shane has said they
were not celebrating or anything and not letting up and
still being aggressive, but the defense did not play well
at all in the second half, and then the offense
just resorted back to the way things were under Mike

(59:42):
Schull with just a really rough performance. It's just it's
just kind of crazy too. It's befuddling to me that
they played the game they did in the first half,
played like the team they were last year, and then
second half, it's just it was a completely different team
out there. I truly can't fully come apprehend it. But yeah,
I mean, look, they got two weeks left to go.

(01:00:04):
No bowling for them this year. It's definitely been disappointing,
but Shane has said publicly today speaking to the media
that this team has responded. While they had a really
awesome practice on Sunday, everyone's in good spirits and ready
to move forward.

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Here on Twitter at Jack T. Veltrie covering the South
Carolina game, collch Jack Veltrie with us. So from that standpoint,
what are the thoughts about the guys. I mean, when
there's a bowl game on the line and not a
college football playoff game on the line, players sit out.
Is there anybody that's not playing, as you are aware,
in either of these games at this point, Jack? And

(01:00:41):
was that something that Shane Biemer was asked about No,
I don't think so.

Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
I don't think that's going to be the case at all. Honestly, Yeah,
you're right. We have seen that before at different schools,
but I think this is different because you're still got
the regular season and you know, like it, I mean
like it or not. South Carolina does still treat these
games just the same, even if they're not going bowling.

(01:01:05):
I know the year has been disappointing, and Shane and
the players are kind of talking about how this is
like their their state playoffs moving forwards instead playing Coastal
and Clemson. So now, I don't expect to see anybody
sitting out or anything. If anyone is out, it would
probably be because of an injury. But I think they're
fine otherwise.

Speaker 2 (01:01:24):
So there you go. Just to snippet with Jack veltregamecoccentral
dot Com full interview in our number one. It'll be
on the podcast. As we talked with him earlier about
South Carolina and the situation in Colombia, and look, this rivalry,
this game, it's always gonna be big. And I didn't
mean that the it doesn't have all the shine that

(01:01:46):
it did. The red hadn't been completely looked off of
the lollipop. I apologize for that comment earlier, but it's
not the same. I mean, it's just not This is
not the same given the fact that these two teams
aren't in the mix for the College fotball playoffs this year,

(01:02:08):
and I don't really believe at this point that South
Carolina is gonna be next year. And it's hard for
me to believe that Clemson will stay with us. Lord
and swine back with you on a Tuesday, A Talking Tuesday,
and tiger Town. Clemson running back Adam Randall met with
the media earlier today. We kind of ran through some

(01:02:30):
of his numbers yesterday on the program because he's having
a banner year as a running back. Randall has carried
the ball one hundred and thirty one times for six
hundred and seventy five yards and eight touchdowns this season,
and through the air he's nearly eclipsed his total ever

(01:02:54):
in any individual season with twenty nine receptions for two
hundred and thirty nine yards and three touchdowns. So a
difference maker in a multitude of ways. Better than expected hmmm, yes,
and no better than expected as a running back, but

(01:03:18):
probably has not done as much catching the ball as
a running back as I would have liked. And maybe
this is not a Randall, but maybe this is a
broader view of the situation with offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. Nonetheless,
here's Adam Randall talking about his conversation with Dabo Sweeney

(01:03:43):
about switching to running back following the a SEC Championship game.

Speaker 5 (01:03:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:03:49):
So going in to the a C Championship game, I
wasn't playing as much as I wanted to a receiver.

Speaker 5 (01:03:55):
And then.

Speaker 7 (01:03:57):
Just during that throughout the game, just staying engaged and
having an opportunity. MafA actually a Jay's unfortunate energy injury
on one of those kick returns.

Speaker 5 (01:04:09):
Then Mafa's clee actually blowing out.

Speaker 7 (01:04:12):
Right before when of those kick returns have an opportunity
to go back there, I knew I could at least
catch it because I caught.

Speaker 5 (01:04:18):
Them in high school.

Speaker 7 (01:04:18):
So I could mean, if you fair catch, you get
the ball on twenty five, go on line.

Speaker 5 (01:04:22):
And they made a little run and came back on us.

Speaker 7 (01:04:26):
And so coach when he was like, you know what,
just bring it out and making that run, I think
Coach when he just saw, you know, just what I
could do with the ball in my hands, and I thought,
you know, maybe it'd be better for me to switch
to running back and you know, just have the opportunity
to just kind of get the ball in my hands
quicker than you could on the outside. And I think
he's just been a blessing this like kind of in disguise,

(01:04:49):
you know, just all the things that went into me
having to switch and then being able to switch and
being able to make it successful. It's just been shout
out to all my coaches and my teammates. I have
just been supportive along the way, have helped me in
the best way possible for my success.

Speaker 2 (01:05:07):
And it really has been cool to see Adam Randall
just this working out the way it has. But he
was also asked about when he initially kind of gravitated
towards being a receiver or why I guess I should
say he gravitated towards being a receiver.

Speaker 4 (01:05:29):
I don't know.

Speaker 7 (01:05:30):
That's just what I played in high school. When I
was coming up in rickball, I played quarterback. And you
know at my high school, at Murder Beach High School,
we always just threw the ball around, and you know,
the receivers were kind of.

Speaker 5 (01:05:42):
The guys that were just idolized.

Speaker 7 (01:05:45):
I mean, we had great receivers that came through our
program that might have had the best, you know grades,
I would say, and you know, but they were always
really good at receiver, and I just that's kind of
just what I wanted to be. And coming through the
Murder High school program, ever Golsa and Drean Arnold, Luke Dody,
those guys just pitched the ball around the yard a lot.

(01:06:06):
So just being a receiver was just kind of something
that I looked forward to when I was being a
young kid, if I could be a quarterback.

Speaker 2 (01:06:13):
Randall was also asked about the first time anybody ever
said to him that he sort of resembled I guess
physically Julio Jones, Kelly.

Speaker 7 (01:06:23):
Bryant out here on Jeremy Meadows. It was kind of
coming to camp and he just looked at me one day,
he just like, oh, you look like a little like
you look kind of like Julio Jones, And I was like,
I didn't see it at first, and then like being
on the circuit of camps and going around and meeting
a lot of different people, I got it a lot.

(01:06:44):
So that's just kind of it's just kind of stuck
with me all throughout high school and you know, even
into college.

Speaker 5 (01:06:50):
So but yeah, that's where it came from.

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
So Kelly Bryant back in the day while he was
there at camp calling him little Julio Jones. I mean
maybe a little bit. If they're talking about the face
as well, maybe a little bit. I mean I see
some of the nose, I think possibly maybe maybe a

(01:07:15):
little bit. I need more pictures of Julio Jones. But
physically yeah, I mean, big dude, big wide receiver for sure.
But if they're talking about the face, yeah, not so
much in my opinion. Adam Randa was also asked about
Senior Day coming up this weekend and what it'll mean

(01:07:36):
to him.

Speaker 5 (01:07:37):
It means a lot, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:07:39):
I like, I didn't want to, you know, leave, and
you know everybody wants to play.

Speaker 4 (01:07:46):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:07:46):
I'm just glad that I'm still here and you know, uh,
having the opportunity to run down the hill one last
time and you know, do something that you know, you
never really dreamed of of being a senior at Clemson,
and you know, having a lot of ups and down moments,
it's just really been a blessing. So I just want
to take it all into Saturday and you know, just

(01:08:07):
make the most of it, you know, and just kind
of go out on top. You know, just went went
out and be the best version of ourselves that we
can this year.

Speaker 2 (01:08:20):
Final thing from Am Randall. He was asking about kay
Klubnick and what he's meant to Randall personally and to
the program as a whole.

Speaker 7 (01:08:30):
Set in an interview the other day when I was
interviewed for ESPN. Okay, he just one of the best
leaders that I've been around for a long time. And
you know, just being able to see him grow up
throughout his college experiences and you know, just the ups
and downs, you know, people you know, not wanting him here,
then loving him. You know, He's just been unwavering with

(01:08:51):
his consistency, I would say, you know, just bringing energy
every single day and not want to be one of
those guys that listened to it out noise if even
if it's good or bad. And I think that Clemson
has been blessed to have him and you know, just
going to continue to just do whatever he can and
to fight to the end. And I mean I really

(01:09:13):
just couldn't have asked to compete with another person like
that because you know, when somebody is giving it at all,
it just really, uh, it really just shows how much
how much do they care, and how much they care
about you and like your teammates and you know the program.
So it just makes me want to go out there
and fight my ass off as well.

Speaker 2 (01:09:33):
There you go, Adam Randa only again meeting with the
media earlier today in Tigertown. When we come back, we'll
hear from the man whose name was dearly crushed this
past weekend by fans, Philip Florenzo, long snapper, who had
a bad snap at Louisville but recovered by throwing the dart.
As Dabosweeny said, stay with us. Long swam back with

(01:09:55):
you on a Tuesday afternoon, Philip Florenza. You didn't even
know his name barely until last Friday night in Louisville.
You know, a tight ball game, Clemson up by one.
Philip went all Skippopotamus on his snap and Jack Smith

(01:10:18):
recovers it, kind of tries to stay on his feet
and falls over and gives Louisville a chance to win
the game. They fail. They fail. I can't remember if
that was the penalty, and they backed him up and
then they missed the field goal. Anyway, doesn't matter. Clemson won.
They did, they did just enough, but it really felt
like Louisville did more to lose it. But Florenzo played

(01:10:43):
his role for sure in making that game tighter than
it needed to be, and Dabosweeney said after the game,
Florenzo didn't think he was going back in. Here's Florenzo.
Phillip Florenzo when he was asked today if he thought
he was losing his role as the long snapper after
that low snap back to Jack Smith in the waning

(01:11:04):
moments of Friday night's game, that's.

Speaker 4 (01:11:10):
Yeah, so obviously it happened. I didn't, you know.

Speaker 9 (01:11:13):
I figured that we're micing another opportunity to go out there.

Speaker 4 (01:11:17):
So I was warming up.

Speaker 9 (01:11:17):
I was doing what I normally do. Process doesn't change
good or bad. You just keep moving forward and do
what it takes to do well. And so I was
warming up in the back and I try to get
away from everybody. It's kind of hard on a cramped
sideline to snap a ball fifteen yards because everybody just
loves to seem to be standing in the way.

Speaker 4 (01:11:38):
But yeah, that's what I was doing.

Speaker 9 (01:11:39):
I was warming up and then I kind of got
I guess there was a miscommunication with the coaches. But anyways,
someone told me that, yeah, like your bench and I
was kind of like, what this is how?

Speaker 4 (01:11:49):
This is how it ends.

Speaker 9 (01:11:52):
And so when coach Tweney they were calling for coach Sween,
coach Wwheney was calling for me and coach when he
said something sideline, everybody's trying to make sure that gets
gets around. So I got called up to him if
they found me after that time out, and I kind
of thought there was based off of what I was
hearing with the rumbles. I was like, all right, I
guess this is like I don't know, I guess I'm

(01:12:12):
getting fired. And he turned around and gave me a
great pep talk, great belief thing that I was very
excited about because I was like, thank god, I didn't.

Speaker 4 (01:12:23):
Get fired here.

Speaker 9 (01:12:26):
And so yeah, that's kind of what happened. And I
never loved confidence in myself through the whole process. I
was ready to go do it again. I was excited
about doing it again. But I don't know that, I
guess with miscommunication, so they thought that's when he wanted
me out. But he made it very clear that that
was not the case, so it was. It's a relief.

Speaker 2 (01:12:46):
Philip Pullrenzo again talking about the situation at Louisville where
he thought he might be losing his snapping job. He
was asked about what went wrong on that low snap
that nearly cost Clemson their game again as a Louisville.

Speaker 4 (01:13:01):
Just a food play. It's kind of like wh and
on a golf shop.

Speaker 9 (01:13:06):
Somehow, you do everything right, you do the same process,
there's no nerves, done it over three hundred times, just
lined up, did the normal process I did, and it
just you know, released it too early that I normally do.
And you know that's what happens. And it's part of
the job. You know, for the past five years, I've
you know, coach always says, if you have that ball

(01:13:28):
in your hand in a game, you're you're holding the
program in your hands. And I've always, I've always, you know,
taken that to heart. And I've known for the past
five years that every time I step on that field,
there's a possibility there's a percent chance that I could
mess up like that, and that you know, the whole
world could hate me based off one mistake.

Speaker 4 (01:13:46):
And I and I and.

Speaker 9 (01:13:48):
It never once made me hesitate to walk on that field,
because the only thing that I can get if I
don't walk on the field is I know I won't fail,
but I don't.

Speaker 4 (01:13:56):
Believe in that.

Speaker 9 (01:13:57):
And and you know, I might have messed up in
that game, but I have the same amount, if not
more confidence than myself to do the job, and obviously
coach s Twine does. And you know, I'm never going
to be afraid to fail out there because that's what
I signed up for and I love doing it and
I'm going to continue to do it for as long
as I can. And uh yeah, I'm excited about getting

(01:14:19):
two more games opportunities. Hopefully we won't have too many
opportunities to punt this week.

Speaker 2 (01:14:23):
So and it is a weird spot. Much like the punter,
much like the field goal kicker. You want to go
out there, but you don't, right, Like, be nice if
you didn't have to go out there. Let's just beat
people and never never get stopped. Like if Philip Florenzo
had zero snaps this season, that would be a good
thing for Clemson. I mean, you never punted, you probably

(01:14:46):
are undefeated national champs. What a weird spot to be
in And he's kind of in that weird spot because
he decided he wanted to pursue football rather than lacrosse.
Here's Philip Lorenzo kind of breaking down that story.

Speaker 4 (01:15:06):
It's happened in high school. Happened a first day of
my senior practice. My senior year.

Speaker 9 (01:15:13):
First day of practice went out, they were like, we
need a long snapper. I wanted to get out of
practice a little bit and kind of hang out, and
it was gonna be me and my quarterback because he
was like the holder slash punter. So I was like,
all right, let let's we can just do this for
ten minutes and I don't have to go run.

Speaker 4 (01:15:28):
So I was like, I'll do that for a little bit.
And it wasn't until.

Speaker 9 (01:15:34):
A coach named Mike solwald Up came up to me
and said, hey, you're pretty good at this long snapping thing.
I was like thanks, He said you should, you should
play in college. I was like, I don't know about that.
I don't know who's a long snapper in college. Like
come on, now, I'm better than that. Here we are,
But he said, listen. I played six years in the

(01:15:57):
NFL and I wont a Super Bowl being a long snapper,
and you're.

Speaker 4 (01:15:59):
Better than I was.

Speaker 9 (01:16:00):
So after I heard that, I was like, you sold me.
Let's see what we can do here. And he said,
any school you can go to, you'll be able to
walk on and play there, no matter how big. And
so once he said that and I kind of saw
the vision for it, he sold me right there, I
was like, all right, I think I can go after this,
because you know, I didn't really realize what college football

(01:16:23):
was when I was in Maryland because the best we
had with the Maryland Terrapins, and to be honest, there
in my childhood, they weren't exactly the most premiere program.
When you go to a game, there wasn't stands weren't filled,
pretty empty, and the big sport with lacrosse, it was
it was cool to play lacrosse. It was the end

(01:16:45):
all be all to go and play college lacrosse. If
a guy got to play college lacrosse, he was he
was the man they committed in eighth grade. And so
when I learned about college football kind of the how
important it was, and I came down here and I
realize that I can either go play some small D
one lacrosse set with my mom and dad has for

(01:17:06):
me every weekend, or I can go out there in
front of eighty thousand on national television and see what happens.
And so it's kind of a pretty easy decision to
risk it all and try to go do this.

Speaker 2 (01:17:17):
I mean, what a cool freaking story. What a cool story? Man?
All right? Fill up for Lorenzo. All right, we'll hit
a break. We'll come back a little bit more from
him when we return me. He's awesome.

Speaker 5 (01:17:31):
What have you done for me lately?

Speaker 4 (01:17:35):
It's a fair question.

Speaker 10 (01:17:36):
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget
history looking for us at Clemson. The answer to the
questions what have you done for me lately? And what
have you done? Always are the same.

Speaker 4 (01:17:57):
We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:44):
Final segment on a Tuesday. Don't forget our friends in
Alumni Hall in the corner of campus on College Avenue,
Downtown Clemson were officially licensed. Clemson Merchandise has T shirts
tell Gate Gary Moore. Check them out today online or
in store right across from historic at riggs Field and
not across from his store at Riggsfield. But you can

(01:19:04):
see the lights, you can see the field, and then
of course you can see Bowmanfield. Though from their venue
on College Avenue. It's Alumne Hall where Tiger fans shop
Phillip for Nzo Phillip Flow Rinzo flow Rider, if you will,

(01:19:25):
Just awesome hearing his story here. He is talking about
how he and his dad ended up coming back down
to visit Clemson and how his career took shape.

Speaker 9 (01:19:37):
Yes, yes, well yeah, so I think I was at
South Carolina visiting, just doing the normal school thing because
obviously it wasn't for sports, and he's like, hey, we're
not too far from Clemson.

Speaker 4 (01:19:52):
You want to go visit again.

Speaker 9 (01:19:53):
I was like, yeah, let's go one more time around
the box. How far is it? He's like two hours easy.
I think we're going to Tennessee afterwar. So I think
it kind of worked out. So that's what we did.
We just drove back to Clemson. The first time I came,
I had a whole tour and did the whole academic, business, building,
engineering building, saw it all, saw what the.

Speaker 4 (01:20:11):
School was about. The second time, we just just drove in.

Speaker 9 (01:20:14):
I wanted to see it all one more time, own eyes,
just and I think that's when we kind of figured
out there was a lake I don't know on the tour.

Speaker 4 (01:20:20):
They don't show you the lake.

Speaker 9 (01:20:22):
We should fix that a little bit, because the lake's
a pretty good selling point, you know what I mean.
They show you know, they showed me with the football stadium,
and you're telling me there's a lake here.

Speaker 4 (01:20:31):
I had no idea. So on the second time, we
just drove around. We drove up through Whye Beach actually, which.

Speaker 9 (01:20:39):
Which was where I was like, there's a lake here, dude,
and uh so, and then I think we went to
Loose Change Ate Loose Change, went around downtown. It's aw
cool it was, and I just felt the energy of
the place, so a random spring and people just looked
happy here, and and I was just kind of stuck
in my in my brain, in my heart that like,

(01:21:01):
this was an amazing place and I just felt pulled
to it. I don't couldn't explain why I visited every
Southern school and Clemson was just something about it.

Speaker 2 (01:21:13):
I mean, that's put it on the tape, put it
on the t shirt. It's Clemson. It's just something about it.
Flor Renzo. Here's what he had to say about how
President Jim Clements played a role in getting him a
spot on the football team.

Speaker 4 (01:21:33):
Though, Yeah, I met a guy named Mark Russo Rudy Russo.

Speaker 9 (01:21:39):
I was working at I was working at a restaurant and
I was a server and my high school does an
alumni event there, so I was serving for it. So
I started talking to guys telling him I was, you know, alumni,
and he walked up.

Speaker 4 (01:21:55):
To me and say, hey, you you go to Clemson.

Speaker 9 (01:21:57):
I was like, yeah, so it's my freshman year going
to my here or no, I was going into my
freshman year. Actually I don't know one of the two. Anyways,
I started telling him about, yeah, you know, I played
high school sports, go to Clemson. He's like, would you play?
I was like, oh, I was a linebacker, played some guard,
tight end, like I did it. I did kind of everything.

(01:22:18):
And then also was a long snapper just for the team.
And I don't know like what brought him to say this.
He said, hey, you were a long snappers, Like yeah,
just threw off the gloves, you know, just threw it
back there as far as I could and see what happened.
He's like, why don't you just do that Clemson? And
I was kind of I didn't want to tell a lot.
You don't tell people you're trying to walk on a
Clemson like I feel like a weirdo if you're the one, Like, hey,

(01:22:40):
by the way, you know, walk onto like the most
premiere program in college football.

Speaker 4 (01:22:46):
And then I just was honest with him, to be
honest with you, I am trying. I've been working at.

Speaker 9 (01:22:50):
Her for the past year or two, and you know,
I'm not getting much budge right now because they locked
this place up like Fort Knox, they don't want anybody
to join, if it seems like And so he's like, hey,
I know President Clemens, because Clemens was the president Towson,
I believe, and so there's a lot of connections with
Clements up there because that's where he grew up. And

(01:23:10):
he said, sen, I know Clements. I can write a
letter to him kind of explaining your story.

Speaker 4 (01:23:16):
And so they wrote the letter. I read the letter.

Speaker 9 (01:23:18):
They said to Clements. I think Clements somehow got to
either Duly, I don't know someone over here. And then
I got an email the night that night about the
tryout date, and it wasn't asking to be on the team.

Speaker 5 (01:23:32):
I didn't.

Speaker 9 (01:23:32):
I never asked anybody to just put me on the team.
I just wanted an opportunity to try out. That's all
I was asking for and because of COVID made that hard,
but finally got my opportunity, made the most of it.

Speaker 2 (01:23:42):
So fill up Florenzo Clemson long snapper man, what a
great story. Definitely putting the piece together on him on
our website. I hope you support this. If you don't,
hear's how you can do it. Clemson's sports tell dot com.
Sign up. You can get the free membership that'll get
your emails from Tom to Tom you know when breaking
news happens. But if you really want to stand behind,

(01:24:05):
if you want to plant the Clemson flag right here
in the Midlands, sixty three dollars and seventeen cents. That's
one year of coverage plus tax. But sixty three seventeen
and you can support us. Man. We appreciate you, Thank
you so much for hanging out. Loved hearing from Dabo Sweeney.

(01:24:26):
Appreciate Jack Veltri from Gamecockcentral dot com for joining us in. Philip.
It's tough to say, Philip Florenzo one of the great
interviews of the year, in my opinion, up at Tigertown today.
All right, we'll talk about that more tomorrow. Until then,
as always, I'll take care now and go Tigers.