The "NFL Talent" Edition

Is it possible that the 2025 Clemson football team has more top NFL talent than any team in program history?

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.
Hell everybody, Lawton Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the South Lay and
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(01:06):
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All right, out of the gates, here's the rundown of
what we've got today for you. On a Monday afternoons,
we get ready to turn the calendars to July first,

(01:49):
Will Qualkin Bush joins the program in our number two
looking forward to catching up with qualk Also today, we'll
talk about the over on of three programs Georgia Tech, Texas,
A and M and Michigan. Where are those numbers? What
do I expect out of them this season? Plus we'll

(02:11):
dive into the big reason that so many people are
buying into your Clemson Tigers. And as significant as the
Tigers run was from twenty fifteen through twenty twenty, is

(02:32):
it possible by comparison to their contemporaries and the other
teams around the country that maybe this is the biggest
collection of talent in terms of a draft class that
Clemson's ever put into the NFL. We'll talk about with
ESPN thinks about that momentarily and finally, of course, over

(02:55):
the week in another big pickup for the Clemson Tiger
football team as Keyshawn st Ansel out of Clayton High
School Clayton, North Carolina defensive lineman committed to the Tigers
over the weekend as well, one of the top defensive
tackles in the country. On three rates him as a
ninety two point one four industry rating. All right, but

(03:20):
let's begin with what I said a few minutes ago,
which may sound crazy to some people because of how
good Clemson was for that five year span from twenty
fifteen through twenty twenty. But is there a legitimate chance

(03:42):
that this Clemson Tiger football team has more NFL talent
on it than the Trevor Lawrence Deshaun Watson teams did.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
That is ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
It may very well be, but not if you buy
into the way ESPN and currently evaluates this Clemson Tiger
draft class. More specifically, Matt Miller, NFL Insider NFL Draft
Insider for ESPN. So taking a look at the article

(04:21):
that he put up earlier today and based off film
and conversations that he's had with scouts and talent evaluators
throughout the league. And again these are simply projections, but
he put together a mock draft for the first thirty

(04:41):
two picks of the twenty twenty six NFL Draft, and
in doing so, they ran simulations of the twenty twenty
five season in the NFL to project the draft order. Now,
Matt Miller does note that one player that is not

(05:02):
in this draft that he would maybe put in there
is arch Manning, and the reason being he believes that
arch Manning will stay in college for the twenty twenty
six college football season. But with that being said, he

(05:27):
lays out the possibility of what the draft class might
look like without arch Manning going pro and based off
of the simulations and everything and evaluating players and talking
to scouts. Here's how it lays out. The first pick

(05:51):
in the draft belongs to the Cleveland Browns. Now, we
can look at the Browns draft history, Deally Gabriel and
Dylan Gabriel in the third round this past season, Shoudore
Sanders in the fifth round. But they've got Cleveland taking
cad Clubnick caid Clubnick with the number one pick in

(06:17):
the NFL draft. Miller says, quote Clubnick enters the season
as my number one quarterback. In twenty twenty four, he
threw for thirty six hundred and thirty nine yards, thirty
six touchdowns and six interceptions, highlighted by a gutsy performance
against Texas in the College Football Playoff where he passed

(06:38):
for three hundred and thirty six yards, three touchdowns in
one interception. He says, Clubnick reminds me of Baker Mayfield,
who Cleveland selected with the number one pick in twenty eighteen,
in terms of arm strength, mobility, and play making awareness
and more on Kate Clubnick in a little bit, But

(07:01):
I want to go back to the beginning of this conversation.
Is this the best collection of NFL talent on the
roster that Clemson's had since twenty fifteen and beyond it,
maybe the best collection given what I'm about to get into.
It was serious about that very so. With the second pick,

(07:24):
based off of simulations of the NFL season, the New
York Giants fall to that spot and they've got them
taking the offensive tackle out of Miami Francis Magua, who's
entering his third season Collegiately. The third pick falls to
the Tennessee Titans, and in this situation, Miller projects that

(07:49):
the Tennessee Titans with the third pick would select Clemson
defensive end TJ. Parker for the Tennessee Titans. Now, in
that moment, history will have been made. In that history
for Clemson is that for the first time in program history,

(08:14):
two of the top three players selected would be Clemson Tigers. Now,
Clemson has had the top pick before. Obviously, Trevor Lawrence
back in the twenty twenty one draft, was selected first
by the Jaguars, but the next Clemson selection wasn't until
number twenty five, when Travis etn also went off the

(08:36):
board to Jacksonville. So in the terms of the best
average there, right, you're looking at two players with an
average of being the thirteenth pick. And it's a similar number.
If you were to go to the twenty twenty class

(08:57):
where Isaiah Simmons came off the board eighth and aj
Terrell came off the board sixteenth, that would be two
players and the average pick value would be twelve. The
Tigers also had a pretty good run at it in
twenty nineteen when Cleveland Ferrell came off the board at
number four and then Christian Wilkins was drafted number thirteen.

(09:22):
You had those two up, you're at seventeen, and of
course you divide seventeen by two and you end up
in eight and a half. But that twenty nineteen class,
and yes, I am daring do math here on the radio,
are you also included a first round selection at number

(09:42):
seventeen in Dexter Lawrence. If you tally all of those up,
you get thirty four and if you divide by three,
you're in a little over eleven. So the twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty, and twenty twenty one draft classes for Clemson
have been some of the best in Tiger history. Twenty seventeen,

(10:07):
you had Mike Williams at seven, you had Deshaun Watson
at twelve. You had those two numbers up, that's nineteen.
You divide that by two, you're at nine and a half.
But here in this scenario, in this projected, and it's
important that we say that projected, it's a Tiger going

(10:27):
first and a Tiger going third. And when you add
one in three, you get four. And yes, I can
do that math on the air, and you divide by two,
and of course you're sitting at two as the average.
So this would make it Some of you might say, yeah, yeah, yeah,

(10:49):
there were three guys taken in another class. Swannie, I
get it. Hang with me for a moment. So here's
what he says about TJ. Parker going third to the
Tennessee Titans. He says Tennessee has long needed a premier
edge rusher, and Parker is definitely that. Not only did
the six foot three, two hundred and sixty five pounds.
Junior have eleven sacks last season, but he also fort

(11:10):
six fumbles. He would be an ideal fit for the
Titans three to four base defense thanks to his ability
to play in space and rush from multiple alignments. His
quickness off the corner is the best in the class
when watching last season's tape. While the Tigers could use
excuse me, while the Titans could use offensive help, Parker

(11:30):
is the defensive menace they desire. The two of the
first three picks according to this projection, Clemson players Cade
Club Nick number one to Cleveland TJ Parker number three
to Tennessee Now. The fourth pick in the simulated draft
went to the New York Jets, where they select Anthony

(11:53):
Hill Junior, the linebacker from Texas, and the fifth pick
in the draft goes to the New Orleans Saints, who
select Caleb Downs out of Ohio State, the former Georgia Bulldog.
But the sixth pick belongs to the Carolina Panthers, and

(12:13):
in this projected draft, they do something that the Panthers
have never done, even though they started playing football in
Clemson's Death Valley. With the sixth pick in the twenty
twenty six NFL mock Draft, the Carolina Panthers select Peter Woods,

(12:34):
defensive tackle, Clemson, meaning, according to Miller, three of the
top six selections in the twenty twenty six NFL Draft
would be Clemson Tigers. Meaning when you add number one

(12:55):
k Club Dick in, number three TJ. Parker, that's four.
Then you add Peter Woods in that carries you to ten.
Divided by three, you're at like three point three three three.

(13:17):
You're talking about easily based off of numbers. If this
were to hold, and if these guys were to perform
and avoid injury and have a great season and deliver
the type year that Clemson fans are expecting this collection. Now, look,

(13:38):
you guys can argue with me. You can say, well, Swanee,
there were seasons, and you're right. I will lean into
this argument heavily. The twenty nineteen season, Pharaoh Wills, Lawrence,

(14:02):
when those guys returned, when they came back to Clemson
to win a championship, I could certainly argue that a
guy like Trevor Lawrence, who I thought would eventually be
the number one pick had he been allowed to turn pro,
could have been in there right And then you would
have had one, four, and thirteen, but that still doesn't

(14:25):
hit the number. Now we could break down the fact
that you would have four players drafted in the top seventeen.
This would be three guys in the top six. Here's
what they say about Peter Woods being selected potentially by
the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers butck conventional wisdom with their
twenty twenty five first rounder, issuing a defense that finished

(14:48):
last in EPA for a wide receiver with the eighth pick.
They did add edge rushers and Nick Skorton and Princely
Uhman Melian on Day two, So now it's time for
them to get a defensive tackle and get Derek Brown
some help. That's where the six three three and fifteen

(15:08):
pounds Peter Woods comes in. He posted three sacks and
seventeen pressures in eleven games this season, and his quickness
and leverage will be a welcome fit in Carolina's revamped defense.
So three of the top six picks all coming from Clemson.
According to this. We'll tell William Qualkinbush about it as

(15:29):
well in our number two. Now, the seventh overall selection,
we'll just do the top ten here and then We'll
dive into some other notes, but the seventh overall selection,
Ruben Baines, junior out of Miami, who everybody in Tigertown
you certainly recall from Clempson's matchup with the Hurricanes a
couple of years ago. Jordan Tyson, Robert Siver, Arizona going

(15:51):
eighth in New England. By the way, that was the
Raiders with the seventh pick, according to ESPN. With the
ninth pick, the Los Angeles Rams, Cayden Proctor, the offensive
tackle from Alabama. You might remember Proctor shifting back and
forth between or was it Alabama? And how was it
Missouri or Iowa? I can't remember, but let me see

(16:17):
if I can throw that in the Google machine real
quick and tell you for certainty. Let's see Proctor. It
was a story around him to Iowa, Yes, Iowa, but
he never never went to Iowa. He committed to Iowa,

(16:38):
flipped Alabama, enrolled at Alabama, then in January he transferred
to Iowa, and then in April last year he returned
to Alabama twenty twenty four. So never never played at Iowa,
just did a semester of college there. So weird, man,

(17:00):
so weird Seattle with the tenth pick takes Spencer Feno,
offensive tackle out of Utah, but there are more Clemson
Tigers selected in the first round, including number fourteen the
Arizona Cardinals. According to this projection, taking Clemson wide receiver
Antonio Williams. They say the Cardinals got excellent value early

(17:25):
in the twenty twenty five draft, selecting defensive tackle Walter
Nolan the third and cornerback Will Johnson later than each
player was expected to go, but receiver is still an
area of concern. Opposite twenty twenty four first round of
Marveson Marvin Harrison junior, and Williams is currently wide receiver

(17:49):
one after a seventy five catch eleven touchdown season as
a sophomore in twenty twenty four. Williams is a quick,
shifty wide out who has the ability to play outside
and in the slide. That would make him an ideal
compliment to the bigger Harrison. By the way, for our
fine feathered friends hanging out with us each and every

(18:10):
day so you.

Speaker 4 (18:11):
Could continue to peek over the fence at the best
radio showing the.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
Naked South Carolina quarterback Leonora Sellers in this mock draft
is selected at sixteenth by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who of
course have a one year deal with Aaron Rodgers currently.
But another Tiger does come off the board in the
first round of this mock draft at number twenty four,
as Avion Terrell gets taken by the Cincinnati Bengals. They

(18:38):
note that defensive line could become the number one need
if the Bengals can't figure out what to do with
Trey Hendrickson and Shamar Stewart in their contract situations. But
assuming cooler heads prevailed, their biggest need would be at
corner and Avion aj Terrell's brother is the projected pick

(19:01):
there by the Bengals, giving Clemson five first round selections
in this mock twenty twenty five NFL Draft. But more specifically,
or more importantly maybe for this conversation, out of Gates,
three of the top six picks in the draft. I mean,

(19:24):
that's significant. It's pretty rare that a team gets three
out of the top six, and again we're a long
way off from it, but that's the current projection, all right.
Speaking of projections, I mentioned out of the Gates, we
were going to take a look at three teams in
their current over unders and whether I think they'll hit
the mark or not. Georgia Tech, Texas, A and M

(19:46):
and Michigan all coming up here on the program today
giving you a little acc sec Big ten flavor on
the Show The Shakes the south Land Stay with Us,
Lawton Swan, the Show The Shakes, the out Land, Clemson
Sports Talk for you on a Monday afternoon, will Qualkinbush

(20:07):
coming up in our number two of the program. All right,
so last week we started a look at the over
unders of teams in the world of college football ahead
of the college football calendar, and I started thinking back.
I don't recall anytime in the program's history that we've

(20:27):
really done anything like this outside of you know, we've
made predictions on what we thought Clemson in South Carolina
would both do, but we've never really, never really dived
into projective wind totals. And as I've noted here, this
is not a show, and I am not a person
that gambles on sports, so it's not you know, it's

(20:50):
not a part of what I do. I don't have
any sponsorships from any of those entities in which handle
that kind of stuff. I'm just taking to look at
the projected numbers and telling you what I think based
off of the schedules, and it's just my opinion on
the number. But the team that a lot of people
are fired up about this offseason is Georgia Tech and

(21:17):
making the mistake about that when when Brent Key came
be bopping into the ACC kickoff a year ago with
his flared collar and his little necklace, I thought, Woh,
this guy feels different. This guy feels different, and he
did deliver different and for a second year, second full season,

(21:46):
I should say Georgia Tech was seven to six, five
and three, but building a level of momentum and much
like Dabo Sweeney you might recall he took over in
twenty twenty two after Jeff Collins was dismissed eight games
in excuse me, four games in to the season. But
the expectations at Georgia Tech are high. They've recruited well,

(22:13):
but they're over under total in twenty twenty five. This
season is pretty low, quite frankly at just five and
a half. So the real question is will Georgia Tech
find a way to become Bowl eligible legally Bowl eligible
in twenty twenty five given their current schedule. Now they

(22:41):
open on the road at Colorado. That will be an
eight o'clock start on August to twenty ninth on ESPN. Now,
Colorado losing Travis Hunter, losing Shadoor Sanders, Dion Sanders obviously

(23:01):
dealing with some health issues of his own. I'm not
so sure that the Colorado Buffalo are going to have
the miraculous play that they seem to find with those
two Travis Hunter and Shdoor Sanders as a part of
their program. And I'll take Georgia Tech and I like

(23:25):
their leadership at quarterback. I think, look when you when
you talk about winners, whether Haines King was playing in
College Station or in Atlanta, Georgia, that kid has some moxie.
And I'll give him the benefit of the doubt heading

(23:50):
into this opener, even though it is going to be
on the road. Certainly when you're in Boulder, there is
a there is a you know, the mile high effect
that does take place. When I was in Boulder, Colorado,
you definitely have a little less atmosphere than you have
here at sea level. But Georgia Tech enters as about

(24:16):
a four and a half point favorite, and I know
Colorado has some questions at quarterback. Whether it's gonna be
the five star freshman Julian Lewis Juju or whether or
not it'll be the Liberty transfer Cadence Salter who ultimately
takes their quarterback reins. I'll take for me. I'll take

(24:39):
Haynes King and additionally for the Yellow Jackets throughout the
season as long as Jamal Haynes the running back is healthy.
I mean, that should be a really solid offense. They'll
face Gardner Web in week two. That'll move them to
two and zero. I think they'll come to Clemson and
get beat On September third, there exculd be thirteenth. I

(25:03):
think they'll beat Temple that's three and one. I think
they probably win at Wake fours to move to four
and one. I think Virginia Tech is one of those
toss up games, right like I talk about throughout these
schedules where it could go one way or the other.
Fortunately for the Yellow Jackets this game is in Atlanta.

(25:26):
But it's one of those games where I think probably
this one and then on the road at Duke the
next week can be flip flopped. So I'll go a
win and a loss there one way, shape or form
to make them five and two coming out of that
Duke ball game. I think hosting Syracuse is a likely

(25:48):
win to me. That gets them the six and two
and above their five win over under at NC State,
probably a lost six and three at Boston College. They
should be able to go on the road to BC
and get to seven and three. Then I think they
would be pitt at home to get to eight and three,

(26:09):
and then I think they lose to Georgia to drop
to eight and four on the season. If five and
a half is the number on the Yellow Jackets, if
that's the number, you give me five point five, I'm
taking the over because I think they've got eight winnable
games on their schedule and there's some leeway in there. Now.

(26:33):
Certainly they could lose to Colorado and that puts it
seven and five, but you still got some other games
in there, that road game at Duke, and maybe they
lose both Virginia Tech and Duke. But I'm gonna go
one and one in that matchup, and I'm gonna trust
that Brent Key and the Yellow Jackets are going to
have a fairly favorable campaign this year. I'm buying the hype.

(26:58):
I'll take them at eight and four. They only play
Clemson in the ACC. That's really you know, they're not
playing Miami, they're not playing SEMU, they're not playing Florida
State for that matter. I think they've got a fairly
favorable draw. And I think if five and a half
is the number, and that's what odd Shark has right

(27:20):
now for Georgia Tech, I think gets a pretty safe one.
All right, when we come back, we'll look at the
Aggie's of Texas, A and M a big question mark
for sure when we return. Lawton Swan Clemson Sports Salt
back with you on a Monday afternoon, the show that
shakes the South Lane. Don't forget about our friends at
Alumni Hall on the corner of campus on College Avenue,

(27:41):
right there in downtown Clemson. It's Alumni Hall for all.
You're officially licensed Clemson merchandise, hats, T shirts, tailgate gear
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Go check them out today. Just the stones throw away
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(28:02):
dot com. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop all right,
we're back on the Monday, William Qualkinbush in our number two.
We've been taking a look at over underwin totals. I am.
I'm still kind of perplexed at six or five and
a half, I should say, being the number for Georgia Tech.
Take take these games to heart real quick here, all right,

(28:23):
Gardner Webb is certainly one, and we're gonna jump into
Texas A and M momentarily, but Gardner Webb is a
definite win.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
Right.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
You would think at home against Temple is a definite win.
I would think at Boston College this year this year
is a definite win. That's three. Now, don't get me wrong.
Virginia Tech, Dukes, Eyracuse all kind of tricky, but pit

(28:51):
Colorado on the road where they're where Georgia Tech's favored.
I mean, I think Georgia Texas and eight went certainly
seven and five. I think you can find seven and
five losses on this schedule. Absolutely, Georgia, absolutely Clemson. But
then to put them at five wins total, right to

(29:15):
take the under there, you gotta find seven losses in
those final ten games. I don't know that you can
find those at this point. And that number could fluctuate,
obviously as we get closer to the season. But another
team that has certainly been waiting for their ship to
come in is Texas A and M. And depending on

(29:38):
where you look right now, you can find A and
M at like seven and a half maybe eight and
a half wins. And so we'll take a look at
the Aggies here on a Monday after noon. Now you
might recall we touched on A and M briefly on
Friday when we were looking at Notre Dame schedule. But

(30:02):
here's how I think things will play out for Texas
A and M and whether or not the Aggies can
get to that seven and a half eight and a
half win total. Now. They opened against UTSA. That's a
game at Kyle Field seven o'clock on August thirtieth. That's
a win, should be a win. They face Utah State

(30:26):
the following weekend, also at home. That should be another
win to take the Aggies to two and zero at
Notre Dame. Like I mentioned, the Fighting Irish are a
team that is most likely they are the favorite right
now in the world of college football to go undefeated,
which I thought was kind of wild. And again I

(30:48):
did run them out to eleven and one, gave them
some wins along the way, but one of them I
did not give them was this matchup against Texas A
and M. As a matter of fact, I had it
as the loan loss for a Notre Dame. That would
mean A and M at that point. If they win,
that's on the road at three and one. Following that,

(31:09):
the Aggie's host Auburn. You would assume that's likely a
win if they're at three and oh at that point
to make them four O. At Mississippi State, I think
the Aggie should have a good chance to move to
five and oh. Versus Florida, I'll take the Gators, making
the Aggies five and one at Arkansas, you would think
would be at Texas am A and M win at

(31:31):
six and one at LSU, I'll take the BAYU Bengals
six and two at Missouri. I think A and M
should win that seven and two. At home against South Carolina,
they need a rebound after the way they look last season.
I guarantee you they want to revenge factor there. That

(31:53):
would push the Aggies out to eight and two. Versus Sanford,
I think nine and two and at Texas I think
they would lose that would make them nine and three.
I do concern have concern about whether or not they'll
beat like Auburn or South Carolina for sure, which would

(32:14):
make them eight and four if they lose one of
those two games, which if the seven and a half
wins is the number, then you know that would put
you at eight and four. But if eight and a
half is the number, then it's a loser. So after
rekind of calculating their schedule, I'll hedge a little bit

(32:34):
on this. I'll say eight and four for the aggis
with a big win at Notre Dame, which could easily
be a loss too, right, Like, that's the other part.
And if you hedge a little bit, that would put
you at seven and five, which would be a loser
on both numbers. But if they do get that win,
as I projected they would when I talked about Notre Dame,

(32:56):
then that to me begins to sit them fairly comfortably
at an eight and four record, nine to three being
a bit of a possibility there for Texas A and M,
And obviously I think a part of my belief in
A and M certainly comes down to their head coach
and seeing what Mike Elkos was able to do, not

(33:19):
only at Duke, but he's changed the feeling in the
culture at A and M. And that's a program that's
spent a lot of money and has very high expectations.
But I like Marcel Reid. I do. I think you
know last year he's a freshman. I think you saw
flashes of what he can be. And I think the expectation,

(33:42):
certainly for this year, will be that he takes a
step forward. And they've got Connor Wigman still on the
staff there or on the roster, and I think they
carry right now. I was looking at their roster earlier today.
I think they're carrying like nine quarterbacks. I don't know
how many those guys are our scholarship of the scholarship variety,

(34:04):
but to give you an example, Clemson currently lists only
five quarterbacks on their roster. They've got obviously Kay club
Nick and Christopher Vezena. Then you've got Chris Denson, Trent Peerman,
and Kay Trotter, and then I guess you technically have

(34:28):
the possibility of Paul Tyson. I guess if necessary, I
think Paul still got a year. But anyway, kind of
wild to see none names there under the Aggies at quarterback.
All right, we'll hit a quick break, we'll come back,
We'll put a bowl on our number one. We'll take
a look at our final team of the day here

(34:49):
in the first hour, the Michigan Wolverines not that far
removed from a national championship. But can they reach their
over under number. We'll touch on that when we return.
Lawton's Clemson Sports saw the show that shakes to south Land.
So wrapping up the over unders of the day, I
was looking at my notes and I said Michigan. I

(35:12):
just wrote the name wrong. It's Michigan State that we're
looking at today. I think I even said Michigan out
of the gate. We did Michigan earlier, but Michigan State
today is where we're going to go.

Speaker 5 (35:24):
Now.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
When you look at the Spartans again, it's been a
fairly tough stretch for that program, and the league didn't
get any easier, adding Oregon and add in Southern cal
like it. It's tough sled and they were five and
seventy year ago, three and six in conference. Michigan State

(35:48):
has a plus minus of five and a half, which
means you gotta find six wins along the way. Now,
taking a look at their schedule this season, and I'm
going to handle theirs a little bit differently than I
did some of the other ones that we've looked at,

(36:10):
because they've got some games that you would certainly circle
as what you feel like would be certain losses, right,
so you can't have more than six losses. Now, they
open against Western Michigan. I'm going to chalk them up
for a win there, and then they host Boston College.

(36:33):
This could ultimately be a swing game for them. It
could be a huge game from BC. Now your call.
A couple of years ago, Michigan State had a changeover
at head coach. Jonathan Smith came over from Oregon State,
and they're expected quarterback this year is Aiden Chiles, and

(36:54):
a year ago Chiles threw for about twenty five hundred
yards hutchdowns, but eleven interceptions and you've got to avoid,
you know, those kind of game breaking or backbreaking maybe
the better terminology plays, and part of those turnovers end

(37:17):
up being the reason that Michigan State lost a year
ago twenty three to nineteen at Boston College. But in
this season, I'm gonna lean in and I'm gonna say
that playing at home another year under their belts. It
was a close game a year ago at BC. I'm

(37:39):
gonna say that Michigan State does win that game. I
think they'll beat Youngstown State. That puts them to three
and zero. But here's where we kind of begin expected losses.
Like I expect them to lose to Southern cal I
would expect them to possibly. I'll say they'll lose that Nebraska.

(38:04):
Then they host UCLA. That's another game that they could
certainly lose. Put them at three and three. At Indiana,
I would expect Michigan State to win, to go to
four and three. I think they lose to Michigan. I
think they're four and four. I think they lose at
Minnesota five and four. It's gonna be four and five.

(38:26):
I think they lose at Penn State. That's four and six.
And I just wonder what two games left at Iowa
and at Maryland. Do they have two wins in their system?
Can you go to Iowa and then host Maryland and win.
I don't think they can. I think they go one
to one of those games. I think Michigan State's a

(38:47):
five and seventeen, and I think if five and a
half is the number. I think they probably are on
the under side of that, and I'm giving them in
this scenario the benefit of the doubt, against which very
easily Boston College I think could come out on the

(39:08):
good side.

Speaker 5 (39:09):
And that.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
Puts Michigan State at four and eight, with wins over
Western Michigan, Youngstown State, Indiana being three of their four wins.
It's hard. It's hard to scratch six or seven wins
for Michigan State in my opinion based off of that.
But again, as I look at it, like I said

(39:36):
before the break, I try to project based off of
kind of what we know about these teams. Like the
game at Nebraska. I'm not super high on Nebraska. I'm
just not. Like Nebraska's a program that's been telling us
they're back, but they haven't proven their back. And until

(39:56):
Nebraska kind of kicks in that proverbial door sort of
like I view Arkansas sort of like I view Auburn
right now, like you really got to prove your self
worthy of being back in the mix and being a surefire.
Oh yeah, that's the loss when you play them. Some

(40:17):
schools have that panache, some schools don't. And that's a
team Nebraska that doesn't quite have that for me, So
I never really know which way I want to go
when I get to that school, Like do I give
them the benefit of the doubt or do I not?

Speaker 3 (40:31):
Right?

Speaker 2 (40:31):
So they're always one of those sort of hinge teams
that can flip it one way or the other, kind
of depending on my gut when I come down to
making a decision on games like that. And you look
at them. Last year, Nebraska and Michigan State both finished
with three and six records in the Big Ten, along
with UCLA along with Wisconsin. Nebraska, though finished over five

(40:56):
hundred at five and six. Michigan State last year five,
and I think they're looking at five and seven pretty
squarely this coming season as well. All right, eight oh
three four five zero zero eighty six coming up. Williamqualkinbus
joins us. We'lls all with Qualt about the NFL twenty

(41:19):
twenty six draft that has the Tigers in a very
fortuitous position. If you weren't with us in our number
one at the beginning, I should say our number one.
If you weren't with us, ESPN put together a mock draft,
and not only was kay Klubnick taken first, but TJ.

(41:42):
Parker was taking third, Peter Woods was taking sixth, giving
Clemson not the Atlantic Coast Conference, not the Southeastern Conference,
not the Big Ten. No, giving Clemson singular university, three
of the top six picks in the NFL draft. I mean,

(42:04):
that's that's insanity type stuff there. You don't see that. Well,
let's qualk about when we get back. Keep it a
lot right here. Fox Sports Radio fourteen.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Hundred each time for Clipson Sports Talk with Luwton Swan.

Speaker 5 (42:20):
Swanny.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
It is our number two. That's drive time right here
on the show. This makes to Southland Clemson Sports. So long, Swan,
hang out with you on a Monday afternoon. William Qualkinbush
joins us momentarily. The show that Shakespare south LANDE brought you,
in part our good friends over at mets Plumbing seven
three two drip drip, drip drip. You know the jingle

(43:15):
seven three to two drip. That's Mets Plumbing, mets plumbing
dot com. That's their website as well. All right, William
qualking bus Quat, what's up?

Speaker 5 (43:22):
Man?

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Welcome in Swiney.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
I'm doing great, Happy Monday. It's June's almost over. Which
means we're officially turning the page to next year and
to football season. And I could not be more blessed
to be here.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
How are you, man, I'm good. I'll tell you what
the temperature feels like though the past I don't know,
week and a half has really turned up here in
the Midlands. I don't know what it's like in the Upstate,
but we're at the hot season of the summer for sure.

Speaker 3 (43:49):
My wife has this this like ball of goo is
what I'll tell you. It's like a stress thing which
he takes long drives. She plays with it. I in
your car and I over car to work and didn't
park under a tree and it formed in such a
way melted. I mean like it was probably one hundred
and eight degrees in my car. It melted at to
a point that it's now an unusable ball of goose.

(44:11):
And also some of it is permanently a fixed to
the dashboard. So that's how odd it is in the
day right now, I feel your pain.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
H Quiga Bush is on Twitter at qualktaws so qual
We You and I have talked about this offseason a lot,
about the expectations for this coming year, but I want
to start with NFL draft projections, because I began the
day with that Matt Miller over at ESPN. They utilized
like some simulations of the twenty twenty five season to

(44:40):
get the draft order together, and they went through and
three of the top six picks are Clemson Tigers. Now
he says, look, I don't think Arch Manning's coming out,
so we could take Arch out of the conversation for now.
But he's got Cleveland selecting Cake Clubnet with the first pick,
the Tennessee Titans selecting TJ. Parker with the third pick,
the Carolina Panthers doing something they've never done, drafted the

(45:02):
Clemson Tiger and Peter Woods with the sixth pick. Now,
I know when we look back at some of those
teams with when when Trevor Lawrence is a freshman, and
I know we couldn't be drafted then, but you had Pharaoh, Wilkins, Lawrence,
and Brian on that defensive line, and people say, man,
those were better collections of talent. But by the raw numbers,
if this were to hold, three of the top six

(45:26):
picks would be a first by a long shot in
Clemson history. What does that say about the accumulation of
potential talent that Clemson has right now.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
Yeah, I mean a couple of things on that. First
of all, well, let me let me do three things. First,
first thing is this, this makes me highly uncomfortable. Is
the summer of Clinton, as as I've dubbed it, and
that means every day is just more rat poison. I
just I think we need I think we need to
step back and just think about what we're saying. I
made some way a few months ago Swining when people
were wringing their hands about punter, remember that after the

(45:57):
spring and they were going, oh man, why are we
gonna do a punter? I'm like, look look around and
see what everybody's saying about Clemson. If Clinton has the
number one pick in the drafted quarterback, the top defensive
end in the country, the top defensive tackle in the country,
a first round or second round pick, an offensive tackle,
the best wide receiver U in America outside of Ohio
State a first round pick, and Sammy Brown first round

(46:20):
pick in Avoncerell been getting out of worry about punter,
and so just putting together the aggregate of things that
people are saying about Clemson, you know, it's almost a
wonder that more people aren't picking Clemson in the national title. Like,
think about if Clemson has Kate Klubnick, Peter Woods, and TJ.
Parker and they're going that high in the NFL draft. Look,

(46:42):
the comparison that I would make Smarni is to a
guy like Miles Murphy. Okay, now I would say no
disrespect to Miles Murphy, but this is going to be
inherently disrespectful to him because I thought his entire career,
some of it was because one of his years was
the COVID year in back Allas's best year, but I
felt Miles Murphy was largely invisible through his Clemson career.

(47:03):
In fact, if you walk down the street in Clemson,
I think people would ask, who's the recruit coming in?
Or why didn't this guy play football? He just did
not make a mark here. He was still a first
round talent because he was a first round talent. But
the difference between Peter Woods being taken twenty eight and TJ.
Parker being taken thirtieth and third and sixth or fourth
or whatever is production and like not just Vernon Goldston

(47:26):
as a guy who really didn't achieve or produce in
a significant way been taken that high. So if we're
talking about Kate Klubnick being the number one overall pick,
which means he's gonna have to produce this year, you
can't show traits without production to do that. We're talking
about TJ. Parker going that high and Peter Woods going
that high, Clinton's winning the national championship. Like, I don't
really understand why if you think those three things are true,

(47:48):
that you wouldn't make the logical conclusion that Clinton's gonna
win the national title. And it would be unprecedented because
Clinton has had the Cleveland Parrels of the world and
the Christian Wilkins of the world, and you've had the
Bryant in the world, and even like the Kevin Dodges
of the world that went second round and the game's
out of the world, God rest his soul. Like You've
had these examples of guys that play their way into

(48:09):
the first round and into that lofty stature. Bottom line
swany is you might think that in a vacuum, but
the reality is one of those three guys is not
gonna do that. Because what's what women be talking about.
There is a dominant, no doubt national champion, and I
think even the rosiest closive fanas of not thinking that
right now. So what you what you should do is

(48:30):
you should take that and run with it with the
knowledge that one of those three characterizations is likely gonna
be wrong for injury or under production, or just because
people are gonna watch him play and go, you know,
this guy feels like fifteen to me, I just because
it's so impressing in it. It would be so historically
significant swany, I just don't see that happening. But I

(48:52):
understand why you would come to each of those three
conclusions by themselves, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
Sure on Twitter following at qual talk every day noon
until three o'clock, how the bounds wouldqualk and Ben one
of five to five of the roar in the Upstate. Further,
let's talk about Kate Clubnick for a minute, Qua, because
Clemson put out a documentary which I would encourage all
Tiger fans to go check out, kind of unique look
at the spring game and spring preparation, A pretty cool

(49:20):
tour of the facility as well, led by t Bowe
and Tyler Venables. But Kate Klubnick talked about how he
struggled as a sophomore when he first took over the
Clemson offense and then kind of his growth and that
he was sort of trying to outdo what he did
a year ago. And I think back to and I

(49:42):
made this comparison last week. I think back to Mario Kart,
and I know it's a weird comparison quaallt. But you
remember in Mario Kart, when you would set the course record,
all of a sudden your ghost would be there, and
then you were trying to beat your ghosts. You were
chasing your ghost for lack a bare term, and there
eventually got to a point quault where that ghost was going.

(50:04):
So it was so tight and precise that if you
missed the just a mentioned on the first turn, you go, well,
I might as well start over now because I know
I can't run him down. Is it possible that what
we saw from Kay Klubnick was a ghost on Mario
Kart that he may not be able to chase down.

Speaker 3 (50:22):
You know, I think from an efficiency standpoint, it is possible.
But here's where I'm going to disagree with that, because
I feel like there are still ways in which Kate
Klubnik can better maximize his skill set. I think he
can be even more involved on a consistent basis in
the run game, even on design pass plays. I think
that's another step for him to be a little bit more.

(50:44):
He got increasingly decisive, increasingly more decisive as the year
went on, But I still think that's something he can do.
I think more and more shots down the field with accuracy.
I think that's something that he was lacking last year.
You look at his yards per ten. Yeah it's fine,
but it's not great. You know, look at a Deshaun
Watson or Trevor Lawrence. They're blowing Kate Clubnick out of
the water. If you believe that this wide receiver room

(51:06):
not only has the speed outlement to be able to
send guys down there and some of the jump ball capabilities,
but then you've got a guy like Tristan Smith and
you've got weapons that tight end and not to use
their body a little bit. And I always take better
than Jake gregstill. But in addition to that, I feel
like the downfield shots for Kate Klubnick, now, maybe maybe
you throw a pick or two more, And that's what
I'm saying, like you might give up a couple of

(51:29):
pigs but I don't think that Kate Klumenick did anything
last year with his arm. I don't think he did
anything within the scope of the offense that you went
boy oh boy. I'm I'm not sure he's any better
than that, because, like I say, two of the top
three weapons coming into the year, probably as long as
everybody says healthy are gonna be true sophomores, that's crazy.
L Brown's coming off an injury, Tristan Smith hasn't been here,

(51:50):
Cole Turner's coming off injury. He didn't have half of
those guys the last year, so he's got even more
of a kick. And by the way, you've got a
converted wide receiver anam Randall in the although I think
a lot of that is is more of a weapon
in theory than in practice, and if you know, another
time we can probably talk more about that. But the
reality is the number of weapons he has that he's

(52:12):
got to feel comfortable with is significantly larger. That bank
of weapons significantly larger, and what he was dealing with
last year and the way he's been working in the offseason,
I think there is another gear that Kate Klubman can hit.
And I don't think he's necessarily chasing his ghosts from
last year. To further your point, I do, like I said,
I think in some way it's gonna be hard to replicate.

(52:33):
But for everything that he might take a half a
step back in, he is equally likely in my opinion,
to take a half a step forward as some critical areas.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
You know, it's interesting you bring up his ability to
maybe impact the game with the run because every once
in a while I'll catch myself watching like a Clemson
Ohio State game when Deshaun Watson was the quarterback and
and you see how much Watson was really involved in
the running game. And again, it's a completely different offensive

(53:05):
coordinator from what Watson was dealing with with Tony Elliott
and Jeff Scott. But I do think Clemson's been at
their best when the quarterback has been a more valuable
piece of that offensive puzzle through the run game, and
when if you think about, like to me, I think
the big question mark for a lot of people with

(53:26):
this offense this season is what it's gonna be like
at running back, And man, if Kate Klubnick Qualt can
give you, I don't know, sixty five yards rushing a game,
something like that on average. I don't know, that might
be too much, but you know, if he can get
maybe to that six hundred yard mark in the season
seven hundred, I mean that that's probably a pretty promising
nugget for the Clemson Tiger.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
Faithful see, and that that's kind of where I'm at too.
I mean, it's one of the weird things that I'm
really fixated on this offseason, and it's because of you know,
my audience. I'm sure you feel the same way as
it's like anti anything horizon, Like everything horizontal is a
bubble screen, and bubble screen has been the f word
for twenty years around here, right, So you can't say

(54:07):
bubble screen again talk about a HoriZone game. The reality is,
I think if Clemson is an able to block up
the horizontal passing game better than it gives Kay clubbing
more opportunities. Let me explain. Last year, I felt like
a lot of the horizontal passing game, you're either throwing
it to a guy who should be blocking, who was
being blocked for by guys who should have been catching,
or guys are missing blocks guys who are unsure. That

(54:27):
sort of thing. I think because of the body types
you have available to you out there, and because of
another year in the system, that's not gonna be a
problem anymore. If you can look one thing about Georgia
that people don't want to acknowledge, Like Georgia bat Clemson
a lot of the time last year with horizontal passes
because they blocked down the field. Because every Georgia receiver
blocks like freaking shron peak. And so when you have

(54:49):
receivers who are blocking up the horizontal game, guess what
It requires another body out there to be able to
beat a block or to be able to go around
the block, to be able to make a tackle. So
what does that mean. One means a lighter box. Well,
if your running game's not great in the traditional sense
with the running back, then maybe you fake to the
running back. You've got a light box in there that
feels like they can go ahead on the hat. Well,

(55:10):
then the guy that's opened, because you've got to have
more bodies way out wide, he's got to have more
bodies than tight is a quarterback right around that tackle
or right around that h back right around that tight end,
or maybe even an extended RPO where you take a
pass and you run. I think that's where Kate Kleby
can get critical yards on a first and ten a
second and seven to either stay whoop or move ahead

(55:31):
of the chain. And you know where I'm sitting. I
do think that's an element of this offense. You only
get hurt. I think that's an eliment of this offense
that if you can consistently show it, then it just
unleashes so many opportunities for him and for everybody else,
because then you've got that third level that's not occupied.
Now all of a sudden, you play every defender.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
And no man's player on Twitter at Qualita go follow
him today. So over the weekend, Clemson football recruiting took
another step forward as a defensive lineman. Defensive tackle Keishawn
Stancel out of Clayton, North Carolina committed to Clemson. I
want to ask you specifically about stancil Quat, but I
do want to talk about twenty commits sitting here. As

(56:09):
you mentioned, we're getting ready to turn the calendar towards July.
In this twenty twenty sixth class, more than really anytime
in recent memory, it definitely feels like the Clemson brand
his sort of resurged in the mind's eye of players
across the country at this point. I mean, it's really
been fun to watch this recruiting step forward once again

(56:32):
under Dabosweeny and his staff.

Speaker 3 (56:34):
Yes, now, let me just say this, and I'm gonna
sound like a real sunshine pumper when I'm telling you this.
This is what happens when there are rules. Not all
the rules, not you know, not everything buttoned up, but
when there are some rules. I mean, think about what
Dabo was saying last year. Listen, you could be critical
where Clinton sat last year, And I'm gonna also point

(56:56):
out as the cautionary tale at this point last cycle,
Clinton was sitting well, not quite as well as they
are right now, but they were sitting pretty well in
terms of recruiting. Then their defensive line class almost completely
fell apart, and they lost a couple of you know,
they lost the corner and a safety. Like you lost
the safety to Georgia Tech, you're losing defensive linemen to

(57:16):
do so. I don't want to act like that can't
happen again, but swany, I do feel like where Clemson
was throwing hypothetical numbers out and really trying to stay
within the bounds, I just feel like no one else
was really that committed to staying within the bounds. They
were lying, I don't want to pay for the broad brush.
But there was a lot of living in the gray,
and I mean very very dark shades of gray when

(57:37):
it comes to the INIO world. And Dad was telling
people all we need is in IL to get through
July one. By July one will be good. The reality
is for in terms of institutional money, nobody is giving
more than Clemson. That is a dollar amount that is fixed.
That is a dollar amount that is not subject to
a clearing house to be able to get across the

(57:58):
finish line in terms of your in IL deal. That
is money that the program can account for right now.
You can't overstate how important that is. Not that Clemson
because it's very relational because they win and they put
guys in the NFL, and they got good coaches and
they had good recruiters on there not and they looked
in their playoff last year, won ACTEM championships and all
that stuff. It's not just the money, it's that other stuff.

(58:21):
But you've got to be in the ballpark money wise.
And what was happening in the NIL era is that
the schools that didn't have a ton of the introdutional
advantages could strike a big fat check to a guy
that would have been you know, somewhere between five and
ten and Clinton's recruiting class. Make them the cash cow
a llah do Golla Georgia Tech, And they were likely
within their rights to do so. That can't happen right

(58:44):
now because there is this very finite and and monitored
pool of money that has to be accounted for. Clinson
was going to do well in this era. I think
it's the dablished wween the's benefit and to his credit
that he saw that coming, and that Graham that has
been thinking that he's sort of everybody kind of knew
what was going on there, and I do I credit

(59:05):
Clemson for posturing themselves well. I'm not sure they postured
themselves well in a previous five year period with the
portal withinn IL, but they certainly have postured themselves well
in the wake of July one in the House settlement.
And I think everybody knows that Clinton is back in
business right now.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
No, that is a that is an outstanding point you make.
Qualt just talking about like the timeline of the portal
and maybe Clemson looking at it now because I almost
feel that way, maybe with running back, because I know
Clemson had another miss kind of on the recruiting trail
there and maybe they find a diamond in the rough.
But I'm not putting it past DABOSUINGI in this staff
to look at the portal at the end of this

(59:40):
season potentially to find, you know, a running back if
they deem it a necessary option. All right, final thing
for you, Qualt, I do want to talk about the
portal with baseball, as Clemson has gone out and brought
in a pitcher out of Tennessee, Michael Scharmon. I don't
know much about him. Three point one eight and twenty
two and two thirds pitched this season, but I know

(01:00:00):
this his commitment to Clemson certainly brought a lot of
buzz from Tiger Nation.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
Well, there's a couple of things about this one. And
you can you can sort of look at the archetypes
that uh that Eric Baggott is going for. Uh he's
a guy who's gotten well trained at Tennessee. We know that.
I mean last year Cleinson took a big swing with
Hudson Lee, who was a local kid, didn't work out
he's back into portal. But that guy spending year at
Wake Forest. So you're going to these programs to have
a tragregat of developing pitching talent, getting guys who are

(01:00:28):
sort of bury and thinking maybe we can build on
some good strong teaching there. That's number one. Number two,
this guy did pitch, you know, a couple dozen innings,
not against high level competition. But honestly, if you look
at where Clinton sort of struggled last year, I mean
it didn't really have like an established midweek starter or
an established law you know, more than maybe one or
two establish long arms that weren't those those three of

(01:00:51):
those three weekend starters. And you know what you all said,
injury issues and inconstition issues with the guys that you
thought were gonna be there. Keep in mind consident guys
competing for three weekend spots in the fall, and almost
all of those guys were either ineffective in the roles
or got hurt. So you need more options. This guy,
I would say, at a minimum, he's going to be

(01:01:11):
a midweek midwek.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
Starter for you.

Speaker 3 (01:01:13):
And the third thing is, you know Clinton, they're a
pretty good jeh like the guy or reliever from D
two from Cataba. They've gotten some like freshmen of the
year type of guys with multiple years of development along
the Gaffney priest lines, but they've also been a little
bit older to bolster their roster with guys who probably
are okay with like, Hey, we're gonna put you in
a defined roll and keep you there. You can compete
for a little more, but just eyes wide open to

(01:01:36):
what we've got available. And I think that's what this is,
you know. And the final thing real quickly swamping about
the portal. I think there's this narrative out there that
Clemson is just gonna basically get whoever LSU and Tennessee
and Arkansas and Georgia and the SEC programs don't want.
The reality is that Clemson can compete with a guy
from an SEC program who likely his quarterby SEC programs,

(01:01:56):
and it's able to win a bidding war at least
be competitive in that. That's sort of the shot across
the bow there too. And the message the fans at
once is it not a cash for program.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
When it comes to an il Qualt budd you have
a great week man, always appreciate you. Swan quick breat
will come back with more on a Monday afternoon. London
swan back at it with you on a Monday. That
was William Qualkinbush before the break. So I had not
been keeping up with the Gold Cup in soccer. I
wish I had heck for that matter, I had to

(01:02:24):
actually throw it in the Google machine last night and say, hey,
has the US ever won the Gold Cup in soccer
to find out, Yeah, they've actually won it seven times.
And the Gold Cup takes place every two seasons, and
it's a competition that's a continental tournament between North America,

(01:02:50):
Central America and the Caribbean. And the tournament began back
in nineteen ninety one, and it's the United States who
have hosted many years. As a matter of fact, I

(01:03:11):
think the United States has been a host or co
host every year dating back to ninety one. But the
US has won it. The US won it in ninety one,
they won it in two, they won it five, seven,
twenty thirteen, twenty seventeen, and twenty twenty one. But last

(01:03:34):
night the US was taken on the Costa Rica and
in the Gold Cup. I don't know if it's always
been like this or if they made this change. At
the end of regulation, there's no overtime period. You go

(01:03:55):
straight to penalty kicks pks. And I think for those
of you that aren't maybe the most soccer seasoned I
don't want to say soccer affluent, but if you don't
watch a lot of soccer, basically what this is like
would be to play a football game and then you

(01:04:15):
decided by field goals and it's crazy because you know,
as the the kick taker, you are expected to make
the kick and the keeper is not really expected to
make a save. And it's gut wrenching.

Speaker 6 (01:04:36):
I was drink.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
Yeah per kick maybe even in this situation. But man,
give credit to the US keeper because he was phenomenal
last night. Matt Freeze, this dude pun intended had ice

(01:05:02):
water in his veins. I mean he made three clutch
saves to help the US advance to the semi finals.

Speaker 6 (01:05:13):
Jpeve I'd have got saved by Matt Freeze. Hereon is
one one hundred and ninety first appearance for those tikos,
Francisco Calvo right at.

Speaker 2 (01:05:26):
Freeze, who keeps it out.

Speaker 6 (01:05:28):
The mind games won by the young American keeper who
are now on the brig Rojas died by Fraeze, the
goalkeepers putting on a clinic the United States.

Speaker 2 (01:05:41):
On the break again. I mean, I'm telling you, you
just don't see that that often. You might see some
guys miss peks and you'll see a keeper make a save,
maybe two, but for keeper in that situation to make
three CLI saves and you know, for the US, I'm

(01:06:03):
trying to remember how the pks played out. I think
both teams made the first PK or Freeze may have
even saved the first Costa Rica and PK, and then
the US missed it. And normally when you take the
lead in pks, when you relinquish it back, it's it's

(01:06:25):
gut wrenching. And then you had the Costa Rican keeper
made a save and Freeze came out and it had
to answer that it was just it was just a wild,
wild finish. But the US advances. The US wins in
the quarterfinals and they will move on to face Guatemala

(01:06:50):
on Wednesday, who upset Canada in PKS in the opener
of the quarterfinal double header yesterday. Mexico will play Honduras
in the other semi final on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California,
and the championship will be played on July the sixth,

(01:07:12):
which I believe is Sunday. The US has reached the
semi finals in seventeen of eighteen Gold Cups, including thirteen
straight since a quarterfinal loss to Columbia on PKS in
the year two thousand, so always kind of waiting for
the US to break through. Obviously, the Gold Cup is
not the World Cup, but you know, anytime you get

(01:07:36):
the US, and quite frankly, anytime you get nations playing soccer,
it's an incredible experience. And speaking of the upcoming week
with that matchup in those two games potentially taking place,
a little programming that we are off on Friday, We're
off for the fourth of July, so I hope you

(01:07:56):
and your family enjoy a great holiday. Typically take this
week off, some of you, maybe even today we're like,
what's Swanee doing on the radio here today? I thought
he normally takes this day off or this week off.
I do. I'm actually taking a week a little later
in the summer than usual, so I will not be

(01:08:18):
on the air here with you guys the week of
the fourteenth through the eighteenth, so not not next week,
but the week following that will be the week I'm
away two, just before we get tuned up for the
ACC kickoff. We'll just come in riding high towards ACC kickoff.
I guess in late July, all right, eight zero three

(01:08:42):
four five h zeros or eighty six. I mentioned earlier
Clemson putting out that YouTube special taking a look inside
the Clemson spring game, giving you an insight into Clemson's facility.
I believe it was called how Clemson Football is Preparing
for the twenty twenty five season. If my memory serves

(01:09:04):
me correctly, I'll give you some insight into it. I
thought it was a great look at Clemson. I sat
down and watched it. It's about forty seven minutes or so.
I watched it all yesterday, but I'll give you the
breakdown on it and why I think it's important that
you do. Go check it out again. We'll hit a
quick break. We'll come back with more on a Monday afternoon.

(01:09:26):
Keep it a lot right here on Fox Sports Radio
fourteen hundred the Midlands, and of course around the world
on the iHeartRadio app. It is Clemson Sports Talk, the
show that shakes the south Land each and every afternoon
for you from four to six o'clock right here on
iHeartRadio long Swan, the show that shakes the south Land
with you on a Monday afternoon. So before the break

(01:09:48):
I mentioned, Clemson put out an exclusive video on their
Twitter channel called how Clempson Football is preparing for the
twenty twenty five season, and I gotta tell you it's
a pretty neat insight. I'll play just the very beginning
of this for you to give you an idea of
kind of what you're in the mix for. As I
thought it was a really good documentary myself.

Speaker 6 (01:10:07):
I would put the Clemson up there among the top
three to five teams in the country.

Speaker 5 (01:10:12):
This is the team that gets Clemson back into the conversation.

Speaker 2 (01:10:14):
Now let's go the back. Let's be a way man,
let's go You know, I think that we were really
good last year, but we want to be an elite offense.

Speaker 7 (01:10:20):
Tom Allen and that defense returns back to how they
used to play on that side and put people in
the dirt, swagger, attitude, aggressiveness. If that crew shows up,
there're gonna be a tough out.

Speaker 2 (01:10:31):
We don't blink, nothing, phase nothing. So that's an insight
into kind of the beginning that was the first what
forty five fifty seconds or something, I don't know, twenty
eight seconds it looks like. But if you get some
time go check it out. I mean, it's a great
look at the team, the preparation. More specifically, I think

(01:10:55):
the biggest impact the changing of the guard on the
defensive side of the ball. With Tom Allen coming in
give you an insight into him as a player or
excuse me, as him as a coach. You also get
a look at how the players take advantage of the facility,
all of the stuff that Clempson has done to improve
the football operations complex and everything else that goes into

(01:11:18):
you know, what this program has become under Dabo Sweeney's watch. Now,
some of you might say swany that you know, what's
happened with Clemson is absolutely ridiculous. Like the fact that
the Tigers are kind of where they are and the
amount of money that's poured into the program and the
way things are set up for the players is beyond absurd.

(01:11:40):
And I think it's I think at some point, like
I think, you know, along the way, right, like when
you're in the climb, when you're just trying to kind
of get to that level where Clemson wanted to be. Yeah,
I understand that it can very easily be perceived by

(01:12:03):
someone on the outside of the mand you're putting a
lot in, you're not getting the results. Then sometimes you've
got the reverse of that, where once you've achieved this
great success, you have people that look at the opulence,
if you will, and they'll say, is that necessary? Do
they really need all that to continue to operate at

(01:12:24):
the level in which they operate? Right? Like it's a
there's a fine line between feeling like everything you're giving
is not achieving enough versus how much more do we
possibly need to give? And at what point can we
just be pacified, for lack of a better term, by

(01:12:47):
the success that we've had. And I think there are
groups on both sides of that conversation. For Clemson fans now,
I think the drive to be a champion again has
returned for a lot of Clemson fans because there was
this moment where the program was so high for so
long that it became second nature to believe that Clemson

(01:13:13):
was just gonna be there, they were gonna be in
the conversation every single season, And once that expectation faded,
a little and a lot of you start started to
get hungry again, right, like you started to get hungry

(01:13:34):
for college football playoff. You started to get hungry to
be back in the national conversations. Because I don't want
to say it got old, right, It should not ever
get old to be a team that that people talk
about and and focus on. But I think for a

(01:13:58):
lot of Clemson fans it became stale and stagnant, and
even for this show for a few years, there wasn't
much I could really say or do when it came
down to, like predicting Swanny, how do you think Clempson
is gonna do this week? Dude? Probably like forty two
to fourteen. Like Clemson, at one point, they were so

(01:14:21):
much better than everybody that they played, that it and
it again. It didn't determine how good they were gonna be,
or the final result or whether they could beat the
breaks off of Ohio State or Alabama or whoever. But
it it became a little bit annoying. I think for

(01:14:45):
some fans to consistently go to a game, watch it
be a blowout, leave it to half, and then you
kind of get brought back to earth and you have
some losses that you maybe shouldn't have. And there's some
teams that venture into your venue a la South Carolina
and Florida State that get wins where Death Valley had

(01:15:07):
been this impenetrable fortress that no one could escape. And
in that I think re energized and rejuvenated a lot
of you, and I think that's healthy for the program.
But this video gives you some great insight into some

(01:15:30):
of those things that maybe you've never seen, maybe you've
only heard about them, and you will in some respects
watching go Holy cow, do they really need all of that?
But it's a part of beginning, you know, it's a
part of setting yourself and your program at a whole

(01:15:50):
new level. And it's one of the reasons like when
they start talking about the I can't remember the name
of it, the facility where the cab I think, where
they talk about the branding for the players, I think,
you know, those are things that Clemson tried to get

(01:16:11):
a leg up on it. And I'll give you a
prime example like for years Georgia only had a half
field indoor practice facility half a field in Athens, Georgia,
and it certainly played in Clemson's favor once Clemson got
the full indoor complex to be able to say, hey,
here's look at this place. They'll go to Georgia see

(01:16:31):
their little fifty yard field. And there's an advantage to
every little thing that you put into these venues. And
I think now that Clemson hadn't won the national title
coming up on what's seven seasons? Who I think some
of you go, yeah, you know what, It's okay, all
that stuff's there. Let's let's let's take it up a notch.
What else do we need to get back to? Hoist

(01:16:51):
in the Golden Sceptor again? And so for Tiger fans,
it's a great look inside the program. Again. It's over
on Clemson's YouTube channel. All right, quick break. When we
come back, we'll put a bow on the Monday edition
of the show The Shakespeare south Land right here, Fox
Sports Radio fourteen hundred and of course on the iHeartRadio app.

(01:17:11):
Stay with us, What have.

Speaker 4 (01:17:15):
You done for me lately? It's a fair question. Just
don't lose sight of the bigger picture, don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answers to the questions
what have you done for me lately? And what have
you done always are the same. We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:27):
Final segment on a Monday afternoon Clemson Sports tal Lot
and swamp with you again a three four, five zero
zero eighty six. We are off. Remember we are off
this Friday, so we'll be back at it next week
with you. Dutch Fork High School put out a tweet

(01:18:50):
you want to talk about like ways n I L
can have a positive impact on the high school level.
Dutch Fork Football put out a tweet over the weekend
with Antonio Williams, Clemson wide receiver. Again we mentioned earlier
Williams projected as a top fourteen pick in the NFL Draft.
Dutchfork High School put out a tweet thanking Antonio Williams

(01:19:15):
for his support and generous donation back to the football
program or to the Touchdown Club, as Antonio Williams wrote,
a ten thousand dollars check to dutch Fork High School.
And this is an area where players having a little

(01:19:38):
money in their pocket at the collegiate level allows them
to give back to their coaching staff and their family
and friends and community at the high school level. Now,
it doesn't preclude you, and this is important. It doesn't
mean that when when you go to the NFL. If

(01:20:01):
you go to the NFL, you can't still give back
to your high school, right, But what we can and
what you must acknowledge in this situation is that the
number of individuals across the board who now have money
to give back to their high schools for football and

(01:20:21):
touchdown club purposes and things of that nature is greater
because previously a slim number of players would have made
it to the NFL and had that type of money
to give back, where now a multitude of players at
the collegiate level have the type of money, and probably

(01:20:42):
because of the amount of money they're making in for
tax purposes, the need to have to give back to
their schools and programs. So like if you're sitting down
with Antonio Williams and you're his you're his financial advisor,
and you go, hey, Antonio, look you're gonna have to

(01:21:05):
cut a check to uncle Sam for eighty five thousand
dollars or maybe more. Whatever these kids are, I have
no idea. I've never made the type money they're making,
so I don't know what kind of checks they have
to write back to Uncle Sam. But let's just say
that you gotta pay eighty five thousand dollars in taxes.
Who knows? And this is a you know, an opportunity

(01:21:27):
to maybe save yourself a little bit by a charitable
donation of ten thousand dollars to your local high school. Well,
if you're starting to add up the number of college
players that are making the type of money necessary to
maybe need to get some or would prefer to save
a little bit off of what they have to pay

(01:21:49):
in taxes, this is a great way. And maybe a
financial advisor will call me. I'm say, swannye, yeah, you
can't write that ten grand off of your taxes, but
I'm pretty sure you can. I'm pretty sure that's a
charitable donation. I have to check the last time I
made a ten thousand dollars donation when I was twenty

(01:22:09):
years old or twenty one. Never would be nice. Also,
you know, watching that Clemson preparing for the twenty twenty
five season video, That was the other thing I was
taken aback by a little bit. Is not only thinking
about all the stuff the players now have you used
to create that stuff. You might recall you created that

(01:22:31):
stuff because players didn't have money. You created a bowling
alley and a foosball table and ping pong, basketball, putt putt. Course,
you did all that so they had something to do,
place to go without having to spend money. Now these guys,

(01:22:52):
these guys have more money than most, and some of them,
like Antonio Williams and certainly others, doing their best to
make things better for other individuals. And for that, I
think you could certainly whether you are a Tiger, a game,

(01:23:14):
got bulldoll, yell jacket, or seminole, you could certainly be
proud of when you see those things happening. And the
amount of guys that can help out their local high
school football teams are greater, not to mention, those players
are a little closer to that community at this point
than they will be when they go pro. When they

(01:23:36):
go pro, they tend to give back to their college,
and some still get back to their high school. But
now we've got all of these college kids, all of
these college kids that can give back to their high schools.
And shout out to Antonio Williams forgive it ten thousand
dollars to Dutch Fork High School over the weekend. All right,

(01:24:00):
we gotta get out of here again. Don't forget program.
Note we're here all week except for Friday, we'll be
with you, but don't forget. We're all for the fourth
of July. All right, We'll be back tomorrow four o'clock
right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and of
course you can listen around the world on the iHeartRadio
application until tomorrow. As always, y'all, take care now and

(01:24:21):
go Tigers.