The "Not Mentioned" Edition

Why isn't Dabo Swinney's name coming up with some of the open jobs in college football? Swanny has some thoughts on it.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's time for Climpson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan. Now finally,

(00:45):
Clemson Sports Talk has come back two drive time. Hello everybody,
Lawton Swan back in the saddle once again. It is
the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson Sports Talk
for you each and every afternoon as you make your
way around the great state of South Carolina and beyond,
listening to us on incredible radio stations like Fox Sports

(01:08):
Radio fourteen hundred the Midlands, heard around the world on
the iHeartRadio application download today. It's free the website, but
the dot com on a dog gone itt that's Clemson
Sports Tall dot Com eight O three four five oh
zero zero eighty six text line, phone line. Be a
part of the program anytime, any place, any wear on

(01:29):
our website. And again, the show The Shakespare South lamb
brought to you in part all our good friends over
at Mets Plumbing a mets plumbin dot com two two
six seven one zero eight. That's two two six seven
one zero eight Mets Plumbing. That's Plumbing dot Com. All right,
so all the gates. We are going to Game six

(01:54):
World Series. Last night, the Toronto Blue Jays, you talk
about a storyline. This is it six to one the
final score, and all of this coming off of the
heels of the eighteen inning Game three that you would

(02:20):
have thought took the wind out of the blue Jay
sales and would have accelerated the Dodgers. Instead, it has
been the exact opposite. The Dodgers win that eighteen game
marathon on a Freddie Freeman home run to win at
six to five, and have gone ice cold. Two runs

(02:44):
in game two, not giving enough excuse me, two runs
in the second game in Los Angeles, not giving enough
run support to show hey Atani, they fall six to two.
And then last night, Yes, Sage, I've been holding that

(03:04):
one back all day, Trey Ya Savage, the rookie monster
out of Pottstown, PA. Just wait for like close enough
to ponksatani. Phil. In my opinion, this dude had ice
in his veins last night, his parents in the stands
last night, in victory in his mind last night, seven ins, pitch,

(03:29):
three hits, twelve k's the rookie monster indeed, coming up
from small ball to big boy ball MLB style and
making his name known and potentially solidifying himself. He was
going head to head with a former cy Young, a

(03:50):
former cy Young winner in Blake Snell. Now Snell is
not the pitcher that he once woon And quite frankly,
if I'm being honest with you, if you just put
those two guys side by side and said which one
do you want pitching in a key game, give me

(04:11):
your Savage all day, every day, because Snell looks like
the guy you'd want to do your taxes for or
or wait, you'd want to do your taxes for you.
I'm not sure you'd be doing Snell's taxes. He would
be doing yours. He does not look like he's some
sort of super incredible pitcher. You Savage, though, with the scruff,

(04:37):
with the beard, looks like a future star at the
major league level. And now the Blue Jays on the
precipice of their first World Series championship since nineteen ninety three,
the Dodgers on the brink of elimination. Tomorrow night at
eight o'clock. From the land of maple Trees, from the

(05:01):
land of Mounties, from the home of Brett the hit
Man Hart, it will be the Toronto Blue Jays. I
guess technically, Brett the Hitman Heart was what from Montreal Quebec, Canada.
These guys are from Toronto. But either way, what a

(05:23):
performance last night by the Blue Jays and again offensively
offensively last night spectacular And now a series that I
thought was certainly going to go back to Canada in

(05:46):
Los Angeles' favor, will return to Canada with the Jays
one game from winning the World Series. Y Savage was
dominant six months after making his pro debut. He shut

(06:07):
down the reigning defending champions in the World Series and
was scintillating to watch. And this is coming from a
guy that doesn't like baseball, and the Dodgers have got
to figure it out. The good news for the Dodgers
is this, and it still continues to be this in
my opinion, if they can get to a Game seven,

(06:34):
they've still got shohe a Tani that they can throw
out there as a pitcher. And yes, he pitched the
other night, but he is beyond the shadow of the doubt,
the best player on the field for either team, and
with all the tools in his toolkit, he's still got

(06:54):
one more go. If they can get to Game seven,
it will take Yoshino Yamamoto, fellow Japanese pitcher fresh off
of a nine inning performance himself a masterful game earlier
in the series. He'll be back out there after nearly

(07:16):
a week's worth of rest. Pitched a complete Game four
hitter in Los Angeles' five to one winning Game two.
So brilliance, brilliance on Wednesday night? Can we get brilliant

(07:38):
performances from the Dodgers in Game six and Game seven?
Will they defend their crown becoming I believe I heard
this the first National League team to repeat since the
Big Red Machine back in the seventies, seventy five seventy six.
I think Cincinnati Reds pulled that feet off in the
National League. And look, I'm no baseball historian, by means

(08:01):
you guys know this about me. One thing I will say, though,
and I don't know if anybody else noticed this or
if it's just me, but you know how franchises move
from place to place occasionally, like really, it got me
thinking about the Montreal Expos. Of course, moved in are

(08:21):
the Washington Nationals. But the next time you get a
chance to take a gander at the Toronto Blue Jays mascot,
the little logo, tell me that wouldn't almost be the
perfect fit. For the state of South Carolina. The shape

(08:42):
if you forget about the hair or the feather I
guess birds. Birds don't have hair, Swanye, if you forget
about the feathers that are kind of peeking up on
the top of the head, the rest of that bird
is similarly shaped to the state of South Carolina. I
thought to myself, maybe they could, you know, move to

(09:04):
Charlotte and the Charlotte Blue Jays could be the new
Major League Baseball team here in the US and represent
the state of South Carolina in North Carolina with a
combined logo much like the Carolina Panthers. Either way, man,
this series has been really good. It really has been

(09:24):
like you talk about Toronto having a home field advantage,
they win Game one eleven to four. As the road team,
you really feel like in that moment, you gotta win
Game two, and the Dodgers did just that. They answered
you come back home if you're the Dodgers, and you
win Game three, and now it feels like, with two

(09:47):
more games at home, you're in control of the series.
And the Blue Jays answered in Game four to even
the series at two apiece, and so then last night
was sort of like this rubber match where whoever wins
it really feels pretty good about things. Obviously, if Los
Angeles had won, they got to go on the road
and win a game, which they've already proven they can.

(10:12):
But now, after dropping Game five, the Dodgers back squarely
against the wall as the defending champs and needing to
win both games on the road, which defending champions should
be able to do. And conversely, now the Blue Jays,
ripping back the leverage in the series and giving themselves

(10:36):
potentially two opportunities to get the job dne the job done.
But I feel confident in saying Toronto is not interested
in getting to a Game seven. Toronto would be perfectly
content with putting this thing to bed. Tomorrow night, First

(10:57):
Pitch on Fox eight o'clock tomorrow night, right Eastern Standard time.
A spectacular series, Los Angeles win, Yamamoto on the bump,
still favored, but everybody I think tuning in because of

(11:17):
the the nature of this series and just how good
it has been so far, give it up for Major
League Baseball. They play way too many games. They make
it nearly unwatchable during the regular season unless you are
just a die hard, But postseason Baseball. They get it right.

(11:44):
Think back to the NBA when we talk about the
NBA Finals and we talk about like fourteen days, two
weeks to get these games in in all of the
back and forth, it almost makes me want to embrace
the two three to two series again in the NBA

(12:07):
because the two to two to one one one is
too much travel, too many days in between. I don't
want to hear about tired legs. Dude, get this thing
over with. Kudos to baseball for the two three to
two series and playing back to back games and moving
this thing along. One week is all. You need a

(12:31):
week and some change to play seven games. That's it.
You don't need two weeks to play seven games. I
think the NBA misses the boat on that. And yes
they get talked about a lot, YadA, YadA, YadA. The
NBA misses the boat on that. Get out there and
play the game. Get out there and play the game,
and they'll play tomorrow night, eight o'clock again. Old Fox,

(12:55):
Los Angeles and Toronto, all the marbles on the line.
You ever think about the like old sayings like I know,
guys that are my it's like fifty you know, the
saying but what about like the twenty year old listener
to this show, and I didn't play marbles growing up,

(13:24):
But you know, for all the marbles, it's a complete victory.
You get all the prizes, you win it all. That's it.
And we say it in sports with no hesitation that

(13:45):
anybody's gonna misinterpret what it is. It's for all the marbles.
Everything's on the line. Now some might say I don't
have all my marbles, and that's a that's a difference.
Ah that, my friends, is a different meaning.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Ouch salesman.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
Sometimes you guys make me feel like I'm losing my
marbles here on the program A zero three, four five
zero zero eighty six. I'll tell you what else is
making me lose my marbles. Clemson recruiting. Yesterday, the Tigers
lose their third commit in the twenty twenty sixth class

(14:31):
in just over a month. Now, this trend is really
new and Clemson because the Tigers for so many years
had guys that were locked in and committed, and commitment
meant what Dabosweeney talked about nearly like marriage. Says, hey,

(14:54):
we don't offer a lot of guys. When you commit
to us, we are committed to you, and we're not
going to go out and try to get any body else.
September twenty fifth, four star defensive end from Beauford High School,
dra Quinn decommitted from Clemson. October twenty seventh, just a
few days ago, four star safety Blake Stewart decommitted from Clemson,

(15:20):
and then yesterday, four star defensive tackle Keishawn's Stancil also
decommitted from Clemson. All of those prospects in the twenty
twenty six recruiting class, and look, we're in a new era,

(15:42):
nil transfer portal. All of that, no doubt has an
impact on some of this, but Clemson also has an
impact on some of this, and that impact, in my mind,
being the fact that Clemson notoriously slow plays their hand.

(16:08):
Jerry chimes in and says Swane in twenty twenty one
and il started and Dabosweeney went south. Jerry, I'll say this.
I will say this. I think one of the aspects
of this that is important to note is that I

(16:28):
believe this is why Dabosweeney is not mentioned as often
for coaching jobs around the country right now. But you
can't deny his resume. He's got the most national Championships
of active coaches alongside Kirbie Smart at Georgia with two

(16:51):
and if his team was having the type of success
that they had prior to Nil kicking up, I think
his name would be mentioned more now. Conversely, there is

(17:13):
the argument that Ramsey makes saying Clemson didn't lose them money,
stole them, you know, Nil and the offers and Keishawn
Stancel immediately committed to the Miami Hurricanes. And I think
the question has to be from Dabosweeney's perspective at this point,

(17:36):
is the portal where he needs to start looking to
continue to bolster this roster. They have avoided it, They've
used it minimally. Dabosweeny famously said, quote most kids in
the portal are not good enough to play at Clemson.
And sadly, at this point, based off of my perspective,

(18:00):
when you have as many guys cutting loose and recruiting
as Clemson's had in the past few years, when the
product that you're putting on the field isn't living up
to the standard of quote best, you have to do something,
you have to change, And Michael chimes in and says, unfortunately,
that's what happens when you're too prideful to change. And

(18:24):
I don't think anybody would try to say, hey, Dabosoeny
hasn't done enough at Clemson to run the program his way.
He absolutely has. But there comes a point where when
you are in a new era of sport, you have

(18:45):
to make the changes to keep up. And I think
you have slowly seen Clemson making those changes, but I
think bigger changes have to come. I don't know that
you could continue to do business the way that Clemson
has done business in this market and expect success, not

(19:12):
to the tune of national championship caliber teams. It's just
a different era. And there's a couple of things right
Like you see guys like Tay Harris, who were committed
to Clemson a year ago, flipped his commitment to Georgia Tech.

(19:32):
He's out there making plays at a position where Clemson
could use a little help in the secondary. You know,
programs like Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt and Indiana and others
are sitting there in good spots, spots that used to
be taken up by the Tigers financially. That's probably a

(19:53):
part of it, for sure. We'll talk about some other
reasons when we get back, stay with us, Lon Swa,
I'm back with you, Clemson Sports TT Fox Sports Radio
fourteen hundred. Okay, So talking about Dabosweeney and recruiting and
the future of recruiting so to speak at Clemson. First,

(20:16):
I want to recognize that there will always be the albatross.
There will be that unique player out there that is
that just wants to come to Clemson because it's Clemson.
Maybe it's a family tie to Clemson. Maybe it's a
relationship with Dabosweeney or a staffer that brings a player

(20:39):
to Clemson. There are a multitude of reasons that a
player will want to come to Clemson. Some of those
people might not have a relationship with the Tigers and
they get on campus for an elite junior day and
they hear what Clemson's about and they say, that's what
I want to be a part of. I've been to Georgia,

(21:01):
I've been to Tennessee. That messaging didn't hit me the
way this one does. And I want to be a
part of that. And those players are absolutely out there,
and those players will often end up, if not always,

(21:21):
end up at Clemson. But here's the thing. First, and
foremost the things that I think Clemson is going to
have to do in terms of recruiting, and I may
miss something here, but a couple of things I think
Daboswen he's gonna have to do. Number One, players are

(21:45):
recruited much earlier and always have been and have been
offered much earlier than Clemson offers players. They definitely create scarcity,
which creates importance, But at the end of the day,
some players want to be courted in a more unique

(22:09):
way and for a longer period of time. It is
important to some guys, maybe players in the like twenty
twenty eight class, top flight five star guys. It is
important to some of those guys if you're their first offer.

(22:29):
Clemson is really never anybody's first offer. And I think
sometimes when you are that first one, when you recognize
at a young age that this kid can play the game,
and you're that first offer, you will always stand out
amongst the other teams that offer them. Yes, maybe you're

(22:54):
that first offer, and they still go to Texas because
that's what they loved. Well, there's also that kid that
maybe you don't offer first, that's first offer comes from
Texas but ends up at Clemson. Because Clemson is the
school that they've always loved. But I think Dabosweeney is
going to have to adjust his offer schedule and get

(23:16):
offers in the hands of these kids at a younger age.
That's one thing I think that has to happen. Number Two,
I think Clemson's got to open up their offer board more.
We looked a few weeks ago at the number of
offers that Alabama has out at certain positions versus Clemson,

(23:42):
and trust me, as somebody that covers recruiting and talks
to these players, I love that the Tigers have a
very small board. It is manageable for me. I could
communicate with virtually every player. I'm not having to communicate
with several hundred. I'm having to communicate with several dozen,

(24:05):
and that is nice. But I think you have to
expand your board because here's what happens invariably to Clemson
at this point. Let's say that Clemson offers two five stars.
Let's just pick linebacker, two five star linebackers, three four

(24:26):
star linebackers, and five three star linebackers, and that's probably
a reach for Clemson. That's probably too many. The five
stars that they offered, you choose other schools. The four stars,
all but one choose other schools, and then maybe all
but two of the three stars, and you're left with

(24:47):
just the four star and the two three stars. And
the problem with that is there might have been another
five star out there that would have come to Clemson.
There might been another high valued four star that would
have come to Clemson, but you never even opened the
door to that kid. And so that kid is playing

(25:10):
against you in a ballgame in Oregon and they interview
him before the matchup and he goes, yeah, you know,
I really I never got that offer from Clemson. That
was my dream school. There are a number of kids
nationally that do not get offers from Clemson that Clemson

(25:32):
is likely their dream school, and they don't have to
be schlubs, they might be stars. That to me is
a problem. You can offer these guys they don't have
to be committal, and you can back off of this
whole commitment thing because a lot of the players in
this era aren't living up to that anyway. But put

(25:55):
the offer in the hands of kids who might perceive
you or might actually have you as their dream school,
and maybe some four and five star kids are committed,
and you're not trying to filter through the scraps of
the three stars that are left behind and the guys
that would have committed to you are playing somewhere else.
And the final thing here in this segment on this,

(26:17):
because I think there's more, but this is just from
the standpoint of high school to recruiting, and we may
already be seeing a little bit of a shift on this,
and that is to offer players before they visit campus.

(26:42):
Clemson got a commitment a couple of days ago and
it went over about like a lad balloon. Nobody was
super excited about Braiden Riley. Most people looked at him
and went, well, you know, this is typical for Clemson.
But Braiden Riley is a linebacker, but he's never is
it Clemson? And for him to get an offer and

(27:03):
commit before visiting might be an indication that the Tigers
are making a little bit of a change there. And
I think that is already a welcome step in the
right direction. What else can Clemson do? It's not necessarily
with high school recruiting. You know where we're headed. We're

(27:25):
getting in the porthole when we return right here on
the show, the shakespare aveline clempsones Sports Talk on Fox
Sports Radio fourteen hundred and on the iHeartRadio app. Lowton
Swan back with you on a Thursday afternoon. Tim Berray
coming up an hour number two and don't forgive our
friends at Alumni Hall right there on the corner of
campus on College Avenue in downtown Clemson. It's Alumni Hall

(27:46):
for all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise, hats, T shirts, tailgate,
Gary Moore, go check about today. Right there, just across
from Bowmanfield where they are doing the floats, or where
they are making the floats for Clemson's homecoming, or online
at Alumni Hall dot com. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger

(28:07):
fans shop. All right, we were talking about what I think
Clemson needs to do in terms of recruiting and improving
the program. And look, Davoswingy is the guy man. He's
he's got you the He got you to the championship
game and he won a couple and you played for more.
But that was a different time. That was like it

(28:27):
was like a different time. I mean, I can't really
quantify the difference in the sense of where the game
is now. Versus where it was previously. But it is.
It's a completely different era and it doesn't mean Sweny
can't adjust to it. I'm hoping, like I said before
the break, that the example with what happened with Braydon Riley,

(28:48):
the former Northwestern commit, that Clemson is making that switch
to where you don't have to come to campus to
get in all. Furthermore, where I think they've really got
to figure this thing out is being more aggressive in

(29:09):
the portal. Now, I do not deny this fact, and
I want to make sure this is out there for everybody. Okay,
I believe you are better not utilizing the portal if

(29:30):
you are landing legit talent that's willing to stay in
your program out of high school. But in order to
do that, I think you have to go back to
those things I mentioned in the last segment and be
more aggressive, you know, play more on offense in the
high school recruiting ranks, and that way you have more

(29:55):
in the cupboard. It feels like old mother Hub and
the cupboard is bear in Clemson right now. I mean
there are some players, but it does feel like a
lot of misses. You're starting running back as a former
wide receiver. One of your starting safeties is a former
wide receiver. That doesn't give you the warm fuzzies about

(30:19):
how recruiting's been going, does it? Now? If you can't
figure out part A of this conversation, shift apart b
more aggressive in the portal, going after players that have
proven themselves at the collegiate level, and really really starting

(30:40):
to look at that aspect of building your team. And
I would make the argument, you know, looking at the
guys that Clempson is brought in, I mean, will help
has had an impact. You've seen flashes of Tristan Smith.
That's probably gonna ratchet up now with with Bryant westco

(31:02):
on the shelf, and then Jeremiah Alexander is getting a
little bit more run, but not nearly what I think
many people would have hoped. But I think more aggression
can bring in better players, and I think there are
going to be some diamonds in the rough that you

(31:23):
might find like a Tristan Smith. And if you get
lucky and you get extra years out of a couple
of these guys, they're probably it's probably worth it more
than just going after like one and done. What do
we call those not assassins. What was the mercenaries? Mercenaries Like,

(31:46):
you go out and get a couple of mercenaries, a
little one at Donner. But I think you really want
to look for guys that have multiple years that have
proven themselves so that they can play two or three
years in your system. And they probably do end up
coming out being more valuable than the high school recruits,
no doubt about that, because they've got experience and they've

(32:08):
proven themselves. But if you're not going to change your
high school strategy, then you've got to ramp this thing
up in the portal. And I will say lastly, I
think the nil aspect. I mean, I don't know what

(32:31):
all of these players around the country are making, and
I hope that one day we will have some sort
of structure to it all. I hope that if there
is going to be an intervention at some point, the
intervention will be salary caps and reasonable you know, reasonable

(32:52):
priced values of players. And I'll be honest, because you
have the four slash five year window to play, I
really don't feel like salaries should ever escalate the way
they the the way they do in the pro game.

(33:14):
So in the pro game, if you have three good seasons,
you might get a big, you know, six seven year
contract that starts to balloon things up, but at the
college level, you're gonna be gone. So there's no reason
in my opinion, for those things to continue to escalate.
So like a starting quarterback shouldn't make a million this
year and then in ten years the guys make it
two million. That number should just kind of be the

(33:37):
flat rate a quarterback makes X.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
And I.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
Committed as a host to talk about putting incentives on
grades and things of that nature. Right, you got a
four point zero, it's a multiplier. Yeah, three point five,
it's a multiplier. This is the flat rate that you
can make at this position. You know, encourage the education.

(34:04):
Let's not fail on that. And and then last, but
not least, I think from Dabos Whenny's perspective, they got
to be more aggressive in the portal and with the
nil And that might mean Dabo saying what I've been
talking about for several weeks about what I think coaches

(34:26):
would be smart to do at this point, Why does
Daboswendy need another dome just say I'm going to coach
for one million dollars a year and you can put
ten million towards the players. I don't need any more money.
There's got to be a coach out there that's got
the onions to do that. And Sweeny's got two national titles.
Why why take if you're Dabosweny, honest question, why take

(34:51):
eleven million dollars every year when you could take one
million and put ten into your program? I can't give
you a And it would shift I think coaching salaries
across the board if one coach would just do it.
Final segment of our one Flip Side Stay with Us,
final segment of our one Coming of Hour two longtime

(35:14):
in legendary Clemson sid Timbarey joins the program and tonight
obviously the thirtieth of October, a lot of high school
football action tonight. Because of that fact, I don't recall

(35:34):
that being the case when when I was a kid,
like I feel like we've played games on Halloween, but
over at the swamp Tonight right here in Lexington, it'll
be River Bluff hosting crosstown rival Lexton Wildcats. Seven point thirty.

(35:55):
The kicktime river Bluff is four and five, Lexington is
three and six. These two teams look like they're trying
to mimic Clemson and South Carolina. I mean, can you
imagine where we like how this game between Clemson and
South Carolina could feel at the end of the season. Honestly,

(36:23):
like Duke has not won at Clemson since nineteen eighty.
That line has continued to slip all week. Now down
the Clemson minus two and a half. I'm not sure
his Clemson. I don't think Clempson is covered in a
single game this year. I'm not even I don't even
think they covered against Troy, didn't they? I need to look.

(36:45):
I think Clemson against the spread this year is zero
for seven. I'm pretty sure that's the case. But the
Tigers are currently three and four. Not many people feeling
good about their chances against Duke that would drop you
to three and five. Now, winning this game would be

(37:08):
a nice little feather in the cap for k Klubnick,
who struggled up at Duke the last time these two
teams faced off two years ago. But even as bad
as Florida State has been, if you dropped the three
and five, there's no reason to think you couldn't drop
the three and six against the Knowles. I mean, if
you can't beat Duke at home or Syracuse at home?

(37:30):
Why do you think you can beat Florida State at home?
Don't and don't try to tell me. Well, because they're
zero to four in the league. I do not care
about where they are in the league. I care about
the I care about what I've seen from Clemson, and
it's not pretty. Certainly, don't think you will go to
Louisville and win. I mean you could be four and

(37:53):
seven entering that South Carolina game and Game Cocks, guess what,
you could be the same. It feels a little bit
more like a stretch that Clemson enters that game at
four and seven, as bad as the Tigers have played
than South Carolina, but the Game Cocks got Ole Miss

(38:16):
and Texas A and M coming up to top ten teams,
actually too, top seven teams. I feel pretty certain saying
that South Carolina is going to be three and seven
when they face Coastal, and they should beat the Chanticleers
to go to four and seven. I mean it is

(38:38):
a battle for who's the least ugly. That's what it
looks like right now, and I think everybody would agree.
Of the two schools right now where they sit because
Clemson's got an extra game to play, They've in easier
games to play. Clemson, of these two teams, is the

(39:00):
one that has the best chance to turn this thing around.
If the Tigers were to somehow answer the bell and
show up and be the team that everyone thought they
could be and win their final five games and b
eight and four, going into a bowl game, and miraculously
get to a nine win season, some of what happened

(39:22):
this year would be lost in the wash. But I'm
not so sure that what's best for Clemson this year
isn't that this is in the forefront when the offseason comes.
I mean, I hate to be that guy, but I'm
not sure that Dabosweeney salvaging this does anything to indicate

(39:48):
to Sweeney the changes that are necessary that we talked
about earlier. It might take losing to Duke at home
for the first time since nineteen eighty. It might take
losing to Florida St. And Louisville. It might take being
a team that's four and seven or dare I say

(40:13):
four and eight at the end of the season for
Davos Sweeney to get woken up from wherever he thinks
this program currently is because at the beginning of the year,
Dabos Sweeney said something along the lines of say we
suck again. Rite that because he was too arrogant to

(40:38):
recognize that the team that he had was not very good.
And it just continued. Oh, after the Georgia Tech loss,
it was about, oh, how you know, a couple of
plays away? And then the Syracuse lost happened, and it

(41:01):
wasn't just a couple of plays away. It was Fran
Brown's team punching you in the face and you couldn't
answer it. You got bullied in your own backyard by Syracuse,
who is now one in four in the conference that
hadn't won the game since they beat your tail, put

(41:21):
you over their knee like your grandpappy did back in
the day. And then not to mention. A couple of
weeks later, after a few road games where you felt
like you were taking steps in the right direction, SMU
came back in there like my aunt maybe making me

(41:42):
go pick a switch off the tree. Well, it was
the longest walk ever. I was looking for the where
is the weakest branch on this tree? I gotta spent
more time hunting so that hopefully it made me still

(42:03):
wasn't mad at me when it was all said and
done either way, Clempson better you look. There was a
saying in the movie, shall shan't redemption?

Speaker 2 (42:14):
Right?

Speaker 1 (42:15):
Get busy living or get busy dying? And I think
it's time for the Tigers to make their decision. Our two,
timber A joins us. Stay with us. It's time or
Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Schwann. It is our number two.

(43:10):
That's drivetime right here on the show that shakes the South,
Lay and Clemson Sports talt ONGs one Hanging out with
you on a Thursday afternoon, longtime Clemson sid Timberray coming
up on the program and of course Hour number two
brought to you in part by our good friends over
at Mets Plumbing mets plumber dot com. Two two six

(43:30):
seven to one zero eight. That's two two six seven
to one zero eight. That's Mets Plumbing online at mets
plumbing dot com. All right, Timbray with us on a Thursday. Tim,
welcome in Hope. You've had a great week so far.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
I am now it's weel you know it's been a
rainy week up here. I feel always feel bad when
it's range during homecoming because you got all those students
putting those floats up that I actually went to a
little seminar last night and you know, they were all
out there and it was pouring down right, and it
felt bad for him. But it is beautiful today. I

(44:06):
think it's supposed to be good for the game.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
One of the things I talked about yesterday is the
history of that, because like in my mind, when I
think of a homecoming float, Tim, I think of the
ride that you would have in like the local town parade,
not the big displays that Clemson puts together. And they've
been doing it for about one hundred years, I guess
over there on Bowmanfield. What do you know about that historically?

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Yeah, I think it goes back to the twenties. I
remember doing some research on it. Had we had a
couple of years in the twenties. We didn't have it.
I'm not sure they had it during the war, but
now you know, I've been here for it. This is
my forty eighth football season, and they used to well

(44:53):
maybe they still do the ride the homecoming court in
on some kind of floats. It obviously wasn't the same
float floats that they had at Bowman Field. Oh, I
think they were a little more extravagant when I first
got here in the seventies. Uh, they which they paraded
them around at the stadium. But yeah, I mean I've

(45:16):
seen pictures in yearbooks that go way back of them,
you know, making make a different floats. So I don't
know who started it or who got it going. I
mean other schools have done it, but we're going to
a few schools. I don't know anybody to school. It's
does what we do with the floats today?

Speaker 1 (45:35):
No, it is extravagant. It's incredible when you're on campus
the construction as they put those what I would call
like a power line poles into the ground that you know,
for those structures to be built on. It's amazing how
quickly you do it. Bit you're right, man, anytime it's raining,
you just think. I'm imagining the fraternities are probably enjoying

(45:58):
a beverage or two while they're while they're putting that out.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
I think those beverages or twos gets them through. Now,
I will say it. You should be worse, you know,
forty years ago when I first came because of the
stuff they would put, you know, in the floats the
I mean now it's plastic, but a long time ago
it was like prey paper and it would kind of

(46:22):
almost disintegrate. So at least it holds up today.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
That's a good point. That is a good point. Well, hopefully,
hopefully the Clems Tiger football team will hold up in
Death Valley this weekend as they welcome the Duke Blue Devils.
Tim it's a team that hasn't won at Clemson in
Duke since nineteen eighty. I mean, that is incredible.

Speaker 4 (46:45):
Now.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
I know you don't play here every year. There are
a couple of years there, I think in what the
eighties where Clemson maybe bought a game and kept it
in Tigertown for an extra year. But that is a
remarkable stat when you think about it.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
Yeah, the winning streak actually is fifteen in a row.
I think our record for most consecutive wins over a team,
I think we would be in Furman twenty two in
a row at home. I know we had a long
streak against Virginia when we actually won twenty nine in
a row overall against the Cavaliers. But yeah, it's been
forty five years. I was at the game in nineteen eighty,

(47:22):
very memorable that Tigers were four to one going to
the game. Figured they might get ranked if they won
that game against a Steve Spurrier was the offensive coordinator.
Ben Bennett was the quarterback. Bumpson in the seventeen to
ten lead at halftime and then they outscored US twenty

(47:45):
one to do nothing in the second half of A
fellow named Dennis Taberin had three interceptions. I've always remembered
three interceptions for one hundred and twenty eight return yards,
and so you know, Ben Bennett was great offense, but
they had the defense to match it in that in
that second half and won the game.

Speaker 1 (48:07):
The Blue Devils will come into Death Valley. It's a
noon kickoff on the ACC Network this weekend as Clemson
looks to bounce back from what has been just a
befuddling season. Tim and I do wonder just about kind
of where these guys are in their headspace. I know
Dabosweeney talked about the fact that they'd had a really

(48:28):
focused practice this week, and you've been around this team
at the highs of the high You've been there in
ninety eight when Clemson, you know, had a three win
season and finished three and eight for the year. How
do you think this group though, in this modern era,
after all the success that they've had, how do you
personally think they're kind of keeping things together as these

(48:50):
you know, as this season sort of trudges along.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
Well, they've still got a few things that they'd like
to you know, keep going as as street. I mean,
you know, we were four and four going in a
game against the twelfth rank notre name team just two
years ago. A lot of guys on this team were
on that team, and they were able to turn around
with a wit at home that that day, And so

(49:15):
I'm sure a lot of them are thinking along those lines.
They got to win out to keep the streak of
nine of fourteen straight years with at least nine wins,
and and you know, by a personal level, you know,
they you know, they still all those guys aspire to

(49:37):
play professional football, and so if they dog it and
and you know, don't play well, it's gonna hurt their
dreams of moving on to the next, you know, lex level.
So I mean, I you know, I go out to practice,
they're still you know, practicing, you know the same way,
and they just you know, need to have something good

(49:59):
happen to I mean, I've talked to you all the
season about, you know, the negatives that play in LSU
to start the season, the game you put so much into,
there was so much talked about in the offseason, and
you lose that game, it's hard to get your confidence back.

Speaker 1 (50:14):
Tim berayle with us here every Thursday talking about the
Clemson Tigers, And when we look at this group, you
mentioned the NFL and look, these guys have a decision
to make. But nil does make it more interesting because
in the old days, if you were a player and
you were in position to go pro, you would likely
go pro. But if you've now played your way to

(50:37):
where maybe you're not going to be drafted as high
as you thought, you might consider returning. And I'm not
asking you to necessarily speculate on any players in particular, Tim,
but do you think there is a chance that some
of these guys that were sort of foreshadowed as being hey,
surefire NFL draft picks early might return to Clemson for

(50:59):
another season? I mean, is that a possibility in your mind?

Speaker 2 (51:02):
Yeah, And I've seen that happen, you know historically for
different reasons. Two guys come to mind. So in two
thousand and you know, when I did the football programs,
I tried to plan the covers for the whole, you
know season. We would gang what's called gang running the
covers where you run them all together before the season started.

(51:26):
So in two thousand and four, I had to say,
is Charlie Whitehurst going to go I mean, he was
a red shirt junior, but he could go pro. And
he was coming off of two thousand and three season,
which he was terrific, and so I had to, you know,
decide before the season if he was going to go pro.
I forge, he's going to go pro. And so he
goes to the two thousand and four season, we kind

(51:48):
of had a five hundred season. He wasn't as good statistically,
and so he came back and he had a pretty
good senior year, ended up getting drafted late thirteen years
in the NFL, and the know the rest of his history.
And another example kind of of that is Christian Wilkins.
And but that was for a different reason, right, And
he had a really good junior year. He just wanted

(52:12):
to come back and win another national championship and that's
what motivated him, and that's exactly what he did.

Speaker 1 (52:18):
Yeah, came back in one one, No tell them about it.
That's if you're Dabbo Sweeney and you're sitting in those
end of the year meetings with some of those guys
that maybe were on that radar, maybe that's the one
you point to this You say, hey, look, guys, I
know this past season didn't play out the way you thought,
But what if this is the way it ended? Now,
just cut the Wilkins hole in the Golden scepter and
go there you go. That's how you do it again,

(52:38):
Timbrey with us here on the program. Tim. We'll come
back to football in a minute. But I want to
shift gears because look, I know, in addition to golf
and all the sports are at Clemson that are important
to you, certainly, women's basketball is also significant in the
news today that Clemson's Barbara Kennedy Dixon was named to
the twenty twenty six Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. You know, obviously,

(53:01):
you know her life and her experience in Clemson has
been well documented over the years. But somebody that you
certainly were pretty close to during her time there.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
Yeah, Barbara and I's first day at Clempson was September one,
nineteen seventy eight me is a full time employee, and
I think that was around the first day of classes
back in those days. And so she was a freshman
that year, and you know, she really kind of came
to the person who was going to play volleyball and
women's basketball. She didn't have that much attention when she

(53:33):
was in high school at Rome, Georgia, although she had,
you know, a twenty point scoring average, but you really
didn't know how good she was going to be. You know,
thinks there's not as much attention in high school women's
basketball then as there is is today. And you know,
we see what a great recruiting your coach Poppy said
so far getting commitments from four top fifty players. Well, Barbara,

(53:57):
you know, it was just a terrific player him to
get go and ended up scoring thirty one hundred and
thirteen points, which is still the ACC record by over
four hundred. She was. She was a person that you know,
people came, people came to women's basketball games just to
see what she would do next. That was the same
way it was with Tree Rollins, and it was the

(54:20):
same way for Barbara Kennedy. It's you know, could she
scored forty tonight, and I'll never forget she had one
of the great senior nights of any athlete I've ever
seen it Clemson against North Carolina. I think it was
in Februss February of nineteen eighty two. She scored forty
two points against a really good North Carolina team, which

(54:42):
was amazing because that was her uniform number. And Clemson
won the game, which kind of guaranteed him an NC
double a tournament bid. And then it was in those
days we played a lot of double hatters, So we
played a double hatter with the North Carolina men. And
so she after the game, showered up, got dressed, and

(55:04):
sang the national anthem for the men's game in front
of twelve thousand wow. And she had a great voice,
and she had done it before. But the thing that
stood out to me and that I'll never forget, is
so she sings the national anthem and then she brings
the microphone over the scorer's table. And this is right
before tip off, and so Dean Smith leaves his bench.

(55:27):
This is a North Carolina team that would go on
to win the national championship. He leaves his bench and
comes over and shakes her hand and Beck's basically congratulates
her on a great career. And I just thought that
was the neatest thing because it just showed you the
level of respect people had for her.

Speaker 1 (55:46):
Man what a story, Tim Bray. And there's a great
picture of Tim Tree Rollins and the late Barbara Kennedy
Dixon there in a photo. I guess that must have
been when what when Tree graduated, when he got his degree.

Speaker 2 (55:58):
That was when Tree graduated. And that was another thing
about Barbara. So Barbara after she and it's a shame
they didn't have the WNBA because you know, she would
have been a WNBA player. And so she came back
to Glimpson was an assistant coach, and she worked for
Bill DeAndre and Vicory Hall. Other she was a sport administrator,
but at the end of her career she worked at

(56:21):
Vickery Hall and her main thing was to encourage and
facilitate former athletes to come back and get their degree.
And so one of her prime people was Tree Rollins,
and she convinced Tree, you know, thirty years after he
had finished playing there to come back and get get

(56:43):
his degree. She worked with him to get the courses
that were necessary and you know, from my standpoint is
the head of the Ring of Honor committee. You know,
I kind of encouraged her to do it because I
told her said, Tree can't get in the Ring of
Honor until he gets his degree, and she kind of
use that as a motivated factor. And then and then

(57:04):
the year after he graduated, he got in the Ring
of Honor.

Speaker 1 (57:07):
That's so cool.

Speaker 2 (57:09):
It was just so neat to have the greatest women's
player help the greatest men's player in Clunson history, you know,
get his degree and get the Ring of Honor.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
Man, what a story. Tim Bray with us here on
the program for a few more minutes, and that kind
of brings me. I know, you know, in your capacity,
I have no idea if you can even talk about recruits,
but you could certainly talk about recruiting. And Sean Poppy,
Holy Molly, what a job he's doing, the recruits that
he's got lined up. I know you probably can't mention
them specifically by name, but have you ever seen women's

(57:45):
basketball recruiting at this level?

Speaker 2 (57:47):
Well, we know, not to the level of having four
top fifty players in ESPN's ranking. Now, a few years
ago we did have a couple of five stars that
came to Clemson. One is the Jones girl who's in
the WNBA is a perennial All Star for the New

(58:09):
York team. She actually played her first semester at Clemson
and transferred in. And there was one other young lady
who was a five star who unfortunately they only stayed
a semester and then and then transferred out. So that was,
you know, it was probably was at least ten years ago.

(58:30):
But no, I mean, and you know, let's be honest.
I mean, you know, we all know the house settlement
and the twenty million dollars, Well, eighty six percent of
that money is going to football because that's based on
the percentage of how much revenue is brought into your school.
That said, most schools are doing it, so when's basketball

(58:54):
is not getting a whole lot of money. So it's
not like they're just buying players making promises of you know,
to recruits of time what they can get for an
nil deal. I think he's just doing it through old
fashioned recruiting and relationships. And these girls are from all
over the country. Uh you might have noticed, So it's

(59:18):
it's really kind of fascinating, uh to see it's he
is unprecedented.

Speaker 1 (59:24):
Well when he when he got hired. You know, I've
I have felt Tim that one benefit ironically for Clemson
women's basketball is the job that's being done in Columbia
by Don Staley because I think the interest in this
state across the board is up, and I felt like

(59:44):
he was going to really have a chance. And man,
if these girls come in and play well, the sky's
the limit for the future and recruiting for Sean Poppy
at Clemson. Timber Ray with this year follow on Twitter
at Timbrey All right, Tim, final thing. We got about
two minutes the big question. I put it out there
and let me tell you, Tiger fans are timing in
left and right. I put a pole question up about
how many series or snaps should should Christopher Bazina get

(01:00:08):
and people are all over the map, but everybody's voicing
their opinion. What do you think, Tim, how what do
you think we see from Bozina this weekend against Duke? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
I think uh, I think you will. But it also
depends how the game goes, you know, I you know,
if we go up, if we were to go up
fourteen and nothing in the first quarter, and Kate's got
a real hot hand, you're gonna you're gonna take him
out of It's like taking a three point shooter out
after he's gone four to four. I think if Kate,

(01:00:39):
obviously he gets off to a slow start, you're gonna,
you know, whereas you know, in a normal game of
Ka gotter slow start, you probably wouldn't see him. But
I think now that you know you would, you would
see him. If we're talking it to seven to seven
game in the middle of the second quarter, Yeah, I mean,
I think Dabba would like to get him in there.

(01:01:00):
It's obvious that he had a really good game against SMU.
I think we'd like to see a little bit larger
sample size, so to speak. So it'll be it'll be interesting.
But you know, I it's interesting that to think which
way to go if you get off to a good start,

(01:01:21):
do you take Kate out or if he's hot, or
you know, do you not because you want him to
you know, stay hot. So I don't know, it's it's okay,
it's a tough decision. I'll be interested to see, you
know what they you know what they do, and you know,
you don't know how Kate is going to react as
far as you know, help wise, is he going to

(01:01:43):
be able to run? I mean I've seen him at practices.
We just throwing the ball just fine. But you don't
know how long, you know how much what is the
capability is going to be?

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
I mean, hundreds of comments about it and so we
had to go through a mall again. Tim Bray, that's
his thoughts on it. Follow him on Twitter at Tim Bray.
You can hear Tim and Don Munson and Reggie Meriweather
on the call of that Clemson matchup against the Duke
Blue Dovels this weekend in Death Valley. Tim, have a
great week. Thank you, Thank you. There you go, that
legendary Clemson sid Tim Burray giving you the inside scoop,

(01:02:14):
his thoughts on the situation at quarterback and obviously honoring
Barbara Kennedy Dixon here on the program today, Keep it
a Lot for more, the show that Shakes the South
lamb Clemson Sports, Salt and Swine. That was Tim Bray
before the break. So talking about the women's basketball team,
Clemson currently has the number one ranked twenty twenty six

(01:02:40):
women's basketball recruiting class in terms of composite ratings. According
to two four seven Sports. I mean, it's not like
Sean Poppy is bringing these girls in off of this

(01:03:06):
just next level season. That's what I think really is
mind blowing about it. Notre Dame is currently number two,
Kentucky three, Duke four in Indiana five in the women's

(01:03:26):
basketball recruiting rankings. And look, there is no telling where
South Carolina ends up on this list. I am sure
they will not be at the bottom. They currently have
one commit in the twenty twenty six class and the
game Cocks are twenty third. That commit, however, is a

(01:03:49):
ninety six overall Kelsey Andrews out of IMG Academy, and
I guarantee you don't know anything about her, but I
guarantee if she is a baller, because that's that's what
South Carolina brings into their program. Clemson currently with four commits.
That's more commits than the majority of the teams in

(01:04:09):
the country right now anyway, which is part of the
reason Clemson is elevated. There are a few teams that
have three commits, etc. And some teams will be utilizing
the transfer portal. But when you get down to the
nitty gritty on who these young ladies are Trinity Jones,
the latest commit. She is the number nine player nationally.

(01:04:31):
She is the second rated shooting guard in the country.
She is six foot one out of Boiling Brook, Illinois.
She is a ninety seven overall that is nearly a
five star prospect. They have a six foot two power
forward named Julia Scott out of Albertus Magnus in New York.

(01:04:56):
She is a ninety five overall prospect, thirty ninth best
player nationally, eleventh best power forward in the country. Then
they've got Camoria Fields out of Bradley Central and Cleveland, Tennessee.
She's a ninety three overall power forward that's six foot tall.

(01:05:17):
She's the forty fifth best player in the country. And
then Mia Green out a Web school of Knoxville and Knoxville, Tennessee.
She's a point guard. She's a ninety one overall four star,
fifty ninth best player in the country, the fifth best
point guard in the country. So you're pairing the fifth
best point guard with the second best shooting guard, the

(01:05:39):
eleventh best power forward, and the fourteenth best power forward.
And I'm thinking that potentially, at six foot Camoria Fields
might could play small forward. Angulia Scott at six to two,
probably a little small for a center, Probably a little

(01:06:00):
small for a center the women's game. But still, I mean,
it's unbelievable what Sean Poppy's doing, the number one ranked
class something else. Right, It's still early, and these girls
could change their mind, they could change their heart. You
see these football players doing it. But what a special,

(01:06:22):
special time for Clemson women's basketball. And what an honor
for Barbara Kennedy Dixon to be posthumously recognized in the
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame class at twenty twenty six,
and some of the things Timberrey mentioned. Listen. She's a
two time first team All American in eighty one and

(01:06:42):
eighty two. She was a three time first team All
ACC in eighty eighty one and eighty two, Second team
All ACC in nineteen seventy nine. Is a freshman, a
two time ACC Tournament MVP in eighty one and eighty two.
ACC All Rookie Team is seventy nine at Clemson. Her
jersey number forty two was retired in eighty one eighty two.

(01:07:04):
She has a single season scoring mark at nine hundred
and eight points and rebounding with four hundred rebounds. She
leads Clemson and the ACC in career points, still averaging
twenty four and a half points per game, with three thousand,
one hundred and thirteen, which Tim mentioned, She's one of
just eight players with three thousand points and then a

(01:07:25):
thousand rebounds since the NCAA started sponsoring women's sports in
eighty one and eighty two, her senior year. The other
six players with three thousand points in one thousand rebounds
are Britney Griner, you heard of her, Patricia Hoskins, Lourie Bauman,
Elena Della Don, Maya Moore, Shamika Hols Claus, Cheryl Miller.

(01:07:47):
Let me just think for a second elite company. She
scored twenty or more points ninety three times, played professional
basketball in the Italian League, played for the Virginia Wave
and the WABA in nineteen eighty four. Mean incredible, And

(01:08:12):
a couple of those names that you heard. Elena Della
Don will be inducted as well into the Women's Hall
of Fame at the same time. So congrats to Barbara
Kennedy Dixon. Really really really awesome for her family and
her legacy. The late I should say, Barbara Kennedy Dixon

(01:08:33):
a zero three, four five zero zero eighty six. All right,
coming up next, we'll take you back to Tigertown again.
We heard a little bit from Dabosweeney earlier in the week,
we heard some from Garrett Riley. But when we come back,
we'll hear a little bit from oh h, that's right.
We did hear from wave Wood as as well. I

(01:08:53):
forgot about that. When we come back, then we'll hear
from will help Clemson defensive end as he met with
the media. Hey, don't forget about our friends at Alumni
Hall right there on the corner of campus on College
Avenue of downtown Clemson. It's Alumni Hall for all your
officially licensed Clemson merchandise hats, t shirts, Teilgate, garn Moore,
go check them out today or online at Alumni Hall

(01:09:14):
dot com. And hey, when you're in store right there
across from Bowmenfield, don't forget to ask them about those
sweet Nike Dryfit Polos that you know I love, and
how you can become a member of the Alumni Hall
Rewards program. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. All right,
keep it a lot. When we come back here in
our number two, we'll hear from Will Help Clemson defensive

(01:09:36):
ends as he met with the media earlier this week
up in Tigertown. We might also squeeze in a little
bit from Ryan lnthcom as well Clemson Center after this.
So keep it locked right here for more of the
Show that Shakes the South Hoyan on fox Portradio fourteen
hundred and on the iHeartRadio app Long and swam back

(01:09:59):
with you all on a Thursday. We I didn't even
mention Dabos Sweeney obviously met with the media yesterday as well.
We'll jump into that first and then we'll get to
Will Help because Dabos Sweeney was asked about quarterback Cage
Clubnik and how much he'd been able to practice this week.

Speaker 5 (01:10:17):
Uh, good amount. He's getting better each day. Proud of
him again. We'll put out a report tomorrow night. But Uh,
he's had a good week. Our teams had a great week.
I've been I mean these guys that really uh you know,
practice with with just a ton of focus, a ton
of energy. Uh, it's been a really really good Tuesday Wednesday. Uh,
so everybody's done what they need to do to get ready.

Speaker 1 (01:10:40):
Sweeney was also asked about Christopher of Vezina specifically, and
and how you know, the his performance in that SMU
game maybe helped carry it over and gave him some confidence.

Speaker 5 (01:10:51):
I mean it, you know, again he was confident before.
But again, as I said the other day, when you know,
there's just nothing like experience, and not only experience, but
positive experience, uh, to kind of reinforce you know, what
you've been doing and what you think you can do.

Speaker 3 (01:11:07):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (01:11:07):
So yeah, we've seen that.

Speaker 3 (01:11:09):
In practice.

Speaker 5 (01:11:09):
He's been really you know, at a good skip in
his step. But you know, it's one game. Uh, he's
got he's got he's got to create consistency and all
that stuff, you know, with with more opportunity as it comes.
But it's been really good. I mean he's had a
really good uh uh just focused to him at practice
and uh and he's been that way. And that's one

(01:11:31):
of the reasons that that he played well is because
he's really shown up each week and and prepared to
go play. And that's not always easy to do when
you're not getting you know, the opportunity. So he deserves
a lot of credit for that. So you know, he's
had a good week as well.

Speaker 1 (01:11:48):
That's Dabos when he talked about Christopher Waszina and the
job that he's done. Sweeney was also asked about Duke's
defense and the job that they do disguising things, and
he said, look, it kind of reminds him of well, Clemson.

Speaker 5 (01:12:04):
Honestly, it's very similar to what we do, very similar.
That's that's you know, there's a lot of carryover.

Speaker 2 (01:12:11):
They do a lot of.

Speaker 5 (01:12:13):
The similar things that we do from a disguised standpoint,
and they do a nice job with it. So, you
know that standpoint, I think there's some good carryover as
we prepared for him.

Speaker 1 (01:12:24):
Final couple of things from Dabo Sweeney. He was also
asked about whether or not you felt the team was
maybe playing a little bit looser now that their preseason
expectations were sort of destroyed and off the table, you
know what I mean, like not playing tight because you're
in these games are gonna get you eliminated from the
college football playoff?

Speaker 4 (01:12:43):
You know?

Speaker 1 (01:12:43):
Are are they maybe a little more loose now?

Speaker 3 (01:12:49):
You know?

Speaker 5 (01:12:50):
I mean, I think I think there's a couple of lessons.
I think one is, again, you can't let the expectations,
you know, come greater than your process of what you do,
your daily focus, your your your joy and what you do,
your love of what you do, your your purpose and
why of what you do that I think that has

(01:13:11):
to you know, sometimes when that happens you you you
can kind of get off track and vice versa. You
can't let disappointment or perceived failure because again failure is
a part of success. But you can't let disappointment or
or any type of failure become greater than your process

(01:13:33):
or your love of what you do, your joy of
what you do, same thing, your daily focus and purpose
and why in what you do. I think those are
two great lessons that come from both of those scenarios.
But hey, look we've played seven games. They've got a
lot of experience to draw upon. They've got some uh
some disappointment. They've had a little bit of success too.
They know what it looks like. The biggest thing is

(01:13:55):
is this is a you know, a very committed group
that wants to finish well. And you know they get
they got five more guy opportunities to go play Lord Willing,
and you know they've got to They've got to earn
earn the right to win by how they prepare and
practice and they're doing that, but then you've got to

(01:14:16):
show up on game day and do what it takes
to win. You can't just be talented. You've got to,
you know, do what winning requires on game day.

Speaker 1 (01:14:25):
Sweeney was also asked about losing a couple of recruits,
and just after this question, he lost his third recruit.
But here were his thoughts on a couple of twenty
twenty six guys choosing the look elsewhere.

Speaker 5 (01:14:39):
Got no faults. Just onward we go, onward, we go.

Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
Onward, we go. All right, we'll shift gears from Davos
Sweety and again I talked about what I think Clemson
needs to change onward college football went, I might have
to put that in the article, while Davo Sweeney but
grudgingly kind of stuck to the old ways that do
not seem to be working based off of the results

(01:15:06):
we've seen on the field this year. But I mentioned
we would hear from Clemson defensive end will help. Here's help.
Spending time with the media, and he was asked about
how the teams approach has been during their second open
day of the season.

Speaker 4 (01:15:24):
Yeah, I think that.

Speaker 6 (01:15:27):
To your point, that kind of gives us confidence going
into this week. The way that we did respond coming
off a buye and a loss the first buy. But yeah,
I think we approached it in a similar way, just
going to get back to work and just grow. And
we know we're not where we want to be, but
we feel that we can get there and just keep
getting better.

Speaker 1 (01:15:48):
Help was also asked about what he felt led the
defense to have the struggles they did against SMU.

Speaker 3 (01:15:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:15:55):
I think a big point of emphasis is just discipline
and just everybody doing their job. I think we're playing
with high effort and physicality, but we just got to
do our job and at an elite level.

Speaker 1 (01:16:07):
Help was also asked about his experience at Purdue and
how maybe some of that the setbacks have helped him
encourage his teammates amid the season full of adversity. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:16:21):
I think drawing on that experience helps me a lot. Yeah,
And to your point, like, I've been through it and
I know that at the end of the day, you know,
we're just blessed to have another opportunity to play ball
and go out there and have fun. And I think
that's how we're approaching it. We're just going to go ball,
play for each other, to play for you know just
this this team in the future of this program, and

(01:16:43):
we're just excited about that.

Speaker 1 (01:16:45):
That's will help again Climpson defensive. And we also heard
from Dabo Sweeney, so we'll skip Ryan linth to come.
He didn't talk but about three minutes anyway. Eight zero
three four five zero zero eighty six. Dude, I saw
a tweet on social media a little bit to go.
It was a Middle Tennessee last night, running out for

(01:17:05):
a game at home in front of what appears to
be dozens of fans on a Wednesday night. Like it's
one of those photos where you can count, Okay, there's one, two, three,
four five, Like you can just count the handful of
people that are at this game. That's that's tough. I
know we've talked about nights to play Clemson in South Carolina. Uh, clearly,

(01:17:26):
don't play them on on Wednesday in mid October. Don't
do that final segment flip side.

Speaker 4 (01:17:35):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson. The answer to the questions
what have you done.

Speaker 2 (01:17:52):
For me lately?

Speaker 4 (01:17:53):
And what have you done always are the same.

Speaker 1 (01:18:01):
We win.

Speaker 3 (01:18:04):
Sometimes sometimes sometime sometimes.

Speaker 1 (01:18:48):
Final segment on a Thursday, thinking to Timberray for joining
us a little bit earlier again eight O three four
five O zero zero eighty six Clemson and Duke. Duke
hasn't won a Death Valley since nineteen eighty Struggle bust

(01:19:10):
for the Tigers this year, and it sure feels like
they need to find a way to salvage.

Speaker 2 (01:19:19):
This season.

Speaker 1 (01:19:21):
And that's, you know, a part of this whole, the
disappointment that so many people have is, you know, the
fact that the expectations were through the roof, and I
I do feel like I tried to somewhat temper those

(01:19:42):
expectations at the beginning of the year. I talked about
like I just was not comfortable with the chatter. But
I also will admit that I think I fell victim
to it after hearing about it over and over and over.

Speaker 2 (01:19:57):
I apologize for yelling at you.

Speaker 1 (01:19:59):
Well I don't. I wouldn't say you yelled at me,
but but I get it if you did. Like I
think I got sucked in. I got sucked into the
belief that Clemson was just better than they were because
they were well Clemson and I hate that. I wish
that weren't the case, but I think that might be

(01:20:22):
the case. And so from from there, I can only
tell you that at this point, you got to do
something pretty special, pretty special to turn this thing around
this year, because it would be one thing if you

(01:20:45):
could just pin it on. Okay, well, kay, Clebney hasn't
played great, but that has not just been the case.
There's been a lot of the the deficiencies that Clemson
has showcased this year have come legitimately on all fronts.

Speaker 6 (01:21:08):
And that.

Speaker 1 (01:21:11):
Is the dynamic that I think is so disappointing and
why I think changes are gonna be made on both
sides of the ball, and multiple coaches are gonna be gone. Like,
if we're sitting here on October thirtieth, twenty twenty six,
and this coaching staff doesn't have major changes, I might

(01:21:35):
dress up as a Gamecock fan on Halloween that next day,
October thirty first, twenty twenty six. The next day, remind
me of this. If there aren't significant changes, I'm gonna
go trigger treating in my neighborhood and I will dress
up like Steve Spurrier. There we go. That's better. I

(01:22:01):
will go around like Steve Spurrier Visor and all I'll
borrow Advisor, I get. I guarantee you some of my
Game Cup friends have a Spurrier Visor sweater vest. I'll
go full on Steve Spurrier with a headset and a microphone,
trick or treat waffle house play sheet. I'll do it. Okay,

(01:22:25):
that's my my pledge to you. You got to hold
me to it. Listen, you'll say, Swani, you're supposed to
remember that. No, no, no, no, you don't understand.

Speaker 3 (01:22:34):
This.

Speaker 1 (01:22:36):
This contraption that I call a brain, it is a
FIFO system, no fi low first in, last out. As
this new content comes in, something just left, and by
the time I get back around to this day three
hundred and sixty five days from now, this will be
filtered out of the system up top. So I'm gonna

(01:22:58):
need your reminder. Now. You can let me off the hook.
The second dabb besween he makes major changes to this
coaching staff, which I think are coming gotta be. We'll
see how it all shakes out, though, and we'll be
here for you on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred the
iHeartRadio Apan. On our website, Clemses supports tul dot com.

(01:23:20):
Get this man. If you're on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok,
we are where you are. We do not post every
day to all of those accounts, but we post the
most follow us there, support us, share our work. By
the way, for whatever reason, today I just have my
little Roku television, you know, scrolling on that random wallpaper

(01:23:41):
that it's got on there. Have you ever have you
ever paid attention to that wallpaper?

Speaker 4 (01:23:48):
You know?

Speaker 1 (01:23:48):
I'm a big Back to the Future fan. I mean,
I don't know if you guys know that about me
or not. That movie is in studios or in theaters
this week. Yeah, fortieth anniversary of what I think is

(01:24:11):
perhaps the greatest movie of all time. Absolutely love it.
But there's a clock tower on this there's a lot
of I need to see her and figure out. Like
I thought, I saw an Inja turnal a minute ago.
I think you could sit around all day and find
stuff in this wallpaper on the Roku. But I did
see a clock tower. Run for Bartie. All right, Look,

(01:24:34):
we gotta get out of here. I gotta run for it.
River Bluff. Lesi did Crosstown Rivals tonight in the swamp.
We'll talk about that the results tomorrow and much more
until then. As always, you'll take care now and goat tigers.