The "On the Beach with James Franklin" Edition

Tommy Bowden joins the show to talk about James Franklin's situation at Penn State, Curt Cignetti's 93 million dollar deal at Indiana, and much more. 

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Now finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.

(00:50):
Hell everybody, Lowton Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the Sala and 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
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world on the iHeart Radio application Download today, It's free.

(01:12):
The website, put the dot com on a dog on
onet that's Clemson Sports Doll dot com. And of course,
the show The Shakespeare south Land, brought to you in
part by our good friends over at Mets Plumbing mets
Plumbing dot com two two six seven one the wait,
that's Mets Plumbing two two six seven to one oh
eight column today, All right out of the gates on

(01:34):
a Friday. Will Van de Voort, the Clemson Insider, joins
us from the Clemson Insider dot com. I guess he's
not solely the Clemson Insider, are you, Will, I'm not.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
The sole Climpson Insider. There's a there's a there's quite
a few of us uh at the Clipson Insider, so
but I do appreciate it. We uh we do. We
do our best to give as much inside information as
we can and get our readers to just yeah, and
members on the board to you know, stuff that maybe

(02:08):
they can't get anywhere else, and we try to do
the best we can. And I hope that's appreciated, because
the whole staff does a good job, I think, trying
to get as much information as they can. I know,
Jaca Precier, one of the best, is not the best
guy when it comes to recruiting. I mean that guy
buses his butt and like nobody else to get recruiting information.
So you know, I think we've got pretty good staff

(02:30):
over there, man, I really do.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Insider's plural. According to Will Van der Boords, he joins
us on a Friday afternoon, getting geared up for Clemson
and SMU and a lot to talk about. We'll certainly
get to the cad Clubnic conversation with Will in just
a little bit, But first and foremost, Will I want
to start with what happened yesterday late in the afternoon,
Kurt Signetti at Indiana getting the ninety three million dollar deal.

(02:55):
It feels like this flies right in the face of
the opening at Penn State to say, hey, this is
our guy, and certainly Signetti now cementing himself as one
of the highest paid coaches in college football. And I
said this on the show yesterday and I put this
on my social media account. I think what's more significant

(03:15):
is that this is a basketball school that has recognized
in this modern era of college sports, you have to
be at an elite level in football or else. Everything
you have going on isn't gonna matter. You can't keep
the ship afloat by being great in basketball. You have
to commit to football. Indiana in the past didn't have
to do that. They could be a basketball school. Now,

(03:37):
if you're not a football school, you're dead in the water.
What are your thoughts on that take?

Speaker 3 (03:41):
I know, I think it's pretty good take. And you
wonder if North Carolina and Duke are listening in Kansas, right,
because those are obviously, you know, blue blood basketball schools
like Indiana is. And you know, I think Indiana is saying, hey, yeah,
they're investing in a lot of football now because should
he had been making more than Dabo Sweeney absolutely not.

(04:04):
I'm sorry, you know, yeah, I know Davos Clinton's three
and three right now and not not what people want
him to be. But still Clinton is a two time
national championship program in the last ten years. You know,
only one o the school has more in that same period,
and that's the Alabama I don't think he should be
making more than Dabo Sweeney's, but who am I to

(04:25):
say what the market is? You know, it's just ridiculous.
That shows the amount of money that is just being
spent that you can give a program that has been
nothing forever and their coach has two good seasons, hasn't
won anything, hasn't won anything yet, I mean because he
has it, hasn't won a Big Ten championship, possibly could

(04:46):
win the one this year, but hasn't won one, right,
has it won a Big Ten championship, has it won
a college football playoff game, hasn't won a national championship,
And yet he's gonna make eleven point six million dollars
And that's six hundred thousand dollars or than Davos Swingy makes,
who's won two national championships, played for it four times.
By the way, for those out there keeping score. Bobby

(05:09):
Bowden never played for four national championships. Okay, uh and
and so you know, and had the stretch that Clinton's
had here. And you know, I'm not trying to make
it about Dabbo. I just my point being this ridiculous
that we're starting to pay coaches who haven't done anything. Hello,
Mike Norvel all this money and and and for what

(05:30):
having one good year or two good years with no
titles to show for it. I mean, that's ridiculous. You know.
You know Dabo has got what nine ACC championships in
his career, more than any agency coach. Ever, That's just
things ridiculous. He's only making a million and a half
less than Kirby Smart, who's won two national championships and
played in three national championship games and won cup some

(05:52):
SEC championships. And he's gonna make more than he's almost
making as much as Kirby Smart. That doesn't make any
sense to me, Lawton. I think we got to stop this.
Giving these is so much money. This is why this
sport is going downhill, because they just can't stop themselves.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Think about the buyout that you're looking at with this
situation with James Franklin as well. Like it's crazy, but
I think Penn State was influenced by a couple of things. Okay,
let me tell you what I think influenced them more
than anything than the results on the field. I think
the fact that they got beat by UCLA, who had
fired Deshaun Foster the previous week. That's number one, And

(06:30):
I think number two it's the fact that in two
years Texas A and M is sitting in the top
four top five in college football after paying seventy six
million dollars to tell Jimbo Fisher to kick rocks. I
mean to me, I think some schools that haven't won
titles in a long time feel this pressure will to

(06:51):
keep up with the Joneses, regardless of how much it costs.
They are the people that are buying the new car
simply because their friends just got that new SUV as well.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it is a That's the
way it's always been in the sport. First it was
buying the players. Then it was the facilities to get
the players. And when I'm in buying the players, I'm
talking illegally at the time, that's when it was cheating.
And then you know, uh. Then then then you get
the facilities, the you know what happened there when everybody

(07:26):
had to have these state of the art facilities and
things like that. Then it's like, okay, now it's the coaches,
and then it's back to buying players again. But now
it's legal, right, So so now you put all your
money there, and then now here we are like setting
the precedent where okay, we're still gonna pay coaches a
lot of money too. And look, it's not coincidence that

(07:49):
James Franklin's fires right after the whole announcement comes out
about you know, the Big Ten is gonna, you know,
do this thing where you know they're gonna have somebody,
an independent person come in and paying more money. Think
of what fifty million dollars more or something like that.
And then that happens, right, and then all of a sudden,
you see James Franklin's fires, right, and then you see

(08:12):
Indiana says, well, we don't want Penn State taking our coach.
We're gonna go ahead and give him money now. And
now it's like now the market has set again coaching
where it's kind of even doubt and bottomed out a
little while where Kirby Smart's been sitting on thirteen million
for a while and Dad Boat's been sitting on eleven
for a while. Right, those are the two high sted coaches. Well,

(08:33):
here we go again. The market just got lifted. And
you don't think Kirby Smart's agent an't sitting there thinking like, Hey,
that guy's about to make as much as me. We
need to do something.

Speaker 4 (08:43):
Well, yeah, I mean that's.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
What's gonna happen. The market's gonna go up again for coaching,
and that's what they're trying to get away from.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Well in one.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
Coach, Who's how they're gonna afford all this.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Well in one coach right in the in the market
for a big upgrade. Rett Lashley at SMU, I mean,
I don't know what the situation with him and maybe Arkansas,
and I said yesterday as well on Thursday Show, will
that if the Penn State thing draws out long enough,
he'll be a name that will come up. I mean

(09:13):
he will eventually. I don't know how far down the
list he is, but I would imagine giving his age
and the success he's had at SMU, he's probably inside
their top twenty.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
Right, I would say you give him a call. I'll say,
if you're Penn State, the first team, the guys you
reach out to and they'veryone to say no. If you
reach out to Kirby Smart and you'll reach out to
Davos Sweeney and you go on down the list, and
I think, yes, lastly somewhere on that list, probably in
the top ten or top fifteen down the line. But

(09:46):
you you got to go and try to steal somebody
from somebody, maybe a Brian Kelly from LSU. And you go,
and I think Kelly's making what ten million a year?
You tell Brian Kelly come to Penn State, will give
you eleven point six. You know Kelly's feeling the heat
down there Penn State. And we know what Kelly does
when he starts to feel the heat, He rolls, he

(10:07):
moves on. Uh, so you know he's fill in the
heat at LSU. Why not go to Penn State? Now?
The question is, though, Ryan Kelly's never won a national championship,
So you.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
Know we'll give you another one.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
That a guy when when you want to win it, right,
is that a guy you go after?

Speaker 2 (10:25):
Look, Mike Norvell, I mean there's another name. I know
he hadn't had great success at Florida State. But I
think if you're Penn State, you're thinking to yourself, well,
he did make a run, and if this quarterback doesn't
get hurt, he might have a national championship. That's a
guy we we would like to talk to. I mean, look,
I think it's wide open where this situation goes, honestly,

(10:46):
and Norvelle's another name. Given the roller coaster ride that
he's been on in Tallahassee, that's probably trying to figure
out a way to better his situation. All right, let's
let's turn our attention back to the Tigers real quick,
this matchup against SMU. Obviously, Dabbosweeney saying on Wednesday after
practice K Clubnick was day to day. Then he was

(11:07):
hour to hour. Sween, you say he hopes he's minute
to minute. I mean quite frankly, will I guess in
the situation of life, we're all minute to minute. But
just second, I want to get too far ahead of schedule.
Tomorrow is not promised. But your thoughts on the K

(11:27):
Clubnick situation, I know you guys reported on it on
the Clemson Insider dot com. We talked with Tim Bray
about it seems to think that'll be a game time decision.
What are your thoughts on kage situation for tomorrow's matchup
against SMU.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, I mean, everything we've heard is gonna be a
game that is game time decision. I'll say this much
though it doesn't sound too good right now from what
we're here. Now, you know, it doesn't mean he's not
gonna play, doesn't mean he is gonna play. It's just that,
you know, I just know right now that there's you know,
it has has. Davo said, it's been a minute to

(12:06):
minute situation, you know, I mean it has, and uh
they uh, you know, they're trying to figure it out.
I know this much. I can tell you Cade wants
to play. I can tell you that, but it's not
up to Kate if he wants to play. You know,
you got to look out for his well being. And
uh so the trainers are gonna, you know, do everything
they can to get him ready. I know he's been

(12:28):
pushing hard, going through you know, everything to get himself ready.
But right now it just doesn't it doesn't look promising,
and so that's why I think it's just gonna be
a game time decision they're gonna go out there, I think,
and just see probably wrap it up tightly, see how
he does and if he can, you know, throw off
that back foot, they'll see what he can do. But

(12:50):
right now, it just doesn't doesn't look good for Clemson,
which means, you know, they got to make sure they
got somebody ready to go, and I think that's gonna be.
It's gonna have to be for Presena. I believe if
Kay's not able to go on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
Couple of things on that front. The game was in
control when k Clubney got hurt. Should he have been
in the ballgame at that point.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
In my opinion, the way the defense was playing at
that point, no. I I was surprised he was because
Davo's usually quick to pull the pull, the pull the
trigger on that right he gets them out of there.
And I don't know if it was like, hey, let's
go ahead and score here and then I'll pull you,
uh and we'll let Zena play the rest of the

(13:37):
play the whole fourth quarter, you know, I don't know.
But man, even if it will, even if you weren't
pulling him, why are you running quarterback?

Speaker 4 (13:46):
Draw?

Speaker 3 (13:48):
You know?

Speaker 5 (13:48):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (13:49):
I mean that that was a design quarterback run on
that play, Like, why why are you running that play?
Knowing you got your up twenty four, You're about to
score again at that point because you're inside the fire.
Why are you running your quarterback in that situation? Uh?
To me, he would have been better just to hand
the ball off right or to throw it because they

(14:10):
hadn't been able to touch them the whole night. So why
run it and brisk it when you could tell? And
I don't think they were doing this intentionally, but come on,
you see a quarterback running, You're getting your buck kicked already.
What are you gonna do?

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, I'm gonna way out the quarterback them up.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah. And so it was obvious Boston College was trying
to hit them hard. And I don't think they intentionally
meant to hurt them. I'm not saying that, but they
wanted to hit them. And and and his throat got
cut in the caught in the turf, and he got
rolled up on and you know, the worst scenario just
played out because you're playing SMU the next week, and
you know you're gonna need to at least score thirty
points to be that's up you. And I'm gonna tell

(14:48):
you right now, if a club it's not the quarterback,
they're not scoring thirty points on that Hue, I almost
to tell you that.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
And that that turns us to the next question I
have for you, U about Christopher of a Zena. Look,
the opportunities have been limited this year, and it's really
no fault of Bazena's own, right, I mean, he can't
control the poor performance by this team against Troy that
should have been a game where he got plenty of reps.

(15:17):
I can make an argument that he probably should have
had plenty of reps against Syracuse. Like, regardless of the outcome,
Clemson's still been the most talented team on the field
in every single game they played. My opinion, they haven't
performed that way, but you put them on paper and
games aren't played there, They've been the best team. Vazina
should have had more snaps, will And now you go

(15:39):
into this game where he's thrown fourteen passes this season.
If he's called on to do the job, like, even
if you assume that he could do the job, he
hasn't had a chance to really get his feet underneath him.
How significant is just that fact alone?

Speaker 3 (15:58):
And I think it's a major and it's a shame
that he wasn't able to get those reps, especially in
a game like Troy when you expected them to blow
them out. You know, if he would have, if they
would have dealt with us supposed to against Troy in
the first half. Right, then he plays against Troy. Then
he's got a basically a whole hilf against North Carolina, right,
and then I got a whole quarter against Boston College.

(16:20):
So you know that's what two for. That's five.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yes, a game is some change.

Speaker 5 (16:26):
Yeah, the game is some change.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
And that's that'll be. That's different, right, And I know
seeing some looks and seeing get some experience the last
couple of weeks is gonna help him. But he's going
up against an SMU team that's gonna I mean, if
you're SMU, I mean it's easy. I'm just loading the box.
I mean, and I'm Darren comes in to beat me
throwing football. I'll want to bring pressure on every play.

(16:50):
And I'm telling I'm telling Clemson you're not running the
ball today. Your backup quarterback is gonna have to beat me.
And he can't. He's gonna beat us dunking and Duncan, Right,
So that's the problem right now that Clemson has in
this game. And then you take a guy who doesn't
have the experience, like you're saying, and he's gonna see
some exotic looks and different blizz schemes coming at him.

(17:13):
Is he gonna be able to understand it all? You know?
I mean imagine, you know he's been throwing the fire
this week. Imagine the film study he's doing, Imagine the
practice he's doing. They're doing everything they can to ramp
him up and get him ready to play. And and
you know, maybe he comes out there and he's like
DJA when he started to get at Boston College and

(17:35):
he throws the football for three hundred and something yards,
And you know, maybe he's like DJ when they go
to Notre Dame and when he had to start for
Trevor Lawrence and he throws over four hundred yards. Or
you know, maybe he gets a Willie Simmons type or
or Chase Brice type performance. Right, we don't know. Or
he could go out there and just lay an egg

(17:55):
and it's bad. So that's the thing. You just don't
know what you're getting. And I think that's what's got
a lot of Clemson fans nervous because you know, I
don't know what other guest that told you or anything
like that, but this is Clemson loses this game. It's
historical because it marked the first time since nineteen seventy
and nineteen seventy one that Clemson lost five consecutive home

(18:20):
games to fight power for opponents. It would also be
the first time since two thousand and one that they
lost three home games in the same season. So we're
talking fifty five years, fifty four years in twenty four
years of things that haven't been done in Death Valley.

(18:41):
From a negative standpoint, that's what's staring Clemson in the
face right now. And the fact they would fall below
four or five hundred again and now they would officially
be out of the ACC race.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
Well, I'll tell you what, man, We got a break
coming up at about a minute. Want to get into
a couple more things, all put will on hold. We'll
come back with the will continue the conversation as we
get closer and closer to kick off of this Clemson
SMU match up.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
Again.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Last night, Clemson listing k Klubnick as questionable for this
contest against SMU of course, the Atlantic Coast Conference now
requires teams to put out that information questionable k Klubnick
and offensive line man Tristan Lee. The Tigers also have
a handful of guys that are out, but none of

(19:27):
that has changed over the past few weeks. As for SMU,
They've got Romelo Brinson, a wide receiver as questionable, Tyler
van Dyck quarterback back up listed as questionable, Jalen Davis Robinson,
a cornerback listed as questionable, and a couple guys Jordan

(19:50):
Hudson at wide receiver probable and PJ. Williams on the
offensive line as probable. All right, quick breat We'll come
back with more from Will Vanderwort right after this. Back
at it on a Friday after Clemson sports tal on
Swan Ain't know with you, Will Van Derfort on the
guest line hanging out with today from the Clemson Insider
on Twitter at steel Er Will and Will you were

(20:11):
talking about Clemson's home record and how good they've been
at home. I put an article together about that exact thing,
Clemson trying to reclaim the roar in Death Valley and
what's crazy about it is as good as Dabosweeny has
been Uh this is also the first time that he's
ever lost a singular game in four consecutive years during

(20:32):
his time at Clemson. I mean, he's been unbelievable. Will
they what they did after losing to Florida State fifty
one to fourteen, through that matchup where they got beaten
twenty twenty two by South Carolina going what like sixty
one and one, that one loss is coming to pitt
I mean, look, yeah, what was it? Yeah, it's it's

(20:55):
just like insane to believe. Yeah, right, It's it's like
saying to think when it's happening, though, you know, it's
funny when it's happening. And I said this, throughout the week,
you don't realize it's happening, you know what I mean,
Like you're in the moment and you don't the people
didn't leave the stadium and go man, but there you go,
thirty four in a row. It's just you just go, well,

(21:18):
that's a great win. I mean, the fans, I think,
kind of take that streak the way that Dabosweeney says
that you should take each game, every every weekend, right,
one game at a time. Very few people left the
venue going them thirty four thirty five. You know what
I mean. It's kind of crazy, it is.

Speaker 3 (21:36):
It just like they want. You know, if they don't
lose that game to pit they shatter Miami's record of
fifty five straight home wins, shatter it. And even with
that said, they're the only team in the last thirty
years to win forty home games in a row. That's

(21:58):
going all the way back to nineteen nine five, that's
when Miami streak ended. Nobody has come closer to Miami
streak than Clemson did. Right, and they would have shattered
it had it. Know whatn't been for a guy named
blew it in for Pittsburgh to get that field goal.
It's kind of ironic, but you know, they would have won.
They would have won sixty straight games right at home.

(22:23):
That's how they were fifty nine and one. Think about that.
That was from November fourteenth, twenty thirteen, to eleven, twenty six,
November twenty six, two thousand and six, two thousand.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
And twenty two.

Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah, they didn't they lost one home game. That's nine
years and two weeks. That's nine and a half, nine
years and a half month that they that they ended
up winning that many games at home fifty nine and one.
I think Clemson fans took it for granted. Yeah, now
now they've only won twelve, They've they've only won twelve

(23:01):
with their last eighteen. They're twelve and six since that
lost to South Carolina in twenty twenty two at home,
twelve and six, and they could be twelve and seven
after Saturday. Probably will be a kake clebnax.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
I'm playing Will Vanderwoard again. The Clemson Insider dot com
is the website. And to take I guess all those
crazy stats one step further with Clemson and winning at home.
The last time they won at home was October the nineteenth,
twenty twenty four, when Dabosweeny beat Tony Elliott, which will

(23:34):
be three hundred and sixty four days this Saturday. When
SMU comes in to think, you go from what we
just talked about to if you lose this game, it
will have been over a year since the Orange Clad
Faithful have seen a victory in Death Valley. And I
get it, you don't play football year round, but still

(23:56):
that's also just mind blowing.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
Well, not a victory that's not been a victor of.

Speaker 2 (24:01):
Or power for right, right. Sorry, yeah, yeah you don't. Yeah, yeah,
that's that's also crazy and.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
That that's crazy and that means something because you know,
you want to that's your peers. So you're saying Clempson
hasn't beat any of its peers in almost a year,
you know, when this game is kicked off on Saturday.
That's that's that's mind blowing. You know, they haven't beat
anybody at home of any significance in over a year.
And that's something I never thought out of here. Uh

(24:30):
kind of ironic that it was Tony Elliott. He beats
having a great season and they're playing for an ACC
championship possibly. Uh you know, so it's kind of crazy.
And he's a Clemson grad and a former Climpson player
and a former Clemson assistant national championship coach. I mean,
you know, it's just nuts that that's the one but

(24:51):
or the last one. So yeah, I think, you know,
if Clemson's gonna win this game, I think the fans
got to come in and at least inspire their defense
because that's how they're gonna win it, right, getting getting turnovers,
getting short fields, you know, maybe getting a scoop and
score or an interception return for a touchdown. Right, that's
how if Clemson wins this game, that's how they win it.

(25:14):
Things that you don't count on happening happen because and listen,
we've seen crazier things in Death Valley. You know, I
don't think anybody thought dj Ouing Longlay was gonna throw
for three hundred something yards and lead Clemson back from
twenty eight to ten to be Postle College that day.
But he did, right. You know, I don't think anybody
thought Woody Dancelerer was gonna come in when Brandon Streeter

(25:36):
got hurt in that game against North Carolina one year
and just bald right shampering down the sideline, one legging
it as he goes into the insole. You know, show
we've seen crazy things happen in Death Valley with the
backup quarterback, and you know, maybe this is one of

(25:56):
those times. Who knows. You know, by the way, did
any of us think Clinton was gonna come back and
beat Sarah Hughes when Trevor Lawrence got hurt and Chase
Bryce came in. Chase Bryce is a legend now, right,
you know, he he can walk into any bar in
Clemson and he's getting free drinks.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
All night, right, shoe.

Speaker 3 (26:16):
You never know? Remember Willie Simmons that North Carolina when
he Dancedler Goes gets hurt. Crimson's down seventeen to nothing.
What happened?

Speaker 2 (26:25):
Four touchdowns?

Speaker 4 (26:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (26:27):
Yeah, yeah, it throws four touchdowns.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
And everybody's going, Everybody's going, why isn't this Willie Simmons
got playing? I remember that, Like everybody was like, what
in the world.

Speaker 3 (26:38):
Exactly? So you never know what could happen, which is
what makes that weird shaped football so crazy and why
we all love it as much as we do. But
let's just call it what it is. With the offensive
firepower s and U has coming in here, it's gonna
be a challenge for Clemson to win this game with

(26:58):
al k Clubnick and the thing that sucks about Atton
is their secondary is track.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, they're bad.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
They're bad. Last in the acc and passing defense.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
That's Will Vandervoort from the Clemson inside. All right, we'll
put Will on hole will come back. I want to
get some more insight into this SMU defense. Obviously substandard
when it comes down to their ability to defend the pass,
especially in that secondary We'll get some more thoughts on
the Mustangs with Will Van Dervoort right after this. Keep

(27:32):
it locked, Lawton Swan back with you on a Friday,
Will Van Dervoort on the guest line again. Don't forget
about our friends at Alumni Hall on the corner of
campus on College Avenue in downtown Clemson. It's Alumni Hall
for all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise hats, t shirts,
tell Gate, gearmore. Go check them out today or online
at Alumni Hall dot com. Man I told you guys

(27:56):
you can maybe see me in there this weekend. Unfortunately,
I gotta be in Virginia or some soccer that finally
got put together talk about late in the game. So
I'll be in Virginia. But you can still venture into
Alumni Hall. Tell them Swane Sincha and make sure that
you sign up for their Alumni Hall Rewards program. It's

(28:18):
Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. All right, Well, you
were talking about the SMU defense and you were mentioning
how bad they were or are against the downfield pass.
And you know, with Kate Klebnik that would be a
good thing. Without him, it may not matter. Tell us
a little bit more about that defense.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
Now, they got two very good defensive ends. They do
pretty good jobs stopping to run. Their linebackers are pretty good,
but their secondary is awful. I mean awful. But it
doesn't matter because if you don't got anybody that can
throw the ball to your wide receivers or have time
to throw because again, I know people by the way
sm music and challenge ons and people are gonna be like,

(28:56):
oh close this off his last suck again, dude blocking
eight guys and there's only five of them. There's just like,
there's no way they can do it, you know what
I'm saying. That's the kind of that's the kind of
look they're gonna get in this game. And if he can,
now here's the beautiful thing. If he gets time and
he makes the throws, they're gonna be wide open wide
receivers running that secondary will.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
One of my final things for you, would you take
the ball first? If Caid can't play, would you take
the ball first? I say absolutely?

Speaker 3 (29:28):
I say no, whoa, I think.

Speaker 2 (29:31):
Okay, well we can debate this. Talk to me.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
Yeah. And well, because have you seen anything out of
Christopher Zena that says he's gonna go down and score touchdown.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
No, but I don't want him to have the ball
if he's down either.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
But but here's the thing. If your defense goes out
there and you get a three and out and you
get a turnover, now you just jazzed up the crowd. Okay,
you got the crowd going and you got momentum, especially
if you get a turnover right off the bat, which
is what they did last year in AFTC Championship. Right.

Speaker 4 (30:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
So that's that's why I say you put your best
unit on the field. If Kate Clubmick, of course, you
put Kate club Mick in in the offense because I
think that's your best unit. Okay, right, but right now,
But if Kate Clemmick ain't there to drive the ship,
you know, then you got to put your best unit
on until that's your defense. Then at that point, wow,

(30:20):
and you let your defense try to set the tone.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Okay, so let's go. Worst case they go down to score.
How do you feel about putting vizine and down.

Speaker 3 (30:29):
Seven, same way I did when it was zero zero.
I don't feel good at all. It don't matter because
you're the result is gonna be the same. You're gonna
go three and out in front. Probably.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Oh, you got to give him a little more credit
than that, will I mean, you gotta give him a
little more credit than that.

Speaker 3 (30:48):
Tell me, tell me, tell me why. The first play
he throws last week against Boston College he throws an interception.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Okay, I'll give you that. I'll give you the why.
I'll tell you why. Yeah, you played, you played sports.
I don't know if you played basketball, But you don't
come in off the bench shooting. You know the rule.
You gotta get warmed up. I mean, the poor guy
had to come in and throw a pass on the
second play of the game. Give him, give him get
warmed up, gotta get his feet under him.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
Well, what was his excuse at North Carolina the week
before when he throws two passes in the end zone
that should have been interception and he's thrown it to
six eight guy that should you gotta throw the outside
shoulder to get it. And then yet he's throwing it
like shore arm in it, you know, I mean, like,
come on, he was putting warmed up on those plays.
I haven't seen it. He's seven of fourteen. Now, granted

(31:36):
he ain't had very many reps yeah, but the reps
we're seeing aren't good. I mean, he's seven or fourteen
passing the ball for thirty seven yards and.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
Come on, he might have something called pumachon disease.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
That's what I'm That's kind of what I'm saying here.
Remember remember Pitt. That's all you gotta tell people, Remember
Pitt the.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
Well. I hope you're I hope, I hope you're I
hope you're wrong. I hope you're wrong on visine. I
hope this has just been a h a blip on
the proverbial radar, and opportunity for him long here.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
Listen, here's the it's I think the best chance for
Clemson to win is to make it like a spring
game and your defense gets points for like sacks and
stuff that. I just don't think it's gonna be very good.
If Christopher Zena's your start quarterback and you got to
go try to win a game, I'm just, I just

(32:36):
I don't think it's gonna be good.

Speaker 2 (32:38):
Will Van Dervoort, the Clemson Insider. Follow him on Twitter
at Steeler Will will Man always appreciate you, thanks for
making time with us here on a Friday afternoon and
I won't be in death Valley. I got soccer in
the state of Virginia. And if Christopher Visin is the
quarterback based off of your assessment, it's probably best that
I'm not there.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
Yeah, I hope I'm wrong, but maybe you probably be
in a better situation to me, as I'm trying to
figure out how brighten the.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
Story, Will van der Vort, thanks, will always appreciate you,
my man.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
All right, appreciate you. Man.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
There you go. That's Will Van de Vort. Uh, don't go,
don't go spread into rumor that K club he's got
Pumachan's disease. I mean, that sounds like something that sounds
like something bad. Just means he doesn't throw the football
very well. God y, that's like. Look when when Sweety

(33:35):
said day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute,
that sounds like you're getting better, right, I mean, doesn't
that sound like you're improving? I mean, unless you're on
your deathbed. Well, well, mister Swan, he's day to day. Oh,

(33:56):
I hate to tell you, he's now hour to hour.
Get minute the minute? Aren't we all? Aren't we all.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
Minute the minute?

Speaker 2 (34:09):
I mean seriously, But anyway, it sounded like cab was
getting better. But then of course Timberray tells us, Hey,
this is gonna be a gonna be a tight situation,
game time decision. Yeah, I guess we'll see how it

(34:33):
all shakes out up in Tigertown. All right, eight zero
three four five zero zero eighty six. That is the
text line in the phone line again with a quick
break here on a Friday afternoon, don't forget Tommy Bowden
said to join the program. In our number two plus,
we'll rehash some of our conversation from earlier this week
with Chad Morris. That segment has been a hit. Really

(34:55):
wanted to work some of it into hour number one
as a matter of fact. You know what we might
do that we can actually put that into the mix
when we get back a little bit from Chad Morris
right after this final segment of our one coming up,
Tommy Bowden joins us on a Friday. You know, one
of the segments in twenty minutes that people are loving

(35:16):
is Chad Morris, former Clemson offensive coordinator, joining us. We'll
play a little bit of our conversation with him from
earlier in the week right here in our number one
coach Welcome in the Virginia Cavaliers off of a bye week.
Of course, your son, Chandler the quarterback there. I'm sure
you've been in communications with him as he rested up
as well as you can be at this point in

(35:37):
the year.

Speaker 4 (35:38):
You know he is, I mean, he's like everybody else.
You know, when you're when you're six games in, everybody's
got some bumps and bruises on you. And you know
he's no different. Obviously, he's he's laid his body on
the line as a bunch of those kids I have,
uh and uh, and just to be able to have
an off week to kind of recover. They still practice,
and don't get me wrong on that, they still practicing,

(36:00):
got after it pretty good. But uh, but to be
able to just from a mental grind and mental break.
You know, they've been going since what first of August,
so eleven straight weeks and and uh, but uh, he's healthy,
knock on wood. We're very blessed for that. And uh,
you know, trying to make a stretch run here the
final six weeks.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yeah, a little out of conference game is Washington State
will come across the country on the c W at
six thirty for everybody that wants to tune in and
see the Virginia Cavaliers Tony Elliott, Chandler Morris. And so
that kind of takes me to our first text question.
We had a text come in. These segments have been
a hit with our listeners. They want to know what
specifically are you doing coach for Virginia. You've mentioned a

(36:41):
couple of times that you're kind of helping them out.
I think you said something last week maybe about some
third down stuff, But but talk us through kind of
this role that you've got as father and uh, I
guess what would you call the other job? Just sort of.

Speaker 4 (36:55):
Yeah, can I get you know, an offensive consultant to
the assault peak you know, yep, yeah. So really what
that entails is is just the ability you know, obviously
my relationship with Tony and and you know my relationship
with Coach Kitchens, the offensive coordinator. You know, they came
to me during the summer and just said, look, man,

(37:17):
we would love for you to be a part. Obviously
you've you've done at a high level and had a
lot of success, and we would love for you to
just kind of be a part and and kind of
future scouting kind of look at look ahead for stay ahead,
maybe look at third and look at third down, look
at red zone, and how you would attack the opponent,

(37:39):
and and really kind of evolved into you know, just
do it as if you would gain planet and give
us your reports. Uh And so I have What I
do is is I give them a series of broke
be where I break down the opponent from a personnel
standpoint and have all that to them on Sunday nights.

(38:00):
And it's it's really it's it's it's a one pager.
I want it real simple, really easy for those guys
to read. They're getting a lot of reports, are getting
a lot of you know, in dated with a lot
of a lot of of data, and I want mine
to be, hey, this is this is to the point.
And uh So I'll look at some different formations that
the way I would attack the the future opponent. I'll

(38:24):
look at and I'll usually try to give them about
four or five bullet points of what I see through
the course of a game plan. So for example, you know,
you one of the bullet points may be you know,
using tempo after a big play, uh and and and
using some unbalanced formation in that tempo set. It may

(38:45):
be shifts and motions. So those are those are different
things that as I watch an opponent and I go
through like formations that I that that that we know
that that Virginia uses, and and that I'll say, hey, look,
I really like this. And I'll go as far as
is breaking down plays and putting them in a cut

(39:07):
up and getting those plays with a description of what
I see to coach Kitchens on Sunday nights so he's
able to have them on Sunday nights, be ready to
look at him again Monday mornings. And then then through
the course of the week. You know, I do something
real simple. I kind of go through what has the

(39:27):
opposing quarterbacks had success with and saved zone coverage, man coverage?
What have they struggled with in pressure situations? So it
gives us an idea of okay, well, you know, let's
say we're playing Washington State. Washington State has had success

(39:48):
and pressure in the quarterbacks from the left side, and
the completion percentage of a quarterback throwing to his left
when they pressure is like thirty percent as opposed to
seventy five percent thrown to the right. So you know,
we would look at how you how you you know
formation that to right, you know, get your quarterback protection

(40:09):
is left, so different things like that. And then I
just give them ideas of plays that I see that
I like that, I know that fits into their verbiage
in terminology.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
Now we're we're obviously in the digital era. This is
not the old days where you know, the coaches were
like meeting in Wagner Sally to pass off the film
of the Blackville Hilda game or something like that. I'm
assuming this is like done through a certain software or
something that coaches can share. I mean, is this twenty
two man film or oh yeah.

Speaker 4 (40:37):
Yeah, yeah, I have I have access. Yes, absolutely, that's
a great question. So basically everything's called it's it's a
system called Catapult, and I have access. They've given me.
They grant me full cart blanc of access of of
all practice film, all game film, all all opponent film

(40:59):
and really again and then Coach Kitchens and coach other
you know, they want me to to and I do
it at the end of every game. Is is they
want to know what I saw during the game. And
you know, like Coach Kitchens is really good about okay,
you know he's he's waiting Sunday morning or Saturday night
late when I send him my email of Okay, hey,

(41:22):
I think you could have done this or we could
have done that against you know, the the opponent we
just faced. Or I'll say something like, you know, like
for example against Louisville, Florida State. You know, it may
be something as simple as coach, I really like how
we attack them. I think I thought you did a
good job in these areas. Uh, maybe you can expand

(41:43):
more on some you know, vertical shots down the field
or whatever that may be. So not only am I
looking at future opponents, I'm also giving my my analysis
of our own game film.

Speaker 2 (41:57):
All right, well, hit a quick break. We'll go from
one former head coach to another as Tommy Bowden joins
the program right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen under
the Midlands, and of course, Clemson's sports Talk can be
heard around the world on the iHeartRadio application. Keep it locked,
and don't forget to subscribe to our podcast. I don't
tell you that enough. Go over to your favorite podcast

(42:19):
app and search for Clemson Sports Talk. Stay with us.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
Each time for Clipson Sports Talk with luwten Schwan.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
It is our number two. That's drivetime right here on
the Show That Shakespare south Land, Clemson Sports Talk, Long
Swine hang out with you on a Friday afternoon to
get Tommy Balden, former Clemson Tiger head coach, joins us momentarily,
and the Show That Shakespare south Land brought to you
in part our good friends over at Mets Plumbing mets
plumb dot com two six seven one aweight. Give them

(43:27):
a call today. That's Mets Plumbing two to six seven
one o eight without further ado. Tommy Bowmen join us
on a Friday. Coach, welcome in. I hope you're having
a great week.

Speaker 5 (43:37):
Yeah, and you know it's guys. I saw I saw
red something yesterday. Starting Tuesday, a couple of days ago,
there's a college or pro game owns TV forty nine
straight days. Well, so this is the best best time
of year that.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
Hey, listen, that's great if you like like football, and
heck for you with the contracts, with the contracts they
are handing out the guys like Kirk Signette, you get
ninety three million dollars. Maybe Tommy Bellden's back on the
sideline soon.

Speaker 5 (44:05):
Yeah, I texted him, I said, Kurt you're not gonna
need you so security now.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Yeah right, Hey, I know who's paying for the next
time y'all go out to a dinner.

Speaker 5 (44:15):
Yeah, it did definitely be him, no doubt, I promise you.

Speaker 2 (44:18):
So let's talk a little bit about that, the scale
of these contracts, and we can get into James Franklin
in a minute as well, kind of the opposite side
of it. But I put out a post yesterday on
social media. I mean, this is Indiana coach committing ninety
three million dollars to their football head coach. There was
a time in sports where you could be considered a

(44:40):
basketball school. But with the way college football is really
pushing the envelope, it's hard for anybody, including Indiana, Kansas, Duke,
et cetera, to not focus on football.

Speaker 5 (44:54):
You know, I like it. Then a little bit Texas
Tech somehow hooked into that one billionare and he has
he has just like a rocket shot into the top.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
And in facilities, facilities.

Speaker 5 (45:07):
The best I've seen. And then did they a were
access quality portal players that give you depth and plus
they're great, great players. And in Indiana, Uh, they've got
a guy obviously, uh that said, hey, let's do it right,
and it might be a couple of them. And I imagine,
like most universities, the president answers to a board and

(45:29):
the board of trustees makes these decisions. And I can
remember being a Clemson there was one or two board
board of trustees, one particular that I always talked to
that told me how things were. You know, they do
have a chance to get this building. Is it going
to go through you know, ways to present UH facilities
request at least at least for me. And recruiting, we

(45:50):
had some a little bit stricter recruiting UH academic requirements.
I was trying to battle. But I would imagine there's
some guys on the board in Indiana said hey, and
it might be a new guy's got a lot of money,
but somebody's got a lot of money because it's gonna
really cost him because now the staff has got to
go up and then the facilities is going to be
the biggest. But it looks like they've made a serious commitment.

Speaker 2 (46:13):
And I guess the other side of the commitment is
protecting that asset right from other people. So Indiana, I
mean again, I don't know how these board meetings go
and how these conversations take place, but they might just
be saying, Hey, we're gonna hedge our bets on this
because Signetti's potentially an investment for us. If somebody else

(46:34):
has to buy out his contract, we may never pay
ninety three million, but we might get paid big money
if Penn State, somebody else whoever ends up saying no, no, no,
we'll go ahead and put the bill to bring him in.
I mean this could also be sort of I don't know,
hedging your bets a little bit. Maybe I don't really
understand it all. It's a lot of money, but I mean,
what would you say to that?

Speaker 5 (46:55):
As I think if you look at the personality and
the background of the of the person that you're dealing with,
you know, if Kurt were in his forties and it
was coming as he just got in as a coordinator
from a big school and he sat the year two,
then you know there's a good chance. And he's from
the South, you know there's a good chance that guy's
gonna move. Now if you look at Kurt's background, I

(47:17):
think it is Elon Gardner with Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
I think those are three head coaching jobs. James Madison Elon,
and there was another oh Indiana, James Madison Elon University
of Indiana, Pennsylvania, where his dadd was the head coach.
He goes to Indiana at sixty three. You know, there's
not a lot more moves in him, and then kind

(47:40):
of like Dabbo, I looked at him a little bit
like Dad. But Terry Don made a great uh lead
a leap of faith by taking the guys' never been
a coordinator his first year he goes six and seven
and then teething in it and then say, so, I
think that's why I don't think Dad will ever leave.
I think he's gonna be tremendously loyal to Clemson, and

(48:04):
I think Kurt Sinnetti is going to be the same way.
I would thank Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he spent
his last for several years a head coach, where his
dad was a head coach, is somehow tied into Indiana University.
I'm assuming so he's got a little bit of history there.
But you look at his age, look at his movement,

(48:25):
and I would think that I would think they'd be
pretty secure in a long term commitments. We're taking those
things into consideration.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
And again Kirk Signetti, looking back at his career, obviously
played at West Virginia where you also played, just a
couple of years behind you, a couple of years behind
your father's tenure there, coached in the ACC at NC State,
had some great quarterbacks at NCY State while you were
at Clemson, and then spent some time in Alabama as
well on Nick Saban's staff.

Speaker 5 (48:56):
Yeah, with Kirby Smart, him, Kirby Smart on the staff
together and Nick and of course and you know, he
he had know his dad's you know, lord, his dad
was a really uh particular on details, a really really
organized guy. And so Kurt has inherited that. And then

(49:16):
he's been around a guy like Nick Saban, and uh,
I think Chuck a Made was who he was with
in the state, I believe. So well, he's been out
some guys and learned some things. But those years and
with his pedigree, and of course, you know, like I said,
his dad hired Nick Saban, So I'm sure Nick got
him down there and him in a position but to

(49:38):
learn a lot. So uh, he he's used that to
his max. His DNA is organization and and and he
knows exce's and those. His dad used to call me
all the time at clemtson, Hey tell me what you're
doing new I saw you playing. How'd you do this?

Speaker 3 (49:55):
His dad?

Speaker 5 (49:56):
His dad twenty years older than me, but just ticking
my brain and got peace payper and I had to
draw it up for him. And I imagine Kurt's a
lot of that attention to detail himself.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
Man, that's awesome again. Tommy Bowden sharing some thoughts on
Kirk Signetti getting a ninety three million dollar contract that'll
make him one of the highest paid coaches in college
football roughly eleven point six million dollars a year. Coach,
let's talk about the other side of it, and you've
been on it to a degree. I actually I don't
know if it was because James Franklin got fired this week,

(50:29):
but the press conference when you resigned, I guess from
your job at Clemson because Terry Don Philips made it
clear in that press conference that you were not fired.
I don't know how you look at it now, but
that was the statement he made then. But think about
from James Franklin's side, right, You've been in a school
for a long time, much like you your kids, your

(50:52):
your kids had graduated from Clemson at that point. How
difficult is the situation like that on your family? Forget
the coach for a minute, what what about the family,
the wife who has poured into players and recruits and
and and everything, and and your own children. I mean,
how difficult is that for them when something like this happens,
even though it is a part of the job.

Speaker 5 (51:14):
I think a lot of it's got to do with
their age. You know, if you've got really really young children,
they are oblivious to it. My children are in college
at Clemson, so they really had to be aware of it.
My wife is a veteran. She's moved around a lot
and been around all kind of environments. Whereas assistant you
let go. Are you're on a staff at the head
coaches let go? So uh and you're not doing good?

(51:35):
You know, so you he She hears the criticism, whether
it's defense, offense, your your your your husband. You know,
I might not I might have just been assistant or
a coordinator, you know. So a wife is more prepared. Uh,
Your children aren't. And I think the older they get,
the harder it is. The younger they get easy. It
is because they don't quite understand the situation, but it's

(51:59):
a it's a kind of unique situation.

Speaker 2 (52:04):
Now, this is a strange question. I do want to
get back to a more serious part of it. But
what do you do with all the gear? Like I
know Brent Vinnables when he went to Oklahoma, he was
looking for people that were his size, like in the
department to give them shoes and clothes. I mean, what
do you do with all the Clemson gear. I'm sure
you keep some, but you got I mean it has
to be.

Speaker 5 (52:22):
I've got Clemson stuff now because Fawns and when Swaans
was there would send me something, ad send me something now,
and they got nice stuff. But when I left Tulane,
I remember getting all my two lane stuff, take it
down the front hall, invite some players over and say hey, y'all,
take take whatever you want, because hey, tench usually just
the best stuff, right. And then Clemson, I think had

(52:43):
gave away a lot of people that were cleaning my
house and players that were dropped by just gave it away.
I didn't bring very much with me. I have. I
have a small little package of clenching stuff now, but
most of it's gone because you know, when I went
to when I was coach of Alabama and I went
to Auburn, Well, you surely can't wear Auburn stuff for Alabama.

(53:06):
And then I actually coached to Auburn before I went
to Alabama, so I couldn't wear my Auburn stuff for
that Alabama. So, uh, I remember, I remember when I
Alabama Bill Bill Curry and he brought his whole staff
from Georgia Tech and one on more Georgia Tech shirt
and he said, I get that, you know, get that
off there.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
That soundsteading.

Speaker 5 (53:29):
Yeah, you gotta get you gotta get gotta get rid
of it, you know you cause uh you know, well
they won't tell you. You know that you have to be
so committed. And one of the ways show commitment is
is you wear the logo school's logo. There's a little
bit of doubt in the decision if you start wearing
another team's logo even though you just got it, you
might because usually you go to another school after you've

(53:50):
been successful at a bowl game. Now he's a higher
coach has been successful, so you just go to.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
A bowl game.

Speaker 5 (53:55):
Well, a lot of times you don't get that bowl
stuff until you know a couple of weeks after or
you're at your job and you're getting boxes of both
stuff just left. You'd like to wear it once, you know,
before you got to throw it away, right.

Speaker 2 (54:08):
Yeah, we earned that. Oh man, Tommy Ballden again on
Twitter at Tommy Ballot and go follow him today hanging
out with us for a few minutes. So James Franklin
loses his job after.

Speaker 5 (54:20):
Picture, I text you.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
No, no, I'm looking right now. I'm looking right now
on the phone. But James Franklin loses his job, coach,
And you know, I think for fans and for people
that are just going to the nine to five, you know,
they say to themselves, hey, this is a this is
a situation that I would love. I'd love to be
fired and make forty seven million dollars. What is that

(54:46):
like for a person? Like for the individual, I mean,
he's going to be handsomely compensated. And do contracts in
all contracts have a deal where you have to go
out and pursue a job. Because that also came up
that he has to try to get a job.

Speaker 5 (55:00):
Yeah, but you know guys like him. My of course
severage package was nearly anything like that. But but still
you consider yourself a fair flure and and and that's
the biggest thing on your mind. You know, I didn't
get it done. They hired me to do a job
when I when I left, it was more of a failure.

(55:22):
I thought to Bobby Robinson, who hired me, My staff,
my support staff, and the players are the size of Man.
I felt so that because I did not get it done,
you don't think about the compensation of about now. Mine's
not nearly was not nearly as big right there. If
I would have been fifty fifty million, I might have
thought about it. That was a lot of things I

(55:43):
walked out the door, But I think most of the
things going through is man. It was like you know
most people, uh probably mix Saving when he left the
Dolphins and Steve Spurriyer when he left the Pros. You know,
there's that there's that sense of of not you know,
not not being successful and forgot that lives on competition

(56:04):
and success. That that that kills more than anything. Now.
The good thing is at least the way I took it,
it's a forty eight hour story. After forty eight hours,
it's gone. That's for forty and that's that's the way
I looked at it, I say, got my stuff, went
down the beach to see if I see if I'm
with forty eight hours and then then the new guy's
there and life goes on. You know, I'm sure it's Franklin.

(56:27):
See fennch Day will play this week and all the
conversation will be on the game, and then who's going
to place Franklin instead of him?

Speaker 2 (56:36):
Now I'm looking at this picture you texted me of
you and James Franklin. When was this?

Speaker 5 (56:42):
Well, first of all, he's a lot younger than me,
but you can't tell by that body. I guess that's
right a million months And feel free to give that
to whoever you want to down there in Clemson, Land.
But I lived he had a house close to me
on it when I when I lived on the beach.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
I got to see him walking by.

Speaker 5 (56:59):
He walked by and and we'd we'd talk a little bit.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
I can't I can't post it too soon, coach. They'll
be like, man, Franklin is already hitting the beach.

Speaker 5 (57:09):
Yeah house, you know, And that's like I said, that's
where I went. Because you need to get away from
everything and chart your career, you know, he's gonna be
getting calls from Junior Tech and maybe some of these
other schools, and he's gonna have to get his thoughts together.
And there's so many things going on in college at
Penn State right now that a lot of times it's
best just get away. I got away with with my wife,

(57:31):
and you know, after the season, I always came down
here and that's where I you know, interviewed with schools.
Arkansas was one and uh uh uh, I don't know nothing.
That might have been one or two more. But when
I was down here after after the season, just kind
of get my thoughts together, not leaving, but just say
that's kind of what you do you getting ready to

(57:53):
go in ste it could teach your staff and your
team and uh but I remember coming down here and
meeting with Athlete director Ark saw carried on being aware
of it. But again and James Franklin could easy come
down here and meet schools down here and it's a
little more private.

Speaker 2 (58:10):
Also well, and speaking of guys that have been in
the Atlantic Coast Conference, James Franklin was at Maryland when
you were coaching at Clemson, and I know Mike Locksley's
there now and under a lot of pressure. That's a
that might be a job. Because he coached under Ralph
Frigan right at Maryland. I believe really good.

Speaker 5 (58:32):
That's the first time I've heard his name is they
had an offensive coach. It was really a sharp guy.
I didn't know who he was. And then all as
I saw it, that guy who that guy was? It
was him leaves to go to I think from there
to the Vandy to take the head coaching job. I
think he left Maryland to go to Vandy as a
head coach.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
I think, let's see the second time around, Yeah he did.
He He was at Maryland from two thousand and four
and went to the Packers for a couple of years,
and then went to Kansas State, Maryland, then Bandy to
take the head coaching job. So actually he would have
coached against you twice technically, I think at Maryland.

Speaker 5 (59:09):
Yeah. Yeah, but that's why I heard his name. I said, yeah,
I have never met him until I saw him down
there to the beach. You had a little more time
on my hand at that six of time.

Speaker 2 (59:23):
Right, Well, final thing, k Clubnet got banged up on
a play. I can argue whether or not he should
have been in the game. Late in the third quarter
of the game, Clemson that control at Boston College. The
betting number on this game has shifted significantly. The rumors
of speculation are that he may not play tomorrow. How

(59:43):
important is it for Clemson if kay Clubnit can't go
to get not only I guess Christopher Zina settled in,
but how much do they change things up to maybe
protect Zena from maybe having to be a downfield rower
at this point or do you think they just hey,
let her rip and see what he can do well?

Speaker 5 (01:00:05):
O the two ways I think the team's gonna respond.
Number one, I'm not sure there's the level of skill
set between the two guys. Sure they're we have to
pay it back a little bit because the first tam
quarterback gets all the work and you can't work on
the same amount of plays as a second team as
you do the first teamer.

Speaker 3 (01:00:21):
But I'm sure that.

Speaker 5 (01:00:21):
Second teamer has a has a package. And then the
other thing. You really challenge your team, and every every
coach does this long and it's a plus for the
team that hasn't injured quarterback. You really challenge the rest
of your team to to play at a higher level.
We need a little more protection out of running backs.
One of you seers is gonna have to make great catch. Hey,
we need to punt attorney to kick return. We've got

(01:00:43):
to help your offense out defense. We're gonna need two
more third down stops. We're gonna need to give the
offense two more third downs because we're having a quarterback situation.
So there are challenges to your team that really can
really help you in a situation like this, So they
might have to minimize some of their play selection. I'm
like I said, I'm not familiar with the skill set, right,
but he'll have his team challenge and ready to go

(01:01:05):
to pick up the slack.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
So I guess my final question on that we only
have about a minute, but this will be a quick one.
As a coach, whether your backup quarterback, would you want
the ball first or would you want to play defense first.

Speaker 5 (01:01:17):
You know, usually you like to play defense first because
you get it last. And I think that thing, I
think it will always change depending on who you play
a quarterback, because if you want to if you want
it first because you got a new quarterback, though that's
not the No. One for most people, that means you
probably will come out and throw some little, you know,
some little rinky deep passes to give them confidence. So

(01:01:38):
I don't know if you really help yourself that much.
If you if you take it for you, for the
for the good of a new quarterback, because the percentage
you say, hey, kick off and take it first to
second half and about after you play a new guy,
he'd be a little more under himself start the second
half in the first half.

Speaker 2 (01:01:59):
Tom Balden, coach, have a great weekend. Thank you so
much for your insight, the connections to James Franklin and
Kirk signetty that that could not have been better. F Yeah,
I'll do it. I'll do it. Take care of coach, Yes, sir,
great segment there with Tommy Balden, quick breat We'll come
back with more on a Friday afternoon, Lawton swam back
with you on a Friday. That was Tommy Bowden before

(01:02:22):
the break and before that, I played a little bit
of our time with former Clipson offensive coordinator Chad Morris.
We'll give you a little bit more of that here
on a Friday afternoon. How differently do you see it
when you watch Chandler from the stands versus when you
go back and watch the film. I mean, do you

(01:02:42):
like I feel like as a consumer of the sport,
I watch with a pretty narrow lens of the ball.
When you're watching it from the stands as a fan,
how or in a supporter of your son, how are
you seeing it? Are you seeing it like a coach
or are you kind of seeing it like you think
we see it?

Speaker 4 (01:02:58):
Well, my wife gives me a hard time. And first
of all, I don't smoke. But if I did smoke,
as nervous as I get in the stands and I'm
watching him play, I would probably smoke a cartner cigarettes
during the game. If I did smoke. I don't smoke,
but that's how it worked up.

Speaker 2 (01:03:13):
You get red Bull, Red Bull and bubble gum, coach
Bull and bubble gum. Yeah, no doubt.

Speaker 4 (01:03:20):
The only problem is, and thank goodness if they don't
sell red Bull and the concession stands or I'd just
be hammering out. But you know, you know that that's
I usually get there. Let me kind of take you
through my routine. I usually get there. My wife wears
me out over it because I gotta be at the
I got to be at the stadium when the gates open,
so I'm there an hour and a half. I'm watching

(01:03:40):
them walk the field. I'm watching the opponent walk the field.
I gotta watch warm up, and I'm sitting up in
the stands and I'm literally because of the reports I've sent,
I already know where the key players are, who they are,
So I'm watching them work out or work warm up,
and then as the game gets going, I'm I'm usually
obviously i'll watch Chandler, but I pre snap. I'll always

(01:04:03):
i'm straight looking defense, and when the ball snap, I
get my eyes back to channeler and I'm pretty good.
I'm pretty good about being able to identify like and
Paula like, you know, she just has to sit by
me and listen, bless her heart. But it'll be something like, oh,
oh here comes feel pressure, feel pressure, feel pressure. Channel
get rid of it, get rid of rid of it.
And it's usually I'm talking through the entire game of

(01:04:26):
what I'm seeing and uh. And that's why we sit
by ourself and nobody sits around us because they'll think
I'm crazy and uh, or it'll be like oh here
it comes, here, it comes. They're they're fixing and bring
house Splitz house splits. Oh my, you better get rid
of it, and you know something like that, or it's
covered two, don't throw that ball, don't throw it. Oh
he threw it, Dad, gummet Chandler. You know something like that.

(01:04:47):
You know it's something right, But yeah, that's the way
that that I look at pre snap, I look at
the defense. You just start with the boundary safety. That's
after I see the front what they're in, four down,
three down, over under. Then I'll keep my eye on
the boundary safety and watch his body language, watch his rotation.
Already's rotating to the middle of the field. All right,
there's probably gonna be some type of cover three single high.

(01:05:10):
Look all right, you know how are we going to
attack that? So yeah, it's it's a it's a it's
like watching film and in live, except I can't rewind it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:19):
We did have another test coming kind of wanted to
know what what's next for you? I mean, there's obviously
a lot going on with Chandler's career, certainly opportunity for
him to potentially play in the NFL. I mean, what's
next for you and what exactly are you up to?
For those people that haven't heard our segments here with
you on the show.

Speaker 4 (01:05:38):
Well, you know what I'm up to right now, obviously,
you know, as we just spoke, I'm helping Virginia. We've
got you know, when I left Clemson and went to SMU,
we wound up buying a ranch in east of Dallas
and uh slowly grew it. Then we run a lot
of cows, a lot of horses. So I'm I'm We're
usually out out here at our ranch and you know,

(01:06:01):
the cows could really care less about third and six.
They don't care, you know. All they want me to
do is make sure I feed them, you know, and
in same way with the horses. But you know, yeah,
I just feel like I've got you know, I'm just
so thankful Virginia's allowed me to be a part and
help them out, and you know, to scratch that itch,
you know that I still have and I love the

(01:06:22):
game of football. I feel like I've I've got a
knack for for calling plays and a knack for game
planning and helping coaches grow and helping kids grow. You know,
I'm gonna wait and see. We'll see what happens in
this next cycle. Obviously, it's going to be a huge cycle,
probably one of the biggest ones maybe ever to see
what's next and whether that being a head coaching role

(01:06:44):
or whether that be in a coordinator role. You know,
I'm I'm definitely wide open to that, and I feel
like that's what I wind up being, you know, get
back into it. And but I've thoroughly enjoyed watching Chandler.
But I do I look forward to you know, I
look forward to the you know, it's allowed me to
kind of refresh and hit a recalibrate button, and you know,

(01:07:06):
I look forward to what's next, and I'm excited about
the future again.

Speaker 2 (01:07:11):
Chad Moore is hanging out with us here on the
program each and every Wednesday talking college football.

Speaker 4 (01:07:16):
It is.

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
It's a results based business coach, you know that. And
Penn State had a lot of really good results and
then still after this season starting three and three, being
a top five team, they make the move and fire
James Franklin on Sunday following that surprising loss to Northwestern.
I mean, look, coaches will tell you anybody can beat you.

(01:07:38):
These guys are all on scholarship. You can lose ball games.
That's that's the way it goes. But what do you
think about, not necessarily the way Penn State handled it,
but maybe just the way college football is now with
all of the transfer portal, nil players that can leave
your roster turnover everything that goes into it. I mean

(01:08:00):
he had a long time, don't get me wrong, but
still it feels like a move that's made pretty hastily.

Speaker 4 (01:08:07):
You know, you got to really and again it happened
to me, you know at Arkansas. I mean they fired
me with two games left, and you've got to really,
you got to really want to get rid of somebody
to pay him that kind of money. Now again, I
know he's got a duty to mitigate in his contract,
but still you're talking about a guy that took him

(01:08:28):
to the college football playoffs last year, won the first round,
and was a few plays away from playing for a
national championship. And then three three weeks ago he's a
touchdown up on Oregon and the rank third in the
country or fourth in the country, whatever they are. It
just shows you, one just the volatility the landscape of

(01:08:52):
college football right now, that you can you can take
a roster and if you have the support financially behind
you from an nil standpoint, uh, you can get the
players in it's you know, back in the day, it
was always you know, these certain schools, and to an

(01:09:13):
extent it still is. But you can't just say nowadays
that these certain schools are just going to roll the
logo out and beat you, because if if another school
has the resources, I mean, and they can get the players,
they can beat anybody. And uh, you can't take anybody
lightly anymore. And it's just, uh, it's just it's just

(01:09:35):
the world we're in right now. And and to know
that it could happen to James Franklin, it could obviously
happen to anybody.

Speaker 2 (01:09:43):
Yeah, no doubt about that. Again, that's our time with
Chad Morris from earlier in the week, What Equipment will
come back? Will continue to preview the Clempson SMU game
right after this Lawton Swine Clempson's Sports Talk on a
Friday again K Clubnick questionable minute to minute game time decision,

(01:10:04):
as we heard from Tim Moray on Thursday, and then
you heard Will Van Dervortz thoughts about it and Tommy
Abouden here on the show today. So man, I guess
we'll just see how it all shakes out. That's all
you could do. The line dropped at five and a
half yesterday went down three points as we got more
information than k club Nick was that ankle was worse

(01:10:30):
than previously expected. But there are more games out there
than just Clemson this weekend, and we've talked a lot
about some of the pactful ones, including the one that
comes up tonight at seven o'clock on ESPN as number
two Miami host Louisville. The Hurricanes are thirteen and a
half point favorites, tickets as low as just fourteen dollars

(01:10:53):
to get into the venue. Think about that for a minute,
as low as fourteen dollars to see the number two
team in the country. And this is not beneath Miami
to drop a game like this, and they need to.
They are You know, when we gave you the path
the path back, it certainly didn't include k Klubet being

(01:11:14):
injured on a play that you probably didn't need to
get injured on in the third quarter late, but it happened.
I think I have more faith in Christopher Vezena though
than Will Van Dervoort, So if CV plays and plays well,
just though I had more faith in him, Will was
talking me into a point of like, I don't get

(01:11:34):
the fandom vibe all that often I was getting the
fandom vibe like, oh no, I gotta recap this and
even will set it like I got to write it up.
But Miami and Louisville tonight seven o'clock. Also another top
twenty five team playing tonight as Minnesota host number twenty
five Nebraska at eight o'clock on Fox. Then Saturday at noon,

(01:11:55):
seventeenth rank Vanderbilt hosting tenth ranked LSU and Bandy's a
two and a half point favorite. That's on ABC. Number
twelve Georgia Tech at Duke. Look, I think Georgie's has
got three games up on You. Just hope they beat Duke,
and then that'll mean that you get a chance to
move ahead of Duke by beating them in a couple
of weeks. You just have to continue to take care
of business with CAD or CB or whoever. South Carolina

(01:12:16):
had twelve forty five hosts Oklahoma. The Sooners favored by
five and a half in that game. Remember South Carolina
a year ago stunned Oklahoma with a couple of big plays.
I mean they were up the game. Cots were like
twenty one nothing in a blink like three or four minutes.
I don't remember the exact time on that. Let let
me double check. I just know this. It was fast

(01:12:37):
and they swamped Oklahoma and that was probably a game
South Carolina shouldn't have won quite frankly, given the way
Oklahoma had played last season. But they just came out
and busted Oklahoma right in the nose. Ended up winning
at thirty five to nine. Scored twenty one points in
the first quarter. And let me look back at the

(01:12:59):
reek cap of the scoring to see how quickly those
touchdowns took place. They don't have the play by play
available because ESPN updated that stat. I just remember back
to back drives, defensive touchdowns, bang, bang, and then the
game cups had a big play bang, and all of
a sudden, Oklahoma was down twenty one zip and it

(01:13:23):
was over. They didn't have an answer And were they
playing their backup was Oklahoma playing their backup quarterback? I
think so either way. I think with joh Matereer, this
is a better Oklahoma team. And as long as he's
still healthy, I mean, he looked okay, not great against Texas.

(01:13:44):
Maybe that game beats him twice and South Carolina gets
a key win. That's a twelve forty five again on
the on ESPN, excuse me on the SEC network. Number
one Ohio States at Wisconsin at three point thirty on CBS,
and number four A and M's at Arkansas three thirty
on ESPN, and number five Old miss Is at number

(01:14:07):
nine Georgia. That's a huge one three thirty on ABC,
the Dogs favored by seven and a half. Clemson also
on at three thirty, hosting SMU. Clemson favored by five
and a half even with the situation surrounding the quarterback.
Virginia and Tony Elliott are seventeen and a half point favorites.
They host Washington State on the CW and then the

(01:14:29):
other big game tomorrow seven thirty on ABC. Alabama eight
and a half point favorites, sixth rank Crimson Tide, eleventh
ranked Tennessee facing off Bryant Dinney Stadium. That place will
be rocking. And you got another top twenty matchup at
seven thirty as well on NBC and Peacock as Notre
Dame is a nine and a half point favorite over

(01:14:50):
Southern col Notre Dame ranked thirteenth right now. The Trojans
check in at number twenty and then at seven forty five.
Could we have our next coach change on the planes
Auburn host Missouri. MISSOO is one and a half point
favorites at home seven forty five on the SEC network.

(01:15:14):
Remember Missouri is five and one. They're lone loss, coming
a three point defeat at the hands of the Alabama
Crimson Todd last weekend. And if you think that Missoo
can't go down to Alabama or excuse me, go down
to Auburn Alabama and take care of business, you're wrong.
They absolutely can. That is a good football team. Bo

(01:15:36):
Prabulah their quarterback. Remember he was the kid who could
have stayed at penn State but chose to leave. May
have fit that system better. He's from Pennsylvania. He's throwing
for thirteen hundred and sixty five yards with eleven touchdowns
at five interceptions. But he's versatile, he can move the pocket.
Really heavy ballplayer. But if they drop Auburn to three

(01:15:56):
and four, a get rid of you freeze? Could this
be it? I mean, we talked about the keeping up
with the Joneses deal in the world of college football.
I feel like auburns fan base is in this category.
They're slowly moving into the realm of Nebraska. I mean

(01:16:17):
they had Gene Chiswick for four years. They win a
national championship with Cam Newton. Then Chiswick's out and fired.
Gus Malsan comes in. They think he's gonna fix things.
Eight years pretty solid, but never can quite get back
over the hump. They bring in Brian Harrison for two years,
goes nine to twelve. Fired fans want of Carnell Williams.

(01:16:42):
He goes two and two. At the end of twenty
twenty two, a lot of fans wanted him, but two
inexperienced former player all in. Of course, they hire Hugh Freeese.
Now two seasons, he's eleven and fourteen, just barely better
than Brian Harrison. Harrison was nine to twelve four twenty
nine percentage. Hugh Freezes at four forty and with a

(01:17:04):
loss this weekend, I'll put him at eleven and fifteen,
which actually puts him worse than Brian Harrison. That would
put him at forty two point three percent Harrison at
forty two point nine.

Speaker 4 (01:17:17):
Are we in?

Speaker 2 (01:17:18):
Are we gonna get another change on the planes?

Speaker 4 (01:17:20):
H Maybe?

Speaker 2 (01:17:21):
All right? When we come back our prediction on Clemson
and SMU keep it locked. What have you done for
me lately?

Speaker 5 (01:17:31):
It's a fair question.

Speaker 1 (01:17:33):
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.

Speaker 4 (01:17:41):
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately?

Speaker 5 (01:17:46):
And what have you done?

Speaker 2 (01:17:47):
Always are the same.

Speaker 3 (01:17:54):
We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:41):
Final segment on a Friday afternoon. I've done this show, man,
I mean, if you include the podcast that I started with,
I've done this show for twenty years. I can't I
can't believe it when I say it. I've never done this.

(01:19:08):
I feel like because of the situation with K Clubnick,
I feel like if I'm being fair to you and
to myself, I have.

Speaker 4 (01:19:19):
To make.

Speaker 2 (01:19:21):
Two predictions. Like I feel this scenario invalidates any projection
I can make on this game. If K Clubnick doesn't play,
I don't know that Clemson wins this game, and if
they do win it, I think it'll be by a

(01:19:42):
very slim margin. Now, I also think that if they
win this game with K Clubnick, given excuse me, given
his health situation with the ankle, they may still not
win it much. So you could make an argument you

(01:20:03):
could say, well, Swanee, then you should pick Clemson to
win this game, not by much. But I put a
poll question out yesterday evening about this very thing, and

(01:20:26):
I just don't know, and I ask you guys to
give me your votes on it. Now, I'll give you
some of what you said first, okay. So essentially, the
question was, if Caid Klubnik does not play, what are
your feelings about Clemson and how they'll play? If Kid

(01:20:48):
Clemic cannot play? What percent chance do you give Clemson
to win? Greater than fifty percent or less than fifty percent?
Of you all on Twitter said less than fifty percent
chance to win. Only twenty seven and a half percent
of you said greater than fifty percent. So I also

(01:21:17):
asked Facebook, and I put that post up on Facebook
to gauge how Tiger fans are feeling about this game
and how they'll play, and it split the same seventy
two percent feel like less than fifty percent. Like, I

(01:21:40):
don't know how you could make a poll more reliable
than that, two different mediums, several hundred votes and the
numbers fall seventy two percent towards a loss for Clemson. Now, Vegas,

(01:22:08):
as you are aware still has Clemson favored even with
k club that questionable for this matchup. When we heard
from Dabo Sweeney on Wednesday, listening to that, I did
not take away Oh no, Cag's in a bad spot.

(01:22:30):
The comments in the way he said it, day to
day to hour to hour to a minute a minute. That
sounds like you're getting better. But if you're not getting
the reps, then maybe you do roll with Christopher Vizine.
And now there's an interesting dynamic where you're gonna get
the ball first, do you play Vizina and if you
feel like you have to play Club, that you do.
I don't know. I've never put in two results before. Ever,

(01:22:54):
the line has shifted down to four and a half.
So here's what I'm gonna I'm gonna.

Speaker 4 (01:23:03):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:23:03):
Tommy Boalden said earlier that when you have situations like this,
you try to convince all the other players that they
have to do more. So I'm gonna bank on Clemson
being able to do a little bit more. I don't
This is my least trustworthy pick I've ever given you. Honestly,

(01:23:28):
I've missed over the years, not many. I'll I'll say
Clemson figures out a way to win this game, twenty
seven four. I'll just roll with it, don't they don't cover.
SMU covers and Clemson wins. I think if Vegas felt
that SMU was gonna win this game, the line would

(01:23:51):
probably shift more. But that I think Vegas still believes
Clemson has the goods. I don't feel great about my prediction.
I'm just gonna tell you, I'd love to hedge my bets.
It'd give you a one winner and one loser. But
I'll just go in on a tight game regardless, twenty
seven twour Clemson, and we'll just hope the defense holds up.
And the fact that you know, Tom Allen did a

(01:24:13):
good job against SMU while he was at Penn State
last year in the playoffs, and that's still pretty fresh
in his memory, and so we'll hope that Clemson wins
it with some defensive play. Twenty seven to twenty four Tigers.
I don't like predicting it. I would definitely have predicted
Clemson with a healthy k Klubnik, but that's where we are.
We'll see how it plays out tomorrow afternoon. All right,

(01:24:34):
We'll be back on Monday to recap it on Until then,
As always, you'll take care now and go Tigers.