Obed®

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Ok, here's my cathartic Orange Bowl takeaway post.

Jan 2, 2023, 9:38 AM

Alright, friends....here it is....needed a day or two to process things, so this might be long. Trigger warnings: If you just look at the W-L and feel warm when the W column is 10 or greater, keep going, because I have a few negatives to discuss. If you feel that no one can possibly second guess a D1 football coach unless they are also a D1 football coach, keep going----just save yourself the energy. I spent 27 hours in a car and spent the cost of a nice used motorcycle (which I'd really rather have in my garage right now) to go to this shidshow of a game, so I'm gonna post some things.

In no particular order:

1) The Streeter experiment has failed - I could type a whole post on this one, but it's time to thank him for his services. My wife would have known that a freshman, first time starter throwing 30+ times in the first half alone and not feeding Shipley more was a bad, bad recipe, but once again, such revelations seem to only come to Streeter post-game. In-game adjustments were nil. If an air attack was his goal, he never gave Cade an additional blocker to beef up pass protect, despite getting blasted time and time again by the middle LB. When TN did not let up on the aggression, we had no---nil----nada screen passes or quick slants (once again) to make them pay and keep them honest. When they started sending corner blitzes, hard, we hit a couple middle runs to great effect, and then just abandoned them, like he was using a magic 8 ball for play calling. He's horrible, and if you want to say Dabo is meddling in the play calling, I won't disagree, but a weak OC leads to a HC feeling like he can and should get involved in the play calling.

2) This team dynamic is just strange. I've seen mention from a couple sources formerly on the team that there is a lot of pent up frustration from defensive units feeling like offensive coaches have no accountability, and I see nothing to say that's incorrect. The energy is low on the sidelines, and was from the get-go. Defensive players don't visibly support offensive players (a la Power Rangers) and vice versa. Players come off the field after a major screw up and just angrily walk right past a coach trying to talk to them without stopping, including Dabo. I'm not sure it's occurred to everyone what a big and unusual deal it was when Shipley questioned the play calling after the USC loss---it's the first time I remember that in the Dabo era, and I think we are looking at an overall lack of confidence in the staff by the players leading to some real indifference. It also rolls downhill from things like DJ getting coddled for two seasons and statements like "DJ didn't lose this game" after the SCU loss, while WR drops are cited as a bigger factor (despite only 3 actual ones in that game). It's basic human nature that whether it's a football team or a corporate division, favoritism and misassigned blame and accountability checks lead to dissension and resentment, and while I'm not privy to the Clemson locker room, I saw nothing on the field or sideline that didn't indicate that.

3) Couple Cade fundamentals should be able to be coached through - when pressure got to him repeatedly, every throw eventually became back foot throws....led to too much air under balls and him not hitting many receivers in stride. We got away with several due to PI calls, but that can and should be fixed.....additionally he's too quick to roll right, vs using his pocket, but that was understandable for a young player after getting blasted for the third or fourth time by the SAM. One real concern....after obviously getting some first string reps and coaching attention for several weeks now, his RPO plays and handoff technique looked uncomfortably like DJ's, with far, far too much time meshed with the RB before committing. It didn't work with DJ and it didn't work in Miami---all it does is give the D too much time to collapse, removing both holes for the RB and the edge advantage for Cade. I think Shipley had one true handoff with a full head of steam in Q4, (vs starting from a standstill at the handoff)----the handoff was almost a fumble, but the run was soooooo much more effective.

4) Tennessee's depth compared to ours was both surprising and a huge difference maker. I really thought their holdouts and injuries to key players would cost them dearly, but it was a true next man up scenario with limited dropoffs in play. It's as clear to me as ever that our plethora of 5 hearts, legacy walk-ons, and buddy nephews has us effectively on a self-imposed probation talent-wise, and it's been the reason why injuries have hit us so much harder over the last few years. We had Drew Swinney on the WR two deep for chrissakes. This has gotta stop, and I'm hopeful that with Dabo taking his first full signing class in forever, it might be.

5) Grisham---go....just go. Pack up, kiss the rock one last time, and scram. Our WR's might not have the talent we've had in the past, but their fundamentals are so, so bad. No separation, zero clue what to do on QB scrambles to bail Cade out (cause he scrambles a LOT), and the blocking....my God the blocking. Go back and watch UT's WR's block....they put on a clinic. In addition, watch the few WR screens they threw....every single time the receiver had at least two lead blockers that did a great job making the plays effective. On our WR screens (which we seem to have loved since Spence) the receiver is basically on an island, hopping to gain the edge against a D that knew the play was coming two calls ago, with nary a real blocker in sight. We are doing a major disservice to any kid coming here to play WR as long as Grisham is their position coach.

6) Defense did enough to win, and Rain Man Wes continues to get a wait and see pass in my mind based on this season. He still struggles with in-game adjustments to basic things like UT's screen game though, but I imagine that will improve. If Conn is the safeties coach, it's time for a hard conversation, as our undermanned DB's were on an unneeded island far, far too much.

7) Last thing, and possibly the most depressing for me: Our fan base has changed for the worse. I suspect it's a combination of the price required to be a Clemson supporter and ticket holder these days, the changing demographics of the student body, and the increasing corporate make-up of our ticket holders and supporters killing the traditional Clemson blue-collar rabid fan support, but this was not the Clemson fans I knew from past bowl games. We have become the indifferent, pinky-out reserved fans we used to mock from UVA and UNC. I gave far, far more "go tigers" around Miami before the game and walking to the stadium than I received. I heard pretty much no cadence counts in the crowd before the game or in the stands. We had one---yes, one---no exaggeration, 3rd down defensive play (in the 4th quarter) where the fans in the stands made any noise at all. There was no enthusiasm to be there it seemed, and our side was just dead in the stadium. It felt like UT fans outnumbered us 5-1 based on the in-game experience. I get it that they have probably more enthusiasm for a non-BCS game, coming off a long period of irrelevance, but they were all happy, excited, getting loud all night long when we were on defense, and basically making it feel like a home game for them. All the trends I mentioned above regarding team play can be fixed in a season or two, so this one probably worried me the most.

All in all, I'm glad I went from a family standpoint....really enjoyed the time with my kids, and it was a little fun to see my son getting excited for his first bowl game as a student (although he admitted to feeling weird pulling against Clemson), and the weather in Miami was phenomenal and a much needed break from TN grey skies and single digit temps. For all things concerning the team though, meh---little depressing and I'm honestly not sure what my long view is of the program at this point.

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One of the things that the US Army does really well is move people, particularly leadership, in and out of units every 2 to 3 years. There are lots of reasons for it but chief among them is to keep the combat units from becoming inbred and unable/unwilling to adapt to a changing environment because they are too comfortable with the status quo. If we didn't have this leadership turnover, units would be denied a fresh set of eyes on unit performance, training techniques, and honest assessments of their personnel. While college football ain't the Army, some of the organizational characteristics of never bringing outsiders into the fold can have the same detrimental affects.

In regards to Clemson, we are severely lacking in outside blood right now and I only see the problem getting worse. The atrophy is starting to set in and I'm afraid that Dabo is now confusing culture with complacency. What started out as building a "family culture" has now devolved into surrounding one's self with sycophantic, adoring former players where as long as they are already a cultural fit, coaching experience and coaching acumen is of lessor concern. "Best" is definitely not the standard for our recent coaching hires.

There are plenty of outside/non-Clemson alumni coaches out in the wild that are really good at their jobs that would fit right in with our culture. These Clemson outsiders could bring in a healthy dose of "fresh" to the table. As it is - does anyone truly think that our current staff is capable of infusing the program with "new and innovative" schemes/ideas? Not at all because just about everyone on our staff has been raised in the Daboland Clemson pipeline and haven't coached anywhere else in the last 8 years to be able to bring some fresh eyes to how we do things.

Quite frankly, I find Dabo's recent selection of internal hires to be a lazy cop-out. The "I'll just hire from within and have no need to look outside" isn't protecting our culture - it is selling our program short. If Dabo had looked/interviewed outsiders for the OC, DC, and other coaching jobs and still decided on the current crew - then so be it. At least he would have showed some due diligence to getting the absolute best coaching crew available. Instead - it was more about "culture" than coaching chops. It's almost as if Dabo doesn't want to have any outside eyes brought into the program because he is afraid that someone might actually tell him something he doesn't want to hear.

Ok, here's my cathartic Orange Bowl takeaway post.

preach.***

Nice post but nothing's gonna change at all

Dabo won 2 NCs and turned the football program into Disney

long / mid term view

Spot on man! Drew Swinney in 2 deep is mind blowing and depressing

Re: Ok, here's my cathartic Orange Bowl takeaway post.

member this?

Re: member this?

and not to belabor this point

Re: and not to belabor this point

Yep. Watching the Peach Bowl I was reminded of our

Sounds spot-on to me!***

Depressing to me is there are 2 coaches for the WRs

TL DR - you went to the game??

IKR

Regarding point 1,

He's effed around with the playcalling since Chad left

"Hey guise, we gotta Groza semifinalist

Pitch almost certain 1st down and maybe a house call.***

yep***

l0l!!84!! Willie Swinney...geeezus. Anyone notice how slow

yer right....they all run together to me.***

Agree. People seem to know what we are going to do, while

I'm not sure we ever recovered from the trick play.

Lot of hard truth in that post Obed...

all well said***

I've poasted it a few times...

Re: I've poasted it a few times...

Re: I've poasted it a few times...

I'm one of those priced out fans

you point about the fanbase changing reminded me

Sometime during my student tenure there, would have been

I remember my freshman year, 1992, against FSU

That may have been the first night game in death Valley

yessir, I recall it might have been.

I made tshirt bands that day

Good is the enemy of Great.

For now, yes.

You've said it all very well, and I'm late to reply, but

I feel like our trajectory is early 00s FSU

The roster mismanagement drives me up the wall

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