Whitey knew what was about to happen to Clemson

Oct 23, 2023, 11:14 AM

My offensive coordinator while at Clemson was Whitey Jordan. He went on to coach some of the greatest players of all time and when he retired to daily golf at Boscobel, his track record included schools all across the South as well as NFL Europe. He coached such greats as Charlie Waters at Clemson, Emmitt Smith at Florida, Eric Dickerson/Craig James at SMU ad many others, so he kinda sorta knows what he is talking about when it comes to coaching at the college level.

One day Whitey called me and said his former boss at Florida, Galen Hall, was in town and wanted to play golf and would I join them. Of course, I did. During that round of golf as we walked and talked, Whitey, Coach Hall and I were talking about the trials and tribulations that Tommy Bowden was going through at the time, which were many. Whitey made the statement that when a coach loses his program, his players and his coaches and things go downhill, the first thing to look for is "Bad coaching hires" and that the Head Coach will usually fire Coordinators and/or assistants a year or two before he himself is fired. Once a Head Coach loses his program (mentally) there is no getting it back and firing coordinators and assistants is only a sign that the end is a few short years away.

Interesting conversation with Whitey and Galen and I have seen this truth bear out over and over. I didn't know Whitey was that smart but I guess he was. He hit the nail on the head on this one.