The AntiBowden

Tommy Bowden today set a new world record in excuse making during his Sunday press conference.

Normally in Bowden Bytes, I simply go through the article line by line, in order. However, with this one, I'm going to skip directly to the end, where the most telling quote is given by Bowden. One of Bowden's chief criticisms during his tenure at Clemson is that he's just not a motivator. His teams just don't come out fired up and ready to play. Well, I think he just told us why:

Q. Did you promise Jamie Harper the first carry from scrimmage? If so, would you do it again?

A. "Yes. And yes. Shoot yeah. I did it for James, Roscoe, Justin and C.J. To get a good player, oh man alive, yes. We were down 6-0. A touchdown wins that game. We didn't lose the game because of that."

Q. It seemed like it set the tone for the game.

A. "Most head coaches talk to their team before the game and tell them that nothing will happen in the first few minutes that will change the outcome of the game. It's one of the last things a coach says to his players."

Actually... no coach in their right mind would say something as ridiculous and idiotic as that. In fact, most coaches tell their players to go out there and smack the other team in the mouth and set the tone for the rest of the day. That attitude says "hey, we're going to push you all over the place today, get used to it." Apparently Tommy Bowden's teams come out and have the attitude that if they just show up and stay there for the duration of the game, something good will eventually happen. No wonder we're never fired up.

The thing that really strikes me here is the arrogance of this statement. He says "every coach says this" and just expects that everyone will believe that, when it's such an egregiously wrong and football ignorant thing to say. He really has gotten spoiled being at Clemson where people seem to just accept whatever he says as gospel. The true depth of his arrogance can be seen by the rest of the quotes from this press conference... they are simply unbelievable.

Q. What did you see again today after further evaluation (off film)?

A. "The biggest thing was point of attack. Our defensive line couldn't handle their offensive line. Our offensive line couldn't handle their defensive line. That hasn't happened here recently. I haven't seen us manhandled like that the last three or four years. That was surprising. I haven't seen it, so I surely didn't expect it."

I've seen us manhandled like that, often. Any time we play a good team, like UGA or VT, we get manhandled like that. Why? Maybe it has something to do with our gimmicks on offense like not ever using a 3 point stance? Or maybe, for all the great "talent" Tommy brings in, he can't recruit linemen worth a damn?

Q. Are you now more inclined to develop your young offensive linemen, especially at guard?

A. "They played. (Mason) Cloy got in a good bit. I don't know if we got any other ones in there. We'll meet on grades in a little bit. The coaches got in late so they're just getting those done. I've already looked at all the defensive and offensive snaps, but want to talk with them."

We better develop someone because at this point we don't have shit.

Q. Can you begin to unravel where things fell apart? Was it in your game plan?

A. "Sometimes you just don't know. As you look at this, you look at college football and how it's played. I look at Pete Carroll and what he might have said to his team after they lost to Stanford after being favored by 40 points. You start looking for reasons for why it happened. Along with preparation is what goes along with it, the preseason hype and the bulls-eye. If they didn't know it, they surely understand it now."

"If we had started with a lesser opponent, it wouldn't have made much difference. We don't know how good Alabama is. But we'll find out at the end of the year. When you start out against a quality opponent, you better understand what you have to do."

Pete Carroll!!!! Are you serious! Did he really just compare himself to Pete Carroll and then use the USC loss to Stanford to explain away his constant ability to lose games he should win? My Lord! I really can't believe that he said that, wow!

Q. Some who have attended your practices suggest that your team lacks toughness.

A. "We have closed practices. That would be kind of hard. Must be coming from the leaves or the trees. It would surely be hard to gather that kind of information. We don't open practices. That would have to be someone on my staff and I don't think any of those guys would say that. We surely didn't practice any differently than we have the last three years. We didn't practice any differently than we did against FSU."

Toughness wasn't a question last year. Toughness hasn't been a question the last three years. I would think that things like this would pop up occasionally by anonymous guys. I don't think they would be experts by any stretch of the imagination."

First of all, anybody can go stand on Perimeter road with some binoculars and watch practice, it's not that "closed." Second, does Tommy really believe toughness hasn't been an issue for the last several years? We never seem to show toughness. Last year our biggest example of this was the VT game where we went out there, laid down, and let them run all over us. Is Tommy demented or is he just so used to being full of shit and getting away with it that he's lost his grasp on reality?

Q. Given your expectations with your getting an extension and with your being here for ten years, is this kind of outcome less acceptable?

A. "It's never acceptable. You don't want this in the first or middle part of your contract. But a lot of teams will have performances like this. It's a 12-game schedule. Most teams will have one like this. Southern Cal had one like this last year with Stanford. I don't know what year he's in. Maybe he's in his eighth year. West Virginia losing to Pitt last year, Michigan losing to Appalachian State, you can go on down the line. To expect this not to happen just because you are in your tenth year…"

Again with the Pete Carroll comparison. Maybe someone should remind Tommy that Pete Carroll actually wins his conference on a regular basis and wins the national championship from time to time. Look at all the excuses. Oh and btw, Michigan fired their coach for letting them down.

Q. Six months to prepare for a game like this, a big game, and for a team in a conference considered to be the premiere conference, but your team was not ready. How could that be?

A. "I guess it could be the same way Virginia Tech wasn't ready for LSU. The same way Southern Cal had the national title on the line, the national championship, just beat Stanford, but they lost when they were a 40-point favorite. You have to take human error in to it. In college sports you've seen examples where teams didn't perform, and you have to point that out as a coach."

... and the excuses keep coming. VT lost to LSU, so it's OK for us to play like complete shit, right? Stanford beat USC, so it's OK for us to go out and have absolutely no clue how to beat Alabama, right? Right?

Q. What do you say to your team now?

A. "You challenge their pride. We'll appeal to their pride. This isn't the first time this has happened in college football. I'll talk to them about human error, the human aspect. They'll bounce back and play well. If you look at our track record, we haven't been kicked around like that. 50-percent of the teams lost yesterday. I don't have any doubt our players will come back and respond."

50% of the teams lost yesterday. If you ain't first, you're last. Which statement was made by someone who makes $2.2 million a year and isn't a fictional character?

OK that's enough. I can't take it any more. This guy is beyond belief, and it's really a shame that we're stuck with him because of the stupidity of our administration.

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Posted by Tom on Sunday, August 31, 2008 | Permalink