The AntiBowden

Here's the article, I'm going to address each point.

1. Won-loss record. Obviously. But even before this season of underachieving -- Clemson is 3-3 after starting the year ranked No. 9 and being picked to win the ACC -- the Tigers under Bowden lost games they should've won and won games they should've lost. That's a sure sign of a program in trouble, and one with little internal direction and leadership. You can't lose to Duke and beat Miami in the same season. Or lose to Wake Forest and beat Tennessee.

I understand what he's getting at, but he's not quite right. The problem was two fold: 1) we never made it to the top (10 wins and/or an ACC championship) and 2) is that we always had letdown games when we were in the spotlight. Every team wins some upsets and falls victim to some upsets, our problem under Bowden was that every single year we came out and played a couple of games like we just didn't have a clue. Then every time we played a fundamentally sound powerhouse we lost.

2. He lost control of the team. Players were bickering more and more after each loss, and then Bowden announced after last week's loss to Wake Forest that he was benching quarterback Cullen Harper, a senior captain, in favor of redshirt freshman Willy Korn. Bowden said he was looking for "a spark" in the offense, even though Harper has been playing behind an inexperienced and beat-up offensive line and has dealt with receivers dropping balls all season. Bowden essentially blamed Harper for the team's struggles -- and nothing could be further from reality.

Couldn't agree more. This has always been a problem with Bowden, starting with the Woody/Willie situation after Willie Simmons came in and led the Tigers to a win over UNC when Woody had been struggling with them.

3. He stayed too long with offensive coordinator Rob Spence. Bowden, like his father, Bobby, is big on staff continuity. He believes like minds get teams through rough patches. Spence had a few uneven seasons, but Bowden stuck with him. That loyalty likely cost Bowden his job. According to sources, Bowden was feeling pressure to fire Spence after last week's loss to Wake Forest.

This is pure speculation and I'm not sure it makes sense. Bowden's offenses have ALWAYS underperformed and it didn't matter who the OC was, so I don't see why the Administration would be so hell bent on getting rid of Spence. Also they asked Dabo if he wanted Spence or not, which they wouldn't have asked if they were the ones who wanted him fired in the first place.

4. The team never developed an identity. The Tigers were so erratic under Bowden because there was never a foundation or philosophy to embrace. It's well known around the league that Clemson can't brawl and doesn't get physical. "They try to out-athlete you," says one ACC coach. "You never had to be concerned that they were going to line up and trade punches with you. That comes from up top and works its way down."

This is fanspeak and sportswriter language. In reality, Tommy Bowden just didn't understand the fundamentals of football. Hell he even said "nothing that happens in the first 5 minutes of a game affects the outcome." Any coach in the world knows that you use the first drive of the game to set the tone. Whenever a team uses a gimmick offense and isn't fundamentally sound, it appears that they're lacking "toughness" but in reality they're just getting beat on technique and strategy.

5. He was never embraced by the Clemson community. Think about that concept: This was Bowden's 10th season, yet there were many big-money boosters who never felt like he was the right coach for the job. There was constant bickering among the school's legendary booster club IPTAY, and Bowden was seemingly always considered on the proverbial hot seat.

What? What is this guy smoking? Tommy Bowden brainwashed 99% of the fanbase into thinking he was the second coming. Hell we still have people saying he was a good coach for us because "he improved facilities." That literally makes me laugh out loud. Our new facilities sure have helped us build an OL and a linebacking corps this year havent they? Oh wait, we've never had either under Bowden.

This is a decent article and I appreciate the attempt, but the reality is this: our Administration is weak and spineless and they made this move because of the outcry from the fans and donors. If they were using analytical factors to make a coaching decision, Bowden would have been let go after the 2003 season when he showed just how inconsistent of a coach he was even though he had a supremely talented team. If our Administration was using a thorough evaluation to make this decision, they would have let Tommy go last fall while he was flirting with Arkansas. The fact is that our Administration was starting to feel some of the heat from Tommy's seat so they made the move now.

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Posted by Tom on Monday, October 13, 2008 | Permalink