Posted by Brandon Rink on January 3, 2011 under ACC Football | 
Crucial decisions being made at Clemson and Maryland - are they the right ones? (Pic per OrangeandWhite.com)
Maryland made their “good to great” hire and Clemson cleaned house in their offensive staff…my thoughts…
Maryland hires Edsall
OMG! Worst hire EVAR! Right?
I mean – you fired the ACC Coach of the Year…for Randy Edsall?
Not exactly.
Edsall will do fine at Maryland. He’s not the splash hire, but Edsall did take the UConn Huskies of all teams to a BCS bowl after winning the Big East. Not long ago. the Huskies were playing in the FCS – now, they are in a position to compete in the Big East until Patterson and co. come to town.
That said, it’s disappointing.
Washington Post reported:
Source, on Leach: Maryland “got cold feet…They wanted to make the conservative, safe, non-confrontational hire. That’s the bottom line.”
What?! So, you make about as much of a confrontational firing as you could with Friedgen – throw out Leach in the press conference, and get cold feet when it’s time to cash the check written by Maryland AD Kevin Anderson’s mouth?
Just disappointing.
Leach was the “splash” hire – not saying he’s that much better than Edsall, but he was the sell tickets and drive-up interest guy that could have put Maryland on the map.
Now, they are sent back to irrelevance under Edsall – much like under Friedgen…not exactly the “good to great” hire, but it’s not a bad hire.
I agree with what D1scourse.com’s Patrick Stevens has said on Twitter about the hire:
Organizing them. Quick take is Maryland will probably typically be a 7-9 win team in long term, just as before. RT @jsh2185: Thoughts? (link)
Good to also good. RT @mrconti: is this really the “good to great” move? Not to knock Edsall but is he really an upgrade over Fridge? (link)
If anything, this is a testament to AD’s being a little more careful when they make bold statements. If you promise the world, you better deliver it.
Clemson cans OC, RB coach – what now?
It had to be done.
Ultimately, Clemson was operating with two major coaches learning on the job. Sunday, the Tigers parted ways with one of them in Billy Napier, and RB coach Andre Powell got the ax too.
The next hire seems to be move swiftly with Tulsa’s Chad Morris being a hot name:
@TomDienhart: Tulsa OC Chad Morris is at Clemson now interviewing for the OC job, I have learned. Expect a decision soon.
Morris is a Gus Malzahn disciple – his offense ranked 5th in the nation at Tulsa with 505 yards and 41 points per game. His QB had over 3,600 yards passing and 500 yards rushing leading the team.
The drawback to Morris is inexperience. He’s been a coordinator at the college level for two years – and in the C-USA at that, but he comes from a Texas HS background where he was 169-38 as a head coach.
Block-C’s thoughts on Morris are interesting:
Morris is a guy who Dabo will not feel challenged by, unlike Napier who constantly clashed with Swinney
Napier was never a guy that would rule a room by his personality. He was a humble guy that answered questions straight-forward and left it at that, but there’s also an intensity to him so I can see where he would conflict with Swinney a bit. They were dramatically different personalities.
With Morris, who knows what exactly he is like, but the thought is his inexperience will yield to control. But Swinney doesn’t need to be in any potential OC’s hair if he wants to succeed.
OrangeandWhite.com’s Greg Wallace hit on this:
When Swinney was hired full-time two years ago, he cleaned house on the defensive side of the ball; only defensive ends coach Chris Rumph remains as a Tommy Bowden-era holdover.
By all accounts, that approach has worked; Clemson will finish in the nation’s top 20 in total defense and top 15 in scoring defense.
He didn’t meddle. He got out of the way and let Kevin Steele do his job.
Swinney would be smart to do the same with these hires. He tried the piecemeal approach two years ago. He kept offensive line coach Brad Scott, elevated Napier from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator, elevated Jeff Scott from graduate assistant to wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator, and kept Powell, hiring only Danny Pearman as tight ends/tackles coach.
Once C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford left, this fall showed that approach as foolish. Napier’s playcalling (again, what we think was his) was questionable at times, and playmakers were in short supply.
Whether it’s spread-it-out Morris or grabbing an experienced guy like Friedgen and running a more pro-style offense – Swinney needs to focus on running the program and recruiting…and letting his coordinators coordinate.
Swinney has a chance to take a step back, make a great hire, and vault Clemson forward behind a stronger offense and already solid D under Kevin Steele.
He could use a kicker that can hit FGs from 40-yards in too.
In my opinion, Clemson could use a spread offense to fit the crazy class of talented WRs coming in and Boyd at QB. Tajh Boyd isn’t a prototypical spread QB necessarily – he’s not Cam Newton, but Boyd would probably do fine in a spread system.
The bottom-line is – the Tigers can’t seem to bring in the talent on the offensive line or have the ability to coach them to run a grind it out offense. Watching the Meineke Bowl – you could tell early on that USF was dominating the line. Once Clemson was started spreading it out late in the 4th quarter (and the Bulls started pulling starters), Boyd picked apart the USF D. It was a tad bit of an encouraging sign for the future.
But no matter what Clemson does – they need to pick a system and go with it offensively. That was the downfall of the Napier era as a Tiger coach. He was trying to run formations aplenty on single drives – being a jack of all trades, but far from a master of any of them.
Swinney made one big hire already in his short career as head coach with Kevin Steele – now after a lost season, he has one last shot to move Clemson forward. Here we go, folks.
Thoughts on the Terps hiring Edsall? Will Clemson make the right hire – what is the right hire for the Tigers?
Posted by Brandon Rink on October 5, 2009 under ACC Football |
This editorial comes from listening to hours of Clemson fans on the radio today…
Go sit on the bench before I insert you at another awkward time!
Remember Ken Hatfield?
Yeah, probably not for his career at Clemson(32-13-1–I’d guess a few people would take that 4 year run now), but he was the guy that replaced the legend, Danny Ford. We can argue the merits of Clemson dismissing Ford all day–honestly, it was an era that was before my time(which speaks to irrelevancy now of it to begin with). Hatfield won an ACC Championship in his 4 years at Clemson–but in the desire not to go too revisionist history here–Clemson was winning a lot of them around that time. Hatfield was not going to satisfy Clemson fans no matter what.
Dabo isn’t going to either. Former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden left Swinney in an unenviable position. The expectations of a rabid fanbase combined with frustration of the Bowden years equals all the more viotrol towards Dabo when he does not win. Going into this season, there were a lot of hurt feelings among people who had different candidates in mind for the Clemson job post-Bowden(and the names were numerous as they had a lot of time to come up with them), but some were “all-in”–and a lot were “in-until-Dabo-fails-then-I’m-gonna-tell-everybody-I-was-right-to-begin-with-ha!”. It is a common disease among fans in this age where access is plentiful and a shortage of intelligence is prevalent on message boards, talk radio, and lastly, the blogosphere(ironic–if you disagree with me).
If we have learned anything in these five games with Clemson, the cupboard may have been a little more bare than we thought. Maybe not in talent so much, but in the ability to pull together as a team and execute. Coaching is an issue no doubt, but players make plays. Those plays are not being made in Clemson in the key situations. The players that are making plays are easily seen in guys like C.J. Spiller, Jacoby Ford, or Deandre McDaniel, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Clemson is a team with good-to-great players, but just not a good-to-great team right now. The Tigers were not quite the take one coach out–insert another and they win the ACC that many thought they could be.
In the age of the quick-trigger finger of ADs, Clemson fans are flooding their favorite media outlet to gather the torches and pitchforks for Dabo’s coaching regime to get a change. It’s ridiculous. Clemson has shown itself to not be a quick-fix. From what I have seen, Swinney is a guy that will work hard to turn that around–but it will require the ever-shrinking value of patience. So what if Clemson does not win the ACC this season? They have not done it since Hatfield in 1991! If you believed in Dabo before the season, how can you want to fire him now? What Swinney does at Clemson will be measured in 2-3 years if they let him–and in this economy–got to think he will have to be there unless the school desires to fire Swinney and their AD Terry Don Phillips. Swinney is Phillips’ biggest decision at Clemson and if Dabo goes–the blame falls on Phillips for the hire.
Basically, the take-home message here is to ease off the ledge, Clemson fans. I realize it is tremendously disappointing to nearly be out of it yet again, but if you believed in this coach before the season, there has not been anything that should shake that if you are looking long term. If you didn’t believe in Swinney, obviously (insert your hire for the job) was the clear right choice for the Tigers–Clemson is sorry for not having you as AD.
Thanks for reading my therapy session…Would actually love to have the Clemson coaching decision discussion no matter how exasperated I sound with it…It is thoroughly intriguing to me.
Posted by Brandon Rink on July 22, 2009 under ACC Football |
The chief export of Frank Beamer is pain.
Today, we look at the coaches of the ACC in the power poll. The top two remain unchanged from my poll last year, but we can all look back and laugh at my pick for number three in the ACC. The two coaching changes were kinda strange as BC ditched their coach for wandering eyes and Clemson’s coach resigned on his own merit mid-season(*wink, wink*). The ACC has a great group of coaches and we rank them below.
1) Frank Beamer-Virginia Tech Hokies
Overall Record: 218-112-4. Record at VT: 174-89-2. ACC: 33-9.
Current back-to-back reigning ACC Champion coach and he also got the ACC a win in a BCS game, Frank Beamer just owns the ACC(insert favorite Chuck Norris joke, replace with Beamer). He faces probably his most competitive division since they joined the ACC, but he will be ready for it.
2) Jim Grobe-Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Overall Record: 87-76-1. Record at Wake: 54-43. ACC: 31-36.
Last season was rather forgettable, but you cannot take 8 wins at Wake Forest for granted. In today’s 12 game schedule format, that mark will become more and more meaningless, but the Demon Deacons are a small school so I will respect it. Grobe is also the last coach to win an ACC Championship not named Frank Beamer.
3) Bobby Bowden-Florida State Seminoles
Overall Record: 382-122-4. Record at FSU: 309-90-4. ACC: 113-23.
I guess I should throw an asterisk on those records for now, huh? This, of course, is the Bowden-Fisher conglomerate in essence and last season showed some definite signs of improvement. Now with the vacation of wins controversy, you wonder how heavily that will weigh on this staff. Regardless, this staff should crank out atleast 8 wins out of a trying schedule.
4) Butch Davis-North Carolina Tar Heels
Overall Record: 63-33. Record at UNC: 12-13. ACC: 7-9.
That 63-33 record makes Davis look pretty good among his ACC peers. The 7-9 record in his first two seasons is not terrible, but here we are in year three of Davis’ stay at UNC–what should we expect? If UNC cannot reach 8-9 wins, the Heels are seriously underperforming.
5) Paul Johnson-Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Overall Record: 116-43. Record at GT: 9-4. ACC: 5-3.
The biggest spike up the list from last year is one Paul Johnson. He took the ACC by storm with his running scheme and the offense should be as good this season with Dwyer and Nesbitt returning. Johnson puts it all together in back-to-back seasons and he will see his stock rise to the top of the crop or very close next season.
6) Tom O’Brien-North Carolina State Wolfpack
Overall Record: 86-59. Record at NC State: 11-14. ACC: 17-15.
Expectations are high for the Wolfpack and why shouldn’t they be? O’Brien brings back a talented QB with some more returning starters. O’Brien had them on a roll at the end of last season–can he do it all season long? I think so, but he will go as far as his players can take him.
7) Ralph Friedgen-Maryland Terrapins
Overall Record: 64-36. Record at Maryland: 64-36. ACC: 37-27.
Friedgen’s record has to have the most impressive record for really doing nothing in the ACC in a while(otherwise known as the Tommy Bowden Award). The Terps are looking ripe for a fall, but maybe Friedgen can work some magic.
8) Al Groh-Virginia Cavaliers
Overall Record: 82-84. Record at Virginia: 56-44. ACC: 34-30.
The ‘Hoos fans’ patience has worn a good bit thin with Groh and winning probably would be a good idea for him. I just wonder if he is a victim of the whole division getting better around him at the wrong time. He has a steep uphill climb to do anything of significance in the ACC.
9) David Cutcliffe-Duke Blue Devils
Overall Record: 48-36. Record at Duke: 4-8. ACC: 1-7.
Cutcliffe injected some signs of life into the Duke program which was a sight to see last season. Now, returning one of the ACC’s top QBs and in year two of his system being installed at Duke–can they reach heights like a bowl?
10) Dabo Swinney-Clemson Tigers
Overall Record: 4-3. Record at Clemson: 4-3. ACC: 3-2.
Dabo got the team and fans “All-In” last season in his mid-season takeover for Tommy Bowden. We now get to see what he will do with a slew of coaching changes and an off-season to plan an offense.
11) Randy Shannon-Miami Hurricanes
Overall Record: 12-13. Record at Miami: 12-13. ACC: 6-10.
Changed some coordinators and will have another solid squad. He has a lot to prove this upcoming season as a coach.
12) Frank Spaziani-Boston College Eagles
Overall Record: 1-0. Record at BC: 1-0. ACC: 0-0.
The ACC has a great stable of coaches and Spaziani being no. 12 is not a slight–he has just got lot of competition. His coordinator work at BC has been great over the years and we will see if he can pick up where O’Brien and Jagodzinski left off.
Can’t see a dispute with the top two I wouldn’t think, but what about the rest? Is CPJ in the top three after one season? Do I not appreciate Friedgen enough? Will Spaziani rule the ACC in his first season? Let me know what you think in the comments…
Tags: ACC Football, Al Groh, Bobby Bowden, Boston College Eagles, Butch Davis, Clemson Tigers, Dabo Swinney, David Cutcliffe, Duke Blue Devils, Florida State Seminoles, Frank Beamer, Frank Spaziani, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Jim Grobe, Maryland Terrapins, Miami Hurricanes, North Carolina State Wolfpack, North Carolina Tar Heels, Paul Johnson, Ralph Friedgen, Randy Shannon, The ACC Blogger Power Poll(Football), Tom O'Brien, Virginia Cavaliers, Virginia Tech Hokies, Wake Forest Demon Deacons
