Looking ahead? Yup.
posted by LW, Thursday, September 03, 2009
(There's already overwhelming reason for him to not like me on his basketball team, but that's another story.)
I admit it: I'm committing the cardinal sin of looking past Saturday's opener against Middle Tennessee.
Guessing I'm not the only one.
How can you not? Seven days from now, the Tigers will be in an Atlanta hotel making final preparations for the showdown at Georgia Tech.
If you're sick of reading about praise for Paul Johnson, you'll probably want to stop reading about now. Because there's a story in the AJC with more raves for PJ as a play-caller.
During the T-Day game this spring, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson asked his offensive players if they wanted to score a touchdown.
The answer was obvious.
Johnson gave them a play ... boom, touchdown.
Nobody remembers the play. They just remember the moment.
And then...
“Paul’s a great play-caller,” Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe said. “He’s going to know what you are doing and attack what you are doing. Not many play-callers are on the sideline anymore. He’s got eyes upstairs, but he’s directing in on the field in the moment and without a scratch pad. Very intuitive.
“This thing has caught on. I expect other people to imitate him, but you can’t imitate his experience.”
And then...
Quarterbacks and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon has worked with Johnson for the past 12 seasons. It has taken a while, but Bohannon said he can get a feel for where Johnson is going with calls, especially when the team is having success.
“What Coach does a great job with is the timing of what he does,” Bohannon said. “There’s a list of plays, but the timing of when you call them. ... he has a great knack on Saturdays of when to call things. I think a lot of that is just two to three plays ahead sometimes.”
Impressive stuff, no doubt. But it's not as if there's no hope for the Tigers. Johnson himself acknowledges one fact that was demonstrated on occasion last year, most notably against LSU and North Carolina:
As Johnson says, there’s not too many things he hasn’t seen tried against its offense, but he’s also quick to point out, “physical superiority cancels all theory.”
Given what the Tigers have up front on defense, it's not unreasonable to think their superiority could cancel PJ's theory.
Now, for that "other" game.
The AP has a story on Middle Tennessee OC Tony Franklin.
At Auburn, Franklin was fired by Tuberville after a 4-2 start because the Tigers ranked 104th out of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams offensively.
"It did not work at Auburn. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong person. I was wrong to have done it. They were wrong to bring me in because it was not a good fit," Franklin said.
There's a game in Raleigh tonight, in case you haven't heard. My old colleague at The Post and Courier picks USC to win easily, but almost every Gamecock he mentions hasn't done anything yet.
And I'm not seeing the take that USC has more athletes across the board. On defense? Maybe. But on offense, I'll take N.C. State's QB, RBs and WRs.
If USC walks out of there with a double-digit win, I'll be surprised.
Also in The P&C, a story on Kyle Parker. I was as impressed as anyone with KP's ability to juggle football and baseball this past spring, but I don't buy the comparison between getting a clutch hit in front of a few thousand fans, and making a pressure throw in front of 80,000 fans.
I do think KP generally has the demeanor to succeed as a college QB. Just not sure that the baseball thing was all that valuable in terms of translating to what he'll confront on the gridiron.
The State has a story on Rick Stockstill and Dabo Swinney. It was Stockstill's departure that created an opening for Swinney in 2003.
Also, a great line from that piece:
Jeff Scott could not understand why so many media members awaited his arrival to a recent interview.
Because as Clemson’s receivers coach, it was explained, Scott figures to be one step away from being a head coach.
Also, a look at the Tigers' RB options behind C.J. Spiller.
And another story from The State, this one on the Tigers' quest to produce more sacks.
Gotta love this line from the Man of Steele:
“You have to make (the quarterback) make the wrong reads,” Steele said. “You can get in some quarterbacks’ heads by changing how you bring your safeties down and how you leverage corners and blow their mind. And some you can’t. They see it, they feel it. Some you start blitzing and they’re all over the place. Some it doesn’t bother them. So you have to feel them out, every one is different.
“At the end of the day, you have to find out what affects them. And then you have to make it happen.”
In The Greenville News, a story on the many questions facing the Tigers' offense.
The Independent-Mail has a piece on why the OL thinks it will be much improved.
Four future Tigers will be on display Friday at this high school game.
And we'll close with the recent makeover to Mike Leach's parking spot.
Someone get this guy to the SEC or ACC. Now.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Dabo Swinney probably wouldn't like me on his football team.
(There's already overwhelming reason for him to not like me on his basketball team, but that's another story.)
I admit it: I'm committing the cardinal sin of looking past Saturday's opener against Middle Tennessee.
Guessing I'm not the only one.
How can you not? Seven days from now, the Tigers will be in an Atlanta hotel making final preparations for the showdown at Georgia Tech.
If you're sick of reading about praise for Paul Johnson, you'll probably want to stop reading about now. Because there's a story in the AJC with more raves for PJ as a play-caller.
During the T-Day game this spring, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson asked his offensive players if they wanted to score a touchdown.
The answer was obvious.
Johnson gave them a play ... boom, touchdown.
Nobody remembers the play. They just remember the moment.
And then...
“Paul’s a great play-caller,” Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe said. “He’s going to know what you are doing and attack what you are doing. Not many play-callers are on the sideline anymore. He’s got eyes upstairs, but he’s directing in on the field in the moment and without a scratch pad. Very intuitive.
“This thing has caught on. I expect other people to imitate him, but you can’t imitate his experience.”
And then...
Quarterbacks and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon has worked with Johnson for the past 12 seasons. It has taken a while, but Bohannon said he can get a feel for where Johnson is going with calls, especially when the team is having success.
“What Coach does a great job with is the timing of what he does,” Bohannon said. “There’s a list of plays, but the timing of when you call them. ... he has a great knack on Saturdays of when to call things. I think a lot of that is just two to three plays ahead sometimes.”
Impressive stuff, no doubt. But it's not as if there's no hope for the Tigers. Johnson himself acknowledges one fact that was demonstrated on occasion last year, most notably against LSU and North Carolina:
As Johnson says, there’s not too many things he hasn’t seen tried against its offense, but he’s also quick to point out, “physical superiority cancels all theory.”
Given what the Tigers have up front on defense, it's not unreasonable to think their superiority could cancel PJ's theory.
Now, for that "other" game.
The AP has a story on Middle Tennessee OC Tony Franklin.
At Auburn, Franklin was fired by Tuberville after a 4-2 start because the Tigers ranked 104th out of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams offensively.
"It did not work at Auburn. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong person. I was wrong to have done it. They were wrong to bring me in because it was not a good fit," Franklin said.
There's a game in Raleigh tonight, in case you haven't heard. My old colleague at The Post and Courier picks USC to win easily, but almost every Gamecock he mentions hasn't done anything yet.
And I'm not seeing the take that USC has more athletes across the board. On defense? Maybe. But on offense, I'll take N.C. State's QB, RBs and WRs.
If USC walks out of there with a double-digit win, I'll be surprised.
Also in The P&C, a story on Kyle Parker. I was as impressed as anyone with KP's ability to juggle football and baseball this past spring, but I don't buy the comparison between getting a clutch hit in front of a few thousand fans, and making a pressure throw in front of 80,000 fans.
I do think KP generally has the demeanor to succeed as a college QB. Just not sure that the baseball thing was all that valuable in terms of translating to what he'll confront on the gridiron.
The State has a story on Rick Stockstill and Dabo Swinney. It was Stockstill's departure that created an opening for Swinney in 2003.
Also, a great line from that piece:
Jeff Scott could not understand why so many media members awaited his arrival to a recent interview.
Because as Clemson’s receivers coach, it was explained, Scott figures to be one step away from being a head coach.
Also, a look at the Tigers' RB options behind C.J. Spiller.
And another story from The State, this one on the Tigers' quest to produce more sacks.
Gotta love this line from the Man of Steele:
“You have to make (the quarterback) make the wrong reads,” Steele said. “You can get in some quarterbacks’ heads by changing how you bring your safeties down and how you leverage corners and blow their mind. And some you can’t. They see it, they feel it. Some you start blitzing and they’re all over the place. Some it doesn’t bother them. So you have to feel them out, every one is different.
“At the end of the day, you have to find out what affects them. And then you have to make it happen.”
In The Greenville News, a story on the many questions facing the Tigers' offense.
The Independent-Mail has a piece on why the OL thinks it will be much improved.
Four future Tigers will be on display Friday at this high school game.
And we'll close with the recent makeover to Mike Leach's parking spot.
Someone get this guy to the SEC or ACC. Now.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.