Closing the book on Korn
posted by LW, Thursday, December 10, 2009
When Willy Korn committed to Clemson during his junior season at Byrnes High, the immediate plan was for him to enroll at Clemson early.
There was some talk of Clemson coaches wanting to get him ready to play as a freshman, because he might only be here for three seasons.
That tells you how much the staff thought of this kid.
And the fact that he's indeed leaving after three seasons -- but for totally different reasons than were anticipated way back when -- tells you just how dramatically this went wrong.
I remember watching Korn in the 2007 spring game and not being particularly impressed. But it was only a few months after his enrollment, and he was battling a veteran (Cullen Harper) who was determined to win the starting job after watching Will Proctor unravel late in 2006.
Korn did not appear to have exceptional arm strength back then. And what velocity he did have was sapped by two shoulder surgeries within the span of a little more than a year.
What would Korn have been able to accomplish had he never gone under the knife? We'll never know.
You have to feel bad for Korn. He's anointed as the savior before even stepping foot onto campus, and he's beaten out by Harper in 2007 ... then Harper again in 2008 ... then redshirt freshman Kyle Parker in 2009.
Fans used to beat the Korn drum incessantly, but now there's little to no clamor to put him on the field. Fans have seen the disastrous appearances against Middle Tennessee and Boston College. They have seen him bouncing short, routine passes against Coastal Carolina.
They know something isn't right with Korn. They know Parker is the better quarterback.
From my vantage point, you never knew precisely how much Korn's shoulder was bothering him.
I remember watching him labor though a win over Duke in 2008, with him struggling to throw a simple out route.
I asked him after the game how much his shoulder was bothering him, and my jaw hit the floor when he said he was 100 percent healthy. A week later at Virginia, he couldn't throw a swing pass during warmups. He later acknowledged that he shouldn't have been playing at that time.
He pronounced himself healthy again at the start of 2009 spring practice, but his mechanics were a wreck. He spent the rest of spring and summer overhauling his fundamentals, trying to reclaim his old motion.
A great deal of this was obviously physical, because shoulder surgery is a major deal when that shoulder is used to throw a football, hurl a pitch, whatever. But you also wonder how much of this was mental, almost like a golfer who develops some hitch or twitch or yip or whatever.
With Tajh Boyd on deck, it would have been shocking to me had Korn remained and risked not only getting beaten out for the starting job yet again, but risked falling to No. 3 on the totem pole heading into his fourth year with the program.
Back in September, when Korn told us he was disappointed that Dabo Swinney didn't honor his alleged guarantee to play him in every game, you could read between the lines and see this day coming.
You knew Korn was miffed. And you knew that Swinney, who was busy trying to turn things around after a deflating home loss to TCU, didn't like the fact that he had to deal with those sorts of comments as the Tigers prepared for a trip to Maryland. You hope these two were able to smooth things over.
Korn did get onto the field that week in College Park, and I remember wondering whether it was the wisest decision with Clemson up just 10-3. Korn helped set up a field goal with a courageous third-down scramble that gave the Tigers a first down.
Kind of telling -- and kind of sad -- that the run ended up being Korn's career highlight at Clemson.
In the Post and Courier, Korn's former HS coach says he's trying to pursue the I-A route.
More on Korn in The State.
Imagine covering sports in Spartanburg yesterday.
First, the story breaks that Tennessee could've committed recruiting improprieties by using its recruiting hostesses to ... recruit.
“My intentions for my son are not about girls,” Gary Willis said. “If I was sending my son to school for girls, I would send him somewhere other than Tennessee. If I was going to send him to school for women, I’d send him to the West Coast.”
Then comes the Korn news.
Clemson student assistant coach Stanley Hunter, a former linebacker who was forced to give up football this year for health reasons, said in an e-mail that he'll always support his former Byrnes teammate.
"I love Willy with all I have," Hunter said. "He's been a brother to me and has stood beside me ever since we met and I have the highest respect for him. He's paved the way for so many kids coming up back home in Duncan and has given hope to so many people.
"Things didn't work out for Willy at Clemson for reasons a lot of people don't understand, but I know he will go on and work hard to do what anybody in sports wants and that is to start.
"I'm in his corner 110 percent and I pray for him and his family as they go through this with him because so many people have negative things to say. Things happen for a reason and this is someone's life. Willy Korn will always be Willy Korn to me...Clemson quarterback or not."
Awful, awful news on Clemson commit Jake Nicolopulos. Thoughts and prayers go out to Jake and his family in this difficult time.
Travis Sawchik gives us a primer on Kentucky, but I think he takes a bit of a leap by opening with the following paragraph:
Like South Carolina, Clemson's bowl opponent has a rich basketball tradition -- and a middling football one.
When said rich tradition began and ended before a lot of us were born, does it qualify as rich tradition?
Not long ago, Chuck Amato brushed off talk of a feud between him and Jimbo Fisher. The Seminoles' new coach has said see-ya to The Chest.
Harvard is quickly becoming a nemesis for Boston College's basketball team. The Crimson beat the Eagles again last night.
Looks like Brian Kelly was talking to Notre Dame before his team's clash with Pittsburgh.
It's probably time that Charlie Weis just shuts his mouth. First he makes bizarre comments about Pete Carroll's private life, and now he's crying about Notre Dame's student-housing policies.
And didn't you just know this shirt was coming?
LW
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When Willy Korn committed to Clemson during his junior season at Byrnes High, the immediate plan was for him to enroll at Clemson early.
There was some talk of Clemson coaches wanting to get him ready to play as a freshman, because he might only be here for three seasons.
That tells you how much the staff thought of this kid.
And the fact that he's indeed leaving after three seasons -- but for totally different reasons than were anticipated way back when -- tells you just how dramatically this went wrong.
I remember watching Korn in the 2007 spring game and not being particularly impressed. But it was only a few months after his enrollment, and he was battling a veteran (Cullen Harper) who was determined to win the starting job after watching Will Proctor unravel late in 2006.
Korn did not appear to have exceptional arm strength back then. And what velocity he did have was sapped by two shoulder surgeries within the span of a little more than a year.
What would Korn have been able to accomplish had he never gone under the knife? We'll never know.
You have to feel bad for Korn. He's anointed as the savior before even stepping foot onto campus, and he's beaten out by Harper in 2007 ... then Harper again in 2008 ... then redshirt freshman Kyle Parker in 2009.
Fans used to beat the Korn drum incessantly, but now there's little to no clamor to put him on the field. Fans have seen the disastrous appearances against Middle Tennessee and Boston College. They have seen him bouncing short, routine passes against Coastal Carolina.
They know something isn't right with Korn. They know Parker is the better quarterback.
From my vantage point, you never knew precisely how much Korn's shoulder was bothering him.
I remember watching him labor though a win over Duke in 2008, with him struggling to throw a simple out route.
I asked him after the game how much his shoulder was bothering him, and my jaw hit the floor when he said he was 100 percent healthy. A week later at Virginia, he couldn't throw a swing pass during warmups. He later acknowledged that he shouldn't have been playing at that time.
He pronounced himself healthy again at the start of 2009 spring practice, but his mechanics were a wreck. He spent the rest of spring and summer overhauling his fundamentals, trying to reclaim his old motion.
A great deal of this was obviously physical, because shoulder surgery is a major deal when that shoulder is used to throw a football, hurl a pitch, whatever. But you also wonder how much of this was mental, almost like a golfer who develops some hitch or twitch or yip or whatever.
With Tajh Boyd on deck, it would have been shocking to me had Korn remained and risked not only getting beaten out for the starting job yet again, but risked falling to No. 3 on the totem pole heading into his fourth year with the program.
Back in September, when Korn told us he was disappointed that Dabo Swinney didn't honor his alleged guarantee to play him in every game, you could read between the lines and see this day coming.
You knew Korn was miffed. And you knew that Swinney, who was busy trying to turn things around after a deflating home loss to TCU, didn't like the fact that he had to deal with those sorts of comments as the Tigers prepared for a trip to Maryland. You hope these two were able to smooth things over.
Korn did get onto the field that week in College Park, and I remember wondering whether it was the wisest decision with Clemson up just 10-3. Korn helped set up a field goal with a courageous third-down scramble that gave the Tigers a first down.
Kind of telling -- and kind of sad -- that the run ended up being Korn's career highlight at Clemson.
In the Post and Courier, Korn's former HS coach says he's trying to pursue the I-A route.
More on Korn in The State.
Imagine covering sports in Spartanburg yesterday.
First, the story breaks that Tennessee could've committed recruiting improprieties by using its recruiting hostesses to ... recruit.
“My intentions for my son are not about girls,” Gary Willis said. “If I was sending my son to school for girls, I would send him somewhere other than Tennessee. If I was going to send him to school for women, I’d send him to the West Coast.”
Then comes the Korn news.
Clemson student assistant coach Stanley Hunter, a former linebacker who was forced to give up football this year for health reasons, said in an e-mail that he'll always support his former Byrnes teammate.
"I love Willy with all I have," Hunter said. "He's been a brother to me and has stood beside me ever since we met and I have the highest respect for him. He's paved the way for so many kids coming up back home in Duncan and has given hope to so many people.
"Things didn't work out for Willy at Clemson for reasons a lot of people don't understand, but I know he will go on and work hard to do what anybody in sports wants and that is to start.
"I'm in his corner 110 percent and I pray for him and his family as they go through this with him because so many people have negative things to say. Things happen for a reason and this is someone's life. Willy Korn will always be Willy Korn to me...Clemson quarterback or not."
Awful, awful news on Clemson commit Jake Nicolopulos. Thoughts and prayers go out to Jake and his family in this difficult time.
Travis Sawchik gives us a primer on Kentucky, but I think he takes a bit of a leap by opening with the following paragraph:
Like South Carolina, Clemson's bowl opponent has a rich basketball tradition -- and a middling football one.
When said rich tradition began and ended before a lot of us were born, does it qualify as rich tradition?
Not long ago, Chuck Amato brushed off talk of a feud between him and Jimbo Fisher. The Seminoles' new coach has said see-ya to The Chest.
Harvard is quickly becoming a nemesis for Boston College's basketball team. The Crimson beat the Eagles again last night.
Looks like Brian Kelly was talking to Notre Dame before his team's clash with Pittsburgh.
It's probably time that Charlie Weis just shuts his mouth. First he makes bizarre comments about Pete Carroll's private life, and now he's crying about Notre Dame's student-housing policies.
And didn't you just know this shirt was coming?
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
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 @.