Texas and the SEC: some history

Paul Finebaum is one of the most prominent, controversial figures in Alabama. And that's quite an accomplishment these days for a guy who works at a newspaper.

He can be a real, uh, rear end, and I have the personal experience to verify it.

Quick story:

In December of 2002, Dennis Franchione basically left Alabama in the middle of the night for a job at Texas A&M.

Crimson Tide fans were enraged. And so too, apparently, was the guy who's earned the nickname "F-Bomb." On his radio show, Finebaum basically equated Franchione's departure to someone going into a Waffle House and mowing down a bunch of children.

A bit much, no?

Then a reporter at The Augusta Chronicle, I wrote a quick bit on Finebaum's outrageous statements for the next day's paper.

The next day, a friend from Birmingham called me and said: "Man, what the heck did you do to Paul Finebaum? He's been trashing you for the last two hours on his radio show!"

So he doesn't come off as the nicest or most humble guy in the world.

But...

I'm all for calling a spade a spade, and this column by F-Bomb is a nice piece of journalism.

F-Bomb decided to give former SEC commish Harvey Schiller a call, and Schiller came forth with a few eye-opening revelations from the SEC's expansion in the early 1990s.

Schiller ... said Texas had virtually agreed to become an SEC member. Arkansas and Texas would join the SEC from the Western side and South Carolina and either Florida State, Miami or Virginia Tech would enter from the East.

"The one that made the most sense was Texas," Schiller said. "I spent some time with DeLoss Dodds (the Texas athletic director) and he really wanted to join the conference."

Done deal. Everything agreed to but the name on the dotted line. Then, it all came apart.

"The state legislature (in Texas) somehow got wind of it through Texas A&M and said we had to bring in both schools or we couldn't take Texas," Schiller said.

The SEC didn't want A&M. Ultimately, the two Texas schools would leave the Southwest Conference and join the Big 12.

Schiller goes on to recount Vince Dooley's push for the SEC to go after rival Georgia tech, and Florida officials pushing for Florida State and Miami.

Then there's this gem that describes the NCAA's angry reaction to the SEC's discovery of the loophole in its rule book:

Schiller remembers sitting around one day with one of his assistants, Mark Womack, now the league's executive associate commissioner. He was looking at the NCAA rule book and the idea was born.

"You know, Mark," Schiller said, "we can have a football championship.'" "What you mean?" Womack responded. "I'm looking at a rule book and it says if you have more than 10 institutions, you can effectively have a championship in any sport," Schiller said.

Somehow, Walter Byers, the dogmatic head of the NCAA, caught wind and immediately called Schiller in Birmingham.

"He said, 'what the heck are you doing?'" Schiller said, remembering the fiery conversation. "That (rule) was not meant for you," Byers told Schiller. "It was meant for hockey, volleyball and soccer (and smaller leagues) where they have 12 or 14 or 16 schools."

"But that's not what the rule books says," fired back Schiller, a former combat pilot in Vietnam who later attained the rank in the Air Force of Brigadier General. Schiller once headed the chemistry department at the Air Force Academy and holds a doctorate in the subject.

Schiller said the conversation deteriorated from there, with Byers "calling me an SOB."

"You're not going to do it," Byers demanded.

Oh yes we are, Schiller responded.

In 1992, the SEC made history by holding its inaugural championship game.

"de Tocqueville said the revolution only tells you something that already took place," Schiller said.

Fantastic stuff.

Really good column here from Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz, who says new NCAA prez Mark Emmert is basically a cop without a gun. The real power is in the hands of the NCAA presidents, who don't want to effect any significant changes because of $$$$$$.

And in the following paragraph, truer words have never been typed:

My general problem with the NCAA is that it's a business when it's convenient to pose as a business, and it's a high-minded part of the larger academic mission when that serves its purpose. Emmert said Tuesday he doesn't see that the two goals are mutually exclusive, but when coaches are being paid millions and athletes are being used like so many indentured servants, there's a larger problem.

In The State, SEC coaches brace for expansion while playing golf.

And did anyone happen to catch the photos of Steve Spurrier's shorts?

Between this...



and this...



I'm thinking Spurrier's new name should be the Old Ball Crisis. Gotta be some mid-life issues going on there.

Interesting blog post from Jeremy Fowler, the Orlando Sentinel beat writer who incurred Urban Meyer's wrath a while back by quoting a player who might or might not have dissed Tim Tebow.

According to the most recent national statistics, 16.5 percent of 18-25 year-olds smoked pot within a particular month-long period.

According to a former Florida player, 75 percent of the 2006 BCS title team was sparking up.


LW

Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.

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Some Clemson draft leftovers

The NFL has a great database detailing its draft history, creating the opportunity to dig into various trends and statistics.

We did a lot of that last week, and even though the draft is long gone we'll touch on some more stuff to lead today's blog.

I was interested to know how Clemson fared position-by-position in the last 11 drafts.

Defensive line racked up the most draftees, with eight players selected -- five of them defensive ends.

Next in line was receiver, with five players taken.

Linebacker and safety tied for third with four selections.

Cornerback had three draftees.

Running back and offensive line were next with two apiece.

Quarterback was next with one selection.

No tight ends. No kickers or punters.

Here are the details:

DL
Sapp, 2010 (DE)
Scott, 2009 (DT)
Merling, 2008 (DE)
G. Adams, 2007 (DE)
Bennett, 2006 (DE)
Washington, 2004 (DT)
Eason, 2003 (DT)
McNeal, 2003 (DE)

WR
Ford, 2010
Stuckey, 2007
Currie, 2005
Hamilton, 2004
Gardner, 2001

LB
Conner, 2010
Waters, 2007
Hill, 2005
K. Adams, 2001

S
Clemons, 2009
Hamlin, 2009
Gaddis, 2007
Carswell, 2001

CB
Butler, 2010
Hill, 2006
Miller, 2005

RB
Spiller, 2010
Davis, 2009

OL
Richardson, 2008
D. Fry, 2007

QB
Whitehurst, 2006

Tight end Michael Palmer fell short of being the Tigers' first tight end drafted since Keith Jennings in 1989, but according to this Greenville News article he feels good about his chances with the Falcons.

Palmer, a former Clemson University tight end, said he nearly signed with the Tennessee Titans before accepting an offer to play for his hometown favorite, the Atlanta Falcons.

“It was so cool and humbling,” Palmer said Tuesday. “I’d be on the phone talking to Jeff Fisher of the Titans and I’d have Mike Smith (Falcons) beeping in on the other line.”

Palmer said that while he tried to enjoy the experience, “it was the most stressful day of my life.”

Gotta think the Tigers' tight end drought in the draft will end soon...


Speaking of D.A. here's a story that says he could be the key to the offense in 2010.

Rivals.com unveils its All-Undrafted team.

Also at Rivals, North Carolina's Robert Quinn is one scary dude.

Now you see why Clemson wanted this guy to go to Alabama a few years ago.

In the Independent-Mail, a look at the Tigers' offensive questions entering the summer.

The Greenville News has a story on the conference expansion issue, and nothing really new other than South Carolina AD Eric Hyman saying he doesn't know what's going on.

But two passages did stand out:

ACC commissioner John Swofford told McClatchy newspapers last month he “would not be terribly surprised by what might happen in other conferences looking forward.”

However, Swofford said, “I don't see us being affected in any way by the potential expansion of the Pac-10 and Big Ten.”

Um, really?

And this:

Hyman believes the SEC won’t leap to a decision. Adding teams would conceivably dilute the split of the TV revenue.

“With South Carolina, if another school came in, are you willing to give up that revenue to the school coming in? The school coming in has to bring enough assets to make it worthwhile,” he said. “That is from a pure business standpoint. There are some other intangible things that come with it, but you have got to put a value to it.”

Another story from Rivals: College football assistants are getting paid like pros, and the Man of Steele is one of them.

Some basketball stuff...

Clemson's in-house web site has a Q&A with assistant Mike Winiecki.

Dave Glenn of The ACC Sports Journal chats with Brad Brownell.

We had our own chat with Brownell yesterday, and he was quite engaging. Stay tuned for some really good stuff later this morning.


LW

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Bowling in the Bronx

If you blink, you risk missing the addition of another bowl game. So it's probably forgivable that the latest additions flew under the radar of our large, highly-trained blog staff.

So now we're up to 35 bowl games, and the latest two are the Dallas Football Classic and the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.

Love Noo Yawk and all, but how much interest is a Dec. 30 bowl game in the Bronx going to generate? They'll theoretically get some followers from the No. 3 Big East team, but I'm guessing the No. 6 school in the Big 12 won't be burning up the phone lines for tickets.

And good luck getting the New York media to notice. A Google News search turned up zero stories from NYC on their new bowl.

The linked AP story on the two bowl additions buried the lead, as we like to say in the news-gathering business:

Bowl applications were denied for the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla., and the Christmas Bowl in Los Angeles.

One consequence of more bowls is the fact that we're moving closer to having teams with losing records land in them. This story from San Diego delves into that topic.

he only thing that seems to be stopping the bowl system from expanding even further is the limited pool of eligible teams. For at least the past three seasons, there were 71 teams with at least six wins — just enough for 35 games. In 2003, there were 67, but that was before the NCAA loosened the six-win requirement by allowing teams to count one win per year against opponents from the lesser-resourced Division I-AA.

The NCAA committee that licenses potential new bowl games only will do so if the bowl operators show they are contracted with two conferences that historically have produced enough bowl-eligible teams to play in their games. Asked how many bowl games there could be, Nick Carparelli, the chairman of the NCAA’s bowl licensing committee, said, “As many games as the system can handle.”

So the NCAA didn't get its 96-team NCAA Tournament, but the postseason in college football is well on its way to fulfilling that depressing design.

Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, Bart Wright says the NCAA shockingly got it right by apparently listening to the public and going with merely a 68-team field.

Agreed. Though you have to wonder if the powers-that-be merely floated the idea of a 96-team field to repulse people and thereby make the 68-team field something that is almost unanimously embraced.

After reading this column by Ron Morris, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's not a fan of the NFL Draft.

You have to think rivals of Georgia Tech will spare no effort citing Jonathan Dwyer's draft plummet to running back recruits who have NFL aspirations.

A good player is a good player, regardless of the offensive philosophy. But it's hard to discount the following quotes:

"It's going to be relearning for him," said Kirby Wilson, who coaches the Steelers' backs. "It's like getting back on a bicycle and starting all over again."

And:

"I don't know what really hurt me, maybe the whole triple-option process," Dwyer said.

Then again, Dwyer did pretty well in Chan Gailey's pro-style offense.

SEC commish Mike Slive says the SEC is studying expansion in case other leagues add schools.



Looks like Mike Marscovetra is going to have a say in the QB battle at Boston College.

True sophomore Mike Marscovetra, who played sparingly last year, was at the head of the class, going 13-for-16 for 149 yards and a touchdown. His 15-yard strike to tight end Jordon McMichael was the only TD pass of the day. Marscovetra was sacked twice.

Incumbent sophomore Dave Shinskie went 6-for-12 for 50 yards (a long of 14).

At Maryland, running back D.J. Adams starred in the Terps' spring game.

In Atlanta, Paul Johnson dishes out some rare compliments.

“I’m excited about it (the team),” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of positives. We’ve still got some work to do this summer in a lot of areas, but some of the young guys showed up and hopefully answered some of the questions.”

Looks like trouble for four prominent N.C. State players.

Here's a spring review for the four North Carolina schools. And Caulton Tudor gives his list of early headliners in ACC football.

VT beat writer Norm Wood gives his take on the Hokies.

And in light of all this expansion talk, the ACC Sports Journal re-runs a story from last August that remains relevant now, comparing the SEC's financial situation...


to the ACC's...


LW

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Draft hangover

The sports world basically stops for three days as everyone breathlessly analyzes seven rounds worth of draft picks. Now we begin the months-long wait to see if these guys can actually play.

The NFL's process for talent acquisition isn't nearly as inexact a science as college football's process, but it's still a crap shoot in a lot of ways.

But just like the obsession with recruiting, the obsession with the draft is merely an illustration of the year-round consumption with the NFL. Fans simply cannot get enough, and the wall-to-wall draft coverage merely meets that demand.


Bart Wright writes about the NFL's immense popularity while getting in another vague dig at what he calls "fan sites."

If you’re a baseball, basketball or hockey fan, or a serious follower of any college sport, you know what it’s like a few months after the season is over. You start thinking ahead, but there’s nothing to grab onto, no tangible chunk of reality that begins to set things in motion for the next season. That explains the existence of the fan sites on the Internet where people make vacant claims and predictions just to nudge somebody into a conversation.

You've really got to be living in a hole -- or maybe another planet -- if you seriously think "fan sites" are the only entities that make "vacant claims and predictions" to stir up offseason conversation.

Why, there's an army of conference bloggers at ESPN that are dedicated to doing precisely what Bart derides. To ignore their existence is pretty ... vacant.

On to some draft stuff ...

Had fun last week crunching some numbers from the previous 10 years' worth of drafts. Incorporating this year's numbers into the mix, you really wonder why the ACC hasn't had more success in the BCS.

Here's the first two paragraphs of the release from the ACC offices:

For the sixth straight year, the Atlantic Coast Conference had over 30 of its players selected in the annual National Football league Draft which concluded Saturday afternoon, as 31 former ACC standouts were chosen by NFL teams.

Since 2005, the ACC and the Southeastern Conference are the only two leagues in the nation to have had 30 selections in the NFL Draft in each of the past six years.

But still no at-large team in the BCS. Nine straight years without a representative in the BCS title game. Since the format's inception in 1998, a grand total of two victories in BCS games (Florida State in 2000; Virginia Tech in 2008).

No one is expecting the ACC to win four consecutive BCS titles. And there are some solid explanations for the BCS futility, as we pointed out last week in examining the ACC's glaring lack of offensive skill players relative to the SEC.

But still, the draft numbers suggest the ACC should be much better. And that suggests the conference has suffered from substandard coaching.

Now for some numbers:

Entering this year's draft, Clemson ranked eighth in the ACC in total draft picks over the previous 10 drafts. The Tigers had totaled 24 draft picks, falling behind Miami (63), Florida State (56), Virginia Tech (47), Virginia (32), North Carolina (27), Maryland (26) and N.C. State (26).

Five Clemson players were drafted this year, tying with Virginia Tech for the most in the ACC. That vaulted the Tigers from eighth to fifth in the last 11 drafts:

1. Miami 67
2. Florida State 59
3. Virginia Tech 52
4. Virginia 33
5. Clemson 29
6. North Carolina 29
7. Maryland 28
8. Georgia Tech 27
9. N.C. State 27
10. Boston College 22
11. Wake Forest 19
12. Duke 2

Florida State, by the way, has had seven players taken over the past three drafts.

How much has the Seminoles' talent dropped off in recent years? From 1992 to 2007, they averaged 6.5 players taken per draft.

Here are the numbers over that stretch:

1992: 6
1993: 6
1994: 6
1995: 10
1996: 4
1997: 7
1998: 9
1999: 4
2000: 7
2001: 9
2002: 3
2003: 6
2004: 5
2005: 9
2006: 8
2007: 5
2008: 3
2009: 1
2010: 3

Mike Huguenin of Rivals says the first round was filled with former high school stars.

Five former five-star recruits went in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft Thursday night.

There were 13 former four-star prospects selected, along with seven three-star guys and six two-star players. One player was unranked out of high school.

So now Ricky Sapp tells us his knee was only 60 percent last season.

"I really should have sat out a couple of games, until I got that right, but I really wanted to play so it kind of hurt me a little bit."

Wasn't it last July and August when Sapp was basically laughing at questions about the knee he blew out in November of 2008, saying it was 100 percent?

Just the latest in a long line of reasons to take it with a grain of salt when a player tells you he's fully recovered from that knee/toe/shoulder injury.

I can see why players aren't always 100 percent truthful about their injuries. But I also don't blame people for being skeptical upon hearing of rapid recoveries.

More on Sapp's long weekend in his hometown paper.

In the Newport News Daily Press, David Teel gives his pecking order for the ACC's Atlantic and Coastal divisions.

Looks suspiciously like he's making vacant claims and predictions to nudge somebody into a conversation. And he's -- gasp! -- a newspaper guy!

Clemson's baseball team has suffered some tough, tough blows this season. The latest evidence of that is demonstrated in these game stories (Independent-Mail and Greenville News) from Sunday's numbing ending.

An extraordinary dose of tough luck for these Tigers this season? No doubt.

But you can't tell me that bad luck overrides the fact that this team is not particularly smart, and not particularly interested in playing full speed at all times. The examples have grown too numerous to count, and that's the biggest reason this team is stunningly not even a sure thing to make the NCAA Tournament.

Now that we know who's headed for the NBA Draft, Jim Young of The ACC Sports Journal gives his 2010-11 pre-season power rankings (Clemson is 8th).

Nothing to see here. Just more vacant claims and predictions to nudge somebody into a conversation...


LW

Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.

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The OL draft drought

Was talking with NFL Draft guru Mike Detillier the other day when the topic of Clemson's offensive line drought in the draft came up.

Detillier has some crazy knowledge and recall, and he knew off the top of his head how long it's been since the Tigers had an offensive lineman taken in the first three rounds.

"Joe Bostic, 1979," he said. "Amazing, isn't it?"

Amazing indeed.

We've covered this topic in the blog before, but it takes on additional relevance with the draft upon us. Assuming Thomas Austin does not get selected in the second or third round -- and there is no reason to think he will be -- the drought will extend another year.

Before we go any further, it should be noted that having linemen who are highly regarded by the NFL is not a prerequisite for fielding a solid, and even dominant, offensive line in college. Danny Ford proved that; the highest a lineman was drafted under his watch was center Tony Berryhill, who was selected in the ninth round of the 1982 draft (Guard James Farr was selected by the Raiders in the third round of the 1984 supplemental draft of USFL players).

As Detillier noted, linemen under Ford tended to be smaller and were not NFL prototypes. But they were fast, physical, and masterful in their execution of Ford's schemes. That, coupled with dominant defense, was the foundation for all those wins and championships under Ford.

But when you've gone 31 years without having an offensive lineman selected in the first three rounds, and a draft analyst knows the statistic off the top of his head, it's rather glaring.

How many other ACC teams have gone that long without having an offensive lineman drafted in the first three rounds?

Zero.

Here are the numbers from 1980 to now, excluding this year's draft:

Boston College: 11
Miami: 8
North Carolina: 7
Virginia: 6
Florida State: 5
N.C. State: 5
Georgia Tech: 3
Maryland: 3
Virginia Tech: 3
Wake Forest: 2
Duke: 1
Clemson: 0

And here's the rundown on Clemson's offensive linemen who have been drafted over that stretch:

1982: C Tony Berryhill, ninth round; G Brian Clark, 12th round

1983: G Bob Mayberry, 11th round; G Brian Butcher, 11th round

1989: T Ty Granger, 10th round

1991: G Eric Harmon, 10th round; T Stacy Long, 11th round

1992: C Curtis Whitley, fifth round

1994: T Andre Hewitt, seventh round

1998: G Glenn Rountree, sixth round; T Jim Bundren, seventh round

2007: C Dustin Fry, fifth round

2008: T Barry Richardson, sixth round

So two fifth round picks are the pinnacle of the NFL Draft for Clemson's offensive linemen since 1979.

And the fact that the Tigers went nine years (1998-2007) without having an offensive lineman drafted at all is a telling indicator of just how mediocre their offensive lines were over much of that stretch.

Which brings us to the present. Dabo Swinney made offensive line a major priority upon taking over as head coach. He devoted a second assistant, Danny Pearman, to overseeing the OL with longtime coach Brad Scott. He tried to institute measures that would foster more physicality and nastiness -- traits that were lacking in the later years under Tommy Bowden, when an inability to produce in short-yardage situations played a major role in the Tigers' failure to win their division.

Swinney was happy with the progress made last year. The Tigers' rushing average improved from 111 yards a game in 2008 to a 170-yard clip.

Heading into 2010, Swinney has a solid core returning. His top six guys should be good, and potentially very good. They just have to avoid injuries that would expose the paper-thin depth beyond the top 6.

I have not had the opportunity to ask Swinney about the offensive line drought in the NFL Draft, but I'd assume he would agree that one of the big keys to continuing to improve on the offensive line is recruiting more NFL-type offensive linemen.

I'd also assume Swinney would say they've done a better job of that in recent years.

Chris Hairston is far from an NFL prototype, but he's athletic and could be in the mix to be in the top three or four rounds of next year's draft with a really good senior season.

It's way premature to say Antoine McClain will be a high pick, but he has the physical makeup. So does Dalton Freeman. So does David Smith. So did J.K. Jay before he suffered a career-ending back injury. Incoming freshman David Beasley has NFL size.

I'm not projecting those guys to be high draft picks. Just saying that Swinney could, and probably would, point to them as examples of the improved OL recruiting. He would probably also say they need to continue bringing in those type of guys, while cutting down on the number of misses.

On to some links...

Kudos to NFL guru Mike Mayock, who correctly predicted C.J. Spiller to Buffalo.

About an hour before the Bills selected, I received a press release from The NFL Network in which Mayock accurately predicted the Bills would select Clemson running back C.J. Spiller.

I immediately called my best friend and said the Bills were picking Spiller.

That's because Mayock is the E.F. Hutton of draft experts and his accuracy rate dealing with the Bills is especially high in his final mock draft.

In the past five drafts, he predicted the Bills would pick Donte Whitner in 2006, Leodis McKelvin in 2008, Aaron Maybin in 2009 and now Spiller in his final mock draft.

Clark Judge says there's no room for Marshawn Lynch in Buffalo.

This Buffalo columnist doesn't like the pick.

With his first big pick, the new GM repeated the folly of the previous regimes, ignoring the Bills' need for big men on both sides of the ball and grabbing the shiniest toy instead. Nix went to a position of modest need by taking C.J. Spiller, a dynamic running back out of Clemson.

And later...

Spiller is a rare talent, but the NFL is an unforgiving league. The kid will get a rude awakening trying to run wide behind an offensive line with no proven tackles. Nix says the Bills need some excitement. Part of the fans' excitement will be watching the rookie running back run for his life.

NBC analyst Tiki Barber loves the pick.

Bart Wright weighs in.

For a team that thrives so much on the passion of its fans, Lynch was not a good fit. Spiller will be perfect for them.

He’ll go to Buffalo with a great attitude and make a positive impact as a rookie, however odd his appearance there may seem. Spiller has been defying convention all along, so his fans ought to see this selection as fitting right in with the mosaic of his young life.

And how about this quote from Jon Gruden:

"C.J. Spiller will be the rookie of the year. He is, by far, the most talented player in the draft."

No, not feeling like much of an idiot for my Spiller Heisman vote. He was the best player in college football last year. Period.

Over an 11-year stretch, Georgia Tech had one player (Calvin Johnson) selected in the first round. The Jackets got two last night.

In the Independent-Mail, a healthy John Hinson is thriving in the middle of the Tigers' batting order.

So the NCAA Tournament will only expand to 68 teams. I'll take it.

LW

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Inside the draft: Skill sets

When C.J. Spiller is selected tonight in the first round of the NFL Draft, it'll break a dubious drought for the ACC.

The last ACC running back to be taken in the first round? Thomas Jones of Virginia, in 2000.

That's a long, long time. And it illustrates one of the main areas where the ACC has lagged behind the powerful SEC.

In recent years, the ACC has more than held its own with the SEC in several draft categories. No conference can top the ACC's 30 first-round picks over the last three years. Over the past four drafts, 148 ACC players have been selected. The SEC has had 149.

Impressive numbers, no doubt. Yet the SEC has claimed the past four BCS national champions, and the ACC has compiled an ugly record in BCS games while also failing to send a team to the title game nine straight seasons.

How to explain the gaping disparity in actual on-field production?

You can start with the so-called offensive skill positions, where the ACC has been way behind.

Let's start with quarterback. From 2000 to 2009, the ACC had two quarterbacks selected in the first round: Matt Ryan in 2008, and Philip Rivers in 2004.

Over the same stretch, the SEC had three No. 1 picks at quarterback -- Matt Stafford, Jamarcus Russell, Eli Manning -- while totaling six first-round selections at quarterback.

Here are the others:

Jay Cutler, Vanderbilt
Jason Campbell, Auburn
Rex Grossman, Florida

To illustrate the point further, the ACC had just eight quarterbacks drafted total from 2000 to 2009:

Ryan
Rivers
Charlie Whitehurst (3rd round)
Adrian McPherson (5th)
Matt Schaub (3rd)
Ronald Curry (7th)
Chris Weinke (4th)
Joe Hamilton (7th)

At receiver, there's not a huge chasm. The SEC had nine receivers selected in the first round from 2000-09, the ACC seven. And the ACC will close the gap further tonight if Georgia Tech's Demaryius Thomas is taken in the first round as expected (the SEC will not have a WR taken in the first round this year).

Here are the SEC's first-round WR selections:

Percy Harvin
Dwayne Bowe
Robert Meachem
Craig Davis, LSU
Troy Williamson
Matt Jones
Michael Clayton
Donte Stallworth
Travis Taylor

And the ACC's:

Darrius Heyward-Bey
Hakeem Nicks
Calvin Johnson
Javon Walker
Koren Robinson
Rod Gardner
Peter Warrick

One thing to note: There was a pretty big gap between Walker (2002 draftee) and Johnson (2007 draftee). That's a lot of years without a big-time receiver.

Now we move to the running backs.

Take a look at the first-round picks from the SEC over the last 10 drafts:

Knowshon Moreno
Darren McFadden
Felix Jones
Joseph Addai
Ronnie Brown
Cadillac Williams
Deuce McAllister
Jamal Lewis
Shaun Alexander

Good gosh. All of those guys were absolute horses in college. There's been a glaring lack of comparable horses in the ACC -- save Spiller, of course.

And there's your biggest difference. The ACC appears largely on par with the SEC when it comes to high-end defensive players, offensive linemen, and maybe even receivers.

But there's a lot of ground to make up at QB and RB, two monumentally important positions.

In fairness to the ACC, the conference had three fewer teams from 2000 to 2003, and one fewer team in 2004 before it became a 12-team league in 2005. Thus there was less available talent in the draft from 2000-05. But the gap in skill-position talent is nevertheless glaring.

In the context of Clemson, Spiller will be the Tigers' first first-round pick on offense since Rod Gardner in 2001. And he'll be the Tigers' first running back taken in the first round since Terrence Flagler in 1987.

When Flagler was drafted during the heyday under Danny Ford, who'd have imagined 23 years would pass before another Clemson running back would go that high?


In the Independent-Mail, Greg Wallace writes about Clifford's big night.

Brandon Jacobs says he'd be insulted if the Giants draft Spiller.

Ricky Sapp apparently is not sweating his draft status.

The baseball team got a much-needed kicking of a tomato can last night.

In the Greenville News, members of the women's track team look forward to the Penn Relays.

Man, this Jim Delany is just not a likable guy. After letting all this expansion talk dominate discussion over the last few days, he emerges from the BCS meetings and wonders what all the fuss is about.

Mike Slive of the SEC says his conference is ready to throw down.

More on the saber-rattling from Delany in USA Today.

"We have not accelerated anything," Delany said, refuting a Chicago Tribune report late last week that the league had alteredstepped up its timetable. In revealing it would ponder adding topanding beyond its current 11 members, the Big Ten said in December that Delany would take 12-18 months to draw up recommendations to its council of school presidents and chancellors.

He met with those officers in conjunction with semiannual meetings of the Association of American Universities in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, but described the discussions as routine. While "I'm not saying it didn't come up," Delany said of expansion, he insisted it merely was one of several league issues addressed.

He declined to go into details of the discussions.


LW

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Inside the draft, part 1

We're gonna spend the next three mornings writing some draft-centric blogs, but we're not going to insult your intelligence by pretending we know what we're talking about regarding this year's draft.

Honestly, I have no clue and will defer to the experts. So if you want mock drafts and the like, you can consult Mel Kiper, Todd McShay or Ryan Bartow.

There are some interesting historical draft trends involving Clemson and the ACC, and we're going to explore those.

We'll start with how ACC teams have fared in the first round over the past decade (2000-09).

Here goes:

Miami 26
Florida State 13
Boston College 7
Virginia 6
N.C. State 5
North Carolina 4
Virginia Tech 4
Clemson 3
Maryland 3
Wake Forest 2
Georgia Tech 1
Duke 0

My initial reactions:

-- Miami ... good gosh. Talk about stockpiling talent. The interesting thing, though, is that most of those first-rounders were on the field in Coral Gables before Miami joined the ACC; in the last five drafts, "only" six Hurricanes have been selected in the first round. Miami's streak of 14 consecutive years with at least one first-round pick ended last year.

-- There just aren't many coaching staffs in college football better than Frank Beamer and Co. in Blacksburg. They are more talented than most recruiting rankings give them credit for, but they have become the gold standard in the ACC without an abundance of top-flight talent. A deeper look reveals that, of the four first-round picks from Virginia Tech, just one (offensive tackle Duane Brown in 2008) was drafted when the Hokies were in the ACC. The others were cornerback DeAngelo Hall (2004), running back Kevin Jones (2004) and quarterback Michael Vick (2001).

-- Diametrically opposed to Virginia Tech is the program that was led by The Chessmaster for most of last decade. Six first-round picks, and Al Groh can't compile a cumulative winning ACC record in nine years at Virginia. And N.C. State's Chuck Amato wasn't far behind in the underachievement category.

-- I would've expected Florida State's total of first-rounders to be higher than 13. Interestingly, the Seminoles compiled the same number of first-round draft picks in the previous decade. One would've expected them to have more in the 90's given than they experienced a great deal more success in that decade. Florida State, by the way, has had no player taken in the first round over the last two drafts.

-- Over the last few years, it's been popular around these parts to assume that Clemson has talent on par with the best teams in the ACC. These numbers would not indicate that, though these numbers certainly aren't the best gauge for overall talent. A better measurement, perhaps, could be players drafted in the first three rounds. But that's a topic for another day.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog. Plenty more good draft stuff coming.

On to some links...

Talk about raking in the talent. Florida could have a player drafted at every position except running back in this year's draft.

And so the C.J. Spiller extravaganza begins. Here's a Q&A with Clifford in the New York Times, complete with Spiller and a big boy named Suh visiting Subway and being presented with pepperoni busts of themselves.


Let's hope this is the first and last time the term "bust" is associated with Spiller.

According to the New York Daily News, the Giants are suddenly smitten with Spiller.

C.J. Spiller hadn't heard a word from the Giants throughout the pre-draft process. No workouts, no visits, no indication that they liked him at all.

Until they called him a few days ago to make sure they had the right cell-phone number in case they need to reach him Thursday night.

And they might because, according to multiple team sources, the Giants are enchanted with the Clemson running back whom many scouts believe is the most dynamic offensive player in this year's draft. He likely won't be there when the Giants make the 15th pick of the first round. But those sources said the Giants could consider trading up to get him if he escapes the Top 10 and if the price is right.

Given the following quote in the same story, I'm guessing Spiller wasn't a math major:

"My weight is just three digits."

In Seattle, the question of the day: Can the woeful Seahawks afford to use one of their first-round picks on a situational back?

Seattle's need for a home-run threat on offense has prompted some to project Seattle will choose Spiller as high as sixth overall.

Seattle has drafted three fullbacks in the previous five years compared to only one tailback, which helps explain why coach Pete Carroll said his team needs to find firepower in this year's draft.

"Players who can score touchdowns," he said.

Ricky Sapp presents an intriguing option for the Patriots, who have the 22nd pick. But apparently there are still some questions about his knee.

Clemson linebacker Ricky Sapp has practically been begging teams to realize his right knee has fully recovered from ACL surgery, but the doubts still remain. So the pass rusher extraordinaire from Death Valley understands that his draft stock is in flux, which means the Patriots can give him a look when they're picking at No. 22.

And this:

Sapp would be a more natural fit as an outside linebacker in the Patriots' 3-4 system, but he could probably fill in at defensive end if need be. Sapp is big, but it looks like he could still add some more size and strength. He might be a little more of a project than some of the other pass rushers in this draft, but he has the potential to reach an elite level in a few years.

Here's a recent diary entry from Sapp in his hometown paper.

Four days before the draft and I have so many emotions right now. I’m excited, nervous, a little scared and happy all at the same time. I am just waiting to hear my name called this weekend. I do not care where I end up and when I go. I just want to hear my name. When I hear my name, at that point I will know all the hard work has paid off. All the blood, sweat and tears were for a reason bigger than my eyes could see. I have really enjoyed and cherished my experience at Clemson. In Clemson, I grew up and became the man I am today! I am so proud to say I will always be a part of the Orange Family. Being at Clemson, they made me feel at home, they made all athletes feel like we were a part and we mattered. It was a home away from home.

Back to Spiller for a moment: Ed McGranahan of The Greenville News talks with Spiller's pastor in Lake Butler, Fla., to get some insight into where the C.J. camp hopes he'll be drafted.

“We assume that if Seattle doesn’t pick him, either Cleveland or Jacksonville will,” said Patrick Maxwell, pastor of Victory Christian Center in Lake Butler, Fla. “Our prayer is that Jacksonville picks him.

“We’re hoping Seattle will fumble the ball and not take him with that sixth pick and Jacksonville will go ahead and scoop him up.”

And also this:

Passes are limited for the nationally televised first round Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall. Maxwell and his wife are there, along with Spiller’s mother, brother, sister, daughter and stepfather. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and wife Kathleen are scheduled to join them tonight.

Spiller moved out of his apartment in Clemson last week and returned to Lake Butler. Swinney said it was like seeing a son leave home.

Bart Wright is a Seattle guy, and he sees Spiller landing in his old stomping grounds.

We used to know it as Seattle, but if Spiller is selected by the Seahawks with the No. 14 pick in the first round of Thursday’s prime time NFL draft, we might just start calling it Clemson West. Leroy Hill is a valued linebacker, and new coach Pete Carroll recently traded for San Diego backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, so Spiller would be the third Tiger to find a home in the Northwest, would he last until the 14th selection.

In the Myrtle Beach Sun-News, Brad Brownell and Dabo Swinney address fans on the booster-club circuit.

In The Post and Courier, two relatively old news items: Earl Grant joining Brad Brownell's staff (we told you about it two days ago), and Josh Postorino and Ron Bradley joining Oliver Purnell's staff (we told you about it nine days ago).


LW

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Expansion buzz

This expansion stuff has a Wild Wild West feel to it.

(No, I wasn't just looking for an excuse to post another picture from the movie "Tombstone." But I'm constantly looking for opportunities, and expansion talk provides a nice opening for the analogy.)

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline is doing a really nice job of tackling the topic, and it helps make up for his woefully inaccurate reporting on Tubby Smith to Auburn last month.

Today, he talks about Texas' decision about whether to stay or go -- and if it's go, where the Longhorns will end up -- having a huge impact on everyone else.

Three things I take from this column:

-- The SEC's landmark television deal ($3 billion over 15 years) is a major influence in the Big Ten's expansion plans, which have reportedly been accelerated.

-- The Big East could be doomed.

-- The SEC might be more interested in raiding the Big 12 than the ACC.

The third notion is most interesting, because most of us have been proceeding under the assumption that Miami, Florida State and Clemson would be attractive candidates if the SEC became interested in adding more teams.

Clemson, by the way, would be very much interested in listening if that opportunity materialized. Actually, Clemson's athletics department would be very much interested in listening. The university administration might be a different story.

But anyway, Dodd's piece points out that the SEC could look west instead of east.

Would Oklahoma follow Texas? Maybe the only way to trump the Big Ten's power play is somehow lure Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M to the SEC. Blood rivals on the field, Texas and OU can't get along without each other, really. In a quiet moment in his office, Dodds admitted to proudly showing current Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione around the campus each time he visits.

Regarding the Big East, this Louisville columnist says the Big East is on the verge of becoming the Big Empty.

Louisville AD Tom Jurich told the columnist he's "expecting probably the worst" at this week's BCS meetings in Phoenix.

And this from Big East commish Mike Tranghese:

“If the Big Ten comes and takes multiple teams from the Big East, then I think the Big East is in trouble. It's a tough situation, because I don't think there's anything the Big East can do to prevent it, and I think everybody is sort of sitting on pins and needles.”

When high-ranking officials are speaking in apocalyptic tones, it's time to start paying attention.

Wonder what the folks in Greensboro think of all this? This is high-stakes, cut-throat stuff that makes the previous rounds of expansion look like Tiddlywinks.

The emerging expansion buzz, coupled with the ACC's ongoing negotiations for a new TV deal, means it'd be fascinating to be a fly on the wall in John Swofford's office.

One would think West Virginia and Louisville would be logical targets for the ACC. But Tranghese, for one, doesn't see it happening.

“I just don't see it that way at all. I just don't think that the ACC and SEC are going to expand.”

The Big East, by the way, poses a serious roadblock to an accelerated timetable with expansion:

Big East teams that agree to leave for other conferences are contractually obligated to remain in the Big East for 27 months after notifying the league of their intentions. That arrangement was set up not only to try to protect the league from defections, but to give the rest of the league time to act if a school left.

More on expansion in this New York Times article.

Here's a good story in The State on the Byrd brothers, Jonathan and Jordan, paying tribute to their late father.

In the ACC Sports Journal, a look at the shaky bond between Florida State and Bobby Bowden.

In the Winston-Salem Journal, a look at Wake Forest's spring game.

Is the ACC hyping North Carolina as the Coastal Division favorite? We'd never expect the ACC to stoop to those lows, would we?

Kyle Singler will return for his senior season with Duke. If you detest the thought of the Blue Devils returning to prolonged college basketball supremacy and all the glorification that would come with it, better leave your television off for the next year or two ... or just leave the country.

Happy 65th birthday, Steve Spurrier. But please, keep your shirt on when posing for pictures.


LW

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A look at Auburn

Never too early to talk about football, is it?

Didn't think so.

Auburn played its spring game over the weekend, and get this:

Attendance at Jordan-Hare Stadium was 63,217.

That's a monstrous crowd, and the number should hold some amusing relevance for you folks.

The big story for those Tigers is QB Cameron Newton (pictured), who apparently has all but wrapped up the starting job.

This columnist says Newton's starting role is the worst-kept secret on The Plains.

‘I wouldn’t read anything into anything," Malzahn said.

If this football thing doesn’t work out for them, Chizik and Malzahn have a promising future working for the CIA.
They’re experts at keeping state secrets.

It’ll be an upset of Tubervillian proportion if Newton isn’t the starting quarterback Sept. 4 against Arkansas State, but the coaches have convinced the players that this is a real competition and the winner has not been decided.

‘‘I think it’s still open," Trotter said.

This column spells out why Clemson fans should be worried about this Newton kid:

The orange jersey and no contact rules for quarterbacks in this scrimmage left that up to your imagination.

And, Tigers' fan are allowed to let their minds run a little wild.

Putting a player who can pass, run and be difficult to bring to the ground -- if he can make the necessary split-second decisions -- is a tantalizing combination to what last year was already a record-setting offense.

According to this article, Auburn's receivers stole the show.

The group turned a pair of bubble screens into long touchdowns — a 70-yard reception Quindarius Carr had against the second-team defense and Terrell Zachery’s 44-yarder against the first-team defense.

Zachery, a former Wadley standout, turned in the more impressive play, employing a spin move to break through a trio of tacklers 10 yards downfield before sprinting 25 more yards and falling forward into the end zone.

Carr finished with a game-high 152 receiving yards on four receptions. Zachery finished with two catches for 53 yards.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik said the group’s ability to transfer that type of performance into the regular season could determine how well the offense plays this year.

“I was fairly pleased. We need our receivers to get yards after the catch,” Chizik said. “In the passing game, we’ll take our shots when we can take our shots, but a lot of our passing game is a controlled passing game. In order for us to get explosive plays a lot of our passing offense will be after the catch.”

Famous (or maybe infamous) Alabama columnist Paul Finebaum predicts a 9-3 record for Auburn, and here's his take on Clemson's Sept. 18 visit to Jordan-Hare:

This is a very difficult game to figure out. Clemson is coming off a bizarre season with dramatic swings, finally culminating in a 9-5 record and a narrow loss in the ACC title game. ... Auburn 34-28.

By the way, South Carolina visits Auburn a week later. So we'll be provided with a rare measuring-stick week in comparing the two Palmetto State rivals.

Speaking of rivalries, check out this billboard dig Florida fans will place near Florida State's digs.


Guru Phil Steele says Clemson has the 15th-toughest schedule in college football. Imagine how much tougher it'd be without Presbyterian on the slate.

Plenty of conference expansion talk percolating.

This Florida beat writer tells us how Miami and Florida State to the SEC could happen.

Dennis Dodd says college athletics will never be the same if conference expansion comes true.

This story from St. Louis says Big Ten expansion would be seismic.

Here's an update on Temple WR coach Rob Spence.

Yep, everything is bigger in Texas. Especially budgets for high school football programs.

Just in case you forgot how important high school football is in Texas, the residents of Allen will soon have a $59.6 million stadium that will leave no doubt.

Next month in the booming north Dallas suburb, ground will be broken on a state-of-the-art, 18,000-seat facility that will feature two decks, a video scoreboard, four concession stands and 12 restrooms. It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012.

Congrats to the Clemson women's track team, which won its first outdoor ACC title in 19 years.

Clemson's baseball slide -- 12 losses in 18 games, and six of seven -- leaves Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail truly puzzled.

Is it too late to save this season? Of course not.

Twelve of the 19 remaining regular-season games are at home, including key series against North Carolina and Florida State. In addition, nine of the 19 are against teams with RPIs 122 and above.

But hosting a regional could be out of the question unless the Tigers get smoking hot and quickly.

Joe Paterno is unhappy with the increasing number of early enrollees. He's always unhappy about something, isn't he?


LW

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Cut from the same cloth

The following question might be insignificant to some, because I'm not sure how many of you care about women's basketball.

But as I read this colorful column by Bart Wright on Itoro Coleman, I wondered:

Has Clemson ever had three coaches who were cut from the same emotional cloth as Dabo Swinney, Brad Brownell and Coleman?

Check out this passage from Wright's column:

You want passion in your basketball coach? Spend a few minutes around Itoro Coleman.

“I teach what I know,” she said, “and what I know to be true is that commitment is more than a word, it’s a way of life, it’s a definition of who you are. The players we have will be committed in everything we do here – academics, the community, basketball, being a good teammate – these aren’t things you talk about, these are things you do, things you work at every day.”

She balled her right hand into a fist.

“You have to compete to win,” she said, smacking that fist into her left hand when she said “compete.”

“We have goals here – the Sweet 16 (smack goes the fist), the Elite 8 (smack), the Final Four (two fist smacks). But it all starts with competing. I’m talking about every second of 40 minutes in a game, every minute of practice, everything you do.”

She shook the hand of someone she had never met and excused herself to hit the recruiting trail.

Even if you've never cared about women's basketball and never plan to, how can you not get excited about that if you're a Clemson fan?

I know I'm planning on checking out a game or two next season, and a game or two is all I've checked out since I arrived here in 2004.

After this week's hiring of Brownell, athletics director Terry Don Phillips has been fond of saying that Brownell and Swinney probably couldn't occupy the same room because there wouldn't be sufficient oxygen. Both of them seem to have boundless energy and intensity, a total investment and passion for what they're doing.

Safe to say Coleman has the same qualities.

No one knows whether Swinney is going to guide Clemson back to the glory from which it is so far removed. No one knows whether Brownell will improve on -- or even sustain -- what Oliver Purnell built. And no one knows whether Coleman can lift her program from its woeful state.

But it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun watching them try.

Ed McGranahan of The Greenville News was at last night's Prowl and Growl function in GVegas and wrote this story on Brownell.

Here's what he said about recruiting:

"I’m not going to lie to you, we’re in a little bit of a tough spot. Obviously we got the job late. They didn’t have anybody signed so you have no recruiting class, so as a result you’re scrambling around a little bit and you’re behind. In recruiting it’s not easy to catch up when you’re behind.

“But we’re going to battle and bang for the next couple of weeks and see if we can find one or two men that we think are going to fit our program,” he said. “If not, we’re going to be patient because I think it’s more important to have good players than just use the scholarship.”

Greg Wallace of the Independent-Mail has the scoop on Devin Booker remaining at Clemson.

I'm not all that surprised given my conversation with Booker's mom last week.

The two main reasons I thought he'd probably return were:

1) OP is gone;

and,

2) Sitting out a year is not fun.

“The reason we were dissatisfied was that in Trevor’s first three seasons he was limited to one position (center),” Tracey Booker said. “What we were worried about was Devin playing under Purnell another three years and being limited to that.

“(Brownell) told Trevor how he would have done had he coached him, how he would have played him at the (small forward and forward positions). He said he would have had 2,000 career points instead of (1,725) career points under him.”

Also in the Independent-Mail, former Clemson beat writer Paul Strelow gets in a nine little one-liner:

Mulling a few things while wondering how long it will take Clemson to take down the Oliver Purnell fundraiser billboard on Clemson Boulevard.

Kind of surprised the wallpaper hasn’t slid down already. Reading between the lines of his departure, Purnell doesn’t handle heights well.



Strelow also weighs in on the million-dollar question (or maybe $2 million dollar question) surrounding Kyle Parker:

Entering the season, I didn’t think a baseball club would spend the desired money for a 6-foot slugger without a position. But there’s a growing sense his scrutinized outfield arm — ironic, huh? — is sufficient enough to hold up in left field. Plus his improved balance and hand positioning at the plate have helped rectify the holes in his swing. Inside fastballs, outside changeups and lefties are no longer such nemeses.

Here’s an excerpt of American League crosschecker’s assessment, as told to Baseball America for an upcoming story:

“The big question with him is, how much does it cost to buy him out?” the scout said. “I like him. … I could see 20 to 25 home runs, hitting between .250 and .270, .280.

“He was bad for me last year. The approach wasn’t there, and it affected the defense. This year I’ve seen a more mature player, a guy who’s shown the ability to be a little more selective … and become more of an all-around player. The approach is there. I’ve seen him make adjustments to breaking balls. He’s strong as an ox. You look at the fact that he’s never had a summer or fall to concentrate on baseball.”

Pure speculation: It’s going to take a signing bonus offer of mid-first round caliber (at least $1.5 million) to even register Parker’s attention.

In The State, the NFL is buzzing about C.J. Spiller as draft weekend approaches.

This might make Clemson fans sick to their stomach, but Georgia Tech is showing off the bling it recently received from its ACC title.

John Adams of the Knoxville paper reacts to Tennessee charging the media 50 bucks to attend a scrimmage.

If this becomes a trend, you can go ahead and start demolishing press boxes.


One question: If Tennessee is as bad as most people think they're going to be this year, does the media get its money back?

LW

Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.

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Playing catchup

There is this thing called football, and rumor is some of you might care about it.

We've been sidetracked with that basketball thing since Oliver Purnell decided to leave for DePaul, so today we'll play a little catchup on football stuff you might've missed.

One of the most intriguing spring story lines was Jimbo Fisher's first spring in charge of Florida State.

Here's an update on Christian Ponder, who still hasn't fully recovered from DeAndre McDaniel's called shot heard 'round the Clemson world last November.

The game was already decided at that point but Ponder didn't care. Frustrated, he ran toward McDaniel. The two collided near the sideline.

McDaniel lowered his shoulder and ran through Ponder, who crumpled to the ground. He knew it was bad. There was bone sticking through his skin, though he didn't know it then.

OUCH.

In another story, Fisher outlines his plan to pull the Seminoles from the muck of mediocrity.

He outlined his philosophy on building a program — detailing everything from nutrition to mental conditioning to academic support — and he explained how such a well-rounded support system was the key to the turnaround at LSU when he was on Nick Saban's staff in the early 2000s.

"We have to get caught up with the modern times of developing players," Fisher said. "I don't know if it will win us a national championship. But I do know that if we don't do it, we won't win a national championship."

Moving down to Miami, looks like a potentially nasty situation as Randy Shannon and the school negotiate a new contract.

Shannon realizes the pitfalls that could befall his team if he enters the season as a lame duck.

"That's a tough thing during the season to go through," Shannon said. "You're going to get the question every day. If you're winning, the press is going to ask, 'Do they really want you?' And if you're losing, they're going to say, 'Well, the university doesn't want you.' It's a bad deal either way."

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations say that several proposals have been swapped between Neil Cornrich, Shannon's agent, and the university. One of the most recent offers called for an annual base salary of around $1.4 million. That remains below the ACC median of $1.75 million paid the conference's 12 coaches, a figure more in line with what Shannon's side has put forward.

Looks like Anthony Allen is adjusting well to his role as Georgia Tech's starting B-back.

N.C. State offensive coordinator Dana Bible was healthy enough to call plays for the Wolfpack's spring game.

Russell Wilson didn't participate in spring practice because of baseball, but Tom O'Brien says he'll be back.

North Carolina's Bryn Renner is closing the gap with starting QB T.J. Yates.

At Virginia Tech, one of the main objectives is protecting Tyrod Taylor's blind side.

The funk deepens for Clemson's baseball team.

Another week, another mid-week failure for Clemson.

Sloppy play, poor relief and a lack of clutch hitting cost the Tigers dearly Wednesday against Western Carolina, the latest in a string of mid-week losses to mid-major foes.

When the Catamounts (22-9-1) finished off a 7-5 comeback win at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, it marked the third time in four weeks that the No.16 Tigers (23-11) dropped a home mid-week game to a Southern or Big South Conference foe, a trend which could haunt them when NCAA Tournament regional sites are handed out in late May.

And we'll close with some college basketball. This Colorado columnist absolutely blows up Wake Forest's new coach.

Colorado is a great state, and it’s about to be blessed with a vast improvement.

Buzzy, sometimes known as Jeff Bzdelik, is flying away to North Carolina. As soon as he departs, our state transforms to a better place.


LW

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Brownell brings closure

If you’re a Clemson fan and you witnessed Brad Brownell’s introductory press conference in person or through other means, the guess here is that you walked away thinking all is right with the Tigers’ basketball world for now.

The point of this is not to say that by "winning" the press conference (whatever that means) Brownell is destined to guide Clemson even higher than Oliver Purnell managed to in seven years here. No one knows whether that’ll happen, particularly with a coach who’s about to make his first foray into the world of big-boy basketball.

But there was something cathartic about Tuesday afternoon’s events inside the McFadden Building. The way the 41-year-old Brownell carried himself and carried the moment, with a blend of confidence and command and genuine excitement, seemed to apply a salve to the open wounds left from Purnell’s departure.

Purnell was a classy guy. And no one from around these parts should hold any grudges against him for moving on to attempt resuscitating another sagging team.

But there was just something about his departure that was tough to resolve for fans who truly invested themselves in his basketball program.

Maybe it was because it came out of nowhere, in the middle of the night and just days after Purnell seemed totally committed to being here for some time to come. Just hours after you hear of it and are still trying to process the shock, you see Purnell at his introductory press conference in Chicago wearing a DePaul hat and standing beside some furry, weird-looking mascot.

Maybe it was because we’d grown comfortable with the idea that Purnell and his wife, who’d become likable fixtures in the community, liked it here and would ultimately retire here.

Maybe it was because he went to DePaul. Not the DePaul that was really good once upon a time, but the DePaul that has been really bad for quite some time. If he left for, say, Maryland, it’s a much different story and you're able to move on much more quickly.

Or maybe it was because he left assistant coaches and players in the dark as he neared his decision, and then waited more than 40 hours before addressing them in person and explaining why he left.

Understand that these slights, if we want to call them that, don’t paint Purnell in nearly as unfavorable light as Rick Barnes upon his departure from Clemson in 1998.

Purnell methodically built something over a seven-year period and departed on good terms. Barnes stayed for four years, won a lot of games and hearts, then broke those hearts when he left for Texas while talking smack about South Carolina’s public schools.

Twelve years later, simply hearing the name Rick Barnes still elicits smoke from some fans' ears. Merely eight days after Purnell’s departure, it’s hard for anyone to muster much dislike for the man.

But there was still some pain left from Purnell’s decision, and that pain was rooted in the inescapable realization that Purnell just didn’t want to be here.

Yeah, he and his wife liked it here and all. And he said a lot of nice things about Clemson, its administration and its fans last week when we talked with him following his awkward meeting with his (former) team.

But even despite a reported offer of $2.2 million a year, despite the chance to dip into that deep Chicago talent pool, despite some cumulative frustrations from dealing with the Clemson administration, you thought it’d take more to lure Purnell from a place he supposedly loved. Again … DePaul.

All those misgivings, so difficult to reconcile over the last week, seem washed away now.

Brownell’s press conference didn’t tell us that he’s the next great coach, or that he’ll start bringing ACC titles to Clemson in short order.

We do not know whether the man will flourish or fizzle under circumstances he’s never experienced.

But we know the man wants to be here -- loves to be here.

And that’s enough for now.

...

Well the blog has been on hiatus for the better part of the past week. Our world was turned upside-down with the news that Purnell was gone. The fairly predictable rhythms of the daily grind turned into an all-consuming roller-coaster that was impossible to predict.

So many people helped us on this, even those offering small tidbits that we were able to use to piece together something much larger. You know who you are.

Cris and I would like to thank Brett Jensen for his help on this. Once upon a time, Jensen lived in the Clemson area and covered the Tigers. He's now a radio personality in Charlotte, but he was ready to put on his reporting shoes and pitch in when we were in a pinch. Some of the legwork he did through this process was vital.

We also want to thank you guys for your patience through this thing. Though we were far ahead of anyone else in our coverage of this coaching search, there was a period where we honestly did not know what was going on. That period stretched from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning, when the news broke that Mississippi State's Rick Stansbury had received an offer after interviewing in Atlanta on Saturday night.

The common speculation was that the mystery man was Baylor's Scott Drew, or maybe Oklahoma's Jeff Capel. But we didn't have nearly enough hard information to confirm it, and we didn't have any problem telling you guys that we were in the dark. It's much, much better to be late and accurate than first and wrong, and we appreciate y'all understanding why we didn't simply react to what others were writing and jump on the Drew/Capel train.

Now on to some links...

Excellent piece here by Jim Young of The ACC Sports Journal on how you gauge a coaching hire.

Early on Tuesday, when the news broke that Clemson had hired Brad Brownell as its new basketball coach, a friend of mine in the media had an emphatic response.

“Great hire. He’ll be perfect for Clemson,” he said.

This came on the heels of several days of monitoring the anger, confusion and bewilderment Wake Forest fans have been expressing once the news broke that Ron Wellman planned to make Jeff Bzdelik his new coach.

Boston College fans have had a little longer to get used to the idea that Steve Donahue is the Eagles’ new coach. Judging by the tweets, emails and message boards posts I’ve been seeing, the reaction appears mixed.

Who’s right? None of them. Or maybe all of them.

That’s the thing about coaching hires. In the vast majority of cases it’s impossible to immediately know whether a school has brought in the right guy for the job.

Bart Wright of The Greenville News pretty much nails the difference in personalities between BB and OP.

Where Purnell was reserved and process-centered, Brownell is up-front passionate, loaded with emotion and energy, and you got the feeling he’d pull and level or push any coaching button to win, even it means – gasp – playing zone defense when the situations dictates.

Good stuff from The State's Ron Morris, who provides more details into Brownell's life story.

Brownell grew up in Evansville, Ind., and can recite the roster of Indiana's national championship teams of 1976, '81 and '87. He seldom attended Indiana games because he was busy assisting his father, Bob, who first coached at Evansville Day School and then at Castle High School.

Brownell attended his father's practices from the age of 5 and later kept statistics and tagged along on scouting trips.
While playing at Harrison High in Evansville, Brownell began to realize his future might be in coaching. Among his teammates was Calbert Cheaney, who clearly was a Division I prospect and became a star at Indiana.

After spending a year to recruit his future wife, Paula, at Purdue, Brownell transferred to DePauw University, where he played for three years and began charting his coaching career.

His coach at DePauw, Royce Walton, was a disciple of Indiana basketball under Bob Knight, as was Jim Crews, the coach at Evansville when Brownell was an assistant there.

So, naturally, Brownell's coaching style centers on man-to-man defense and the motion offense, two Knight staples. Then, in eight seasons as an assistant coach at UNC Wilmington under Jerry Wainwright, Brownell said he learned how to build and run a program.

Looks like Stansbury is getting rewarded for turning down Clemson and staying in Starkvegas.

Greg Wallace says Brownell's real work starts now: building relationships with current Tigers and recruits.

LW

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