Mickey Plyer: Fire Tommy Bowden Now

NCS Football33

So here is my opinion of what Terry Don Phillips should do:
1. Inform Tommy Bowden today that he has been released as the head coach.
2. Name Dabo Swinney as the interim head coach.

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33 Responses to Mickey Plyer: Fire Tommy Bowden Now

  1. Noah 09/29/2008 at 1:43 PM #

    I don’t think that’s going to happen.

    FWIW, I’m not a fan of firing coaches midseason, unless they’ve behaved so egregiously that you just can’t wait. I do think that Bowden ought to be fired. I do think that the dismissal ought to include the entire coaching staff.

    If Clemson contacted me and asked me to put together a list of 10 names to consider, I can promise you that my final list would not include a single guy who wants to run that bullcrap nonsensical spread bird-dropping of an offense.

    Clemson, with their current talent and personnel, ought to be running the classic I-formation. There ought to be a pretty even distribution between running and throwing.

    That’s why I like Les Miles. They know they have better talent than you and they just take it to you. And right when you think you’ve got them figured out, they do something horribly bizarre and kill you.

  2. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 09/29/2008 at 1:47 PM #

    Seems to me Skip is the obvious choice for Clemson.

  3. choppack1 09/29/2008 at 1:54 PM #

    I’ve been saying the last few years that Tommy Bowden is to Clemson football what Herb Sendek was to NC State basketball – w/ one notable exception…he kicks his rival’s butt. Of course, it’s a heck of a lot easier to USC in football than it is to beat Duke and UNC in b’ball.

    I do think it’s pretty damning that in years where FSU, Miami, UVa, NC State and UNC are down, UMd, VaTech, and GaTech are good, but not great, Clemson hasn’t been able to secure even an appearance in the title game. Of course, that can still happen. But you’ve got to figure – FSU and Miami won’t stink forever. NC State and UNC have hired coaches who have pretty good success recently, so if not now, when?? He’s been there since 1999 – he can’t say he hasn’t had his chances or “I just need a few more years!”

  4. Trip 09/29/2008 at 2:04 PM #

    Not related, but we have no other recent basketball threads to put it in.

    CBS Sports Gary Parrish simply asks 2 guys from scout.com “Where will the top 10 prospects of next year go?” only wanting one answer, not 5+ schools. Looks like Favors/Wall are not favored to end up at NC State.

    http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/11001288/2

    Where is Favors headed?

    Telep: Georgia Tech
    Daniels: Georgia Tech

    Where is Wall headed?

    Telep: Memphis
    Daniels: Memphis

    I’d say fire Tommy at the end of the year.

  5. Noah 09/29/2008 at 2:32 PM #

    What has Skip Holtz done to make Clemson think he’s a worthy hire? I think they could do better than Holtz.

  6. b 09/29/2008 at 3:09 PM #

    They would be better off woth Bobby Johnson, SEC’s answer to Grobe.

  7. McPete 09/29/2008 at 3:12 PM #

    “I’ve been saying the last few years that Tommy Bowden is to Clemson football what Herb Sendek was to NC State basketball”

    he certainly has underachieved. but i don’t think sendek ever had the kind of talent that bowden has at clemson. a more apt comparison might be Ron Zook or Larry Coker. or for basketball: Paul Hewitt.

  8. howlie 09/29/2008 at 3:26 PM #

    What’s ‘interesting’ about the Bowden situation is NOT Bowden, but the fans input and the degree to which the AD responds.

    They, TOO, have ‘shaken all the fruit from the tree’ to build the latest stadium fuhciluhties to give them an ‘advantage,’ and it has–for the moment–fizzled. Even with some great recruiting.

    So what will the Clemson AD DO? What leadership will he now display?
    THAT’s the relevant and related story.

  9. choppack1 09/29/2008 at 3:42 PM #

    a more apt comparison might be Ron Zook or Larry Coker. or for basketball: Paul Hewitt.

    Yea, but both Zook and Coker took their program down a notch. Bowden – like Sendek – is a definite improvement over his predecessor. Bowden – like Sendek – gets his team to a certain point…and they never get past it. Like Sendek, the problem was a problem of not getting the win that places the program back on the national stage.

  10. basspacker812 09/29/2008 at 3:53 PM #

    Not sure I understand the beef with Bowden, course I’m not a Clemson grad or fan. Lets say its been 10 years under TOB, in 9 of those 10 years TOB wins atleast 8 games a season and goes to 9 bowls, would we (NCSU fans) be calling to fire TOB after that record? Thats Bowdens record at Clemson and only two other ACC schools in the last ten years has a better record, FSU and GT.

  11. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 09/29/2008 at 4:08 PM #

    What has Holtz done at ECU? Have you started drinking early today?

    In addition to being one of the best ‘available’ coaches in the country right now he knows S.C. recruiting and already has relationships with the high schools that Clemson recruits from his time a SoCar and ECU.

  12. Lunatic Fringe 09/29/2008 at 4:30 PM #

    Howlie…nail on the head, but doesn’t Terry Don Phillips have to ride this wave out with Bowden.

    The AD was the one who got worried when ‘Arkansas came knocking’ last year and offerred Bowden the extension in spite of fan grumblings over the past 5 years. It equates to about a $2M screwup for the AD ($4M Buyout on New Contract – ~$2M Buyout on Old Contract).

    It is why I do not see TB leaving this year unless he wants to do so on his own. Seriously, the fans may want TB fired, but they should go ahead and tell the AD to pack his bags as well.

    OH BY THE WAY: The best part about blogs is that you have documentation of idiots like Mickey Plyler’s ramblings to bounce off his new comments.

    Case in point (pretty funny stuff considering): http://tigernet.com/blogs/plyler/date/20071205

  13. Wolf Dog 09/29/2008 at 4:56 PM #

    I think Clemson fans have been unrealistic for years. Tommy has done better than South Carolina and that is against Lou and Steve. Clemson has a too young of an o-line to win any type of championship. They were overrated at the beginning of the year and Tommy knew it.

    Off topic: As years pass it is amazing to me how many people want to associate themselves with Jim Valvano. I recently visited a church and the pastor starts talking about how he was a great basketball player in the 70s. He was so good that Jim Valvano came and offered him a full ride to come play with David Thompson and Jimmy V’s boys! But he joined the marines instead to serve his country. I went home and gave a friend of mine a copy of Jim V’s book to give to the pastor with the note that if you going to tell a story at least know who the coach was at State in the 70s so he could keep his lie straight. The robe doesn’t always make them honest!

  14. TOBtime 09/29/2008 at 6:56 PM #

    I agree with Noah why would they want Holtz? Don’t forget the “media” has him as one of the best available in the country. His most notable accomplishments have been to knock off 2 highly-overrated teams this year and without a hail mary they lose their last 3 games. Of course, the Pirates won’t go 0-10 this year either but a Paul Johnson or Bobby Johnson would be better fit for the talent they are going to get.
    I was in Greenwood SC for a triathlon this weekend. The natives are HIGHLY pissed at Bowden. It won’t be much longer unless they go undefeated the rest of the year. The USC people love Bowden like unx people loved Sendek.

  15. blpack 09/29/2008 at 7:16 PM #

    He is running out of time. UVa will have an opening. CU may well too.

  16. choppack1 09/29/2008 at 8:15 PM #

    “I think Clemson fans have been unrealistic for years.”

    And that’s what the media said about us w/ Sendek. You’re being unrealistic – know you place…Sure, you won a national championship once, but that was a long time ago.

  17. highstick 09/29/2008 at 8:48 PM #

    Please don’t fire Tammy!!!! Please!! He’s exactly what all Clempson fans need!!

    Keep in mind that their fans set ridiculously high goals like winning the National Championship every year! Duh-huh, couldn’t repeat that fluke again this year, could they! And this year’s ACC strength is probably worse than the year that they won it all!

    By the way, Skip’s recruiting isn’t all that highly regarded in South Carolina. Seems it’s taken more than 3 years to fix what Lou and Skip left as far as personnel at South Carolina.

    Name the thugs that Spurrier’s had to run off and the list gets a little long!

    They won’t fire Tommy, he’ll go on a streak now, win 3 games, probably beat South Carolina, and go to a bowl and everybody will be happy, although disappointed!

    Whoops, sounds like Herb, doesn’t it?

  18. Lunatic Fringe 09/29/2008 at 9:03 PM #

    WolfDog,

    There is always going to be a reason why they should not win. It is college football and most teams always have a weakness, because there is a constant turnover. I will reference the other thread posted earlier about youth. Youth in college football is everywhere.

    We talk about the OL this year, next year it would be “breaking in a new QB” (since Harper is 5-year senior) or perhaps it will be “how to play with a new RB” (when Davis and Spiller leave). The fact is that certain coaches know how to win whether it is with youth or simply finding a way to cover up those weaknesses.

    Now with all of that said…I do not think TB leaves this year unless it is his choice. As I stated above, I believe the AD has to hope Bowden will turn this ship around since he gave him the extension so Bowden gets more rope than the fans will like.

    Bowden is a horrible big game coach when he is the favorite, but he tends to find a way to get his guys pumped up as the underdog. I still think they will win 8-9 games and that will be enough to keep Bowden at Clemson…again.

  19. ChiefJoJo 09/29/2008 at 10:05 PM #

    Watching the Bama-Clemson opener, I was struck that Bowden in a pre-game interview basically laid the success or failure of this season at the feet of his players… something like: ‘this season will be different [Clemson not choking] if the players take it upon themselves…’ Follow that up with the ass-beating Bama laid on them and seeing how uncomfortable he appeared on the sideline I couldn’t have been less impressed with a coach. A coach should never place the success of the season on his players. It should be ‘we’ and ‘us’ and never ‘I’ and ‘them.’

    Look at a guy like Pete Carroll. I know it’s USC, but the guy exudes confidence and the players can sense it, so the team takes on the personality of the coach. Just like Amato’s lack of discipline permeated throughout every aspect of his program, or how Nick Saban demands tough & physical play from his, I believe Bowden imprints his nervousness and reluctance upon his team, and the result is a tendency to choke and give up big leads to inferior teams.

    I don’t agree with Tigernet that ‘sometimes, it’s not about the bottom line.’ It’s ALWAYS about the bottom line, so unless IPTAY can find some big-time donors to buy out his recently redone deal, he will stay right where he is. And who’s to say he can’t turn it around and get them to Tampa? Bama has proven to be a fantastic team, and they still only have one loss in the ACC in a wide-open race. He’s done it before.

  20. Noah 09/30/2008 at 6:52 AM #

    In addition to being one of the best ‘available’ coaches in the country right now he knows S.C. recruiting and already has relationships with the high schools that Clemson recruits from his time a SoCar and ECU.

    What kind of answer is that?

    The reason Bowden is (rightfully) getting killed is because he’s got BCS talent and is doing nothing with it. He’s got one of the better QBs in college football, two NFL-ready running backs, and at least two NFL-ready WRs. And yet, they continue to tap-dance around on offense like their App. State.

    Herb Sendek at least had the excuse of competing in the best basketball conference on the planet. Bowden is underachieving in a terrible pool of talent.

  21. choppack1 09/30/2008 at 7:15 AM #

    “I believe Bowden imprints his nervousness and reluctance upon his team, and the result is a tendency to choke and give up big leads”

    Who else could we say this about??? Keep ’em coming – this is great.

  22. Wolf Dog 09/30/2008 at 8:23 AM #

    What good would it do us to get a better coach at clemson? I like Tommy. I wanted Doherty to stay at UNC. I was estatic when Bobby Ross left the ACC for the NFL. I am very happy mack Brown is at Texas. I lived in Greenville, SC for little while years ago.

    Trust me Clemson fans are beyond unrealistic. They give allot of money to IPTAY and have very high expectations. But they not Ga., Fl, Al., Tenn., or Auburn. They recruit well but not well enough to field a top 15 team year in and year out, and that is what Clemson fans expect. And the rise of SC has only taken recruits away from Clemson. Remember when Ford was at Clemson, SC was nothing and he dominated recruiting. Plus there was no FSU, VTech, and Miami in the ACC and other schools in the ACC had crap for facilities compared to Clemson. Today its not the same playing field it was 25 years ago, yet they still got same expectations.

  23. choppack1 09/30/2008 at 8:44 AM #

    “Trust me Clemson fans are beyond unrealistic. They give allot of money to IPTAY and have very high expectations. But they not Ga., Fl, Al., Tenn., or Auburn. They recruit well but not well enough to field a top 15 team year in and year out, and that is what Clemson fans expect. And the rise of SC has only taken recruits away from Clemson. Remember when Ford was at Clemson, SC was nothing and he dominated recruiting. Plus there was no FSU, VTech, and Miami in the ACC and other schools in the ACC had crap for facilities compared to Clemson. Today its not the same playing field it was 25 years ago, yet they still got same expectations.”

    I hate to repeat myself but….

  24. highstick 09/30/2008 at 12:59 PM #

    Sounds like there’s some other posters here that live in SC and have gotten more than “a little bored” with hearing those expectations from their fans every year.

  25. ChiefJoJo 09/30/2008 at 1:07 PM #

    Clemson has great talent, and they should compete with the Bamas, Auburns and Tennessees of the world. Their 2008 class was ranked top 5 by most observers, and they have good talent all over their roster. Clemson isn’t LSU or USC and Danny Ford ain’t coming back, but they have the resources to be a perennial top 20 school IMO.

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