The Clemson Dubcast: Recent Episodes
Larry Williams
Tron Foster, 23, had been suffering from cancer for many years and wasn't doing well in recent weeks.
He wanted to do something he'd never done before: Attend a Clemson-South Carolina game and watch his beloved Tigers play.
Russ Lloyd, an ardent Gamecock fan, heard about Tron's story and hosted Tron and his family at his tailgate in Columbia before the game.
Tron also got to visit with Dabo Swinney two hours before the game when Swinney walked off the team bus.
Swinney gave him a hug, told him he loved him and handed him a cross.
Lloyd arranged for Tron to have sideline passes to the game, but Tron was having trouble breathing so his family had to take him back to the Upstate before the game began.
After the game Swinney talked about Tron in his press conference.
Back home, Tron watched a replay of Swinney's words and smiled wide.
"Now I'm famous," he said.
Tron passed away later that evening.
In this podcast we speak with Lloyd, and the Kyle family (Kristina, Wayne and son Caleb) to learn more about Tron's story.
Tron was like a sixth son to Kristina and Wayne, and like a brother to Caleb.
Tron was an avid, gifted fisherman who was beloved by everyone he met.
The final day of his life was one of the best days of his life.
Brian Murphy is based in Raleigh and his title is Sports Investigative Reporter for WRAL TV.
Of late there's been a lot to investigate at North Carolina's football program as Bill Belichick operates in a shroud of secrecy so thick that his players didn't have jersey numbers during the Tar Heels' recent spring game.
In addition, Belichick's 24-year-old girlfriend has taken on a strange role within the football program as she regularly scrutinizes UNC's communications staff for not doing a better job protecting the image of Belichick and those below him (including Bill's son Steve, the Tar Heels' defensive coordinator).
Here is an excerpt from Murphy's coverage of a spring game that was not remotely like most spring games:
No numbers on the jerseys for any player throughout spring or in Saturday's final practice.
No player interviews throughout spring or after Saturday's final practice.
No assistant coach interviews throughout spring or after Saturday's final practice.
Belichick spoke to the media near the beginning of spring practice ... and not again. Not even at the end of Saturday's event. Didn’t even pick up the microphone to thank everyone for coming out or tell them how important their presence this fall would be.
Murphy, a graduate of UNC, is a former newspaper sportswriter who covered Georgia Tech during the Chan Gailey era before moving to Boise and having a front-row seat to the Broncos' incredible rise to football prominence.
He was there for Boise State's unforgettable 43-42 triumph over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
Before moving back to his roots in Raleigh he lived in Washington D.C., where he covered Congress for the News & Observer of Raleigh.
In Part 2 of our Best of 2024 podcast, we revisit some of the more memorable excerpts from our interviews over the past year:
-- Thomas Austin, on what it's like to deal with being fired by Dabo Swinney. In 2008, Austin was an offensive lineman on the team that helped Swinney secure the head-coaching job with a victory over South Carolina. Swinney even rode on Austin's shoulders to midfield that day to shake the hand of Steve Spurrier.
-- Otis Pickett, on returning to his alma mater from Mississippi to be the historian of Clemson University. A significant part of Pickett's mission is introducing and framing the public conversation on Clemson's past, which includes difficult and complicated topics on race.
-- Cliff Ellis, former Clemson basketball coach, shares numerous stories about his musical career. Had he not chosen coaching, Ellis could've easily spent his life as a professional musician. In the mid-1960s, his group The Villagers was a sensation and even recorded at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. Ellis remembers joining Roy Orbison on stage at a sold-out concert in Dothan, Ala.
"If you can perform in front of people with Roy Orbison behind you, you're going to be OK going up against Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski," he said.
-- Tommy West looks back to a totally different time for Clemson football in the 1990s when the Tigers didn't have any facilities to speak of and were so behind on that front that he once tried to stage an August practice at a local livestock arena.
We go back through the interview files to excerpt the most memorable sequences from our 2024 podcast interviews.
Today in Part 1:
-- Brad Scott and son Jeff Scott, on being out of the football business. Also, their insider recollections of various high-stakes recruitments including Sammy Watkins, Mike Bellamy and others;
-- Mike Noonan, who brought Clemson two national soccer titles in three years. Noonan shares his family's fascinating backstory, and the unlikely path he and his wife took to Clemson;
-- Billy Donlon, an assistant under Brad Brownell, on his life in basketball that includes formative years in the shadow of the Chicago Bulls dynasty.
-- Thad Turnipseed, looking back on all the things that came together for Dabo Swinney's program to ascend to almost unimaginable heights.
Part 2 comes Dec. 31st.
Cade Klubnik's return to Austin to face former high school rival Quinn Ewers is one of the more compelling stories of the inaugural 12-team playoff.
The story has fascinating roots, and with that in mind we revisit two interviews we conducted years ago to learn more about Klubnik's background:
-- With Klubnik in December of 2021, days before he was to fly to Clemson to begin life as a Tiger;
-- With Klubnik's high school coach, Todd Dodge, in December of 2022 as Klubnik was set to take over as Clemson's starting quarterback.
The most remarkable part of Klubnik's journey to Clemson is that he stuck with the Tigers even when they didn't offer him. He had to wait until Ty Simpson decided between Clemson and Alabama before that offer came. And meanwhile, Steve Sarkisian at Texas and Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M had already offered him.
Dodge decided to retire after Klubnik led Westlake High School to a third consecutive state title as a senior. After two years out of the game, Dodge returned to the football field last offseason when he took over at Lovejoy High in Lucas, Texas.
B.T. Potter has known current Clemson kicker Nolan Hauser since Hauser was in middle school.
Potter, who kicked for the Tigers from 2018 to 2022, was in Bank of America Stadium when Hauser drilled the 56-yard field goal that put Clemson in Austin for Saturday's first-round playoff game against Texas.
Potter says Hauser has a confidence that he lacked as a freshman and had to learn over time.
What's it like to be on special teams when the rest of the team is grinding away through physically demanding practices?
What's it like to get reamed by Dabo Swinney on national television, as Potter did in 2021 after missing two short field goals he should've made in a close game against Florida State?
What's it like to get cut from an NFL team and wonder if your football career is done?
Potter, who recently signed with the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League, has a lot going on right now including preparing for a wedding.
He shares his story here.
Thirteen days ago, Roy Philpott got the assignment of his dreams from ESPN:
South Carolina at Clemson, Nov. 30.
Philpott, a Clemson graduate who spent many years in the area working in various media capacities covering the Tigers, joins The Dubcast to reflect on a wild afternoon at Death Valley and what it meant for both teams.
There were so many twists and turns late in the game that Philpott walked away from the stadium asking himself if he did justice to the game, its stakes, and the extraordinary show put on by Gamecock freshman LaNorris Sellers.
Philpott spent quite a lot of time with Dabo Swinney and a few other staff members the day before the game.
What were his takeaways? What does he think about Swinney's ability to adapt to a rapidly changing collegiate model enough to get Clemson back to the top of the mountain?
Philpott's normally busy schedule is about to get even crazier with the overlap of college football and college basketball. He still lives in the Upstate and has no desire to leave.
A year ago on this podcast, Ellis Johnson correctly foreshadowed a Clemson victory in Columbia because in his mind the Tigers were just better.
Now he has no idea how to predict Saturday's Top 15 showdown in Death Valley.
"I think it's a dead-even game," he said.
Johnson has been on both sides of this rivalry, in the mid-1990s at Clemson under Tommy West and as Steve Spurrier's defensive coordinator in Columbia from 2008 to 2011 (and as an analyst under Will Muschamp from 2016-18).
Johnson is a closer observer of Clemson now because is son Charlie is a walk-on for the Tigers. Ellis' routine during the season is traveling to Clemson and watching every Tuesday practice.
In addition to sizing up this rivalry matchup, Johnson gives his thought on the tumultuous state of college athletics as the model transitions from amateurism to NIL to the full-on revenue sharing to come starting in the summer of 2025.
"The NCAA has created a mess," he said. "Letting the top level of college football get too far out of hand is going to seriously damage the overall college football scene. And when that damage happens, it's always the kids that get affected by it."
Scott Hamilton is a media survivor.
He prefers to call himself a cockroach.
Whatever the name, his current title is sports columnist for The Post and Courier newspaper and he's utterly thrilled to hold this position as the only newspaper sports columnist left in the Palmetto State.
"I feel like I'm 28 years old again," he said. "It's so exciting."
Hamilton joins the podcast to reflect on a career that has included newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and sales for a minor-league baseball team.
And to think: He went to college to become a history teacher.
Hamilton shares insight into his daily routine, the state of newspapers, and the current state of college football.
And yes, he's totally geeked about this week's South Carolina-Clemson showdown in Death Valley.
In a mere three years, Terrence Oglesby has established himself as a successful college basketball broadcaster and analyst.
It's taken lots of hustle and networking, but most of all Oglesby's continued upward trajectory is a tribute to his smooth style and his strong command of the game.
Oglesby's duties consist of: Analyst for Charlotte Hornets home games; ESPN; FOX; NBA TV; The Field of 68; and CBS Sports Network.
Just this past week he was in Milwaukee broadcasting a game Monday night, and by the next afternoon he was driving from Atlanta to Clemson to work his alma mater's game against Eastern Kentucky.
The former sharpshooter for Oliver Purnell spent several years living in Clemson, but last fall he moved his family to Greenville so he could be closer to the airport.
Oglesby gives his thoughts on the current state of Clemson basketball under Brad Brownell.
He's convinced that Brownell is going to lead the Tigers to sustained prominence as Brownell continues to take advantage of the transfer portal and maintaining the relationships with major donors that are necessary to pay for high-end talent in the NIL era.
Earlier this week, Dabo Swinney wished a happy 80th Birthday to his mother and shared some details of her positively remarkable life story.
Five years ago, Tigerillustrated.com sat down with Carol and she told the story in full.
A small excerpt:
At some point my mother noticed there was something different about how polio had affected me, compared to others. It left me weakened from my waist up and affected my upper body, but not my legs. If polio affected your legs you had no strength or use of them, never growing and never developing any muscles. These people were in big, heavy braces just dragging themselves around. Some were on crutches that held their arms up. At the time I thought: “You know, I’m so thankful.” It was better for your arms to be affected by polio than your legs.
I couldn’t raise my arms. I couldn’t use them. I couldn’t use my hands. So at first I was put into body braces that came around my body, under my arms so they could help keep my arms up. And still to this day, you can see the tremors in my hands and the atrophy. That’s what polio did to me. So I wore those braces until they would have to be changed, and then I would get a new brace. And that went on and on and on.
My upper body was so weak that I developed a bad case of scoliosis, a severe curving of the spine. Because the polio attacked my muscles, I was temporarily paralyzed. And it was drawing me way over to my left side. My body was curved so badly that had I not had corrective surgery and braces, I would have remained curved over had I lived. That’s when my mother realized something was wrong, really wrong. Even with the braces, she would take the braces off just to bathe me and put them back on. But my body would still flop to the left. So my mom took me back to the Crippled Children’s Clinic and Hospital in Birmingham. My body had to be encased as I continued to grow so it would remain straight until I was old enough to have surgery.
I was put in a full body cast and spent 14 months in it. At the time I had long hair; my mother had let it grow out into a long ponytail. And the day they were going to put me in that body cast, they had to cut my ponytail off and basically shave my head. I was almost 9 years old, and I thought that was the most terrifying thing for them to do. My mom wasn’t there; they wouldn’t allow her to be there with me. She did ask them to save my ponytail. So they did, and they put it into a plastic bag and they gave it to her and she kept it for years.
Today we present the audio from that 2019 conversation with Carol.
And we join her son in wishing her a happy 80th birthday.
On May 3, WYFF News 4 Sports Director Marc Whiteman shared this on social media:
Been pretty low key on social media and at work lately, and I’m ready to share some news.
Liam Finn Whiteman was born at just 28 weeks old last weekend at 3 lbs and 12 ounces. Earlier in the week, Mary and I were rushed to the hospital under the threat of preterm labor, and a little less than 72 hours later, Liam was here. We didn’t have his name picked out. We thought we had more time. But as it became apparent that he was coming, sooner than expected, we realized it was always Liam. In Irish, Liam points to a “strong-willed warrior.” In Hebrew, a “determined guardian.” We knew whatever was coming, he’d need to be both of those things. He is already so much more. We’re anxious to get our little guy home from the NICU, and are so confident in the incredible team of doctors, nurses and caregivers at Prisma looking after him. Progress isn’t always linear, but we’re incredibly encouraged by his growth so far. He’s a tough little nugget. Mary and I already love him so much more than we could even fathom, and are so eager to watch him get a little bit bigger, stronger and healthier each and every day. We’re so thankful for the village we have around us. Our family, friends and incredible co-workers have picked us up and looked after us as we grapple with each day. They’ve dropped what they were doing, rearranged their lives, and come to our side. We’re looking forward to repaying that kindness in the future, and showering our baby boy with all the love in the universe when he comes home. After 67 days in the hospital, Liam finally came home in late summer. He is now more than sixth months old.
Marc joins the podcast to share their story.
In 2006, Patricia Watkins thought her son was going to play college football for the Florida Gators.
She had never even heard of Clemson when CJ Spiller traveled for a visit there that changed his life, and their lives.
Last week, Watkins was a part of Spiller's entourage on the field at Death Valley when he was inducted into Clemson's Ring of Honor.
It brought tears to her eyes because the first thing she thought of was when CJ tried to join a youth football team as a 6-year-old and was told he was too young (he spent that season as the water boy instead).
CJ bawled his eyes out that day when told he couldn't play. He was crying again last Saturday, but they were tears of joy and gratitude.
Watkins joins The Dubcast to reflect on the journey since Spiller's recruitment when she first heard the name Dabo Swinney.
Swinney, then the receivers coach, was the key figure in convincing Spiller that Clemson was the place for him.
And then a year later, Swinney was again the catalyst in convincing Spiller to remain at Clemson after he'd made up his mind he was going back home and transferring to Florida to join Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin.
The mother of the most important recruit in Clemson football history opens up about her story, and their story.
David Hale of ESPN has a fascinating, tumultuous relationship with Dabo Swinney dating back nine years when Swinney's nuclear response to a Hale question about "Clemsoning" went viral.
Hale joins the podcast to share what that relationship has been like in recent years as he communicates with Swinney both in press conferences and in more informal settings.
In a transformative time for college athletics, Hale has visited with numerous athletics directors to try to get a sense of how they might adjust to the advent of revenue sharing with athletes.
Is it naive to think a more regulated, policed NIL is actually going to work?
And what of the ACC as its profile falls even further behind in the shadow of an expanded SEC and Big Ten?
What's the best move for Clemson and Florida State? Stay in the ACC in exchange for more money and a reduced Grant of Rights agreement?
Or continue fighting like hell to get out because they can't afford falling into obscurity over the next 5-6 seasons?
Lots of questions and few concrete answers.
But Hale possesses a smarter and more informed grasp of the big picture than most anyone out there.
Mickey Plyler, a Clemson-area sports-radio institution, rejoins The Dubcast to talk football ... and the current political-football fiasco taking place in Clemson.
Plyler turns the tables on the interview and asks his own questions about:
-- Seneca Journal publisher Jerry Edwards using shady tactics to try to influence the Clemson mayoral and city-council elections;
-- The publisher joining forces with a current Clemson mayoral candidate (and sitting council member) to fabricate a gender war between the men and women on Clemson's city council, in addition to alleging that the mayor and other council members pocketed money from developers;
-- The idea that growth has been bad for Clemson, and criticisms that said growth has turned Clemson "into another Atlanta, Chicago or Detroit" as some in the anti-development faction have alleged.
In the second half of the interview, we try to wrap our arms around how quickly the perception of Clemson football changed over the past two games after a debilitating loss at Georgia was (incorrectly) said to inflict long-range repercussions.
Plyler also shares some deeply personal and meaningful revelations he experienced recently when he observed his 5-year-old son experiencing the wonder of a Clemson game at Death Valley.
Earlier this summer we sat down with Brad Brownell for an interview that lasted more than two hours.
The full Q&A was published at Tigerillustrated.com in June.
Last week was Part 1, and now we present Part 2 of a conversation that touched on a number of topics including Clemson's stirring run to the Elite Eight in last season's NCAA Tournament.
Earlier this summer we sat down with Brad Brownell for an interview that lasted more than two hours.
The full Q&A was published at Tigerillustrated.com in June.
We now present the full audio of that conversation that touched on a number of topics including Clemson's stirring run to the Elite Eight in last season's NCAA Tournament.
Part 2 of the interview will be published next week.
Three years ago, Jon Blau left Bloomington, Ind., and found himself in a strange new world of big-time college football after he took over as the Clemson beat writer for The Post and Courier of Charleston.
Jon has fashioned a reputation as an excellent storyteller during his stint, uncovering angles and depth that others don't see.
He joins the podcast to reflect on his job and how he does it, including the balance between spending too much and too little time on social media.
With Clemson opening the 2024 season against Georgia, Jon says this game and this season is a critical juncture for Dabo Swinney's program as it tries to get back to breathing elite air after a three-year absence.
Brad Scott has retired from football and is now back in Clemson enjoying the grandad and golf life.
Jeff Scott is fully immersed in his custom homebuilding business and out of football for a second consecutive season.
In other words, father and son have time to sit back and tell stories from their decades in college football that included epic runs at Clemson and Florida State.
Brad remembers going out to dinner with Dabo Swinney in Clemson when Swinney was interviewing with Tommy Bowden for a job coaching receivers in the spring of 2003.
When Swinney landed a blockbuster recruiting class in 2011 after a 6-7 season, Brad was the major figure in the signings of Sammy Watkins, Martavis Bryant and Mike Bellamy.
He remembers the NCAA coming to campus to ask him questions after people wondered how Clemson could sign so many high-profile players after a disappointing season.
Brad also shares a story from 1986 when he was on Bobby Bowden's staff at FSU and Bowden called.
"Brad, I'm going to Alabama and taking you with me," Bobby told him over the phone.
Bowden ended up backing out of the job after accepting it.
Jeff shares a recollection from 1998, three days after South Carolina fired his father as head coach. Tommy Bowden had taken over at Clemson and offered Brad a spot as tight ends coach. Brad took the job, and soon thereafter Jeff was wearing a Clemson cap when he ran into former Gamecock quarterback Steve Taneyhill.
Taneyhill thought Jeff was just bitter and wearing the hat out of spite.
"Steve," Jeff told him. "We're really going to Clemson. My dad just got a job coaching tight ends."
Under Gary Stokan's leadership and vision, Peach Bowl Inc. events have generated an economic impact of $1.27 billion and $76.74 million in direct government tax revenue for the city of Atlanta and state of Georgia since 199.
Stokan was also a key driver of relocating the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta.
Once upon a time in the early 1980s, Stokan was a late-20s sneaker rep for Adidas and thought he had Michael Jordan locked up for a shoe deal.
Nike swooshed in and gave MJ a deal he couldn't refuse, and Stokan still views it as the biggest disappointment of his business career even though he managed to lock up Herschel Walker and Mike Krzyzewski during the same time period.
Stokan joins the podcast to discuss the upcoming matchup between Clemson and Georgia in the Aflac Kickoff Game in Atlanta.
Sixteen years ago, Clemson played in the inaugural game when it faced second-year Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Stokan says both the Bulldogs and Tigers have sold out their ticket allotments, and he anticipates a crowd split of close to 50/50 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 31.
We also share Cade Klubnik's Aug. 12 press conference where he shared his insight into the progress shown by Clemson's offense thus far during camp.
With Kirby Smart and his program facing repeated off-field-incidents, the latest the arrest of receiver RaRa Thomas and his subsequent dismissal from the team, what's the common view of Smart and his culture from typical Georgia fans?
Is it fair to say he and his program have a character problem?
What of Dabo Swinney, and the view of him from Bulldogs people?
Is there a belief in Athens that Clemson is a legitimate threat to beat Georgia in the Aug. 31 opener?
Young, who has three different jobs -- one at the UGA Rivals site, the other teaching at UGA's college of journalism, and the other in public relations -- is well positioned to give an answer to those questions and many others.
Young is also a weekly guest on Mickey Plyler's morning radio show at WCCP-FM.
In our final installment of the full, uncut media sit-downs recently conducted by Clemson's assistant football coaches, we present Kyle Richardson and Mickey Conn.
Richardson is in his third season coaching the Tigers' tight ends, and he has a potential star in Jake Briningstool.
Conn, who is in his eighth year coaching safeties while also holding the co-defensive coordinator title for a third season, reflects on the depth he has on the back end with RJ Mickens, Khalil Barnes and Tyler Venables ahead of a cluster of young players who should push for playing time.
The Tigers began August camp Thursday. They open the 2024 season Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta.
We continue with the uncut audio from the recent sit-downs with Clemson's football assistants.
Tyler Grisham prepares for his fifth season in charge of Clemson's receivers after taking over for Jeff Scott in 2020. He sees big things out of this group if the receivers can stay healthy, something that's been a major obstacle in recent years.
Mike Reed discusses replacing Nate Wiggins after a spectacular 2023 season from the cornerback. Avieon Terrell is expected to be an elite presence sooner rather than later as he enters his sophomore season. Jeadyn Lukus and Shelton Lewis could be in a fierce competition for the starting spot on the other side. And newcomers Tavoy Feagin and Corian Gipson are considered fast risers also.
Reed has been at Clemson for 11 seasons. This past offseason he was in the mix to become head coach at his alma mater, Boston College, but the Eagles ended up hiring Bill O'Brien from Ohio State.
Clemson begins August camp Thursday and opens the season Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta.
We continue presenting the full, uncut audio from the recent interviews conducted of Clemson's assistant football coaches.
Today C.J. Spiller reflects on his upcoming induction into Clemson's prestigious Ring of Honor, and also his assessment of the Tigers' situation at running back behind starter Phil Mafah.
Nick Eason, back for his third season as defensive tackles coach, holds court and shares his thoughts on what should be a highly disruptive interior. He also gives his opinions on the current state of college football with the transfer portal and NIL.
Clemson begins August camp a week from today.
The Tigers open the season Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta.
We present the full, uncut audio from the recent media sit-downs by Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin.
Riley discusses Year 2 in his role as offensive coordinator at Clemson after last year didn't go according to plan, with the offense frequently succumbing to self-impaling turnovers, erratic quarterback play, lack of cohesion at receiver and inconsistent offensive line play.
Goodwin, who rebounded in 2023 after a difficult first season filling the shoes of Brent Venables, looks to have the defense at an elite level thanks largely to a defensive front that could rank among the nation's best.
Clemson opens the season Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta. The Tigers open preseason camp Aug. 1.
We present the full audio from the media's visit with Matt Luke and Chris Rumph last week.
Dabo Swinney made a major splash last December -- one his skeptics didn't think he'd make -- by parting with Thomas Austin and Lemanski Hall.
Much like with the Brandon Streeter-Garrett Riley transition, Swinney probably wasn't going to make a change if he couldn't land a big fish.
Luke and Rumph qualified as big fish, and from all accounts they are bringing a different dynamic to the football building and practice fields with their authority, command and demand for physical and mental toughness.
With C.J. Spiller in the news recently upon the announcement of his induction into Clemson's Ring of Honor, we go back four years to an extended interview with the former superstar and current running backs coach.
Back then, Spiller was preparing for his wedding. He had not yet joined Dabo Swinney's staff. He was a volunteer track coach at Liberty High School, trying to impart some of the lessons that helped made him a great football player and track athlete.
In the course of this interview Spiller covered a number of topics, including the back of a business card that Swinney turned into a pseudo contract with Spiller to assure that he followed through on his commitment to Clemson in 2006 (Swinney was then Clemson's receivers coach).
Spiller did follow through on the unconventional path to Clemson, and his decision could reasonably classified as the most important by a player in Clemson's football history.
Because without him, it's hard to imagine Swinney later leading Clemson to prominence and dominance.
This interview took place in late-April of 2020 after COVID had shut down just about everything.
That summer, Spiller would join Swinney's staff as an intern. A year later he became running backs coach after Tony Elliott's departure for the head job at Virginia, and he is now preparing for his fourth season in charge of the position.
We travel back to late 2018 when Clemson was on a rampage to its second national title in three seasons.
In the days before Clemson's rivalry game against South Carolina, we visited with Steve Spurrier for his recollections about his epic wars of words with Dabo Swinney when Spurrier was the Gamecocks' coach.
As Spurrier crept closer to walking away from the game, and as he saw Swinney building Clemson into a powerhouse, the two became closer and Spurrier ended up inviting Dabo and wife Kathleen to his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Late in 2018, Rinaldi traveled to Clemson for an in-depth ESPN story on the 10th anniversary of Swinney taking over as Clemson's head coach. As he said during this interview, the inspiration for his feature was a multi-part series Tigerillustrated.com reported on the same topic earlier that fall.
The interview with Rinaldi took place as Clemson was preparing to face Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.
The Tigers went on to beat the Irish and Alabama by an aggregate 74-19 in the 2018 College Football Playoff.
Billy Donlon goes way back with Brad Brownell -- all the way back to when Brownell was an assistant at UNC-Wilmington and Donlon played for the school.
Donlon later served as an assistant for Brownell when Brownell was head coach at UNC-W, and then he followed him to Wright State when Brownell got that job.
After Brownell left for Clemson, Donlon took over for him at Wright State and lasted six seasons.
Donlon has been Brownell's associate head coach for the past two seasons. He joins The Dubcast to reflect on the Tigers' stirring Elite Eight run and all the things that went into it.
Donlon also goes deep on his life story: His grandparents came to America from Ireland, living in New York after entering via Ellis Island.
Donlon's father was an assistant coach for Providence and played a major role in recruiting the team that went to the Final Four in 1987. He had left a year earlier to join Bill Foster at Northwestern.
Donlon remembers growing up in the Chicago area when the Bulls were becoming transcendent with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and others.
He routinely visited the Bulls' practice facility, and he recalls one day when Pippen and Horace Grant invited him to lunch.
"I was three hours late coming home, and the cops were at my house when I got home because my mom didn't know where I was," he said.
In Part 2 of our lengthy interview with Thomas Austin, the former Clemson offensive line coach reflects on how he has transitioned from the non-stop grind of coaching.
Having become strongly rooted in Clemson, he and his family are hoping to remain.
"My oldest is 12, and he was on the sidelines when I was the coach. He's still processing it. He's pulling for baseball right now, and he loves Clemson Athletics. But the football side of it is complicated for him.
"Our other children, we'll sit them down and say: 'We need to talk to you guys.' And they'll be like, 'Oh no, are we about to move?' And we'll say no, we're just going to the lake this weekend."
"They're always worried that the next time we sit down to talk to them is going to be when they're told they have to leave all their friends.
"So that's the human element of it. It's not just about me. It's about my wife and my family too. It affects a lot of people. But that's a part of the business."
Austin also shares a classic story from his recruitment, when a first-year South Carolina coach named Steve Spurrier tried to pursue Austin but was told in no uncertain terms by Austin's mother that her son was going to Clemson.
When Dabo Swinney locked up the head-coaching job with a win over South Carolina in November of 2008, Thomas Austin was one of the players that carried him to midfield in the giddy celebration.
Swinney fired Austin last December after a four-loss regular season.
There are layers to this parting that aren't present in most other firings.
Austin and his wife are both Clemson alums, and they have chosen to remain in Clemson because their children are in school.
Austin, who coached offensive line for the Tigers, joins The Clemson Dubcast to reflect on what it was like to suddenly find himself without a job.
He also gives an inside look into what it's like for an assistant coach to navigate the chaotic world of the transfer portal and NIL.
This is Part 1 of our interview with Austin.
As IPTAY becomes more involved with NIL fundraising as part of the 110 Society, and as the collegiate model veers even more sharply toward compensation for athletes, a big part of Billy Milam's role is conveying a modernized message to IPTAY.
In a recent issue of Orange: The Experience, Milam devoted an entire column to encouraging IPTAY members to contribute to the 110 Society.
He wrote that IPTAY "was founded on the notion that many giving some would enable Clemson to better compete with schools with access to significantly greater resources.
"For those 90 years, the Clemson Family has generously and selflessly risen to the challenge and given to IPTAY to change countless lives. The mission today remains the same."
Fundraising for NIL is more abstract and complicated than generating money for a facility that donors can admire for years to come.
And as Clemson attempts to sell the masses on giving NIL contributions on top of what they're already contributing, the messaging is important.
Milam, an Atlanta resident who has been highly accomplished in the business world, is at the forefront of IPTAY's attempts to modernize its brand and its strategies.
Milam has a bachelor's degree in architecture from Clemson, and an MBA in finance from South Carolina. He is chief executive officer of EmployBridge, America's largest industrial staffing firm.
He previously spent more than 22 years with RaceTrac, where he rose to the role of president and chief operating officer.
In 2020, Milam was named most admired CEO in professional services by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. He was named a top CEO on Glassdoor in 2021.
Dr. Otis Pickett brings not just a wealth of educational distinction to his role as the historian for Clemson University, but also a wealth of life experience.
He grew up in Mount Pleasant spending time with his grandfather, a small-town medical family practitioner on Pitt Street in the Old Village.
Many of his grandfather's patients were African-Americans descendants of the Gullah people.
"He treated each one of his patients with dignity, honor and respect," Pickett said. "It didn't matter if it was the governor or a poor man who meandered aimlessly up and down Pitt Street."
In the mid-1990s Pickett and his mother began attending Trinity Baptist Church and were often the only whites who attended. With the encouragement of Rev. Herman Robinson, Pickett pursued pastoral ministry.
He is now a decorated author, historian and religious scholar. He has been known to officiate weddings of former students.
In present times, Pickett can be seen at many Clemson sporting events. He returned to his alma mater in 2022 after accepting his dream job as the third Clemson historian in the university's history (and the first Clemson alum to serve in that capacity).
Pickett's predecessor, Paul Anderson, now serves as Clemson's Director of Football Academics and Freshman Transition. Anderson joined the football program in 2021 after more than two decades at Clemson as a decorated educator and historian.
A significant part of Pickett's mission is introducing and framing the public conversation on Clemson's past, which includes difficult and complicated topics on race.
"We've got to interpret it and talk about it," he said. "I get Clemson. I love Clemson, and I don't think there's a bigger Clemson sports fan than I am. I go to everything, and I've been pulling for Clemson since I was 2.
"I love Clemson. But I'm also like: 'Hey, there's this history that may be difficult. But it also, I think, makes Clemson more interesting. I want to walk through that history. I want people to understand it.' ... We're simply talking about what people have been talking about for 200 and 300 years, which is this concept of race. And in the South that's a big concept and something that shapes our entire culture. And at Clemson it has shaped our culture in a lot of ways."
Pickett previously served in the School of Education at the University of Mississippi preparing Social Studies teachers, the Director of Social Studies Education Programs at Mississippi College, and Associate Professor of History in the Department of History at Mississippi College.
Pickett played a role in the state of Mississippi adopting a new state flag that retired the 1894 flag and its Confederate battle emblem.
Pickett is also the co-founder and co-director of the Prison to College Pipeline Program, the first program in the state of Mississippi to offer tuition free, credit bearing college courses to incarcerated students.
Pickett's grandfather, Robert Alexander Westbrook, graduated in the Class of 1950. His great grandfather, Albert Hayne McMeekin, was in the Class of 1918.
Pickett and his wife Julie (Class of 2002) live in Clemson and have three children: Martha Jane, Otis, Jr. and Thomas.
He met his future wife on her 21st birthday at the Esso Club.
Brad Brownell visited with the media this week for the first time since his team's stirring run to the Elite Eight -- a run that was closely preceded by a brutal ACC Tournament loss to Boston College that had people screaming for his head.
Brownell kept the receipts and brought some of them to a press conference where he said he deserves more credit for the long-term work that went into the Tigers' postseason spectacle.
"I'm doing a ton of fundraising, folks, and I have been for 14 years," he said. "One of the reasons we were in the Elite Eight is because of all the fundraising, friend-raising, whatever you want to call it, for 14 years. It's one of the reasons we have a facility that's much nicer than it was. It's filling those premium seats. It doesn't just happen with NIL. It happens with improving your facilities. It happens with donor retention. It happens with getting folks to buy into your program enough that when (NIL) was new that our people were involved and engaged to be able to support the guys on our team to be ready for this opportunity when it did show up. We were there to meet it. "I do deserve a lot of credit for that. A lot. Because it's been a 14-year journey. And had we had a different coach, or a newer young coach at the time, it wouldn't have happened. There would have been no chance. "So that's obviously been a little bit of a sort spot of mine at times. Because I think that's gone not as noticed as I would like. And obviously it's vital. In college basketball right now, NIL is a major factor." We present the full audio from Brownell's press conference, which lasted more than 45 minutes.
As part of Tigerillustrated.com's lengthy 25th anniversary series uncovering untold stories over that stretch of time, we continue with a glimpse back at the transformative days of 2008.
Two days after a dominant victory over South Carolina that sealed the removal of the interim tag from his title, Dabo Swinney was introduced at a press conference on the third floor of the West End Zone facility.
This is the uncut digital audio from that press conference, provided by Jeff Kallin and Matt Glenn of the Clemson Athletics Department.
Terry Don Phillips drew an ovation toward the end of the press conference when he said:
"I say with great confidence that Dabo Swinney is going to become one of the great coaches in America."
As part of Tigerillustrated.com's extensive unearthing of the history that led to Dabo Swinney becoming the figure who would transform not just a football program but an entire community, we take a glimpse back to the two-month period in 2008 when everything changed.
We present the audio from some key moments during that timeline:
-- The introduction of Swinney as interim coach on Oct. 13, 2008, when Tommy Bowden suggested a change to AD Terry Don Phillips and Phillips shocked many by elevating a receivers coach who had no head-coaching or coordinating experience;
-- The coach's show that followed his first victory in charge, an exhilarating and vital triumph at Boston College that snapped a three-game losing streak to the Eagles;
-- The press conference that followed a convincing victory over rival South Carolina, which sealed the removal of the interim title. Swinney, on what it was like to hear the crowd chanting his name as the final seconds ticked off: "I felt like Britney Spears."
-- The news coverage that accompanied the press conference two days later to announce his hiring.
Patrick Sapp played football at Clemson, and now he's watching his 19-year-old son Josh play football at Clemson.
What makes it most special is Patrick's 7-year-old son Miles gets to watch it all as the family makes memories of a lifetime.
Sapp rejoins The Dubcast to talk about his six years on the football staff at Greenville High School, and why he chose to give it up after last season.
Sapp's role as a television personality is going to increase moving forward as he contributes to FOX Carolina in various ways.
Sapp also keeps close tabs on Clemson football, and he was in attendance when Trent Pearman stole the show at last week's spring game.
Sapp believes Cade Klubnik will maintain his hold on the starting role, but he said Pearman's performance does make things more interesting in the Tigers' quarterback room.
He also gives high marks to Dabo Swinney's hire of Matt Luke and Chris Rumph, who have brought more energy and fire to the program.
"We've got to get back to the basics and the grind," he said. "We've got to be tougher. We've got to be better. We've got to be stronger. We've got to be more disciplined, and we've got to play with an attitude. I think that was the emphasis for the hires. ... You bring in guys who have the experience, who have the confidence, who have the moxie to walk out every day and challenge their players, challenge the attitude of the team. "If you watch them practice, you can see that Nick Eason, Coach Rumph and coach Luke are his attitude guys. Those are the guys who are setting the attitude and the tone for everybody. I think Coach Swinney understood he needed that on his staff."
Jerome Hall is less busy than he used to be, having given up his job as a college referee a year ago after 20 years.
Yet he still teaches at RD Anderson Applied Technology Center from 8 AM to 3 PM each weekday, instructing high school students in carpentry and officiating.
Four days a week, he leaves school at 3 and heads straight to the courthouse and works until 7 as a magistrate for the Spartanburg County court system.
And somehow he still found a way to follow his son PJ in his final season at Clemson, which of course included recent trips to Memphis and Los Angeles as the Tigers made a stirring run to the Elite Eight.
Jerome, who will turn 55 in two weeks, reflects on his son's life and what makes him one of the iconic figures in Clemson basketball history.
The Hall family also shares a deep love and appreciation for Brad Brownell, whose only promise during PJ's recruitment was that Clemson would take care of him.
"He was the only coach who didn't promise him a starting spot right away," Jerome said.
Had he not chosen the coaching profession, Cliff Ellis could've easily spent his life as a professional musician.
In the mid-1960s, his group The Villagers was a sensation and even recorded at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Ellis remembers joining Roy Orbison on stage at a sold-out concert in Dothan, Ala.
"If you can perform in front of people with Roy Orbison behind you, you're going to be OK going up against Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski," he said.
Ellis announced his retirement in December, ending a 49-year coaching career. His final 17 seasons were at Coastal Carolina, where he led the Chanticleers to 297 victories and 10 postseason appearances.
His 831 career NCAA victories put him at ninth in Division I basketball history behind Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Huggins, Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams, Bob Knight, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp.
Ellis says the changing landscape of college athletics, namely NIL and the transfer portal, led him to walk away.
He's currently writing a book about his life, and he looks back fondly on his time at Clemson from 1984 to 1994.
Ellis led Clemson to its only ACC title in school history in 1989-90 when the Tigers claimed the regular-season title with back-to-back home triumphs over North Carolina and Duke.
Four years later, he abruptly resigned and later took the head job at Auburn. He said he was angry over the Clemson administration's handling of the Wayne Buckingham situation in the face of NCAA scrutiny of the player's eligibility as a freshman.
Ellis remembers exactly where he was on Jan. 18, 1990 when he heard Danny Ford was out as Clemson's coach.
"I was playing golf with our pilot, Earle Ambrose," he said. "We were on the 15th hole at Boscobel. It was a tough, tough time.
"But I told Danny at the time to tell Clemson thanks a million. Because they paid him a million dollars. And then he went to Arkansas and got another thanks-a-million. I never got those thanks-a-millions."
Tommy West has decided it's time to hang up his whistle after more than four decades in the coaching profession.
"It's a young man's game now," said the 69-year-old West, who was on Rick Stockstill's fired staff at Middle Tennessee State.
West has kept busy playing golf and taking care of his yard. He says the biggest question is how he'll find the fulfillment that came when he experienced success through grinding away as a coach and recruiter.
West goes in-depth on his time at Clemson as an assistant under Danny Ford, and as the Tigers' head coach from 1993 to 1998.
Clemson was trying to figure out what it wanted to be back then, and that meant trying to figure out how invested it wanted to be in winning football games.
The facilities suffered as a result, and it was West who first came up with the idea to build a complete football-operations facility in the west end zone of Memorial Stadium.
That facility finally began taking shape well into Tommy Bowden's tenure, and the first head coach to actually occupy the structure was Dabo Swinney in 2009.
West shares some vivid and colorful memories of the old days, including when the fired staff got together on the practice fields in the wee hours of the morning after their final game, a win over South Carolina.
They built a fire and spent hours reminiscing and connecting for a final time. Defensive coordinator Reggie Herring was so angry about the firing that he threw his Clemson apparel into the fire and watched it burn.
Soon thereafter Herring was retained by Tommy Bowden and wearing new Clemson gear.
West spent the next year living in Clemson as Bowden ushered in a new era.
"I was a total mess," he said. "I was lost."
A decade ago, Thad Turnipseed left Alabama to join Dabo Swinney at Clemson and played a major role in turning the Tigers' football program into a cutting-edge operation on numerous levels.
Turnipseed, who spent 18 months at Oklahoma under Brent Venables, returned to Clemson with his family last summer and is currently spending most of his time in real estate.
Turnipseed, who recently became a grandfather, joins The Dubcast to reflect on the glory days at Clemson and whether Swinney can get the Tigers back to the top.
He also expresses great concern about the state of college football and where things are headed.
"My job was always solving problems, and I prided myself in being able to figure things out," he said.
"I have no idea how to solve this one."
Dabo Swinney sits down to discuss the progress of his team a week into spring practice.
Swinney reflects on the talent of freshman receiver Bryant Wesco and what he could bring to an offense in desperate need of playmaking.
Cade Klubnik enters Year 2 as the starter feeling more comfortable in the second year running Garrett Riley's offense.
Klubnik believes the Tigers are going to have weapons galore on the outside to make the offense truly lethal for the first time since Trevor Lawrence and other superstars were in the program.
Clemson's spring game is April 6.
Last week, Gene Sapakoff announced he's leaving The Post and Courier after 38 years at the Charleston newspaper.
One of the strange elements of his departure: The leadership at the paper hasn't given him an opportunity to write a farewell column in the sports section that featured his mug shot since the 1980s.
Sapakoff joins The Dubcast to reflect on when and why he chose to hang it up, and what his next chapter looks like.
He also shares a wealth of anecdotes and memories of covering the biggest names in the Palmetto State's sports history.
He recalls getting cussed at by Danny Ford when he wrote a column labeling the coach the "Prince of Paranoia" in 1987.
And more recently, Sapakoff was publicly blasted by Shane Beamer at a press conference after he criticized Beamer's hire of offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.
While it's natural for old-timers to lament the departure of this state's last prominent newspaper sports columnist, Sapakoff has an optimistic outlook on the present and future of sports coverage in South Carolina and beyond.
In many ways, the media and journalism industry has become almost totally disfigured over the past two decades.
Yet inside Clemson's Sports Communication program there are students who find a multitude of ways to distinguish themselves.
Grayson Mann is a senior who has spent his time at college starting his own podcast, writing for Tigerillustrated.com, doing video play-by-play for North Greenville basketball, and covering high school games for a local newspaper.
Toby Corriston is a freshman who has already developed quite a portfolio of photography, writing and stand-up video he does on his own after Clemson sporting events.
Where is the media industry heading? No one can predict that. But Mann and Corriston, who both serve as interns at Tigerillustrated.com, are positioning themselves to be marketable on a multitude of platforms post-graduation.
Mann and Corriston visit with The Dubcast to share how they got to this point, and what they aspire to do hereafter.
Paul Strelow, longtime recruiting reporter and analyst for Tigerillustrated.com, is also a family man and a father of five.
He's been fully devoted to the lives of his children over the years, and that's included serving as a coach of their various teams.
Strelow gives his perspective on the climate at youth and high school sporting events as fans get edgier and more willing to chastise not just refs but opposing players.
The state of the media industry is almost unrecognizable from the one Strelow joined as a newspaper reporter in the late 1990s. Where are things headed? What advice does he have for young people who might be interested in trying to join this industry?
And what of Clemson football recruiting, with the Tigers in play for an elite recruiting class in 2025? Will the people who eviscerate Dabo Swinney for being too stuck in his ways consider changing their tune?
Also, is Clemson's football program more active with NIL than is often perceived?
Finally, how confident is Strelow that Cade Klubnik can give Clemson what it needs at quarterback?
Mike Noonan, fresh off Clemson's second men's soccer national title in three years, joins The Dubcast to reflect on the journey.
In August of 2022, Noonan lost his father. And then this past November his mother passed away as Noonan and the Tigers were pursuing Clemson's fourth men's soccer national title in its history.
Noonan opens up about his upbringing, including his father's remarkable life that included:
Graduating from MIT and the Harvard Business School;
Working on the Apollo Space Project;
Modernizing Taiwan's rail system;
Playing a role in the merger of the AFL and NFL.
In addition, Mike's younger brother Mark is the commissioner of the Canadian Premier League.
Noonan reminisces about first hearing from Clemson when he was the head coach at Brown. He and his wife Deb fell in love with the campus and surrounding community on their first visit.
Noonan, who has believed in Dabo Swinney from the beginning, had a rough patch with the football coach when the building of the Tigers' opulent operations facility meant the displacement of Noonan's practice fields.
Swinney assured Noonan he and the soccer program would be much better off in the end, and when it came time to raise money for the new soccer facility Swinney lived up to his word.
"He was right," Noonan said.
Noonan also delves into his love of music, and spending time in the mid- to late-1980s watching Phish once a month in a club called Nectar's in Burlington, VT.
Noonan's wife spent college in the same dorm as Phish's members, one floor below.
Clemson will hold a parade Saturday at 11:30 AM to celebrate the soccer team's national title.
Billy Davis rejoins The Dubcast to share what it's like having a daughter on the verge of completing a student-athlete career as a swimmer at the University of Kentucky.
Davis, one of the few Clemson fans who was fully behind Dabo Swinney during a rough 2010 season, had his own doubts over the past year: He correctly predicted the Tigers would fall at Duke in the season-opener, and he was with many in wondering if Swinney would make necessary changes to his staff.
Davis, who had a long career in the Secret Service, recalls the brawl at the end of Clemson's win over South Carolina in 1983.
Probation meant that it was his last game in a Clemson uniform.
Davis said he didn't take part in the brawl. He used it as an opportunity to run to the other side of the field and visit his girlfriend, who was a Gamecock cheerleader.
Davis is a longtime subscriber to Tigerillustrated.com, and a frequent poster on the West End Zone message board.
Chris Low, longtime chronicler of college football for ESPN.com, joins The Dubcast to reflect on the recent monumental events at Alabama.
Low, who broke the news that Nick Saban was retiring, said he received a tip about two hours before Saban announced it to his team.
Low said Saban indicated to Alabama AD Greg Byrne late in the season that he was leaning toward retirement, but he wasn't certain of it until the morning that he actually announced it.
Though Alabama contacted Dabo Swinney to gauge his interest in the job, Low believes Washington's Kalen DeBoer and Florida State's Mike Norvell were the top two candidates on Byrne's list.
Low also gives his thoughts on the state of college football, which a growing number of people believe is unsustainable in its current form with NIL and the transfer portal creating fluid and unpredictable situations just about everywhere.
C.D. Davies of the 110 Society joins The Dubcast for an extended conversation about the complicated, murky world of NIL in college football.
Davies believes the common narratives about Dabo Swinney being against NIL do not comport with reality, and a chief piece of evidence is the coach's very decision to hire Davies to preside over the football program's NIL operations.
Davies, a 1986 Clemson grad who went on to be highly successful executive in the banking and lending industry, believes his experience dealing with regulatory authorities makes him highly suited to dealing with the NCAA's ever-changing messaging and regulating of how players are compensated.
Rules explicitly prohibit pay-for-play, yet the practice is so commonplace that television announcers discuss such arrangements about specific high-profile players during their broadcasts of games.
"I see that and hear it," Davies said. "That's flat-out cheating. We haven't done that, and we're not going to do it. We're going to follow the rules."
Davies takes us behind the NIL curtain and shares what it's really like as Clemson navigates the process of fundraising for NIL, and arranging deals with its athletes.
He says "donor exhaustion" is very real, at Clemson and everywhere else. His model for the future is exploring and creating a commercial side of NIL funding that relieves a significant amount of pressure on fans to fund yet another expensive reality of major-college athletics competition.
Mickey Plyler joins The Dubcast to reflect on Michigan winning the national title and what it means.
Is Jim Harbaugh really as bad a guy as the general college football populace believes? Should Clemson fans, who have often seen their own coach trashed in the college football conversation, have some perspective on the view of Harbaugh?
If Michigan were in the SEC, would the day-after conversation be asking if the Wolverines' defense is one of the best ever?
What of the over-the-top reactions to Florida State's playoff snub?
Are bowl games basically toast?
Speaking of food, we take a detour into one of Plyler's passions: Grilling on his back porch.
How best to cook a pork chop? Or a filet mignon?
How does Plyler master the art of cooking pizza on the Big Green Egg?
We look back at some of the best interview segments from The Clemson Dubcast in 2023.
In Part 2 we feature David Pollack, Jeff Scott and Lucas Glover.
Pollack reflects on what it was like to lose his job at ESPN, and the joys he took from suddenly having a lot of time on his hands to enjoy his family. Pollack is also close with Clemson defensive back Khalil Barnes.
Scott details why he's still loving being out of coaching as he coaches youth soccer and makes up for family time that was lost when he was head coach at South Florida and an assistant at Clemson.
Glover shares the story of his torturous, decade-long battle with the putting yips, and how he managed to get past it by completely changing his putting stroke.
We look back at some of the best interview segments from The Clemson Dubcast in 2023.
In Part 1 we feature Tim Cowan, Holden Thorp and Eric Mac Lain.
Cowan, a Clemson graduate, became a bit of a celebrity when he was discovered standing behind visiting coaches after their teams won at Death Valley: FSU's Mike Norvell in 2023, South Carolina's Shane Beamer in 2022, and Pitt's Pat Narduzzi in 2016. When Cowan was a student at Clemson he owned a downtown bar called Rumors.
Thorp served as chancellor of North Carolina during some of the early stages of realignment, and was a key behind-the-scenes figure as the ACC explored strategic moves. Thorp said the Tar Heels could've gone to the SEC if they wanted to, but they ended up choosing to remain in the ACC.
Mac Lain, who works for the ACC Network, goes in-depth on what it's like criticizing his alma mater during some of Clemson's rougher patches the past couple years.
Part 2 is coming this weekend.
Dabo Swinney had two extended media appearances on National Signing Day to discuss his signings for the 2024 recruiting class.
Swinney visited with Adam Gorney of Rivals.com, then sat with the media who cover Clemson.
Swinney speaks extensively on his portal philosophy, and why portal targets weren't a match for Clemson this year.
He also raves about the four offensive linemen that are part of this class, all of whom will be mid-year enrollees.
The latest rankings by Rivals have the Tigers' class at No. 10 nationally.
Clemson plays Kentucky in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 29.
Former longtime Clemson assistant coach Rick Stockstill joins the podcast to reflect on life after 18 years as Middle Tennessee State's head coach.
Stockstill was fired in late November, and he says his main objective now is trying to find jobs for the staffers who worked for him.
Stockstill is full of stories from working under the likes of Danny Ford, Tommy Bowden, Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier.
His reluctant decision to leave Clemson in 2003, for the offensive coordinator job at East Carolina, might have been the most important coaching departure in Clemson history:
Tommy Bowden filled the vacancy by hiring Dabo Swinney, who'd been out of coaching for two years and was well on his way to being successful in commercial real estate.
After a year at East Carolina, Stockstill left to work for Lou Holtz at South Carolina. He said coaching and recruiting for the Gamecocks was strange initially because he spent so many years competing against them.
"When we were at Clemson I would throw the football with my son Brent, and I'd give him signals for which route to run," Stockstill said.
The signal for a go route was Stockstill tapping his head, and the name of the play was "Gamecock Killer" in reference to Rod Gardner's legendary catch of Woody Dantzler's desperation pass in a 2000 victory over South Carolina.
"When we went to South Carolina, Brent was asking me why. I told him this is part of the profession, and we'll have to come up with some new signals."
Stockstill's first of two seasons in Columbia was 2004, which ended in the infamous brawl against the Gamecocks at Death Valley.
He remembers standing on the South Carolina sideline before the game and watching Gamecock players run to the east end zone to greet Clemson as it ran down the hill.
Stockstill turned to a South Carolina staffer and said: "These boys don't know what they just did."
Clemson dominated the game and won 29-7 in Lou Holtz's last game as coach.
Stockstill said he hopes join a college staff as an analyst.
Longtime Clemson chronicler Matt Connolly joins the podcast to reflect on what it's like working normal hours now after years of being a one-man show covering the Tigers, and basically being on call at all times as he reacted to every piece of news.
Connolly still covers Clemson, but more from a distance from his home in Spartanburg. The more regular structure has allowed him to spend more quality time with his family, though he did get to Clemson this season for games against Florida State and Notre Dame.
Connolly gives his take on Dabo Swinney's decision to fire two assistants, and what it means about Swinney's commitment to getting the Tigers back to the top.
Should Swinney and the Tigers' staff consider adding a portal quarterback to challenge Cade Klubnik for the starting job?
Does the successful pursuit of Matt Luke and Chris Rumph -- and the eye-opening salaries for both -- say something about Clemson positioning itself to play big-boy football long-term, perhaps in another conference?
What of the chaotic uproar that followed the Seminoles' snub from the College Football Playoff? Connolly said he'd have also left FSU out because of Jordan Travis' season-ending injury, but he feels awful for the Seminoles' entire team.
Ellis Johnson has been on both sides of the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry.
As Tommy West's defensive coordinator from 1994-96, Johnson remembers facilities that were so bad that the Tigers once tried to practice in a nearby livestock arena.
"That lasted about 40 minutes and we left," he said. "The reason most people have never heard about it is because we didn't want to let it get out and risk recruits hearing about it.
"Clemson obviously doesn't have that problem now. Their facilities are amazing."
Johnson, a native of Winnsboro, was also on Steve Spurrier's staff at South Carolina from 2008 to 2011 as major recruiting hauls helped push the Gamecocks to sustained success they'd never experienced before and haven't since.
The Gamecocks beat Clemson five years in a row from 2009-13, all by double digits.
South Carolina's win last year in Death Valley snapped a seven-game Clemson winning streak in the series.
"I don't think they'll ever get back to winning like they did when we were there," Johnson said of the Gamecocks.
Johnson, whose last stint as a full-time assistant was at Auburn in 2013-14, said Dabo Swinney wanted him as his defensive coordinator when Swinney took over as head coach in 2008.
Johnson's contract at South Carolina had a massive buyout of more than $1 million, and Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips was against the move. Swinney ended up hiring Kevin Steele, who lasted three seasons.
Johnson's son Charlie is a freshman walk-on receiver at Clemson. Charlie had a scholarship offer from The Citadel, but he wanted to walk on at either South Carolina or Clemson. He chose the Tigers in part because of how much Swinney's culture embraces walk-ons.
Ellis has watched both teams from afar this season, and he believes Clemson has been better than all 11 opponents it has faced.
"Turnovers are the reason they've lost four games," he said.
He thinks Swinney's team is significantly better than Shane Beamer's.
"If both teams come in and play well, Clemson will win by 10 points," he said. "But in that game, and at night, and at South Carolina's stadium? You can't count on that happening. There may be some turnovers and other things that happen.
"Clemson better be prepared for the noise, because on offense it's a very difficult to place to play. It will be a factor in that game. If Clemson sputters and turns it over early and keeps that crowd in it, they're going to have a hard time. But if they come out and control the ball and put points up, take the ball off of South Carolina, it may not be a close game.
"But I wouldn't begin to try to predict this game, because both teams have been less than consistent."
When Laura Rigney learned her son was probably going to be good enough at football to play in college, she began making plans to move with him wherever he ended up.
So in 2021 when Leigh left for Clemson, Laura sold their home in Fairfax, Va., and took the family with him.
Leigh, a third-year sophomore who starts at left tackle for the Tigers, chooses to live at the family home 20 minutes from campus near Lake Hartwell.
Beyond the football field, Leigh is far from the typical jock. He has a soft spot in his heart for people with disabilities, or kids who aren't popular.
"Growing up, he would always find the person sitting alone in the classroom and befriend them," his mother said.
Included was Zoe, a special-needs student Tristan protected in high school.
“If you have the power to change the culture in school or in a group, you gotta use that,” Tristan told Jon Blau of The Post and Courier. “That’s where I saw that opportunity. I saw them picking on her, I’m like, ‘I can shut this down right now.’ It’s what we should all do.’”
It's those moments that make Tristan's mother the proudest. Whatever her son goes on to achieve on the football field, it won't match the loving and empathetic soul he's become off it.
Not a minute goes wasted for Todd Summers on fall Saturdays as he grinds to fulfill duties for both the WSPA news show and the Dabo Swinney coach's show that is filmed and edited after the game.
Summers frequently travels with the team for road games. And that means for games that end late at night he's making sure he doesn't get left by the team buses in the wee hours as he tries to finish his work.
Summers has worked in local TV sports for 25 years, and at WSPA since 2002. He is a three-time South Carolina sportscaster of the year, and a two-time Emmy Winner.
Summers is right at home covering college football, but he loves covering high school sports and unearthing unique stories that come from listening and asking the right questions.
Summers previously worked at WCYB-TV in Bristol, Va., WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., and WRIC in Richmond, Va.
He and his wife Christie have two sons.
Mickey Plyler joins The Dubcast for an hour-plus-long conversation that features very little talk about Clemson's defeat at N.C. State, and not a lot of talk about the Tigers' 4-4 start.
And therein, perhaps, lies the genius of Dabo Swinney bringing the heat to fans both Monday night and at his Tuesday press conference.
Whether calculated or spontaneous, Swinney's sermons took the focus off the football team's struggles and left the Notre Dame-week radio and social-media debates more about what is OK and what is not when it comes to fan criticism, and a head coach's response to that criticism.
Plyler, who has spent nine hours this week in the middle of it as a morning host at WCCP-FM, reflects on the big-picture meaning of it all, and offers some thoughts on how everyone involved -- fans, coaches, media -- can be better.
Eric Mac Lain's job with the ACC Network and ESPN is calling things like he sees them on the football field.
And of late, that's meant calling out the program that he loves and played for.
Mac Lain, who played his final season at Clemson in 2015 when the Tigers advanced to the national title game, joins the podcast to reflect on his process and how he navigates criticizing people he loves and admires.
Mac Lain lives in Columbia with his wife and 1-year-old daughter. During the week he does most of his work from a garage he converted into a studio for his work on television, satellite radio and podcasts.
Mac Lain spent three days at Clemson's practices during August camp and walked away feeling uplifted about the offense. He's spent much of the past two months wondering what happened as the Tigers sit at 4-3.
"It's the most bizarre thing," he said. "You just wonder how they got to this point. I think it's unfortunate. Hopefully there are things that can be done and will be done to fix this. But as much as people want to place the blame on Dabo Swinney or a play call, he's not the one fumbling at the 1-yard line. He's not the one making an errant throw or deciding to pull a ball when a run is called. He's not missing a tackle or not run-fitting correctly. ...
"But at the end of the day the man who will take the brunt of the blame is the head coach. There's a reason he's paid so much. There's a reason he makes the decisions. He's earned all that. But with that comes criticism."
Reggie Merriweather has a rather indelible memory of being recruited by Clemson.
Tommy Bowden and assistant Rick Stockstill stopped by his home in North Augusta on a Sunday.
As the two coaches and the Merriweather family watched NFL football, Bowden took off his shoes and propped his feet on the coffee table.
"My mom didn't like that," Merriweather said. "She asked him to please take his feet off the table, and then they were out the door soon after that."
Merriweather ended up going to Clemson, and he views that choice as central to his becoming the man he is today. He works in construction and is in his seventh season working for the Clemson Radio Network as a football analyst.
Merriweather reflects on the balance between his loyalty to his alma mater and many friends who are on the coaching staff, and his desire to speak the truth during some difficult moments -- including the late-game play-calling on offense in Clemson's overtime loss to Florida State last month.
Merriweather said he has a habit of throwing his headsets in the booth during some of the more confounding moments, and he said he's tossed them quite a bit over the past two-plus seasons.
Given the torment and abuse he suffered for years after his missed field goal late against South Carolina in 2006, it's a surprise to hear that Jad Dean is currently as big a message-board junkie as anyone.
Dean is an avid subscriber to Tigerillustrated.com, refreshes the site non-stop through the day, and he even visits Saturday in-game message-board threads that can turn nasty in a hurry.
It took Dean years to fully get past the missed kick that allowed the team he grew up hating to walk out of Death Valley with a narrow win 17 years ago.
For a while he tortured himself over that kick, telling himself he probably should've instead gone to play at Georgia where the weight of his lifetime of loving Clemson wouldn't have affected him in a game and pushed him away from the school and fans he loved.
He can laugh about a lot of it now -- the double birds from the elderly woman as he departed the stadium that day, teammate Phillip Merling trying to go into the stands and confront the woman in defense of his teammate, and the wild behavior of fanatics whose emotional stability is tied to the actions of college kids on a football field.
In fact, Dean considers himself one of those fanatics these days as he yells at the television screen when things aren't going great with his Tigers.
Dean joins The Clemson Dubcast to reflect on his long journey since his college career ended, and the healthy perspective he has on it all now.
Tim Cowan's seats at Death Valley are so low in the north lower deck that leaving via the field is his preferred route after every game. It beats having to wait until all the foot traffic clears from the steps above.
Cowan became a sensation last week when it was discovered that he placed himself behind the last three coaches who have won at Clemson during their postgame TV interviews -- Pitt's Pat Narduzzi in 2016, South Carolina's Shane Beamer in 2022, and Florida State's Mike Norvell last month.
Once upon a time, Cowan spent seven years as a Clemson student in the 1990s and actually owned a downtown bar for a stretch. The bar was called Rumors, and Cowan became good friends with a number of football players during that time including quarterback Brandon Streeter.
Cowan also recalls Run DMC playing a festival on Clemson's campus. Cowan met the group backstage and paid them $500 to show up and perform at Rumors later that night.
"They pulled up in a white van, and when they rolled their windows down a huge cloud of marijuana smoke comes pouring out of the van," Cowan recalled. "I told them the cops down here probably weren't going to be cool with that."
Cowan lives in the Atlanta area and is a realtor. He said he loves life as a Clemson football fan, doesn't get overly emotional about it, and he predicts he won't be standing behind any opposing coaches after games because the Tigers aren't going to lose at home anytime soon.
Chapel Fowler of The State newspaper tracked down Cowan last week after his postgame videos went viral and told his story. He described Cowan's vibe after the three home losses as "a parent who's not mad at you, just disappointed."
Fowler reflects on growing up as the son of prominent Charlotte sportswriter Scott Fowler. He also shares what it's been like getting a closer look at Dabo Swinney since he began covering Clemson football in the summer of 2022.
When he was a third-grader living in the projects of Tallahassee, DeAndre McDaniel learned his mother was taken to jail yet again.
From there it took a village to keep McDaniel on the straight and narrow, as his grandmother Dot and godmother Kim wrapped their arms around him and protected him through middle school and high school.
When Dabo Swinney began recruiting McDaniel in high school, that support group was convinced Clemson and not FSU was the place where DeAndre would grow into a man.
Tonight McDaniel will be inducted into the Clemson Athletics Hall of Fame. He is in his ninth season on Swinney's staff, and he has his master's degree plus an enormous amount of gratitude to the people who shaped him.
In this interview, McDaniel shares his life story in full for the first time -- from growing up way too fast as a child, to the devastation of not making it in the NFL, to working at a Wal-Mart as he adjusted to the real world, to returning to Clemson when Swinney told him it was time to come back home.
Jeff Scott has coached on some of the highest-pressure stages imaginable -- five consecutive playoff trips from 2015 to 2019, four national championship games, and a load of other important games during the regular seasons.
He finds that the pressure of coaching 4-and-under youth soccer brings its own stresses as other parents look on at practices and games.
Scott, fired from South Florida late last year, is enjoying the good life after he moved his family back to Clemson. The buyout in his contract gave him the luxury of taking his sweet time as he evaluates what's next for him. And the time with his wife and two young children is definitely sweet.
Scott joins the podcast to reflect on what that next step might be and when it might happen. But he says he honestly has no clue right now because he's too busy making up for time lost when he was grinding away working 80-hour weeks and dealing with the non-stop stresses and pressures of coaching.
Scott shares his favorite recruiting story, which involved a campus visit by Tony Steward. A hotel room was booked for Steward, but Scott ended up having to pull an intoxicated Clemson fan out of the room and re-make the bed just in time for Steward's arrival.
Scott also gives his assessment of the state of college football with NIL and the transfer portal, where he thinks things are headed, and how he thinks Dabo Swinney will adapt to the rapidly changing landscape.
David Pollack spent more than a decade carving a stellar reputation as a no-nonsense, entertaining presence with ESPN's college football coverage.
And then he received a call this past offseason that he couldn't believe:
He was laid off with a large group of other prominent personalities as Disney and The Worldwide Leader continue to grapple with the effects of cord-cutting and over-leveraging with TV contracts that were signed during more prosperous times.
Pollack joins The Clemson Dubcast to reflect on how he quickly pivoted to appreciating the good that came from his termination -- it allowed him to spend more time at his home in the Athens area with his wife and children ages 15 and 13. It allowed him to sit around on Saturdays and watch college football as a fan.
Pollack is an assistant coach at North Oconee High School and a mentor to Clemson freshman Khalil Barnes. The two talk almost every day, and their connection is rooted more in their Christianity than what takes place on the football field.
Pollack said there's no mystery at all as to why Barnes ended up at Clemson.
"He wanted to go to a place that was going to push him not just on the field but off the field. He's been telling me about some of the speakers they have come in, and what they're going through and what they talk about, and how the coaches are. He loves the atmosphere.
"If you're going to talk about culture ... that's Dabo and Clemson. It's a unique place. It's a unique set of values. It's a unique system. With that and Clemson's big-time program and big-time success, it made it pretty easy for KB."
Pollack said Dabo Swinney is one of the few coaches with whom he has a meaningful relationship. He said Swinney was one of the people who called to offer him support after he was laid off.
Though Pollack thinks highly of Swinney as a man, leader and coach, he does point out that he was one of the first analysts to say years ago that Swinney and Clemson were risking falling behind by not making more use of the transfer portal. He believes Swinney will make more use of it moving forward.
Matt Bockhorst was one of many people close to the team who bought into the offseason optimism about Garrett Riley and Cade Klubnik helping transform the mindset of not just the offense but the entire program.
There was an air of rejuvenation and confidence that was palpable when Bockhorst made a trip to Clemson to watch an August scrimmage.
Very little of that materialized under the lights in Clemson's nightmarish season-opening 28-7 loss at Duke on Monday night.
The litany of critical gaffes on both sides of the ball has many people questioning the mental makeup of this program, and Bockhorst is one of them.
"They're on their heels now," he said. "I think they're all rolling into the football facility today questioning everything about the preparation they've done for the last nine months. Like: 'Are we fraudsters just acting like we deserve to be here?' ...
"If they didn't have an edge before, they better get one soon. Otherwise we've got really big problems."
Bockhorst was an offensive lineman for Clemson from 2017 to 2021.
After a crucial penalty call went against Clemson late in a 2007 loss at Georgia Tech, Lucas Glover threw his remote control through the screen of his brand-new HD television set.
Yeah, you might say he's a big fan of his alma mater.
Big enough to have subscribed to Tigerillustrated.com for two decades and made it a significant part of his daily routine.
Big enough to pop in and post to the website's message board from time to time (his handle is @JudgeSchmails) to thank fans for their support, or to weigh in on the latest developments on the PGA Tour.
Glover joins the podcast to talk about his spectacular summer run on the Tour, his disappointment for not being selected to the Ryder Cup, and his successful overcoming of the putting yips that tormented him for close to a decade.
As the chancellor at the University of North Carolina from 2008 to 2013, Holden Thorp was front-and-center for some seismic athletics-related events.
When he took the job he thought his main mission from trustees was to make UNC more like MIT academically. He soon learned otherwise as an NCAA scandal unfolded in Chapel Hill involving fake classes and a compromised tutor for the Tar Heels' football program who was also the nanny for coach Butch Davis.
"What I learned was that the relative priority of athletics compared to academics at Carolina was a lot different from what I thought," Thorp said. "There was always a folklore and a legend that academics and integrity were put above winning. North Carolina made it 50 years without having to confront these things. Part of that was just dumb luck: The NCAA never picked up on some things that were going on. And part of it was excellent management as well.
"But the truth is Carolina was winning the same way a lot of schools win. The weren't magically not having a lot of the same problems that all these other schools did. The house of cards came tumbling down, and everyone in Chapel Hill realized the school is really no different than any other school that's wildly successful in athletics, or wants to be wildly successful in athletics."
Thorp was also chancellor when the ACC added Pittsburgh and Syracuse in 2011. He said that North Carolina could've gone to the SEC at that time, but that the additions of Notre Dame as a part-time member and Louisville helped bind the conference together with a Grant of Rights initially signed in 2013.
Thorp said there was great debate in the ACC about the Louisville addition. A significant number of presidents preferred Connecticut because of the Huskies' basketball profile, but Thorp and then-commissioner John Swofford persuaded enough schools to vote for Louisville.
Thorp was the chairman of the ACC's Council of Presidents at the time.
"UConn and Cincinnati were trying to get us to invite them," he said. "Clemson and Florida State were adamant that they wanted Louisville. Swofford and I felt that keeping those two happy with football was critically important. So we got everybody on board with adding Louisville."
Thorp is the editor in chief of the Science family of journals.
As not just the former president of Clemson University, but the former chairman of the ACC's Council of Presidents, Jim Barker had a front-row seat to many of the major conference realignment movements of the past.
That institutional knowledge gives him some interesting and poignant perspective of the current shifts taking place -- and the possibly existential crisis facing the ACC.
Two years ago, in the midst of Texas and Oklahoma announcing their departure for the SEC, Barker said he hoped the ACC would make a big, bold move. His idea at the time was merging with the Pac-12 to form the "American Coast Conference."
That never happened. And Barker now finds himself gravely concerned for not just the ACC but entire enterprise of college athletics.
"I think we need to blow the whole thing up and start from scratch," he said. "But I don't know how we do that because there's no leader to do it."
Barker served as Clemson's president from 1999 to 2013.
We present the final two installments of our interviews with Clemson's assistant coaches.
Kyle Richardson is entering his second season as the Tigers' tight ends coach and passing-game coordinator. Even after losing Davis Allen, he has high hopes for a group that includes Jake Briningstool, Sage Ennis and Josh Sapp.
Mickey Conn is in charge of a safety group that brings back a wealth of experience from last season. Conn is confident that the talent and seasoning on the back end will produce much better results this season after the Tigers were routinely beaten over the top last season.
Clemson begins its season at Duke on Labor Day night.
Clemson's assistant coaches recently visited with the media for an extended period.
We present the uncut audio from the sessions with Mike Reed and Lemanski Hall.
Reed is preparing for his 11th season as Clemson's cornerbacks coach, and is a valuable member of the Tigers' recruiting staff.
Hall has worked for Dabo Swinney for eight seasons and welcomes back Xavier Thomas and Justin Mascoll at defensive end.
Clemson's defense is trying to atone for an inconsistent 2022 season and become a dominant group in 2023.
The Tigers start August camp on Friday.
Clemson assistant coaches Nick Eason and C.J. Spiller sit down for extended interviews to discuss the 2023 season.
Eason, in his second year as defensive tackles coach, oversees a loaded position group that includes freshman phenom Peter Woods. The interior defensive line was also bolstered by the return of Tyler Davis and Ruke Orhorhoro after both seriously considered going to the NFL.
Spiller is preparing for his third season as running backs coach, and in Will Shipley and Phil Mafah he has potentially the top running back tandem in college football.
We present the uncut audio from this week's media sessions featuring Clemson's coaches.
Thomas Austin, preparing for his second season in charge of the Tigers' offensive line, reflects on the quest for depth up front after the line had very little of it the past two seasons.
Austin also shares what's different under new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, who is committed to running the ball after posting an even mix of run and pass last season at TCU.
Tyler Grisham has faced some heat from fans in the midst of underperforming at the receiver position the past two seasons.
He seems convinced that Clemson will be much better on this outside this season, so much that he predicts the Tigers will use more 10 personnel (four receivers) than they have in years.
Grisham and Austin both played on the 2008 Clemson team that witnessed the midseason firing of Tommy Bowden, the promotion of Dabo Swinney from receivers coach to interim head coach, to Swinney securing the job and putting Clemson on a course to greatness not many people envisioned when he took over.
We present the uncut audio from Wes Goodwin and Garrett Riley visiting with the Clemson media earlier this week.
Goodwin shares what it was like to be thrown into the defensive coordinator fire with no previous play-calling experience.
He said the 2022 season provided sobering and difficult lessons that make him better entering his second season in charge of the defense that Brent Venables left in December of 2021.
Riley reveals how much he's fallen in love with Upstate South Carolina after leaving TCU to join Dabo Swinney.
This is Riley's second new job in as many years; last year at this time he was still getting used to his new position at TCU after two years at SMU.
K'Von Wallace is back in Clemson this summer training.
He says most players don't go back to their alma maters to work out. But his love of Clemson, coupled with the resources the football program makes available to its former players now in the NFL, makes it a no-brainer to come back home.
Wallace, who is preparing for his fourth season with the Philadelphia Eagles, reflects on the differences between the college and professional game.
He also goes back to his difficult upbringing, part of which was spent living with his mother in public housing in Richmond as gunfire and drugs were common outside the home.
Wallace wore the same pair of shoes from eighth grade to 11th grade. Each year he’d take two brushes and a cup full of soapy water and wash the shoes to keep them fresh.
Wallace's Clemson career didn't get off to the best start. He said he was a loner, and had there been a transfer portal at the time he was a freshman (2016) he probably would've considered going elsewhere.
He ended up winning two national championships and going to four consecutive playoffs before he was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
He now looks back at his college career as the time he grew into a man, and he treasures his relationship with Dabo Swinney.
It’s been a busy summer for Brad Brownell, who’s preparing for his 14th season at Clemson.
He and assistant Billy Donlon pulled off the coup of landing Syracuse guard Joe Girard out of the transfer portal.
Then Brownell waited anxiously as a fully-healthy P.J. Hall turned the heads of NBA scouts who were evaluating him during various combines and workouts.
Hall recently elected to return to Clemson for the 2023-24 season, and his pairing with Girard gives Clemson the ACC’s top two returning scorers in conference play from last season.
Even amid the still-lingering pain of narrowly – and controversially -- missing out on the NCAA Tournament, and despite the loss of vital program figurehead Hunter Tyson, there is optimism for further high achievement this season. Justified optimism that the Tigers can successfully resolve unfinished business and put their imprint on March Madness.
Brownell recently sat down in his office for a lengthy interview with Tigerillustrated.com to reflect on a number of important topics surrounding his program.
This is the full audio of that conversation.
Melanie Hall, mother of Clemson star basketball player P.J. Hall, joins the podcast to tell the story of her son as he grew up in a family of high-level athletes.
Melanie, who played college basketball at College of Charleston, reflects on the recruiting process that ended with her son choosing Brad Brownell and the Tigers.
At one point during his childhood PJ had his room decked out in all things Gamecock. Years later he found himself in love with everything Clemson had to offer.
Hall recently pulled his name out of consideration for the NBA Draft to return for his final season at Clemson. His mother said it just would've felt incomplete had he not returned for another season and anther year of college life before earning his degree.
Hall is fully healthy for the first time in a long time, and he has his mind set on better days after a difficult year that included not just a return from two surgeries last offseason, but the death of a close family friend.
In March, Clemson assistant coach Nick Eason shared his life story in full for the first time when he sat down with Tigerillustrated.com for three-plus hours.
The six-part series was published in April and featured an almost breathtaking series of life struggles Eason has fought and overcome -- from overt racism as a high-schooler in his hometown of Lyons, Ga., to watching teammate and friend Brandon Rouse die of a heart attack at Clemson, to almost losing his own life when as a Pittsburgh Steeler he was hospitalized for weeks with complications from a ruptured appendix.
Over the last week we've presented Parts 1 and 2 of the conversation. Today we present the third and final part.
In March, Clemson assistant coach Nick Eason shared his life story in full for the first time when he sat down with Tigerillustrated.com for three-plus hours.
The six-part series was published in April and featured an almost breathtaking series of life struggles Eason has fought and overcome -- from overt racism as a high-schooler in his hometown of Lyons, Ga., to watching teammate and friend Brandon Rouse die of a heart attack at Clemson, to almost losing his own life when as a Pittsburgh Steeler he was hospitalized for weeks with complications from a ruptured appendix.
Last week we presented Part 1 from the uncut audio of that conversation.
Today is Part 2, and the third and final part will be published Thursday.
In March, Clemson assistant coach Nick Eason shared his life story in full for the first time when he sat down with Tigerillustrated.com for three-plus hours.
The six-part series was published in April and featured an almost breathtaking series of life struggles Eason has fought and overcome -- from overt racism as a high-schooler in his hometown of Lyons, Ga., to watching teammate and friend Brandon Rouse die of a heart attack at Clemson, to almost losing his own life when as a Pittsburgh Steeler he was hospitalized for weeks with complications from a ruptured appendix.
Today we present the uncut audio of the first hour of that conversation.
Parts 2 and 3 will be released next week.
The full, uncut audio from recent press-conference interviews with first-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, second-year defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, and second-year offensive line coach Thomas Austin.
One of Grace Raynor's first experiences covering Clemson was for a football game some folks might remember -- in Tampa, featuring the Tigers and Crimson Tide playing for the national championship.
Raynor still shudders at her harrowing experience writing on a tight deadline late that night for The Post and Courier newspaper. It was such a traumatic experience that she called her mother the next morning and told her she didn't think she was cut out for this sportswriting thing.
As it turned out, Raynor was more than cut out for it. She established herself as an excellent storyteller over the years, including when she moved to The Athletic in 2019.
Over the last year Raynor has moved away from covering Clemson and carved a new and exciting world for herself: Unearthing interesting stories from the always-interesting world of recruiting.
Raynor, who will soon move from the Upstate to Virginia, visited with The Dubcast as she was preparing for that move -- plus an upcoming vacation to Italy.
She reflects on her years covering Dabo Swinney and the Tigers, and she gives her take on how the football program is positioned in a new era of the transfer portal, NIL, and a conference that appears in serious danger.
Grayson Mann is a rising senior at Clemson and an aspiring sports journalist.
In addition to working for Tigerillustrated.com as an intern, Mann has his own podcast on which he's interviewed various Clemson football and basketball players.
On this episode, Clemson Dubcast host Larry Williams drops by Mann's podcast and we talk what it's like for a middle-aged man to cover one thing year after year after year while remaining motivated and curious.
How should the expectations for Clemson football be defined as the Tigers try to get back into the playoff picture?
With Florida State ascending and South Carolina on the rebound -- not to mention the team in Athens having become dynastic the past two years -- is it fair to say it's a disappointment if this program doesn't return to the top?
Has the addition of Garrett Riley given this program the jolt of energy and motivation it needed after six losses over the past two seasons?
After DJ Uiagalelei fell far short of the 5-star expectations, is Cade Klubnik ready to give Clemson its next transcendent presence at quarterback?
No ironclad answers to those questions, but a lot of good conversation.
The full audio of recent press conferences featuring Clemson defensive tackles coach Nick Eason, running backs coach C.J. Spiller and receivers coach Tyler Grisham.
Eason discusses the motivations behind his substantial weight loss since last September, plus the sensation created by freshman tackle Peter Woods.
Spiller and Grisham discuss the adjustment to Garrett Riley, who became Clemson's third offensive coordinator in as many years when Dabo Swinney made the decision to fire Brandon Streeter.
Eason is entering his second season as a Clemson assistant. Spiller is preparing for Year 3 as running backs coach, and Grisham Year 4 as the receivers coach.
Roy Philpott has been an ESPN play-by-play announcer for a decade, and occasionally his job will bring him back to the place he went to school and worked.
He was back at his alma mater for the recent Clemson spring game, standing on the field and following a mic'd-up Dabo Swinney.
Philpott was a publisher at Scout.com and covered Clemson on a daily basis back when Swinney arrived as Tommy Bowden's newest hire in 2003. He has vivid memories of the day in October of 2008 when Swinney was elevated to interim head coach, and then the day in December when Swinney got the job for good.
Swinney's press conference that day inspired Philpott to pursue his broadcasting dream. And several years later, Swinney helped Philpott land a job at ESPN. He's been there ever since, calling college football, basketball, baseball and softball.
Also in the podcast, we talk memorable run-ins with Vic Koenning and Brad Scott -- and the day in 2003 when Philpott's site caused a firestorm by speculating that Bowden would be fired, leading to a question by another media member that almost caused Bowden to break down crying.
Former Clemson football player Richard Yeargin has found his calling after years of soul-searching and trying to reconcile life without football.
Yeargin was involved in a horrible car accident in Greenville in 2017, just a few months after he and the Tigers were atop the mountain in Tampa celebrating Clemson's first national title since 1981.
He played for Boston College in 2019 and was planning for the NFL in March of 2020 when the pandemic hit.
He now lives in the Clemson area with his wife and two children. Last summer he began as a lecturer at the university, and he recently authored a book about his life entitled: The Man is Greater than the Brand: Shedding Past Brokenness to Live as Kings and Queens.
He said Dabo Swinney connected him with famous author Jon Gordon for advice on the book, and he said Gordon coined the title for the book.
Kyle Richardson is a "pig in mud" as he transitions to the offense of Garrett Riley, as both have roots in the Air Raid offensive system.
Richardson acknowledges that the 2022 season, his first as an on-the-field coach at Clemson, was difficult because it was his first time coaching tight ends.
Richardson believes his top player, Jake Briningstool, is "a totally different player" and headed for big things.
Lemanski Hall, who has coached defensive ends at Clemson for five seasons, assesses the depth on the edge with Justin Mascoll and Xavier Thomas on the shelf for most of spring practice.
Hall says freshman defensive tackle Peter Woods can play any and all positions on the defensive front.
Hall also reflects on the message Dabo Swinney has sent to his assistants this offseason: Be better, or you'll be held accountable.
Patrick Sapp joins the podcast to talk a multitude of topics including the mental health of athletes and how it's much different nowadays than when he played at Clemson in the 1990s.
Sapp shares that he almost joined Dabo Swinney's staff when Swinney took over as head coach in 2008. At the time, Swinney wanted Sapp to be an offensive analyst and Levon Kirkland an analyst on the defensive side, but the higher-ups at the school didn't allow it to happen.
Sapp, whose son Josh is a tight end at Clemson, has learned a lot about Garrett Riley over the past three months. He says it's almost the exact same offense run by Greenville High School, where the Josh played and where Patrick still serves as a coach.
Sapp says he was not surprised by Swinney's decision to fire Brandon Streeter.
"I knew when he fired Billy Napier in 2010 that Dabo was going to be a great coach," he said. "I love Brandon Streeter to death, but it was the right move."
Sapp also gives his take on why offensive lineman Blake Franks, who grew up a Clemson fan and plays at Greenville High, ended up committing to rival South Carolina.
In January of 2012, Dan Scott finished up his daily radio show on WCCP-FM and was called into his boss' office.
He was abruptly fired, immediately severing the high profile Scott enjoyed on the radio airwaves for more than a decade as he also become a prominent radio voice of Clemson's baseball team.
As Scott reveals, his life was already close to rock bottom even before the firing as he had moved out of his home and was living in a hotel room while dealing with problems that included excessive drinking and extramarital relationships -- and, as he later realized, an ego that was inflated to excessive levels as a result of his radio profile.
Not long thereafter, Scott devoted his life to Christ and says the firing was the best thing to ever happen to him.
Scott, who serves as the play-by-play man for Furman, reflects on that journey and also shares what it was like to experience the Paladins' dramatic upset of Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
To learn more about Scott's story and his mission, visit danscottshow.org.
After a life in Charleston that included 20 years working with John Kresse and Bobby Cremins at College of Charleston, Tony Ciuffo and his wife were looking to retire somewhere.
They chose Clemson, where Ciuffo is now working in a broadcasting role with various Tigers sports.
Ciuffo's son Nick was once an elite high school baseball player who went in the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft and is now in the Yankees organization.
Nick received his first college offer (from South Carolina) before he even played a high school game.
Tony is also close with Monte Lee, who coached at Charleston before taking the Clemson job.
Ciuffo serves on the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, whose president is former Clemson administrator Bill D'Andrea.
Three days ago, Graham Neff sat down with reporters and put his full support behind Brad Brownell while declaring Brownell will be back for a 14th season.
That stance is now the target of criticism after Clemson's embarrassing loss to Morehead State in the first round of the NIT.
With many wondering whether Neff might walk back some of his comments, or even reconsider his stance on Brownell's return, we provide the full audio of his conversation with a small group of media including Tigerillustrated.com.
Also, Myles Murphy and Joseph Ngata were full of nostalgia when they returned to Clemson earlier this week for Pro Day.
Both are now reminded of the wisdom Dabo Swinney often dispenses to his players, that the college years will always be the most cherished time of their lives.
Ngata stopped short of saying he made the wrong decision in declaring for the NFL, but he did seem to be experiencing some misgivings about the feeling of coming back and no longer being a part of the program.
We present the full interviews from Murphy and Ngata after Pro Day.
In late December, we had a lengthy interview with the father of Cade Klubnik for more background on Cade's upbringing, his extraordinary competitiveness, and his love of Clemson.
Tod Klubnik and his wife Kim are frequent visitors to Clemson as they travel from Austin across the country in the RV purchased after Tod's retirement.
Tod shares what it was like for Cade last season looking on as the offense struggled late in the season with DJ Uiagalelei at the controls.
We also present the entirety of Cade's recent press conference as he and Clemson's offense begin learning the system of first-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
Cade is genuinely excited about the new direction, which will bring much more simplicity as the playbook is pared down significantly from the previous eras under Brandon Streeter, Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott.
Jack Leggett will be back in Doug Kingsmore Stadium tonight, back facing bitter rival South Carolina in a three-game weekend series.
Leggett is asked what he'd say to Gamecocks athletics director Ray Tanner and South Carolina assistant Monte Lee if their paths cross this weekend.
"Probably not going to be a lot of conversation," he said.
Leggett says he has nothing against Lee, who replaced him as head coach in 2015, or Tanner.
Yet he said he had a good relationship with Tanner for years until Dan Radakovich consulted with Tanner when evaluating whether to retain or fire Leggett.
Leggett said he received hundreds of text messages from people in the coaching and athletics industry after his firing from Clemson, but he didn't receive any correspondence from Tanner and still hasn't heard from him.
Leggett goes into detail on his return to Clemson as the Director of Program Development under first-year coach Erik Bakich, a part-time role.
NCAA compliance prevents him from coaching, and he admits that makes him uncomfortable because coaching is in his blood and is what he wants to do.
He says he's not sure whether this stint will last beyond this season, but he says he's thoroughly enjoying being back in the dugout and within the program he guided for so long, and to so much success.
By age 22, Nic Brown had achieved rock-music stardom. As the drummer in the band Athenaeum, a group that initially came together for a middle-school dance when Brown was in the eighth grade, he was touring the country and sharing the stage with major acts including the Foo Fighters. From the outside, the trajectory for this pop-rock band seemed limitless as it had already enjoyed one of its songs rising to No. 14 on the charts. And that's when Brown decided to quit the band and move to New York to pursue a career in creative writing. Brown, now an associate professor of creative writing at Clemson, joins the podcast to discuss his recently-published memoir Bang Bang Crash. Over the last nine years of living in Clemson, Brown almost never played the drums and was uncomfortable even discussing his musical past when it came up in conversation socially. But writing the book, and now talking about it, brought self-discovery to the point that Brown is back to playing the drums again at his family's home near Clemson's campus. Brown is the author of the novels In Every Way, Doubles, and Floodmarkers, which was selected as an Editors' Choice by The New York Times Book Review. He is the fiction editor of the South Carolina Review, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Oxford American, and the Harvard Review, among many other publications. A graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has served as the Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi.
A few weeks before Clemson's 2003 baseball season began, a group of students sat in their apartment and one of the guys was skimming classified ads looking for interesting things for sale.
He came across this ad:
"Bus. $400 with spare engine."
The idea was hatched to buy the bus and turn it into a tailgating machine.
Twenty years later, the bus is a fixture beyond the right-field fence at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Garrett Edens, president of The Cheap Seats, joins the podcast to dig into the rollicking, irreverent, passionate history of the people who have made this a ritual during every home baseball weekend.
They stand on top of a bus and drink beer, talk good-natured smack to opposing outfielders, and watch every pitch in every game featuring their beloved Tigers.
Some people view sporting events as a social event, taking occasional glances at the action unfolding on the field. The inhabitants of The Cheap Seats are the purists.
Athletics departments spend a lot of time and money trying to create magnetic home-field atmospheres. But sometimes, vital features of extraordinary game-day settings are not manufactured and occur organically. They gradually build attachment and magnetism by doing the same thing year after year after year, to the point that the people involved can't imagine doing it any other way -- and the people watching from afar can't imagine a Clemson baseball setting without The Cheap Seats.
J.C. Harper remembers growing up in Clemson as the son of iconic assistant coach Tom Harper, the architect of the Tigers' rampaging defensive lines in the 1980s.
At Daniel High School, J.C. attracted attention from recruiters and Georgia's Vince Dooley began appearing at his games. After committing to the Bulldogs, J.C. braced himself for his father's reaction.
"Son, did you commit to Georgia?"
"Yes sir."
"Why?"
"Because Coach Dooley came to two of my games."
"Son, I came to all of your games."
"But you're my dad. You're supposed to do that."
J.C. ended up switching to Clemson after a long car ride with Danny Ford, and all these years later he still treasures his memories from those days.
He also has a connection with current Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, a quarterback who transferred to Stephen F. Austin when J.C. was the head coach of the Lumberjacks.
Riley helped Harper install the Air Raid offense that Mike Leach popularized at nearby Texas Tech.
Harper has been out of coaching for the better part of a decade, but he still loves talking about the old days that include stints as an assistant under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame and Mack Brown at North Carolina.
Harper lives in Lake Charles, La., with his family and works in real estate.
Ron Green Jr. doesn't need an introduction to Michael Jordan. He covered Jordan as a writer for the student newspaper at North Carolina when Jordan was in Chapel Hill.
Green has been around a long time -- long enough to have covered Danny Ford during Clemson's first golden era, to have developed a relationship with Tiger Woods, and to have played golf with Donald Trump long before Trump became President.
"He picked up a five-foot putt and said it was a gimme," Green said. "I said: 'You know I've never seen you miss one of those. I've also never seen you putt one of those.'"
Green, one of the great sportswriting stylists of the newspaper era, has managed to continue making a living after leaving The Charlotte Observer 11 years ago.
He travels the world as a writer for the Global Golf Post. At the upcoming Masters Tournament, he will receive the PGA of America's Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.
Green is the 32nd recipient of the award. His 93-year-old father, Ron Green Sr., won the award in 2006 for his own golf coverage and was a longtime Observer sports columnist. They are the first father-son duo to separately win the award.
Green Jr., 66, worked at The Charlotte Observer for 23 years. He got to know Ford, Clemson's legendary coach, while working in Greenville as a sportswriter covering the Tigers in the 1980s.
Green Jr. says he dearly misses covering big college football and basketball games in the ACC, but he wonders where college sports is headed in the age of NIL and the transfer portal.
Green Jr. still covers about 15 pro golf tournaments per year. He has covered about 100 of golf's majors, including 41 Masters tournaments.
Ruffin McNeill is basically like family to Garrett Riley and Lincoln Riley, so with Dabo Swinney's major hire of TCU's former offensive coordinator McNeill had a lot to say about Garrett and his history with him.
In the mid-1980s, McNeill got his start in college coaching as a grad assistant for Clemson under Danny Ford. He considers those years two of the most formative of his entire career coaching football.
Greg McElroy of ESPN covered Clemson's final game of 2022, a dispiriting loss to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl in which the offense put up a bunch of yards but reached the end zone just one time.
McElroy gives his own take on the Riley acquisition, and the state of Clemson football not just after two years of the Tigers not reaching the playoff, but amid Georgia's rise to dominance.
McElroy believes it's time for Swinney to totally step away from the offense and hand the keys totally to Riley.
"It's time for him to take a knee," McElroy said.
Todd Dodge is firmly in the inner circle of Cade Klubnik, and the same is true of Jay Mathews and Christopher Vizzina.
Dodge and Mathews were featured prominently in the recent series of articles at Tigerillustrated.com exploring the backgrounds of Clemson's two highly regarded quarterbacks.
This podcast presents the raw audio from the interviews of those two figures, conducted in late December.
Dodge, now retired, was a legendary Texas high school coach who completed his career at Westlake High School in Austin.
Mathews is the athletics director and quarterbacks coach at Briarwood Christian in Birmingham.
Fred Cunningham is an Upstate TV news institution who's been working in South Carolina since 1984, when he left his home state of Indiana and entered a whole new world.
His first indoctrination into big-time college football was in Athens when Clemson visited Georgia for a major matchup in 1984. Kevin Butler won the game on a 60-yard field goal, and Cunningham walked away mesmerized by the experience.
"I called some friends back home and said: This isn't the Big Ten down here," he said.
Cunningham spent the better part of two decades covering sports before deciding to move to the more structured environment of news anchor.
His morning show begins at 4:30 AM, and his alarm goes off at 1:40.
"I go to bed at 7 PM," he said. "I probably should go to bed earlier."
Fred is a two-time winner of the Associated Press Best Sportscast award in South Carolina. In addition to his news duties, Fred has hosted the Miss South Carolina Pageant.
Fred also shot a scene – portraying a sports reporter – opposite actor Will Ferrell for the movie Talladega Nights.
The Indiana University graduate served as a sports reporter for WOLO-TV in Columbia until April of 1987.
Before moving to the anchor desk, Fred spent 15 years as the weekend sports anchor for 7NEWS. He covered Clemson University and University of South Carolina athletics as well as NASCAR racing, the Masters and Heritage golf tournaments, the Carolina Panthers, three Super Bowls, and the rise of the Atlanta Braves into one of baseball’s most successful franchises.
In his spare time, Fred loves playing golf, running, all while suffering the endless frustration of being a Chicago Cubs and Indiana Pacers fan.
Mickey Plyler visits the podcast to try to make some sense of the current college football world from bowl opt-outs, to the transfer portal, to NIL, and to Clemson's dispiriting performance in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee.
What to make of six losses for Clemson the past two years? Does it signal a significant decline worthy of Dabo Swinney making some changes, or are the Tigers on the way back with Cade Klubnik showing real promise in the last two games of 2022?
Four years ago it seemed like a Clemson-Alabama world, and entering the 2019 season there was seemingly legitimate talk of the Tigers going 45-0 with Trevor Lawrence after the freshman tore apart the 2018 CFP.
Since then there have been new arrivals to the party -- LSU, Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, TCU -- and the Tigers and Crimson Tide found themselves on the outside looking in this season.
Plyler has spent the week fielding calls and texts on his radio show saying that the party is over for Clemson, and that Swinney needs to change his ways. What's a fair criticism? What's an unfair criticism? We try to sort it out in this postseason conversation with the WCCP-FM host.
We revisit this interview from November of 2018 with Clemson Hall of Fame member Wayne Coffman, an icon in athletics and academic support.
Coffman talks his relationship with Dabo Swinney, the pressures of being an academic adviser for a high-profile sport, growing up in a household of 13 children, and how in the world he got the nickname "Cheech."
Both of Coffman's parents passed away by the time he was age 18, and no one in his family had completed any education beyond high school.
At Clemson, Coffman became not only a college graduate and Atlantic Coast Conference champion in cross country, but he also went on to earn a master’s degree from the school in education counseling.
Coffman became head coach of the Clemson's women’s track and field program at age 27 and went on to coach for the next 12 years, leading the team to the first ever ACC women’s track and field and women’s cross country championships. He was a five-time ACC Coach of the Year.
In December of 2021, Tigerillustrated.com reported an in-depth series of articles on freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik as he prepared to arrive at Clemson from his home in Austin, Texas.
In this podcast, we revisit the lengthy interviews we conducted then with Klubnik's mother Kim, his pastor Brad Thomas (a Clemson grad) and Klubnik himself.
Klubnik has become a sensation again after replacing DJ Uiagalelei early in the ACC championship game and breathing life into not just the quarterback position but the entire team.
Klubnik leads Clemson into its Orange Bowl clash with Tennessee on Dec. 30.
Pete Iacobelli, an institution in South Carolina sports journalism after having spent three decades working for the Associated Press, joins the podcast to reminisce about all the people and stories he's covered.
Iacobelli also weighs in on the more memorable public spats between coaches and media, including this week's dust-up between Shane Beamer and Post and Courier columnist Gene Sapakoff.
Iacobelli had his own private conflict with Dabo Swinney three years ago, but he said that episode didn't affect his overall relationship with Clemson's legendary coach.
Iacobelli also delves into his process, an often stressful one given tight deadlines immediately after games are complete.
He remembers having his story basically written in 2004 when Clemson had removed all doubt in a blowout win over South Carolina. But then he looked up and saw a brawl unfolding in the final minutes, and the infamous episode caused some on-the-fly adjusting as Iacobelli tried to ascertain exactly what happened.
Will Swinney, oldest son of Dabo Swinney, joins the podcast to reflect on life in the real world as he works for a Charlotte-based real-estate development company.
This past football season was a strange experience for him as he tried to figure out how to watch games as a spectator.
"I realized how little I knew about getting around Memorial Stadium," he said. "I didn't even really know what to wear for games because I was so used to that being decided for me as a player."
Swinney recalls when the Rocky theme was so prominent for the 2018 team that Dabo Swinney brought his own DVD of Rocky 3 to show the team the night before it played Alabama in the national championship.
As the team departed the locker room for kickoff, Dabo saw to it that strains of "Eye of the Tiger" blared through the room.
Will also gives his thoughts on the recent transition at quarterback from DJ Uiagalelei to Cade Klubnik, and what he thinks Klubnik will bring to the offense moving forward.
When Jacoby Ford was trying to get back into the NFL, Dabo Swinney wrote personal letters on his behalf to the general managers of every league team.
Ford remains close with Swinney and Clemson's football program. In October the former football and track star was inducted into the school's athletics Hall of Fame.
Ford, now coaching at his old high school in South Florida, has many thoughts about the current state of Clemson football.
With the playoff now off the table, he thinks the offensive staff should play both DJ Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik.
With so few playmakers on the outside, he thinks the staff should do a better job of finding receiver prospects in the state of Florida.
Ford maintains that Clemson football is going to be just fine in the future, that the Dabo dynasty is not over as some claim. But in the short term, he does question some of the decisions made in last week's loss to South Carolina.
"Will Shipley and Phil Mafah are our best players," he said. "We need to feed them the ball."
Ford, who played at Clemson from 2006 to 2009 and spent four seasons in the NFL, said he doesn't have much interest in coaching at the college level. He said he would return to Clemson to help the Tigers' recruiting operation if that opportunity came about.
Nolan Turner, back in Clemson last week during Tampa Bay's open date, was able to take part in the Tigers' tailgating experience for the first time as he went to the Miami game as a fan with James Skalski and others.
Turner sits down for an extended interview to talk his remarkable life story, the impact and legacy of his late father Kevin, and what it's been like sharing a locker room with Tom Brady.
Turner said Brady has an aura that's similar to that of Deshaun Watson back in the summer of 2016 when Turner arrived at Clemson and was star-struck looking around the locker room at Watson and others who had pushed Alabama to the limit in the previous season's national championship game.
During this year's preseason practice in Tampa, Turner was on the field with backups going through the normal routine when he looked up and saw No. 12 behind center.
Turner's reaction: "Oh s---. That's Tom Brady."
Not long thereafter, Turner intercepted Brady.
His reaction: "Oh s---. I just intercepted Tom Brady."
We check in with two writers in Tampa and Norman to get a sense of what things are like in the wake of Jeff Scott's firing, and in the midst of Oklahoma tumbling to a 5-5 record in Year 1 under Brent Venables.
Matt Baker covers South Florida for the Tampa Times. Eli Lederman covers Oklahoma for The Tulsa World.
Baker reflects on what sealed the fate of Scott, who came close to a win at Florida earlier this season.
Lederman shares what some of the complaints have been of Venables during the struggles, and answers whether Venables might have to make changes to his staff -- particularly the defensive side, which has struggled mightily with several former Clemson staffers (Ted Roof, Todd Bates, Miguel Chavis) running the show.
David Hale of ESPN.com rejoins the podcast to discuss the state of college football, and the rather seismic development of both Clemson and Alabama looking as if they'll both be outside of the CFP for the first time in the format's existence.
Should Clemson fans be panicking after the humiliation in South Bend? Has complacency creeped into the programs in Tuscaloosa and Upstate South Carolina? Is Georgia indeed the new Alabama?
Hale also gives his take on how Dabo Swinney has handled not just the disappointment of this week, but the past year as he experienced the first major turnover on his staff since Clemson ascended to the elite level.
In 2012, Tyler Venables and his brother Jake moved to a strange and different new world when they left Norman for Clemson upon their father becoming the Tigers' defensive coordinator.
A decade later, Tyler's sisters are going through the exact same experience in Norman after leaving the place they knew as home when Brent Venables went back to Oklahoma to be head coach.
Tyler, a junior safety for Clemson, reflects on the devastating 24-hour period in 2011 that ended up playing a major role in Brent leaving his comfort zone in Norman and doing something completely new and different with Dabo Swinney.
Tyler was only 10 at the time when Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box and Brent's brother Kirk died within a day of each other. He was too young to grasp the magnitude of it in the moment, but as an adult he still has trouble holding it together as he reflects on that immensely difficult period for his father and the family.
After Brent left for Oklahoma last December, Tyler surprised everyone and maybe even himself when he opted to remain at Clemson. He stayed because of his love for Swinney and his attachment to the holistic culture he has built over the years.
When Brent turned down the Auburn job in 2020, Tyler thought that sealed his future.
"I thought at the time: 'He's going to retire as a defensive coordinator,'" he said.
A year later, Lincoln Riley shocked the college football world by leaving for Southern Cal. And soon thereafter, Tyler's father was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.
What is Dave Doeren really like?
Is he as much of a jerk as Clemson fans like to think?
Joe Giglio has covered N.C. State since Doeren's arrival in late 2012 and says the coach hasn't been easy to get to know during his long tenure in Raleigh.
Giglio, formerly a longtime newspaper guy who is currently a radio talk-show host and contributor to WRAL TV, joined the podcast on the drive home from Clemson to talk about what Clemson's convincing victory meant for Doeren and the Wolfpack.
A passage from the column Giglio wrote from Death Valley late Saturday night:
While winning is in Clemson’s DNA, NC State’s double helix is laced with wasted shots and what-could-have-beens. Much of the ’21 State team, which finished 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the ACC, came back for one more crack at the elusive ACC crown.
The two main players that didn’t — All-American left tackle Ickey Ekwonu and receiver Emeka Emezie — are proving to be a huge void to fill.
Clemson’s defensive front, even without injured star Bryan Bresee, dominated the Wolfpack blockers on Saturday night.
“They won the line of scrimmage,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “Their D-line played really good.”
The Tigers also got a bounce here and made a break there. That’s what good teams do. Dabo Swinney’s coaching staff has changed but the concepts remain solid.
The basic premise — ride your stars, die with your fastball — remains as true as the ride down Route 76 into town is long and filled with radar guns.
Tye Hill watched every bit of last week's double-overtime victory over Wake Forest.
He's a hardcore Clemson fan. And, as a former cornerback in college and in the NFL, he pays close attention to his old position.
Hill, who lives in the Atlanta area with his family, joins the podcast and goes deep on proper coverage technique.
He was as frustrated as any Clemson fan with all the penalties drawn and catches allowed, but he says he's optimistic about what the scorching trial by fire will mean to this group of corners moving forward.
Hill remembers his own trial by fire in 2003 when he moved to corner from running back and found himself covering a bunch of imposing, talented receivers every day in practice.
Hill explores how much offensive football has changed in the last decade-plus, and how much harder that makes it for defenses to adjust.
He also shares what he's up to these days, and how he satisfies the competitive urges that can no longer be quenched by playing football.
Tye Hill watched every bit of last week's double-overtime victory over Wake Forest.
He's a hardcore Clemson fan. And, as a former cornerback in college and in the NFL, he pays close attention to his old position.
Hill, who lives in the Atlanta area with his family, joins the podcast and goes deep on proper coverage technique.
He was as frustrated as any Clemson fan with all the penalties drawn and catches allowed, but he says he's optimistic about what the scorching trial by fire will mean to this group of corners moving forward.
Hill remembers his own trial by fire in 2003 when he moved to corner from running back and found himself covering a bunch of imposing, talented receivers every day in practice.
Hill explores how much offensive football has changed in the last decade-plus, and how much harder that makes it for defenses to adjust.
He also shares what he's up to these days, and how he satisfies the competitive urges that can no longer be quenched by playing football.
Ben Boulware is a business owner.
He's married.
He's usually asleep by 8 PM.
Boulware said even he's surprised that he's all grown up now. He's come a long way from his playing days as a bombastic, freewheeling force of nature for Clemson's football team.
"I'm 28," he said. "But I feel like I'm 58."
Boulware, co-owner of The Junkyard fitness centers, said it's been an adventure opening a location in downtown Clemson.
Boulware is now the voice and face of Clemson's pre-game entrance to Death Valley, as a video booms his commands to the players and fans to give everything they have to sustain the Tigers' reputation for greatness.
Boulware remains close with Brent Venables, the most important figure in his playing career. He shares a story from 2014, his sophomore year, when he was upset that the wasn't starting over Tony Steward and he told Venables he was quitting the team.
Venables laughed and told him he wasn't going anywhere. Boulware started the next game, and by the end of the year he was contributing a pick-6 in the Tigers' bowl destruction of Oklahoma.
Two years later, Boulware was giving a speech at Death Valley as the fans and team celebrated the Tigers' 2016 national championship.
In addition to his full-time job as a data analyst at Northrup Grumman in Baltimore, Justin Falcinelli is spending considerable time working to affect change as a member of the College Football Players Association.
As a member of Clemson's football team from 2015 to 2018, and the starting center on the team that smacked Alabama 44-16 for the national title, Falcinelli has a deep understanding of how big and profitable college football has become.
He also believes athletes should have a bigger share of the revenues that are currently being spent on skyrocketing salaries for coaches.
The thrust of Falcinelli's efforts is to secure long-term health care for college athletes. In his mind, that's the least that big-time athletics can do for players who often face lifelong health issues after playing a violent game.
Falcinelli also looks back to the amazing run he was able to be a part of, when Clemson rose from pretty good to perennially great.
In the 2018 CFP semifinal against Notre Dame, Falcinelli suffered what ended up being a serious ankle injury. He pushed through as the Tigers' offensive line protected Trevor Lawrence and allowed for the Tigers to slice apart the Crimson Tide's defense.
Falcinelli graduated from Clemson with a degree in management and then earned his MBA.
In addition to his full-time job as a data analyst at Northrup Grumman in Baltimore, Justin Falcinelli is spending considerable time working to affect change as a member of the College Football Players Association.
As a member of Clemson's football team from 2015 to 2018, and the starting center on the team that smacked Alabama 44-16 for the national title, Falcinelli has a deep understanding of how big and profitable college football has become.
He also believes athletes should have a bigger share of the revenues that are currently being spent on skyrocketing salaries for coaches.
The thrust of Falcinelli's efforts is to secure long-term health care for college athletes. In his mind, that's the least that big-time athletics can do for players who often face lifelong health issues after playing a violent game.
Falcinelli also looks back to the amazing run he was able to be a part of, when Clemson rose from pretty good to perennially great.
In the 2018 CFP semifinal against Notre Dame, Falcinelli suffered what ended up being a serious ankle injury. He pushed through as the Tigers' offensive line protected Trevor Lawrence and allowed for the Tigers to slice apart the Crimson Tide's defense.
Falcinelli graduated from Clemson with a degree in management and then earned his MBA.
Longtime Upstate radio host Mickey Plyler rejoins the podcast to talk about the quarterback situation at Clemson.
With DJ Uiagalelei having shown clear progress and Cade Klubnik having brought a spark in his limited duty, what's the right play right now for Clemson's coaching staff?
What are the pros and cons of giving Klubnik more prominent action to see what he can do?
And how might this play out long-term this season?
Plyler has heard plenty on this from listeners to his WCCP show. He gives his take on a crucial juncture in Dabo Swinney's brilliant coaching tenure.
Dustin Fry is in no hurry to get back into college football coaching.
He spends most of his time with his wife and two young boys in the hills of North Carolina. He helps out coaching offensive and defensive line at the local high school near Tryon.
He is savoring life, and that's hard to do these days in the coaching profession.
Fry was on the support staff at Clemson under Chad Morris, and then he got his big break when Morris landed the SMU job and asked Fry to come with him to Dallas.
After three years it was off to Arkansas, where the staff jumped into the deep end of the SEC and thought they'd have time to build something.
As it turned out they didn't last two years. Morris was fired after a 2-8 start in his second season.
Fry, who's from Summerville and played offensive line at Clemson, became disillusioned with the soul-sucking, non-stop routine of recruiting and preparing for games.
"It's become so intense in the profession that even when you win a game you only get to enjoy it for a few hours before you're breaking down film and getting started on the next game," he said.
Fry said he was texting just this week with South Carolina assistant Justin Stepp, who he was with under Morris at SMU and Arkansas.
"He asked me: 'Do you miss any of this shit?'" Fry said. "There's times I do. I'm not going to sit here and say college football is over for me. But I really enjoy the time I spend with my boys, picking the oldest up from school and being around him for a few hours every day. Just to have a real life -- I've made some good friends up here and it has nothing to do with football.
"I've joined the golf club up here and met some great people. It's just awesome because I've never gotten to do anything like that. I've never gotten to be around non-coaching, non-football situations. It has been nice to step back from it for the last few years."
Matt Bockhorst joins the podcast to talk life after football, and working just a short walk of the beach at Isle of Palms.
Bockhorst also helps dig into the current developments along Clemson's offensive line, which has received a big boost by freshman Blake Miller showing he's worthy of being a starter at right tackle.
Bockhorst revisits the experiment of moving from guard to center a year ago, and recalls when he knew Clemson's offensive line was in trouble against Georgia and Jordan Davis.
Bockhorst spent this past spring around the program and gives his take on the new offensive direction under Brandon Streeter.
Will freshman Cade Klubnik quickly take over for a faltering DJ Uiagalelei, or will DJ reprise the excellent playmaker everyone saw when he started against Notre Dame and Boston College in 2020? Bockhorst gives his perspective on the quarterback battle that everyone is talking about and thinking about.
Gary Stokan has been one of the major movers and shakers in college football over the past two-plus decades.
As the CEO and president of the Peach Bowl, Stokan has been instrumental in making Atlanta a prominent player in college football.
When he was in his 20s, Stokan worked for shoe companies and helped seal sponsorship deals with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
He still kicks himself for letting Michael Jordan get away to a struggling company called Nike. The sneaker business was forever changed when MJ and Nike joined forces.
Stokan gives some insight into why Clemson's opener against Georgia Tech will have a capacity of just 45,000 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
He also shares what it's been like to develop a friendship with Dabo Swinney over the years as Swinney built Clemson from a perennial underachiever, to a really good program, to an elite one.
Kelly Quinlan, longtime chronicler of Georgia Tech football, provides a pulse on the Geoff Collins regime and looks back at the mistakes Collins made starting out. The Yellow Jackets have won a total of nine games the past three seasons, and a rigorous 2022 schedule has enhanced the likelihood that this will be Collins' final season on The Flats.
Quinlan was close with Paul Johnson during the coach's long tenure at Georgia Tech, and he still communicates with him regularly.
Asked if Johnson might be taking some satisfaction in the struggles that followed his departure, Quinlan responded:
"I'm sure he's sitting there with a glass of bourbon and puffing on a cigar and getting a chuckle out of this."
In a continuation of summer conversations with 30 prominent former players, we catch up with the following:
Matt Bockhorst
Jim Stuckey
Willy Korn
Landon Walker
Dustin Fry
Levon Kirkland
Robert Carswell
Woody Dantzler
Each player is asked the same three basic questions:
1) What are you up to now?
2) What are your thoughts on the state of Clemson's football program?
3) What are your thoughts on the state of college athletics, which is facing major change with the advent of NIL and freer ability to transfer to different schools?
These interviews were conducted for The Clemson 30 series of articles that were published at Tigerillustrated.com.
When Tavaghn Monts decided to return to Clemson in 2019 to complete his degree, he discovered he had a 1.63 grade-point average.
This was the fallout he wasn't aware of from 2006, when he left school to try out with the Cleveland Browns. He neglected to drop the courses, and that left him with all F's at the end of the semester.
After making the President's List during the 2019 fall semester while commuting to Clemson from Atlanta multiple times a week, he made the Dean's List in the spring of 2020 and then the President's List again in the summer of 2020.
In August of 2020, he received his degree in PRTM. And now he works for Clemson as the executive director of Momentum Bike Clubs, a group-mentoring initiative for middle- and high-school students in Greenville and Pickens counties with a mission to transform the lives of young people.
Monts, who played defensive back at Clemson in 2001, 2003 and 2004, joins The Dubcast to reflect on his remarkable journey that includes walking five miles to work as a Waffle House manager in Atlanta.
The raw audio from three assistant coaches' recent visits with the media in advance of the 2022 football season.
Thomas Austin is in his first year as Clemson's offensive line coach, replacing longtime coach Robbie Caldwell. He gives insight into the pecking order at right guard after veteran Will Putnam moved to center and solidified that position.
Mike Reed, entering his tenth year at Clemson, gives progress reports on Jeadyn Lukus, Nate Wiggins and others in a group that lost Andrew Booth and Mario Goodrich from last year's team.
Mickey Conn, elevated to co-defensive coordinator after the departure of Brent Venables, raves about the speed and versatility of not just this safeties group but the defense across the board.
Clemson begins preseason camp Aug. 5.
Clemson's first-year defensive coordinator reflects on his building anticipation of filling the expansive shoes of Brent Venables.
"A lot of excitement, waking up at 4 AM and just a lot of things are running through your mind," Wes Goodwin said.
To outsiders, Goodwin was an obscure name on Clemson's staff until Dabo Swinney made the unconventional move to promote him in the wake of Venables' departure for Oklahoma.
Lemanski Hall welcomes back a load of talent to his defensive end room, but he knows it's likely that he'll lose four guys after this season. Included is Myles Murphy, who will have an opportunity to turn pro early if he has the monster season that's being forecast by Hall and others.
The Tigers begin preseason camp on Aug. 5.
The raw, uncut audio from the three assistant coaches' visits with the media earlier this week.
Spiller is entering his second year as Clemson's running backs coach and acknowledges that last year brought a steep learning curve for him as he tries to adjust to new terminology and coaching running backs he didn't recruit.
Streeter, promoted to offensive coordinator after the departure of Tony Elliott to Virginia, discusses the offseason progress of DJ Uiagalelei.
Eason, a Clemson alum, has brightened every room he's been in since joining Dabo Swinney's staff to replace Todd Bates. That includes this week, when he started off his media session by saying this:
"Wait a second and let me sit down and fix my shirt so my man boobs look a little better."
Dabo Swinney is preparing for his 14th full season as Clemson's head coach. The Tigers begin preseason camp Aug. 5.
Bryson Carter has attended 205 straight Clemson football games. That includes the 2020 season when he traveled to Notre Dame, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech and sat outside the football stadiums listening to those games via radio.
At the age of 15, Carter was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. The rare genetic disorder brings a breakdown and loss of cells in the retina.
Carter lost all his vision when he was a student at Clemson and he stopped attending school.
In 2007, he began a streak of following the Tigers that he plans to extend to 206 games when the Tigers play at Georgia Tech to open the 2022 season.
He has followed Clemson via planes, trains, buses and automobiles. He took a bus to Phoenix in the 2016 season when the Tigers faced Ohio State in the playoff semifinal.
He has developed many lasting relationships during these travels with people who noticed him and offered to help him.
He has spoken to Clemson's football team at the request of Dabo Swinney. He has spoken to Clemson's Tiger Band at the request of band director Mark Spede.
At every home game, people on The Hill part when they see him making his way to his spot next to the band.
For Bryson, the Tiger Band and PA announcer Dale Gilbert paint the picture of what he cannot see unfolding on the field.
He lives in Anderson with his girlfriend Tara, who works at Clemson.
We catch up with some prominent names of Clemson's football past to update on what they're up to, their thoughts on the state of the Tigers' program under Dabo Swinney, and their opinion on a college athletics landscape that has been transformed by NIL and the transfer portal.
In Part 1, we share our conversations with Jeff Francouer, Dalton Freeman, Tye Hill, Willie Simmons, Airese Currie and Billy Davis.
The interviews were conducted during the spring for The Clemson 30 series at Tigerillustrated.com.
After spending six seasons at Clemson and making a name for himself as a key figure in the player-empowerment movement, Darien Rencher now looks ahead to what's next.
He's not yet giving up his dream of playing professionally, but he has an eye toward the future and he has a number of opportunities from the connections he's made already through his energetic networking.
In the run-up to Pro Day, he spent a bunch of money living in Miami and training among some of the draft's premier prospects. He said the NIL money he earned while at Clemson funded that endeavor, and he has no regrets because the relationships he built will be fruitful long into the future.
Rencher looks back at the summer of 2020 two years ago and the lessons learned as he took the lead amid racial unrest and then amid calls to cancel the season because of the COVID threat.
In December of 2020 he was named the recipient of the Disney Spirit Award, presented annually to college football's most inspirational player, coach, team or figure.
Rencher loves Dabo Swinney and thinks he's often misunderstood by hot-take artists from afar, but he's not in total lockstep with his former head coach on matters of NIL and the transfer portal. He has complex, nuanced opinions on the state of college athletics and where it's all headed.
"It's like we're trying to put a plane together while we're flying it," he said.
Rencher said he hopes to land in the media world as a TV football analyst.
The "happily ever after" theme does not apply to Ray Ray McElrathbey in the two years after his story was chronicled in the Disney movie Safety.
McElrathbey became immersed in stock-market investing and is now trying to recoup losses amid the significant economic downturn of 2022.
He started his own shipping company but has been hit hard figuratively by the rising fuel prices, and literally last month when a truck he was driving careened off a back road in New Mexico and down a ravine. He was hospitalized, the truck was totaled, and he later rented a car and drove home to Atlanta. He considers himself lucky to be alive.
McElrathbey, who took custody of his younger brother Fahmarr while at Clemson in 2006, is deeply conflicted about what was gained from the movie and what was lost.
He said he was so eager to have his story chronicled by Disney that he quickly signed up without much consideration of compensation, and he regrets that his little brother doesn't have more to show for it.
"Fahmarr trusted me to handle everything, and I didn't do it in the best way possible. I should have gotten us a better deal."
While the movie's chronicling of Ray Ray and Fahmarr brought feel-good vibes, the depictions of his mother and father were much different.
His mother had to deal with being defined as a junkie. She continues to battle drug addiction, Ray Ray says.
"The movie ended with a picture of me, Fahmarr and my mother, and we were happy. But that was after the credits, and most people don't sit through the credits," Ray Ray says.
"She's more than just an addict. Not that I blame Disney for that; it's just that I was so giddy and excited about doing a movie that I didn't think about any ramifications about what it was like for my mom to be portrayed like that. I thought it was just all good no matter how it went down."
His father, who died of heart failure at age 54 two years before the movie aired, was cast as a deadbeat dead from the beginning in 2006 when Oprah Winfrey and other national voices descended on Clemson to chronicle the story. Ray Ray was largely responsible for those portrayals, and he now punishes himself for not having more perspective and wisdom about a father who was much more loving and redeeming than he believed years ago.
The recent accident in New Mexico brought a revelation in Ray Ray: His real calling might be spending the rest of his life sharing his story, and doing more to help children in need.
Probably the foremost lesson Ray Ray is now experiencing in his mid-30s: Severe childhood trauma takes decades to sort out and resolve.
And resolution most certainly isn't achieved with a Disney movie.
Former Clemson quarterback Patrick Sapp joins the podcast to talk what it's like to be sending his son Josh to Clemson to play tight end for the Tigers.
Patrick shares what he learned of Cade Klubnik during the recruiting process, which provided a window into the personalities of Klubnik and the rest of the 2022 class.
Sapp gives his thoughts on the wild times in college athletics with NIL and the transfer portal bringing controversy and questions about whether it'll ever look remotely the same again.
Sapp spent years soliciting major gifts for Clemson, so he has keen insight into the current challenge of IPTAY trying to deal with the presence of TigerImpact and other independent NIL collectives that are also asking donors for money.
Several years ago, Chad Carson and his family moved to Ecuador without making any plans beyond a three-day Airbnb rental. They ended up living there for 17 months.
Now they are preparing for a move to Spain for a year.
Carson played football at Clemson from 1998 to 2001 but has carved out life and leadership that is totally separate from the sport that defined him in college and high school.
Carson's success in the real-estate business has allowed him, his wife and two children the flexibility to explore the world. It's also granted him the time to pursue his passion of making Clemson's transportation infrastructure inclusive of more than just automobiles.
Carson joins the podcast to talk about his life in football and after football, and he offers his reflections on the rapid changes in college athletics.
"I'm not saying that getting a scholarship and an education is not valuable -- it really is. But I think college football has always been a pro sport. We were treated like pro athletes all along. It's a business, and you get pushed hard by coaches who are saying 'sink or swim' because their jobs are on the line, and they're facing the pressure of getting paid millions of dollars. It's a pro sport that happens to be on a college campus. In my mind there has always, always been a disjunction there -- coaches making millions of bucks, players making nothing. It didn't sit right with me, particularly knowing that a few of those really big-time players were generating a lot of that revenue. It never seemed equitable to me."
After spending 17 years turning Clemson's major-gifts operation from basically nothing into a national force, Bobby Couch decided to leave IPTAY and preside over the Tigers' NIL collective.
As the executive director of TigerImpact, Couch reflects on what went into his move to this new endeavor and how he is wrapping his arms around the fast-moving world of NIL.
Couch says what makes this initiative special is its emphasis on charity; recently Will Shipley took the $10,000 check he received from NIL and immediately donated it to a Charlotte-area hospital.
Couch also reminisces about developing a close relationship with Dabo Swinney through weekday pickup basketball games on campus otherwise known as the NTBA (Noontime Basketball Association).
Couch spent years as the NTBA's commissioner, organizing the daily games that involved many prominent names who are now head coaches elsewhere.
Couch remembers Brent Venables crashing into him and leaving him with a black eye that he had to explain a couple days later when he spoke in front of a group of boosters before a Clemson football game.
Jack Leggett still hasn't gotten over the events that led to his firing in 2015 after 22 seasons at Clemson.
He also can't reconcile Clemson's lack of recognition for the long run of success achieved under his watch.
"It's like they've tried to erase what we did there," he said.
It's been almost seven years, but the wounds are still fresh for the 68-year-old Leggett as he recalls the final year of his tenure that ended abruptly when then-AD Dan Radakovich told him it was over.
Leggett said he received 600 text messages from all over after the parting, including from every head coach in the ACC and prominent baseball people all across the state of South Carolina.
One figurehead who didn't reach out was Ray Tanner. Leggett suggests Radakovich consulted with his AD counterpart at South Carolina before making the move to fire Leggett and hire current coach Monte Lee.
Leggett, who lives in Greenville, spends an hour-plus with the The Dubcast to share what he's up to now. It includes watching a lot of college baseball, including the program he used to coach.
Richard Gooch has served the Clemson community for more than two decades as a member of the city police department.
In January he suffered a heart attack, his second in 12 years, and almost lost his life. A week later, he lost his father to suicide.
Gooch joins the podcast to spread awareness about taking care of yourself, and about trying to spot the signs of severe depression in loved ones.
"I hope it helps someone," he said. "I messed up the first 47 years of my life, and now I have to earn the rest of it. I hope this can help someone, touch someone, and change somebody's life for the better."
Gooch lives in Clemson with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. He is the lieutenant of investigations and support services for the City of Clemson Police Department.
Chase Brice was a savior of the 2018 national championship season when he came off the bench to lift Clemson to a come-from-behind win over Syracuse in Death Valley.
Having transferred to Duke and then Appalachian State, Brice joins the podcast to reflect on the past two years of his life and what he left behind at Clemson.
Brice still has vivid memories of watching Trevor Lawrence for the first time in the spring of 2018 when Lawrence made it clear he was going to be an instant superstar.
Brice also recalls the agonizing few days after the coaches made Lawrence the starter four games into the 2018 season. Brice was extremely close with Kelly Bryant and remains so. He said he didn't believe Bryant was truly going to leave until he did.
Brice also shares some priceless stories about practice confrontations with Brent Venables (AKA Jimmy Greenbeans) when Brice was the scout-team quarterback and Venables was angry that Brice wasn't throwing it where he wanted.
Brice is preparing for his final season of college after starting all 14 games last season for Appalachian State and earning Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year honors.
After five years on the football team at Clemson, Will Swinney joins the podcast to talk about adjusting to the real world. For now that entails pursuing his MBA and working as an intern for a Greenville real-estate firm.
Swinney has vivid memories of some of the key junctures over the last 15 years.
Including 2006, when his dad came home and told his family he was going to give up coaching (his sons talked him out of it).
Including 2007, when Nick Saban called offering his father a job and Will begged him not to take it.
Including that day in 2008 when Tommy Bowden was out and Dabo Swinney was in.
"The next day I walk into my fourth-grade class and everyone is staring at me," he said.
Including that day in January of 2011 when his father made changes to his staff and Will realized he had to say goodbye to some of his good friends.
Will has been with his father through it all, including on recruiting trips and on the sideline from 2009 to 2016 when he was responsible for keeping the "Touch Chart," which tabulated the touches for the team's best offensive playmakers and made sure they were getting the ball enough (it started in 2009 when Dabo was determined to give C.J. Spiller the ball as much as possible).
Will grew up closely following recruiting and all coverage and commentary on Clemson football, which meant he had to learn how to handle criticism and outright meanness on message boards.
Will says the angriest his father ever was with him was when he was in kindergarten and decided to dial 911.
"That was a pretty bad whooping," he said.
Will said his favorite season of all was 2021 when the Tigers won six straight games to reach 10 wins for the 11th consecutive season.
Jack Maddox achieved perfection in 2020 and 2021 as Clemson's starting deep snapper for field goals and punts.
He never had one bad snap in a game, and now he's hoping that consistency and his work ethic will make him attractive to an NFL team.
Maddox, who's currently training for the draft while also pursuing his MBA, visited with the podcast to reflect on his career and his path from Boston to the foothills of South Carolina.
Maddox also shares his discomfort with vast and rapid changes taking place in college athletics including NIL and the transfer portal.
Through his career, Maddox said he usually developed a good feel for how each Clemson team was going to be by the summer entering the season. He said he had some concerns last summer about the 2021 team's capabilities, based on the lack of edge he saw during voluntary workouts.
Maddox is still in the Clemson area and training with former Tiger Joe Don Reames at TNT Sports.
When Mark Spede took over at Clemson in 2002, the Tigers' marching band consisted of 160 members. Now the number is 356, and the football team's six straight trips to the College Football Playoff (and two national titles) gave Spede a trove of stories to share from criss-crossing the country with his large traveling party.
He remembers trying to control his emotions in January of 2017 in Tampa immediately after Hunter Renfrow cradled Deshaun Watson's pass in the end zone. It normally takes three seconds for the band to crank up Tiger Rag after a touchdown. This time it took 17 seconds for him to get himself and everyone else under control.
As the president of the College Band Directors National Association, Spede found himself with no choice but to dive head-first into the science of a pandemic in March of 2020 after everything shut down and the entire performing-arts world faced existential questions.
He helped spearhead the International Performing Arts Aerosol study, which ended up pioneering the path to marching bands at the college and high school level reconvening and playing safely.
Spede's leadership and research drew so much attention in the early days of the pandemic that he was receiving 400 to 500 emails a day from not just the United States but abroad. And he said he answered every one of them.
Dr. Spede is Professor, Director of Bands, Director of Tiger Band, and Conductor of the Symphonic Band at Clemson University, where he administrates the band program (symphonic, athletic, and jazz bands). He is the recipient of the Clemson University 2009 Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching (College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities), and three Clemson University Board of Trustees Awards for Faculty Excellence (2008, 2009, and 2012). He teaches a number of courses, including two for the Calhoun Honors College: aesthetics of music and science of music. In 2012, he conducted the Clemson University Symphonic Band at venues in London, England, for the Summer Olympic Games. Also in 2012, he founded the Clemson Faculty Jazz Quintet, for which he plays drums.
Spede earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan (1984), and Master of Music from Ball State University (1988), and a Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Texas at Austin (1998).
At 26 years old, Riley Morningstar is younger than everyone who works for him at The Journal newspaper in Seneca.
Less than a year ago, Morningstar became the editor of the newspaper and dived into making it the news outlet of record in Oconee County.
When he was a student at Clemson, Morningstar was an intern for Tigerillustrated.com. He also served as a student assistant in the men's basketball program during the Tigers' run to the Round of 16.
Morningstar talks how he chose the journalism path even though Clemson doesn't have a journalism school. He shares what it's like to draw the ire of public officials and even the public when he presses for information he deems of value to his readers.
And he shares what it was like in the fall of 2016 when he asked a question Dabo Swinney didn't like and found himself on the receiving end of an epic Swinney tirade. Morningstar still has the audio of the rant, which came a few days after Clemson's only loss in a national championship season.
Mike Noonan, fresh off bringing Clemson its first men's soccer championship since 1987, joins the podcast to talk what it means and how his life is different.
Noonan also retraces the fateful steps that led his choosing Clemson after a 15-year career leading Brown University. Syracuse had also offered him its coaching job, and he ended up choosing the Tigers because of the warmth he and his family felt during their trip down for the interview.
Within Noonan's first year on the job at Clemson in 2010, he was appalled at the heat on a second-year football coach named Dabo Swinney amid a losing season. From what he had observed of Swinney during that short time, Noonan believed Swinney had the makings of a great coach.
Years later, Noonan was not happy when his practice fields were displaced by construction on Clemson's new football facility -- construction that began when the soccer team was in the NCAA playoffs. He remembers Swinney promising him that he'd help him get a much better soccer facility, and that promise was later fulfilled.
In late December, Tigerillustrated.com reported an in-depth series of articles on freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik.
In this podcast, we present the lengthy interviews we conducted with Klubnik's mother Kim, his paster Brad Thomas (a Clemson grad) and Klubnik himself.
In less than a month, Klubnik will take the field for Clemson and begin contending with starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei as the Tigers try to add more flash to an offense that sagged in 2021.
Klubnik was the No. 1 ranked quarterback in the country and led Westlake High School to back-to-back state championships, never losing a game as a starter.
In the interviews, he and his mother reflect on what it was like upon hearing that Ty Simpson, whom Clemson had offered, chose Alabama to pave the way for Klubnik to join Dabo Swinney's Tigers.
In 2015, David Shelton lost a child to opioid addiction when his 26-year-old son Ryan died of an overdose. Ryan was a massive Clemson fan, and his ashes are buried across the street from The Hill at Death Valley and in Lake Hartwell.
Three weeks ago, Shelton lost another son to addiction when son Justin, also 26, died of a heroin overdose while living in a tent city behind a Wal-Mart.
The first time it happened, David was embarrassed and ashamed and dealt with the torturous grief privately.
This time, he's determined to make a second unfathomable loss as public as he can in hopes of serving his community and preventing the same thing from happening to others.
Shelton is a longtime sportswriter for The Post and Courier newspaper, covering high schools and small colleges.
The grandson of Italian immigrants on both sides, Bill D'Andrea grew up in a small Pennsylvania town and neither of his parents made it through high school because of difficult circumstances.
D'Andrea always thought that upbringing allowed him to connect with the athletes he oversaw in the 1990s as the head of Vickery Hall, the pioneering academic-support system for Clemson's athletes.
D'Andrea did it all during his professional career, including coaching under Danny Ford and athletics administration in leading IPTAY and as Terry Don Phillips' right-hand man when Clemson was making major decisions including the hires of Dabo Swinney, Oliver Purnell and Brad Brownell.
D'Andrea has worked to serve his community since retirement, and now he's serving as a municipal judge in Central.
D'Andrea joins the podcast to talk about his long and fascinating story while giving his take on the seismic changes afoot in college athletics including Name, Image and Likeness and the transfer portal.
D'Andrea recalls being in the room in November of 2010 when, after a second consecutive loss to South Carolina, he and Swinney thought Terry Don Phillips was about to fire the Tigers' second-year head coach (they were both surprised when Phillips said "I've never believed in you more than I do right now," and Clemson took off the next year on a streak of 10-win seasons that has continued to this day).
D'Andrea was also in the room when Swinney almost quit before he'd even coached a game as Clemson's official, non-interim coach.
You read that right: In December of 2009, not long after he'd gotten the job, Swinney was angry Clemson wasn't committing more money to the football program and he almost walked. That's how D'Andrea remembers it.
In the midst of last week's big news that Nick Eason is returning to his alma mater to join Dabo Swinney's staff, we visit with two of the most important figures in Eason's life.
Rick Stockstill was the primary Clemson recruiter of Eason in the late 1990s, and even as bigger schools began courting him Eason was loyal to Stockstill and the first school that offered him.
Stockstill recalls the type of person Eason was during his time at Clemson, and the man he's become since as a longtime NFL player, NFL assistant and now a college coach.
Bryant McNeal and Eason were in the same recruiting class at Clemson and instantly became close friends. Later they were both drafted by the Denver Broncos and spent their first year there as roommates.
McNeal, now an assistant football coach and head girls basketball coach at Swansea High School, shares how Eason blossomed in college both academically and as a devotee of community service.
"Our first summer here, we had just finished August camp and Nick's like: 'Come with me over to Central to visit with this little-league football team,'" McNeal recalled. "He just loves people, and he loved doing community service both when we were at Clemson and also when we were in Denver."
In December of 2010, Tulsa's football team was in Hawaii going through pre-practice stretching in preparation for the Hawaii Bowl.
First-year offensive coordinator Chad Morris walked past Tyler Carlton and casually asked: "You want to come with me to Clemson?"
Carlton, a native of Oklahoma and a former player and support staffer at Tulsa, left with Morris when Dabo Swinney hired him to breathe life back into Clemson's offense.
Carlton, now the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Wofford, said the four years he spent at Clemson changed his life in many ways including the impact of working under and learning life lessons from Dabo Swinney.
During that time Carlton also became close with a support staffer named Wesley Goodwin. The two were roommates, and they spent the wee hours of many nights watching film cut-ups of the old Bill Belichick and Nick Saban defenses. Goodwin is now the co-defensive coordinator and chief play-caller after the departure of Brent Venables to Oklahoma.
Carlton takes an entertaining trip down memory lane, recalling vivid memories of a Clemson program transitioning from good to great.
In the fall of 2018, Dabo Swinney allowed Tigerillustrated.com to be a fly on the McFadden Building walls as he returned to Clemson's old football offices to reminisce.
This was part of a series on the 10th anniversary of the tumultuous day in October of 2008 when Tommy Bowden was out and Swinney was in on an interim basis.
Not many people thought Swinney was head-coaching material, but Terry Don Phillips gambled and hit the most important jackpot in Clemson sports history.
Swinney won the job that fall, and years later orchestrated one of the most remarkable stories in college football history by elevating the Tigers to a six-year stay on college football's mountaintop.
This is the raw audio from our recording that day following Swinney around the old football offices. At the time, Swinney was trying to hold it all together after Kelly Bryant left the team and Trevor Lawrence suffered a shoulder injury in his first start against Syracuse.
The 2018 Tigers ended up finding their groove with Lawrence and rampaging to their second national title in three years.
Berry Tramel is the most respected media voice regarding the Oklahoma Sooners, and David Teel the same with the Virginia Cavaliers.
The two decorated newspaper columnists join the podcast to reflect on Brent Venables becoming the head coach at Oklahoma and Tony Elliott the head coach at Virginia.
Tramel developed a relationship with Venables at his first stop in Norman, a 13-year run as a defensive assistant under Bob Stoops. He says one of the most interesting themes will be how Venables makes the adjustment from fire-breathing defensive coordinator to a head-coaching role that demands a more measured and organized approach.
In July of 2018, Teel was invited to observe and write about the NCAA Champion Forum, a career development program for accomplished minority assistant coaches. Elliott was among the participants, and it struck Teel then that he had all the makings of a head coach.
“There are four categories where I think [student-athletes] have got to have equal development,” Elliott told Teel that day, “and that’s their athletics, their academics, their social and the spiritual. You have to create a program that has access to all those areas and have the resources in place.”
To illustrate his model, Elliott cited Wayne Gallman, a linebacker he recruited out of Atlanta and converted to running back. Gallman became Clemson’s career rushing leader and his family’s first college graduate. “He’s playing in the NFL,” Elliott said, “and he’s equipped with the tools for life to go out and be a champion man beyond the game of football.”
Teel says Elliott's biggest challenge will be galvanizing the community and inspiring supporters to do something that hasn't been done in a long time -- consistently fill Scott Stadium.
Ben Boulware is in a state of mourning after learning Brent Venables is no longer at Clemson.
Boulware, who played linebacker at Clemson from 2013 to 2016, was the quintessential Venables player while helping lead the Tigers from being really good to national-championship great.
Boulware gives his thoughts on how Dabo Swinney is planning to replace Venables, and whether he even can be replaced.
He also shares some priceless memories from his time at Clemson, including seeing the "white foam" that accumulated in the corners of Venables mouth during games because of his constant screaming.
Boulware also shares behind-the-scenes details of him elevating his leadership in the days before the 2016 national title game against Alabama. A year before, casual attitudes from a few defensive players were recognized as significant factors in the Tigers' 45-40 loss to the Crimson Tide. Boulware took charge and demanded total buy-in from every single player on defense with the Tigers gathered in Tampa and preparing for the rematch with the Nick Saban dynasty.
Boulware gives a window into his personal life and says he's done a lot of growing over the past couple years. He considers himself a businessman now, running The Junkyard fitness center that is about to open another location at the old Astro Theater in downtown Clemson.
Matt Bockhorst, who is undergoing surgery today to repair the ACL he tore against Pittsburgh on Oct. 23, joins the podcast for an in-depth conversation about the end of his football career.
Bockhorst also reflects on the evolution of the 2021 team, which was once 4-3 but has won five consecutive games as the offense has gained consistency, cohesion and confidence.
Early in the season, Bockhorst was one of the few personalities on offense who was willing to speak up and lead vocally. But he learned that sometimes yelling and screaming doesn't work and a more gentle, positive form of leadership is needed.
Bockhorst is from Ohio, but his entire family has fallen in love with Clemson and the surrounding area. His older brother played football at Furman, and his younger brother is at Clemson. Their parents also have a home on Lake Keowee.
Growing up, Bockhorst dreamed of playing for Notre Dame and was recruited by the Irish. But on a visit to South Bend for a night game against Southern Cal, he and the family realized that Brian Kelly's staff wasn't as interested in him as they once thought. His path led to Clemson, and in the wake of Kelly's abrupt departure for LSU it's more confirmation to Bockhorst that he made the right move to join Dabo Swinney's culture.
He's an attorney who has amassed 34,600 followers on Twitter for scouring message boards and screen-capping the bizarre, inane and crazy things said by college football fans.
He has a wife and two daughters, and his family has no clue about the Twitter side project called Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses).
"They just think I'm on my phone doing something," he said.
He prefers being anonymous, so he went by the name "Pete" during this interview. He said he attended college at Utah State and at the time wondered by fans were so irrational on message boards.
Then "Pete" started looking at message board for other schools across the country and discovered there's crazy stuff everywhere posted by people who are obsessively following a sport.
"It's literally the same type of people on every message board," he said. "You have this contingent of people who are always negative no matter what happens. And then on the other side you have this contingent of people who get offended by the slightest bit of negativity. And they're always fighting with each other. No fan base is really less reasonable or rational than anybody else's."
The profile picture for Pete's feed says #FireEverybody. He's in front of his television on most fall Saturdays, and he knows a meltdown on the field is going to quickly be followed by one on that team's message boards.
"I get a kick out of it," he said. "It's funny. I hope people understand it's all in good fun to see some of the crazy stuff that's out there, and appreciate it and laugh at it. I do quite a bit."
Patrick Sapp, former Clemson Tiger and father of Tigers tight end commitment Josh Sapp, joins the podcast to reflect on what it's been like to go through the recruiting process with his son.
Sapp also gives his detailed thoughts on the rapid spiral of Clemson's offense and the various factors behind it. The former Clemson quarterback was as caught off guard by anyone by DJ Uiagalelei's pronounced struggles, and he wonders how much Uiagalelei's endorsement deals with Dr. Pepper and Bojangles have contributed to the pressures on his shoulders as the sophomore tries to walk in the footsteps of Trevor Lawrence.
Sapp gives his perspective on how much more difficult Dabo Swinney's job is now in an age of the transfer portal and players capitalizing on endorsement deals.
Sapp is the quarterbacks coach for his son's Greenville High School team that faces Irmo on Friday night in the 4A state playoffs.
Lindell Zanders, father of Clemson safety Lannden Zanders, joins the podcast to share the deeply personal story of the family's home burning down last month in Shelby, N.C.
Lannden was home alone at the time, and an ember from a back-yard fire pit ended up catching the back porch on fire and then leading to the house. Lindell said he spent $200,000 to build the house 20 years ago, and now to build the same house it would cost $450,000 because of various factors including the cost of lumber.
Lannden slept through the fire, and his life was saved when the fire department turned the power off to the home. Lannden was thus awakened when his fan turned off; the fire department personnel had no idea anyone was inside the home as it burned down.
The family was angered and hurt by various headlines that mischaracterized Lannden's role in starting the fire. The worst was from aggregation-based site FanSided, whose headline was: "Clemson football player obsessed with fire accidentally burns family home down."
Lindell has remarkable perspective and peace of mind from the life-changing event. He said he's yet to even shed a tear over losing his home, as he said he is grateful that he still has his two sons.
The family has recently benefited from various GoFundMe efforts, and now Lindell is seeing a reciprocation of the giving spirit he has instilled in his boys throughout their lives.
Lindell grew up homeless at times in Florida as his father succumbed to heroin addiction and his mother struggled to get by. He remembers being happy to land in homeless shelters as a child because they had running water and electricity.
As he raised his boys, Lindell regularly took them to homeless shelters and visited children's hospitals to bring gifts and help those in need.
Lannden is currently sitting out the 2021 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. His brother Quenten is a junior running back at Western Carolina.
Writing about college football every Saturday seems like a fun and even easy job.
But being asked to intelligently summarize the invariable unfolding of 12-plus hours worth of craziness, while not missing anything important, while trying to prioritize events amid the sensory overload of games and social media, and while spicing humor into every other paragraph, is not an easy thing to do.
David Hale of ESPN.com has mastered the art of the college football recap column. Late every Saturday night, perhaps with the aid of a few adult beverages, he files a riotous, wildly entertaining and absolute must read about the day's events.
Hale, who has followed Clemson closely for all the high points of the Dabo Swinney era, is like the rest of us in trying to process how the Tigers have fallen so far on offense.
Hale gives his take on Swinney's circle-the-wagons sermon to fans that punctuated Wednesday's appearance on WCCP-FM as part of the Tigers for Tatas fundraising effort.
Also, having covered Florida State closely, Hale is an expert on what the collapse of a great football program looks like. He gives his response to the folks who say Clemson's current malaise is less a brief dip and more indicative of a program in long-term decline.
Harold Coleman, a former Clemson football player and radio host for WCCP-FM, joins the podcast to catch everyone up on what he and his family are up to now.
After a year as an assistant at Marquette, Harold's wife Itoro Umoh-Coleman took a job at North Carolina and the family of six is now in Chapel Hill.
Harold reflects on what it's like for his children to have moved so much, and also what it's like for his wife to coach for a team she hated when she was a star player at Clemson.
Harold would also like a word with those who think the problem with Clemson's offense is play-calling. And he has some pointed words for those who think the advent of NIL is a bad thing for college athletics.
Former Clemson star Terrence Oglesby rejoins the podcast to share the latest on his climb up the media ladder.
Oglesby is a basketball analyst for The Field of 68, a college basketball podcast network that has already gained significant profile.
Oglesby also gives his take on what to expect this season of Brad Brownell and Clemson as the Tigers try to overcome the loss of Aamir Simms.
He also discusses why he decided to go away from the coaching route, and the importance of being there for his family as his children grow up.
Former Tiger Billy Davis makes a return visit to the podcast to reflect on what it was like to reconnect with his 1981 teammates as Clemson celebrated the 40th anniversary of its national title under Danny Ford.
Davis shares what it's like for that accomplishment to be relegated to an "oh by the way" category in the shadow of the recent titles under Dabo Swinney in 2016 and 2018.
He also gives his take on the jolting struggles of the 2021 team, which has produced a 3-2 record and a plummet from the Top 5 to unranked.
What criticisms are justified in Davis' eyes? Which ones are excessive? Davis, a longtime subscriber and message-board poster on Tigerillustrated.com, gives his thoughts on social-media fan culture and the treatment of 18- to 22-year-old athletes who aren't performing as well as expected.
Scott Hamilton, current sports-radio host in Charleston, started his newspaper career in 1998.
In the 23 years since he has:
Worked for several different newspapers, including as the sports columnist for the Winston-Salem Journal;
Worked as the lead news anchor for a TV station in West Virginia;
Worked as a TV talk-show host in Wilmington;
Worked as a radio sports-talk host in Winston-Salem;
Worked for Golfweek magazine;
Worked for the Sports Business Journal;
Worked for Sports Illustrated covering the Carolina Panthers;
Worked in sales for a minor-league baseball team;
Worked for Shatterbox in client acqusitions.
And to think: He went to college to become a history teacher.
Hamilton joins the podcast to talk about his wild ride, becoming close with Paul Finebaum, and what to make of Clemson’s current struggles during its 2-2 start.
He also picks Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin to pull off the upset Saturday at Alabama.
Mickey Plyler of WCCP-FM joins the podcast to share what it's like when so much criticism is coming from fans through the airwaves in the midst of Clemson's offense scoring a total of 17 points in two games against Georgia and Georgia Tech.
What's fair criticism and what's over the top? What's the answer for this offense, and are things going to get markedly better in the near future?
Joe Giglio visits to reflect on his transition from a long career in newspapers to a radio talk-show host for WRAL. Giglio attended N.C. State and covered the Wolfpack for decades. He gives his take on Dave Doeren, who since taking over in 2013 has just one victory over a team that finished in the Top 25. Have the fans soured on him? Do they even care enough to run him out of town?
Do the Wolfpack have the juice to knock off Clemson? Is this really Doeren's best team when State couldn't come close to beating Mississippi State a couple weeks ago?
And what's the reaction in Raleigh to Will Shipley, who has all sorts of family ties to the Wolfpack, going to Clemson and becoming an instant sensation as a playmaker for the Tigers?
Longtime Clemson strength and conditioning coach Joey Batson joins the podcast to share the story of the open-heart surgery he underwent this past summer.
Batson, 60, lost his father to a heart attack in the 1970s when his father was 39 years old.
Andy Staples and Cole Cubelic join the podcast to give their takes on the state of Clemson football after the Tigers' 10-3 loss to Georgia last week.
Does Dabo Swinney need to adapt to keep up with the Bulldogs, Alabama and Ohio State? And what of an offensive line that was overwhelmed in the opener? Will Clemson be good enough to get into the College Football Playoff for a seventh consecutive season?
Brett McMurphy visits to chart his visionary course through various mediums over the course of his career -- from newspapers to web sites, to ESPN and now to The Action Network.
McMurphy was the center of one of the most remarkable stories in media history after he was laid off by ESPN. As he continued to collect bi-weekly checks from the network, he got around a non-compete clause by merely posting his scoops on Facebook -- major scoops that ESPN then had to chase.
Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution remembers being intimidated at sharing press boxes with the likes of Lewis Grizzard, Furman Bisher, Dave Kindred and numerous other giants of the sportswriting industry.
Bradley gradually developed a style all his own and is known as one of the best of his craft in sports column writing -- especially when facing murderous deadlines.
What was it like to sit next to Grizzard and his old-school typewriter in a press box? What was it like doing a story on the holder for Kevin Butler's 60-yard field goal that beat Clemson in 1984?
What's it like being told by Hawks coach Mike Fratello that he's done with you, that "you stabbed me in the heart?"
What was it like, seven years ago, hearing that Steve Spurrier waged figurative war on him after Bradley wrote (accurately, as it turned out) that Spurrier might not last much longer at South Carolina?
What's it like dealing with the vast modern-day restrictions on media access that make it much more difficult to develop relationships with the people you cover?
Bradley is a trove of entertaining anecdotes from his decades spent telling the world what he thinks. He also gives his take on what he think will happen in Saturday night's mammoth showdown between Clemson and Georgia.
Clemson's first brewery has been a long time coming, and a long time working for the two co-owners who continue to juggle demanding full-time jobs in addition to getting Kite Hill Brewing Company off the ground after opening their doors in early July.
The Clemson Dubcast goes on-site to interview the key players, including master brewer Mike Fuller. An avid Clemson fan and longtime Tigerillustrated.com subscriber, Fuller spent time out west and then the better part of nine years in Asheville. As he worked his way up the brewing ranks, he had a dream to return to Clemson and give the city its first brewery. Last December he answered an ad posted by co-owners Bobby Congdon and Bryon Leggett.
Congdon is the assistant director of Clemson's Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics. He's also married with two children.
"I'm making it work now, working through some annual leave," Congdon said. "And I have a forgiving boss that likes beer. So that helps."
Leggett has a background in chemical engineering and works in business development for a Wisconsin-based contract manufacturer, a job that consumes 50 hours a week by itself. He said he's worked 90 to 100 hours a week the last few months. He's married with a 9-month-old infant at home.
Leggett and Congdon met as students while working for Clemson's student radio station. They both graduated in 1998.
"Our vision is to have a community gathering space with something for everybody," Leggett said. "So it's not just about the beer."
Congdon started home-brewing in 2005 inside an apartment not far from Kite Hill's present location in Patrick Square.
"By the third batch we started talking about how cool it would be to open a brewery in Clemson," Congdon said. "That persisted for years and years, but common sense said 'Don't do that. That's insane.' But about four years ago I sent an e-mail to Bryon. I had been drinking beer, and I got the idea: 'We should actually do this!'"
David Paschall has covered Georgia football for decades at the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. He joins the podcast to reflect on just how much sports media has changed over the years, and the media's own role in a demise that includes dramatically reduced access to the teams and players they cover.
Paschall also gives his take on the mammoth Sept. 4 matchup in Charlotte between Clemson and Georgia. He remembers traveling to Death Valley in 2003 and watching the Bulldogs romp 30-0. A lot has changed since, with the Tigers now one of the supreme beings in college football and Georgia trying to ascend to the perch Clemson has enjoyed.
Dayne Young works for Rivals site UGASports.com and the PR department for Georgia's school of journalism. Young once worked as a TV sports anchor but got out of the business when he realized how few people watch the evening newscasts anymore. He adapted to new ideas and now is a major part of his site's expanded digital presence, which includes regular video podcasts with former Georgia coach Jim Donnan.
Young reacts to the latest wave of attrition that has affected the Bulldogs with Darnell Washington and Tykee Smith having undergone surgery. He has some doubts about JT Daniels' ability to guide Georgia's injury-addled offense to enough points to win the showdown in Charlotte, but he thinks the Bulldogs' defensive front might be the most talented and deepest in the country.
Former Clemson University president Jim Barker joins the podcast to share what he's been up to since leaving the high-pressure world of running a university.
Barker had a fascinating window into Dabo Swinney long before many other people thought the coach had what it took to run a successful football program, let alone a perennially dominant one.
Barker still teaches a course at Clemson called "The Architecture of Leadership," and Swinney's name comes up often in the class' conversations about great leaders.
Barker, who was one of the main architects of NCAA reform years ago, acknowledges that those reforms failed and says the system is broken.
Barker was a key figure in the ACC's courting of Notre Dame before the Irish joined the conference as a part-time member. As the ACC and everyone else grapples with the recent seismic development of Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC, Barker said he hopes the ACC is thinking boldly and not conventionally.
"I'm amazed that we don't use these moments in time to open up possibilities that are not just baby steps, but huge steps," he said.
Christopher Lambert, also known as The Dude of WV on social media, became a phenomenon a decade ago during the last realignment craze in college athletics.
An avid fan of West Virginia who's not in the media business, Lambert caused a stir when he began producing news items from conversations he was having with influential people.
Lambert basically learned some journalism on the fly, realizing that sometimes people were giving him information to advance their own interests and it resulted in some mistakes in his reporting.
Now that realignment is back on the front burner with Texas and Oklahoma headed to the SEC, The Dude is back in action as he tries to develop informed opinion on what will happen next and whether West Virginia will be safe.
For the record, The Dude believes the Mountaineers will end up in a conference they probably should have been a part of all along: The ACC, which is looking to solidify its future in a volatile, cutthroat world of big-time college athletics.
Martin Jenkins was a part of a class-action lawsuit that sued the NCAA and led to the recent harsh rebuke of the NCAA's model by two Supreme Court justices.
Jenkins joins the podcast to reflect on what it all means and where college athletics could be headed with athletes now able to profit from their names, images and likenesses and, perhaps in the future, getting an actual cut of the monstrous revenues college football generates.
When Jenkins played at Clemson from 2010 to 2014, NCAA rules limited schools from providing more than one meal per day to athletes. Now players at Clemson and elsewhere eat three meals a day at lavish dining facilities in addition to getting checks for cost of attendance.
For Jenkins, the wheels for joining the lawsuit were set in motion after he wrote the song "We Too Deep" and was told NCAA rules prohibited him from capitalizing on the popularity of it (it has become a staple at Clemson home football games, and the official YouTube video Jenkins created currently has more than 6.5 million views).
Jenkins also reflects on his deep level of love and admiration for Dabo Swinney. The two might have some philosophical differences on the topic of compensating college athletes, but he said it's never gotten in the way of their relationship.
Jenkins, who lives in Atlanta and works in the insurance industry, is a regular at Clemson football games and marvels at how far Swinney has taken a program that hadn't won 10 games in two decades when Jenkins began playing for the Tigers.
Five Clemson assistant coaches sit down for in-depth discussions on their position groups.
Earlier this week, Dabo Swinney opened up his football operations building to the media and allowed his coaches to spend hours mingling with those who cover Clemson on a regular basis.
Streeter is quarterbacks coach for the Tigers. Grisham coaches receivers. Caldwell oversees offensive line, Conn safeties and Bates defensive tackles.
Clemson begins preseason camp on Aug. 6.
Andrew Miller, 57, has been at The Post and Courier of Charleston for decades. Because of pandemic-related budget cuts, Miller had to move from his love of sports to the business section where he's had to start from scratch in some ways as a reporter.
Miller goes back a long way to the days of Tommy West and Tommy Bowden, and he's full of stories from his time covering Clemson on a full-time basis.
In the summer of 2003 at Bowden's media golf outing, Miller was planning to be in the featured group with the head coach. He was irritated when sports information director Tim Bourret asked him for a huge favor: "Can you play not with Tommy but with our new receivers coach instead?"
That coach was Dabo Swinney.
"I didn't get in five words the entire round," Miller said of getting to know the man who'd be the Tigers' head coach five years later.
Miller reflects on how the changing nature of media access has made it harder for reporters to develop relationships with the people they cover. He also looks back to close, personal relationships he's had with various figures including Bowden, Reggie Herring, Willie Simmons, Monte Lee and others.
Josh Needelman joins the podcast to discuss why he chose to leave his job as Clemson beat reporter for The Post and Courier after a two-year stint in the Upstate.
Josh is from New York, and a year of being away from his family because of the pandemic reinforced to him the importance of being close to loved ones -- particularly his twin brother Scott, who is autistic and nonverbal.
Having joined the Clemson beat after covering UVA, Josh saw in full color the immensity of big-time college football -- and the always entertaining, sometimes controversial Dabo Swinney.
Josh gives his thoughts on how Swinney is portrayed in the national media and also shares his philosophy on how much or how little time is necessary to spend on social media when you're trying to cover a team and establish a brand.
The story of Justin Foster's past year has been well chronicled: a year ago he tested positive for COVID and then dealt with complications that left him not remotely fit to play football for Clemson during the 2020 season.
Foster announced he was giving up football after the season, but then a vaccine shot markedly improved his COVID long-hauler symptoms. And then visits to doctors at Duke University gave him renewed confidence that he could safely return to playing football. In May he announced his return, and now he's in Clemson preparing for the 2021 season.
Justin's mother, Teresa Padgett, joins the podcast to reflect on what this has all been like for her.
Clemson radio personality William Qualkinbush joins the show to talk the swirl of change in college athletics, most notably the move to Name, Image and Likeness.
Qualkinbush's views on NIL have evolved as he learns more about what the new landscape might look like, but he's firmly against a pay-for-play model that some say is a virtual certainty after the Supreme Court's scathing rebuke of the NCAA earlier this week.
Qualkinbush also talks about his career, which often brings a logjam of responsibilities including radio play-by-play for Clemson sports in addition to 15 hours a week on his WCCP-FM radio show that runs from noon to 3.
Joe Person has spent a long time covering the Carolina Panthers, and before that he spent a long time covering South Carolina football.
Person has vast experience dealing with powerful personalities including Cam Newton, Steve Spurrier and Lou Holtz.
Person shares what it was like to break out of his comfort zone by moving from college football to the NFL, how he goes about doing his job amid a changing media landscape that includes competition with the team he covers, and what he learned from the late Rick Bonnell who recently passed away unexpectedly.
Person had some unforgettable experiences covering Spurrier, including regular 7 AM phone calls from the Gamecocks coach when he didn't like something Person wrote for The State newspaper.
Person was present at Death Valley for the infamous 2004 brawl between the Gamecocks and Tigers in Holtz's final college game.
It's been quite a ride for Bob Thomas over the last 15 years.
A longtime newspaper guy and distinguished chronicler of Florida State football during the Bobby Bowden dynasty, Thomas was laid off by the Florida Times-Union in 2008.
He then took a job with Florida State as the head sports information director for football and found himself navigating the tumult of 2009 when FSU's administration told Bowden it was time to go.
When Jimbo Fisher arrived, the coach had other ideas about the football team's communications and Thomas was pushed to a different department.
Just a year ago, Thomas found himself a victim of pandemic-related job cuts within FSU's athletics department. He's now adjusting to his new job as media specialist for FSU's College of Medicine.
Thomas is a trove of knowledge and stories about FSU's incredible run under Bowden, and he explores the similarities of that era with the current Clemson-dominated ACC world.
Thomas also gives his thoughts on how long it'll be before the Seminoles can contend with the Clemson monster.
Brett Jensen, formerly a Clemson beat reporter and currently a news reporter for Charlotte radio station WBT, gives his perspective on his tense exchange with North Carolina governor Roy Cooper this week.
Jensen, who said his station has not been called on to ask a question over the last 14 months at routine press briefings from the governor and his staffers, said other outlets are also being frozen out.
Jensen reflects on the need for accountability from all public officials regardless of political affiliation, and then draws parallels to his former profession as a scrutinizer of highly-paid football and basketball coaches.
Another topic covered is how media access has changed overall over the years, both in sports and in general news.
Former Georgia and NFL punter Drew Butler joins the podcast to talk Clemson-Georgia, and also his role in helping college athletes navigate the coming age of Name, Image and Likeness. Butler works for Icon Source, which connects both pro and college athletes to businesses that are interested in sponsoring them.
Butler is also the creator and host of Punt And Pass podcast, which he co-hosts with former Bulldog quarterback Aaron Murray.
When he was with the Arizona Cardinals, Butler became good friends with former Tiger Chandler Catanzaro and said Catanzaro helped give him a deep appreciation for what Dabo Swinney has built at Clemson.
On the weekend of Dabo Swinney's All-In Ball, Brian Boone and Clay Lowder join the podcast to talk philanthropy and helping others.
In late December, Lowder decided he was going to fully fund a trip to the Sugar Bowl for a Clemson family that had gone through struggle. He sent the family of Ken Kelly, who spent the previous year battling liver cancer and COVID.
Months later, Boone was similarly inspired when he decided to give up his six-seat table at the All-In Ball to a Clemson family who would be positively impacted from the experience.
Saturday night, Joey Millwood and his family will attend the All-In Ball, listen to guest speaker Jon Gruden, and receive a full tour of the Reeves Center. Joey and his wife Erin lost their 10-year-old daughter Eliza Cait to leukemia in 2018. They began a ministry in her honor, Bright Light Dance Ministry, to send dancers across the world to spread the gospel because Eliza Cait loved Jesus and loved to dance.
Boone lost his wife, Kathy Boone, in May of 2018. Five months earlier, Clemson's football staff opened its doors and its hearts to the Boone family in a story documented by Tigerillustrated.com.
Boone and Lowder reflect on how much giving to others can help not only the recipient but the person giving.
Jacksonville radio personality and longtime college football writer Matt Hayes joins the podcast to give a sense of what it's like in Jaguars Land in response to Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne joining the franchise.
Hayes said the locals are giddy over not just what Lawrence can do on the field, but the leader he promises to be in the community.
Hayes recently recently interviewed Stanford coach David Shaw, who said Lawrence is going to be one of the NFL greats.
Also, Hayes reflects on a media climate that creates hysteria over someone such as Lawrence merely mentioning that there's more to his life than football.
Hayes also shares his take on the college football hierarchy.
Despite Georgia's presence, and despite Ohio State's romp over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, Hayes says: "I think it's still an Alabama and Clemson world."
Kyle Young, associate AD for administration at Clemson, joins The Dubcast to reflect on the remarkable coaching job by men's soccer coach Mike Noonan over the past year. Noonan and the Tigers withstood major attrition from last year's team and are a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Young also explores the Academic Common Market and provides insight on how it affects Clemson's baseball and soccer teams.
In February of 2008, Young was working for Terry Don Phillips when receivers coach Dabo Swinney asked for Phillips advice on pursing the head-coaching job at South Alabama. Swinney was a finalist for the job.
"I remember talking to Terry Don at that time," Young recalled. "Terry Don said to me: 'I just told him he didn't need to take that job.' That was Terry Don telling me he saw bigger and better things for Dabo."
Less than a year later, Swinney was Clemson's head coach.
Cole Cubelic of ESPN joins the podcast to give his reflections of Georgia after spending last weekend in Athens covering the Bulldogs' spring game. Cubelic says Kirby Smart's team is among the more physically imposing he can recall in recent college football history, and he raves about JT Daniels' progress and presence as Georgia's quarterback.
Pete Yanity, who covered the Danny Ford era as a young TV reporter in Florence, gives his memories of those days after reading some of the Tigerillustrated.com series on Ford's Clemson tenure, and compares those glory days to the current run of brilliance under Dabo Swinney.
Former Clemson Tiger Billy Davis rejoins the podcast to reflect on the ongoing Tigerillustated.com series on the Danny Ford era at Clemson.
Even for someone who was present for much of that era, Davis finds his own eyes opened by all the tumult that occurred during the 1980s -- from probation, to the revelations of steroid use, to regular clashes between Ford and his administration.
Davis, whose long punt return in the 1981 Orange Bowl helped set up a score that gave Clemson breathing room in a championship victory over Nebraska, looks back on those days and views all the baggage as yet another affirmation of Dabo Swinney's greatness.
One of Davis' daughters is a freshman swimmer at Kentucky, and he goes into deep reflections on parenting a child in athletics through elementary school, middle school and beyond.
Last fall, as Kentucky's swimming team was preparing for a crucial meet against Tennessee, Dabo Swinney spent 45 minutes on a Zoom call with the Wildcats' team. This was the week of Clemson's game against Boston College, and the week the Tigers lost Trevor Lawrence to a positive COVID test.
Davis is an avid reader of Tigerillustrated.com and a regular poster on the WEZ message board.
Former Clemson basketball player John Newman discusses the reasoning behind his transfer from the Tigers' program, and his decision to join UNC Greensboro.
Newman also gives his perspective on the growing anguish and alarm over the proliferation of transfers in college athletics.
George Sluppick, professional drummer, has played with such acts as Albert King, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, JJ Grey and Mofro, Luther Dickinson, Robert Walter, Charlie Hunter, Melvin Sparks and numerous other music luminaries.
Sluppick joins the podcast to talk life on the road, including several visits to Clemson when Mofro played a popular music venue called The Joint.
He shares details on the tumultuous, volatile nature of life on the road with Chris Robinson and what he learned from that experience.
He also recalls as a 19-year-old playing for Albert King and regularly being cussed out on stage by the legendary bluesman.
Musicians everywhere have had their worlds rocked by the pandemic over the past year, and Sluppick shares how he's adapted to continue making a living doing what he loves.
Sluppick is a widely respected soul/funk drummer known for honoring the song and providing a thick, groovy backbone.
Noted music critic Ben Ratliff once wrote: “George Sluppick puts a lot of funk into a medium tempo, and recalls the kings of heavy foot: musicians like John Bonham and Gregg Errico from Sly and the Family Stone, who drove their bass-drum beats into your spine.”
George and his Memphis-based organ trio, The City Champs, recently released their third album: "Luna 68."
Jonathan Gantt, Clemson's associate AD for creative solutions, joins the podcast to reflect on what the last year has been like for Clemson's social-media presence as well as for the athletics department as a whole.
"There was a time over the summer when it looked like football wasn't going to happen, and we were looking at each other and saying: 'Are we going to have jobs next week?'" Gantt said.
Gantt was a major part of Clemson's burgeoning, pioneering social-media presence in 2014 and beyond as the Tigers' exquisite, unique branding dovetailed with their rise to sustained prominence on the football field.
Gantt gives insight into how much trends have changed in digital branding, and how Clemson has pivoted in reaction to those changes.
When you have set the standard for social-media presentation, how do you remain cutting-edge and innovative when everyone else is mimicking your innovations so much that they are commonplace?
Also: What is the era of Name, Image and Likeness going to look like with athletes -- not just the ones from the high-profile sports, but also ones from non-revenue sports -- allowed to monetize their brands?
Gantt is playing a key role in Clemson's preparations for NIL, and he says the athletics department is well positioned to be at the forefront of whatever the landscape looks like.
Chip Towers has covered the Georgia Bulldogs for the better part of 25 years for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Chip joins the podcast to talk his relationship with Kirby Smart (or lack thereof), Smart's strict controls on media access (early in his tenure Smart blocked Chip's attempts to interview Bulldog signees when they were still in high school), and why the Bulldogs haven't yet risen to the level of perennial championship contender under Smart.
Chip also gives his thoughts on the recent allegations by Valdosta high school coach Rush Propst.
And finally, he recounts the bizarre story of Cade Mays' father losing his pinky finger while accompanying his son on a recruiting visit to Athens -- and then using that episode as the reason for Mays' abrupt transfer to Tennessee.
Former Clemson defensive end Justin Foster goes in-depth on his decision to give up football, and what it was like trying to battle back amid the effects of COVID-19.
Foster had dealt with asthma and allergies his whole life, and COVID exacerbated those conditions while leaving him with a long list of complications including shortness of breath, vocal-cord disfunction, and difficulty swallowing.
Foster, who graduated in December with a degree in Construction Science and Management, is looking forward to starting a career in small business and using his mechanical mind. From an early age, Foster loved learning how things worked by taking apart lawnmowers and car engines and putting them back together.
He tells stories of fixing the cars of assorted Clemson teammates, including Jackson Carman when Carman was stranded near Atlanta after his engine seized up.
Former Clemson player and staffer Xavier Brewer joins the podcast to talk his new role as cornerbacks coach at Louisiana-Monroe under Terry Bowden.
Bowden hired several former Clemson staffers including Zac Alley, Maverick Morris, Roderick McDowell, and a blast from the past in defensive line coach Ron "Big Daddy" West. In addition, former Clemson offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez is running the offense for Bowden.
Brewer reflects on his recruitment to Clemson, and a revelation Dabo Swinney shared with him only a couple years ago: When Brewer called to commit to Clemson, there was strong disagreement between Swinney (who offered Brewer) and the defensive staff led by Vic Koenning. The defensive staff wanted to rescind the offer for another player. Tommy Bowden ended up ruling in Swinney's favor, and Clemson accepted the commitment. Brewer ended up starting 34 career game and playing in 53.
Brewer shares the life lessons he learned after going through a tumultuous and unforgettable summer of 2020 with Clemson's football program, and how hard it was for a team to go through a season filled with COVID protocols and disruptions to the normal way of life.
Brewer's job on Clemson's staff was advance scouting of opponents, and he shares his thoughts on Ohio State's 49-point barrage in the Sugar Bowl and how it happened.
Brewer also reflects on what it's like to coach defense in the days of supersonic offenses flush with elite talent and rules that favor moving the ball and scoring points.
Paul Strelow, one of the foremost recruiting analysts and reporters in the country, sits down to share what it's like to cover recruiting while raising a family and taking part in his children's many activities.
Paul also shares his thoughts on the extension of the recruiting dead period, his gut feeling on whether Ty Simpson will choose Alabama or Clemson, and the general perception of Dabo Swinney as Clemson's program has risen to perennial juggernaut status.
Also: What is college football going to look like in the age of athletes profiting off their name, image and likeness?
For more than 16 years, Yusef Kelly has been known largely for a moment -- a moment that occurred when he was in college, and before he knew better.
Kelly, who is now a police officer in Easley and married with two kids, reflects on his part in the infamous 2004 brawl between Clemson and South Carolina.
A perfect storm of events and timing led to a picture of him serving as the face of an ugly moment in time, but in the end Kelly was just a typical college kid whose missteps were magnified in an atypical way.
Kelly said the brawl wasn't viewed as a big deal among the participants in the immediate aftermath: He was among a large group of Tigers and Gamecocks players who went out that night in downtown Clemson and had a good time.
Former Clemson defensive lineman DeShawn Williams joins the podcast to share misgivings that he, DeAndre Hopkins, Shaq Lawson and Jarvis Jenkins have about not being properly recognized by their high school alma mater, Daniel High.
All four are in the NFL, an almost astounding achievement for players from one high school during the same time period. Daniel has policies for its Hall of Fame inductions and doesn't typically retire jerseys, but Williams said he and his three former teammates strongly believe something more can be done to honor their achievements.
Williams also shares personal details of how hard it has been to go through the emotional rollercoaster of being cut by NFL teams time and again. When he spent a year away from football awaiting calls from teams, he worked as an Amazon delivery driver in Denver and he believes that was a big part of his ascent to a starting role for the Broncos this past season.
Mickey Plyler of WCCP joins the podcast to reflect on the mess at Tennessee, and how close Tony Elliott came to saying yes to the Volunteers.
We also discuss the rapidly changing landscape of college football and how well Clemson is positioned to adjusting to the realities of increased player mobility.
Will it make more sense for college coaches to jump to the NFL where they won't have to spend all year recruiting not just prospective players but their own players?
Terrence Oglesby gave up coaching and is now pouring everything he has into his dream of becoming a national TV color basketball analyst.
He started from scratch and taught himself how to produce his own weekly video show. He came up with his own ACC Basketball preview magazine last summer. And he's honing his chops on radio and TV broadcasts of basketball games, including some recent Clemson games.
Basically, he's grinding away just like he did when he was a cold-blooded shooter in high school and then for Clemson's high-achieving basketball teams under Oliver Purnell before he went overseas to play professionally.
Oglesby lives in Clemson with his wife and two children. He recounts some vivid stories of the Purnell days, including some of the huge wins, the NCAA Tournament flameouts, and Purnell's abrupt departure for DePaul.
Oglesby, now 33, also recalls Purnell hanging up the phone on him when he told his coach he was turning pro early. They didn't talk again until 10 years later.
Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com joins the podcast to talk a wide array of topics:
-- Why he voted Clemson No. 1 in his Way Too Early Top 25 for 2021.
-- How much of an accomplishment it was for college football to reach the finish line in a pandemic.
-- His take on the recent craziness at South Carolina, Auburn and Tennessee.
-- His take on why some national voices are calling Dabo Swinney one of the most polarizing figures in the sport.
-- Growing up near South Bend as a die-hard Notre Dame fan, then moving to Atlanta when the Georgia Bulldogs were in their heyday.
-- As a rookie writer for the student newspaper at the University of Georgia, writing an opinion column saying the basketball coach needed to be fired. And then being summoned to Hugh Durham's office to be told by the coach: "You don't know (excrement)."
-- As an 18-year-old, being hired at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to cover the Bulldogs.
-- His recollections of the early days following Widespread Panic, the Athens-based band that would go on to become one of the most successful touring acts in the industry.
Filmmaker Dustin Laemmlen was behind DJ Uiagalelei's splendid commitment announcement video in May of 2019. Laemmlen also happens to be DJ's cousin, giving him rare access to the superstar as he became one of the most sought-after prospects in the country. Laemmlen's production company recently produced "Into the Spotlight," a documentary on DJ's senior year at St. John Bosco High School.
Laemmlen shares stories about DJ's childhood, and goes into how the commitment video took shape -- and how they kept DJ's commitment a secret despite it happening in the middle of the Death Valley football field the day before the spring game (DJ announced his commitment a month later, on his mother's birthday).
Steven Lo, the offensive coordinator at Bosco, remembers when DJ broke the coach's hand when the two were going through a routine throwing drill during DJ's junior year. When Lo came from the Bay Area to interview for Bosco's vacant offensive coordinator position, DJ was the first player he met. And the hour-long conversation left a lasting impression.
Meet Dave Coggin, who calls himself "Clemson's secret weapon on the West Coast." Coggin's story is remarkable in itself, as he signed with Clemson in 1995 and planned to be a two-sport star for Tommy West and Jack Leggett before he was drafted in the first round by the Phillies and made the gut-wrenching decision to go the professional route.
Coggin always wanted to make up for leaving Clemson hanging, and then he met a sixth-grader named DJ Uiagalelei. Coggin shares more about his work with DJ in Upland, Calif., and his role in DJ taking an early liking to the team in orange and purple on the other side of the country.
Pete Thamel of Yahoo has distinguished himself not only for being on top of college football breaking news, but for using his relationships with coaches to get excellent insight into big-stage playoff matchups.
Thamel also shares more about the reporting that went into this week's article on Clemson's alleged sign stealing under Brent Venables.
"It's really the ultimate compliment that so many teams including Ohio State are so bothered by it," Thamel said, "because it's abundantly clear that Clemson is totally in their heads."
Tonya McElrathbey, mother of Ray Ray and Fahmarr McElrathbey, joins The Dubcast to reflect on the wild ride that led to her sons' celebrity -- and her sobriety.
Disney has produced a movie based on Ray Ray's decision to take custody of his younger brother in 2006 when Ray Ray was a member of Clemson's football team.
This quickly became a national story. Oprah Winfrey traveled to Clemson. The NCAA even waived its rule against extra benefits to allow for the establishment of a trust fund for Ray Ray and Fahmarr (it generated $100,000).
On the other side of that uplifting story is Tonya's story of drug addiction. Tonya said she didn't learn until years later how much her depression contributed to her yearning for drugs, and she says she has been sober for three years and has a full-time job.
Tonya and her children remain close: She, Ray Ray and his 7-year-old son recently watched a director's cut of the movie.
"It was crazy," she said. "We laughed. And we cried. We would just hit pause and try to soak it in. It was emotional."
The movie "Safety" is scheduled for release Friday.
Matt Connolly recalls the long drive to Tallahassee -- and then the long drive back the next day after the Clemson-FSU game was cancelled. Connolly shares what it was like to go through that surreal experience, and gives his opinion on the torrent of media criticism toward Dabo Swinney over the next week.
Connolly also shares what he learned recently in reporting a profile of Billy Napier, the former Clemson assistant who now appears to be a strong candidate at South Carolina. Connolly spoke with Tommy Bowden for the article, and Bowden gave Napier glowing reviews.
Norm Wood, who covers Virginia Tech for the Daily Press of Newport News, gives his take on whether Justin Fuente will get fired after this season. He also delves into the sentiment in Blacksburg about Shane Beamer, and just how much push there is for the Hokies to make a pre-emptive move to bring Beamer home before South Carolina can get him.
David Hale of ESPN.com shares behind-the-scenes details on how he and Andrea Adelson conceived and executed an extraordinarily in-depth article on Florida State's free-fall from the top of the college football world over the last seven years. Hale and Adelson began reporting on the story a year ago and spoke with more than 50 sources to present the most authoritative account yet on what led Jimbo Fisher to Texas A&M, and why Willie Taggart's short tenure was such a mess. Hale and Adelson also highlight the dichotomy between FSU and Clemson over the years in the realm of spending for facilities and coaches, dating to 2013 when Fisher sensed the Tigers were taking their football commitment to a higher level with Dabo Swinney leading the program.
Corey Clark of Warchant.com joins the podcast to discuss the state of affairs in Mike Norvell's first season. Are the Seminoles even interested in playing Saturday against Clemson? How are fans processing yet another debacle of a season? Are they blaming Norvell or is there a grace period in the wake of all the craziness that preceded him and the noxious culture he inherited? And what's it like to cover this wreck for a living?
Former Clemson basketball great Terrell McIntyre reflects on what called him to return to Clemson to help current basketball players find their way and prepare for life after basketball.
McIntyre also details a remarkable life story of growing up early, helping raise his younger brother when he was in elementary school, and dealing with the devastation of losing his stepfather when he was a senior in high school.
Terrell's mother gave birth to him when she was 15, but she was the rock in his life and always had high standards for him. McIntyre remembers being in Clemson not very long as a freshman and deciding he was quitting the team. After he arrived home in Raeford, N.C., his mother told him: "Go ahead and get to bed. At 7:30 tomorrow morning you're going to be on the road back to Clemson."
McIntyre also shares stories of how Larry Shyatt and Rick Barnes recruited him to Clemson and secured his signing without him having ever stepped foot onto campus.
He recalls the hurt feelings that came when Barnes left for Texas, and the despair he felt when the NBA Draft came and went without his name being called.
McIntyre had an illustrious 12-year basketball career in Europe before returning to Clemson to complete his degree in 2015.
The reason legendary Clemson sports information director Tim Bourret ended up at Clemson in the first place was because Al Adams got a wild idea to start a Clemson-themed newsletter.
Adams, a Clemson grad, was working for Bob Bradley in the sports-information office when he stumbled on an idea. Why not capitalize on the growing fervor for Clemson football in the late 1970s by producing a weekly newspaper? Thus the Orange and White was born, and thus Bradley brought in a young Bourret from Notre Dame to replace Adams.
Adams, who for years has been a fixture as the press-box PA announcer at Memorial Stadium, tells some great stories about the old days -- including when Danny Ford flipped out on him for reporting something he didn't want out during the 1980 season.
Adams' sidekick at the Orange and White, Steve Ellis, went on to cover most of Bobby Bowden's tenure at Florida State for The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper.
Former Clemson linebacker J.D. Davis, son of Clemson legend Jeff Davis, reflects on the impact of the PAW Journey on his life and the lives of many other Clemson football players.
When Jeff Davis worked in the football office under Tommy Bowden while also doubling as a fundraiser for IPTAY, he could only dream of what has unfolded as PAW Journey has become a pioneer in preparing athletes for life after football. One of Swinney's first decisions upon getting the head-coaching job was putting Jeff Davis in full charge of preparing his players for the real world.
J.D. recalls the day in 2003 when he first met Swinney. The Swinney family was building a house next door to the Davises, and in walked Will and Drew Swinney. "We've been best friends ever since," J.D. says.
J.D., who closed his football career by helping Clemson win the 2018 national championship, now works for Adobe. An internship with Adobe while he was at Clemson was vital in his securing of a full-time job with the multinational computer software company.
Brette Simmons is a former longtime assistant coach at N.C. State under Dick Sheridan and Mike O'Cain.
Simmons, who coached with Robbie Caldwell and remains close with the Tigers' offensive line coach, tells some priceless stories about what it was like to work with Caldwell.
Simmons recounts how close Sheridan was to taking the Georgia job after Vince Dooley hung up his whistle (Sheridan, in fact, had accepted the job but pulled out when the news leaked).
He also shares insight into N.C. State's casual attitude toward facilities improvements during the tenures of Sheridan and O'Cain, followed by a major emphasis once Chuck Amato took over following O'Cain's firing.
Simmons has vivid memories of what it was like to battle Clemson on the recruiting trail when Danny Ford and his staff made North Carolina a large part of their talent procurement.
He also recalls the surreal day in 1987 when an N.C. State team that would finish 4-7 went to Clemson and was up 30-0 at halftime and barely survived a rare passing assault by Rodney Williams in a 30-28 Wolfpack victory. Sheridan's teams won three straight over Clemson in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Simmons has written a book on legendary South Carolina high school coach Doug Bennett, who coached Swansea High from 1954 to 1989 and had the courage to stand up and battle massive resistance to public-school integration in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Bennett is a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian honor. He is one of six brothers who served WWII, and remarkably all six survived.
Simmons' book about Bennett's remarkable life is titled "Man in the Gap."
Kelly Quinlan, publisher of the Georgia Tech Rivals site and several others in the Rivals network including Mississippi State, South Florida, Wake Forest and Cincinnati, shares what it's like to juggle so many sites serving so many different fan bases.
Quinlan also reflects on what it was like to develop a close relationship with Paul Johnson, close enough that Johnson would share some rather memorable off-the-record thoughts -- including being angry when Dabo Swinney parted ways with Kevin Steele ("I own that guy," Johnson told Quinlan).
Quinlan was also close with Dan Radakovich when he was AD at Georgia Tech. He shares insight into what made Radakovich jump at the chance to take the Clemson job.
And finally, Quinlan gives his take on second-year Tech coach Geoff Collins and the momentum he's built as a starkly different leader than his predecessor.
Jerry McGee was a college football referee from 1972-2009. He was also a university president.
He developed countless relationships with coaches and players during that time, including some of the game's most decorated figures.
McGee recently co-authored a book with his two sons entitled: "Sidelines and Bloodlines: A Father, His Sons, and Our Life in College Football."
McGee often took his sons Ryan and Sam on road trips in the ACC and beyond. Ryan became a sportswriter and is now a distinguished writer and personality at ESPN.
Jerry McGee knew Danny Ford and his assistants well and witnessed firsthand the transformation of Clemson's football program in the late 1970s.
He also has a great appreciation for not just Dabo Swinney's reviving of the glory days, but how he's done it.
Dr. McGee gives his thoughts on the best team he ever saw, the best player, the loudest stadium and -- yes, the nastiest fans.
Keith Jennings calls from the road as he scouts college football players for the Buffalo Bills (He's in Alabama but won't say who he's scouting).
The former Tiger receiver and NFL veteran looks back at the Danny Ford days of Clemson football, his recruitment to Clemson (he was going to Florida State until Seminoles assistant Art Baker took the head job at East Carolina), his relationship with Deion Sanders and the rivalry with South Carolina.
Jennings, who worked on Dabo Swinney's staff in 2015 and 2016, recounts what he learned from being on the inside of an ascending college football powerhouse.
He also shares news of a health scare recently when he learned he has an enlarged heart. He believes it's from COVID and says he now has a defibrillator at age 54.
Jennings also gives his take on how Swinney has handled turbulent times over the past few months.
When he was about to leave for Clemson, Woody Dantzler sat down for a talk with his father.
"Don't go up there and just be a football player," his father told him.
Dantzler lived out that command not just as a student, but in his post-football life.
He was a force of nature on the field, and now he seeks to be a force of change off it as he works with Greenville County schools to better accommodate the needs and talents of teachers and students alike.
Dantzler also is a motivational speaker and a mentor to current Clemson football players.
He is also pursuing a master's degree.
And on top of all that, he has a full-time job as a pharmaceutical sales rep.
Dantzler, who lives in Greenville with his wife and two girls, gives his ideas for making the world a better place.
He also shares his thoughts on how Dabo Swinney and Clemson have handled a turbulent spring and summer.
The play-by-play voice and color analyst for Clemson's radio network prepare themselves to broadcast games without actually being there. Starting with Saturday's season opener at Wake Forest, the radio broadcasts for road games will originate from Clemson's athletics department studios.
Munson gives insight into a tumultuous spring and summer for Clemson football, and shares just how hard it was on Dabo Swinney and his family.
Bourret, who retired as Clemson's sports information director two years ago, tells of what life is like working part-time on TV broadcasts of the PGA Tour. He also gives his thoughts on the relationship between the sports media and coaches they cover, and how media access is different than it was 20 and 30 years ago.
Jack Maddox recently phoned his parents and told them they didn't have to pay out-of-state tuition to Clemson this semester: Dabo Swinney awarded the former walk-on a scholarship. Maddox, who is from Boston, tells the story of how he ended up at Clemson. His mother, a high-school history teacher in Boston, has found a way to attend every Clemson home game during his college career.
Vernon Burton, a distinguished history professor at Clemson, looks back at the captivating story of Harvey Gantt's admission to the school in 1963. What was called "Integration with Dignity" came after a lengthy battle in the courts and much controversy, and Burton sifts through the finer points of that chapter. Burton also weighs in on the recent trend of tearing down monuments and renaming buildings.
David Hale of ESPN.com joins the podcast to talk what life has been like as a national reporter over the last few months, both within the job and within his social-media interaction. He also gives his perspective on how much Dabo Swinney has evolved as the world around him changes in profound ways. And finally, he shares the big green revelation that has changed his culinary life.
Sharone Wright shares the story of an infection he contracted while swimming with his children in a pool, later leading to the amputation of one of his legs. The former Clemson basketball star reflects on the bond he still shares with his basketball brethren at Clemson including Elden Campbell, Horace Grant, Dale Davis and Wayne Buckingham. He recounts why he, a McDonald's All-American who could've gone anywhere, spurned North Carolina and Duke to come to Clemson. He then gives his perspective on the recent boycotts and protests in the NBA and elsewhere.
While most everyone has been consumed with whether college football will be played this fall in the ACC, SEC and Big 12, there are a bunch of basketball teams who are doing everything they can to play too. In a wide-ranging conversation, Brad Brownell talks of how well his team has handled the virus (one positive test since early June, and that one asymptomatic) and updates on what's been going on behind the scenes as the ACC's basketball coaches try to help provide a logical, safe path forward. Brownell also shares his excitement over the young talent that's been recruited to his program.
Ben Traywick is a Charleston lawyer who weighs in on the emerging topic of universities and susceptibility to lawsuits from athletes as they press forward with sports. While prominent sports attorney Tom Mars has sounded dire warnings about the "Death Star" of plaintiffs attorneys bringing the ACC, SEC and Big 12 to their knees with lawsuits, Traywick is skeptical of such a scenario for a variety of reasons.
Dan Hope formerly covered Clemson Football for the Anderson Independent-Mail before moving to Columbus, Ohio to cover the Buckeyes for the website Eleven Warriors. He shares his perceptions of the fallout from the Big Ten canceling fall football and provides a window into the anger of fans who will have nothing to cheer for this fall. He also shares what it's like to be a sportswriter with no games to cover for at least the next several months.
Aaron Brenner covered Clemson for The (Charleston) Post and Courier before leaving the journalism industry for a career as a mortgage broker in Denver. He reflects on the factors that led him to change course, and he looks from afar at the state of college sports, social media and Clemson football.
Former Clemson offensive lineman Landon Walker chronicles how he shifted from football to a NASCAR pit crew with Hendrick Motorsports. He's also five years into owning his own trucking company that employs 30-35 drivers (his wife Kristy is the president).
Walker, from North Wilkesboro, N.C., looks back on a college career that included Clemson's first ACC title in two decades when the Tigers broke through and won the 2011 crown.
He reminisces about fun times with his best friend at Clemson, Willy Korn, and reflects on how Korn handled the mammoth celebrity and expectations that accompanied his arrival to Clemson.
Walker and his wife have one child and are expecting another in October.
Former Clemson offensive lineman Kalon Davis recounts the awful story of losing his father in a fire that destroyed the family's home in Chester this past spring, and his mother suffering severe burns that put her in the burn unit in Augusta. South Florida coach Jeff Scott started a GoFundMe account that raised more than $56,000 from 801 donors to help the Davis family with expenses. Davis is currently a graduate assistant under Scott at USF in Tampa.
Antoine McClain, also a former Clemson offensive lineman, reflects on the depression that followed the realization that his football career was probably over. He worked different jobs during the transition, including loading freight onto cargo planes for UPS in Arizona, before finding that his calling was player development. He worked for the NFL and is now at the University of Tennessee, where he is an assistant in student-athlete development.
Former Clemson tight end Akeem Robinson tells the wild story of how he ended up at Clemson, the culture shock of moving from Miami and adjusting to life in Clemson, his amazing journey of being homeless in Missouri, living in a frat house, and then the path that led to him working now as the head strength coach at Southeastern University while also pursuing his doctorate in strategic leadership.
Former Clemson linebacker Jonathan "Tig" Willard shares the story of how he ended up in the fast lane as a NASCAR pit-crew member. Willard also shares some of his more memorable moments from Clemson, and gives his thoughts on Dabo Swinney taking the program to college football's mountaintop.
Brandon Maye grew up sharing a two-bedroom apartment with 15 people in the projects of Mobile, Ala. "Most of the people in my family were high-school dropouts." So when he realized his dream of an NFL career wasn't going to materialize, he felt he let his mother down. "I got in the car and I drove to my elementary school, my middle school and my high school. I came upon a bridge and I tried to drive my car off the bridge. But my car cuts off, and I hear the voice of God say: "I require more from you."
Former Clemson tight end Ben Hall shares the remarkable story of how he quit his job in manufacturing to pursue a passion for making people happy by making desserts. After getting his start at home with just a stove and a tabletop mixer, Hall is now the proud owner of Big Ben's Desserts in Lyman, S.C. And his customers just can't get enough.
Roman Fry reminisces about his Clemson days and recalls a spring-break trip he and Nathan Bennett took to Panama City Beach. "We decided to join in this game called King of the Ring, where there was a circle and these guys who thought they were pretty tough throwing anybody who came inside the circle outside the circle. The next thing I know we're in there and we're taking on as many as we can, back-to-back. We stayed King of the Ring for five straight hours, no joke. Somehow we did it. A few beers were involved, actually a lot more than a few. Clemson's offensive line won the day there. I'm learning that the players now don't do as much of that, which might be a good thing."
And Dalton Freeman reflects on being a part of the transformation of Clemson football under Dabo Swinney from being a redshirt in 2008, to closing his college career with a pivotal bowl triumph over LSU in 2012.
The amazing story of Stanley Hunter, who as a 10-year-old had to deal with his mother being sentenced to 25 years in prison for selling drugs. It took a village to raise Hunter, including his grandparents and the communities of Duncan and Byrnes High School -- and then Clemson, where epilepsy cut short his football career but where he remained as a student coach. Hunter has recently bought his first house. In January, his mother is scheduled to be released from prison. And he can't wait to reunite with her.
Ricky Sapp joins the podcast to update on what he's been up to since his playing days, shares some of his favorite memories from Clemson and his recruitment, and gives his take on how far Dabo Swinney has taken the football program.
Former Clemson football players and current police officers, Durrell Barry and Chris Chancellor weigh in on their emotions of the past few weeks. Barry was on the front lines in Columbia recently as protestors set fire to police cars and inflicted other damage. "I'm almost speechless when it comes to certain things that have happened, because I never thought I'd be in the middle of something like that. It was eye-opening, man. It was scary. You have to keep it professional as a police officer. I would want to protest too, but I'm a law-enforcement officer. I understand why everybody is upset with law enforcement as a whole, but they have to understand that doesn't represent 99 percent of law enforcement."
Clemson men's soccer coach Mike Noonan joins the podcast and reveals that he asked for a sabbatical from coaching from February to July. Dan Radakovich granted his request to "do a lot of things with my family that have been neglected for 34 years." The pandemic kept him from doing a lot of the traveling he planned, but he has treasured reconnecting with his family. We also discuss what things have been like for the soccer team as it phases back into a practice routine, Noonan's thoughts on the tumultuous time that has followed the George Floyd killing, his take on the new Phish album, his time following the Grateful Dead, and other stuff.
Two popular Clemson personalities, former Tiger football players Harold "Dutch" Coleman and Patrick Sapp, give their thoughts and perspectives on recent events at Clemson and beyond -- how we got to this point, and how we can make it better. All of us.
Eric George spent four-and-a-half years in Clemson's athletics department as the Tigers' chief financial officer. Now he moves on to Mississippi State to become the Bulldogs' executive senior associate athletics director and CFO. George reflects on what the past two-plus months were like at Clemson as everyone grappled with the pandemic, and discusses what college football could look like this season.
Bill D'Andrea joins the podcast to talk about being inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame and gives his recollections of being Javis Austin's lone link back to Clemson after Austin's attempted suicide in 1999 (Austin earned his degree several years later). D'Andrea also shares where he was when he heard Danny Ford was done at Clemson -- in Bethlehem, Pa., having secured a commitment from a defensive lineman named Dwayne Johnson (yes, the same Dwayne Johnson who would go on to become The Rock). Johnson ended up at Miami, and D'Andrea ended up leading Clemson's foray into academic support for athletes as the head of Vickery Hall. D'Andrea also reflects on the details of Oliver Purnell's abrupt departure from Clemson for DePaul in 2010.
Former Clemson running back Javis Austin recounts the incredible story of his decision to take his own life in the midst of conflicts with coaches and deepening depression. After shooting himself in the head with a .38 caliber pistol in November of 1999, he stood up from his bed and asked himself: "Why am I not dead?" In the two decades since his miraculous survival, he has worked to educate and help others who struggle with mental-health issues.
Clemson legend C.J. Spiller joins The Dubcast to talk his induction into the 2020 Clemson Hall of Fame class, his budding career as a Liberty High School track coach, his relationship with current Clemson great Travis Etienne, and a bunch of other stuff.
Our senior citizens are often isolated during normal circumstances, and far more so during the current pandemic. So we decided to do what we should have always been doing far more often: Sit and listen to some great stories about and from our elders. Ruthie Millar gives more insight into the group of Clemson football players who visited Clemson Downs to play bingo several times in February, and the special relationship that developed. Pastor Ray Campbell, a 92-year-old Clemson resident, tells priceless stories from his close relationship with Frank Howard -- including the spiritual awakening that Howard experienced late in his life.
For decades as a member of the Secret Service, Billy Davis had to confront and resolve fear and danger every single day. So what advice and wisdom does he have for everyone who's dealing with fear and danger with the current pandemic? Davis, a member of Clemson's 1981 national championship team, also unearths some great stories from his recruitment as a blue-chip prospect from Virginia in the late 1970s -- including when Danny Ford found a Notre Dame pamphlet in Davis' bedroom and slapped him over the head with it. Davis went to New York in early April to visit Mt. Sinai Hospital and the Samaritan's Purse Field Hospital in Central Park.
Chris Knight and Doug Jones -- both successful musicians, and both hardcore Clemson fans -- join The Dubcast to give their insight into how the world being turned upside-down has impacted the music and entertainment business both nationally and locally. Knight has played with Liann Rimes and Montgomery Gentry in addition to working as a Nashville studio musician. Jones is the frontman for the group Cravin' Melon and is a prominent figure in the Greenville music scene.
In a rare moment of downtime, Kelly Gramlich joins The Dubcast to talk her crazy schedule now that she's juggling ACC Network duties with her regular spot as a daily sports-talk co-host on Clemson flagship station WCCP-FM. Kelly also reflects on the fateful beginning of her radio career and how it led to her being noticed by ESPN, offers her thoughts on the state of Clemson Basketball, and much more.
Joey Knight of The Tampa Bay Times joins The Dubcast to share what he's learned from the early stages of Jeff Scott's tenure at South Florida. And we chat with Chris Low to dig into Scott Cochran's reverberating decision to leave Tuscaloosa for Athens, and what it means for Alabama and Georgia. Low also gives his take on Clemson as the Tigers move away from the championship-game loss to LSU and toward another promising season in 2020.
Clemson's basketball season has featured immense highs, deflating lows and a lengthy list of injuries and ailments. Through it all, this young team just keeps fighting. Brad Brownell sits down for a lengthy chat to reflect on the spirit of this team, the many schematic adjustments he and his staff have made, and the future.
For Quandon Christian, a Clemson linebacker from 2009 to 2013, life after football has taken some interesting turns: From coaching and teaching in high school, to managing a Waffle House, to now shifting back to football as he prepares to be a graduate assistant at South Florida under Jeff Scott. Christian reflects on the Dandy Dozen recruiting class, the high points and low points of his time at Clemson, and a bunch of other interesting stuff.
After 14 years in newspapers, Manie Robinson decided to leave the media business and start teaching it as a professor in South Carolina's journalism school. Robinson joins The Dubcast to reflect on a conversation with Clemson legend Jeff Davis that set this move in motion, and talks about how difficult it was to leave the incredible story that's currently unfolding with Clemson Football.
Palmetto State native Kent Babb ranks among the foremost sports feature writers in the country. He has dug deep on profiles of Dabo Swinney and, more recently, Deshaun Watson. And he established a connection with Kobe Bryant in reporting a 2018 story on the superstar who died tragically earlier this week. We go deep with Kent on the process of reporting and writing such long-form profiles, his thoughts on Dabo and Deshaun, his difficulty in dealing with the death of Bryant and his daughter, and much more.
Charlie Whitehurst made the trip to New Orleans to watch Clemson play in its fourth national championship over the past five seasons. He gives his thoughts on the Crescent City, the majestic play of quarterback Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence's off night, and a bunch of other stuff including who he likes in this weekend's NFL conference championship games.
On the eve of Clemson-LSU in New Orleans, Upstate radio celebrity Mickey Plyler joins The Dubcast for some conversation about what has all the looks of one of the great national championship matchups in college football history. Then again, we thought the same thing a year ago and Clemson smoked Alabama by four touchdowns.
A year ago at this time, Paul Myerberg was one of the few who thought Clemson could not just beat Alabama but beat the Tide handily. A year later, he's still bullish on Clemson as it heads into the lion's den against LSU at the Superdome. We check in with Paul to revisit some silly narratives and notions about the Tigers from last offseason and well into this season, and to take a deeper look at just how historic a Clemson triumph would be.
Chris Blair got his start in South Carolina while learning from Clemson legend Jim Phillips. Now he'll call the national championship game as the voice of the LSU Tigers. Jerry Brewer, who normally covers the NFL and NBA, on all the work and homework he put in to perfectly capture the essence of Trevor Lawrence and Clemson in his game column from the Fiesta Bowl.
Longtime national writer Matt Hayes joins The Dubcast to reflect on Dabo Swinney's impact on college football while also sizing up Saturday night's showdown in the desert. Matt Connolly of The State visits to give his take on Clemson entering its fifth consecutive CFP appearance.
Former Clemson football player Billy Davis, who played on the 1981 national championship team, tells stories from his near three decades in the Secret Service. He also reflects on the brilliant tenure of Dabo Swinney and why he's believed in him from the beginning -- even after the 6-7 disappointment of 2010.
Ellis Johnson reminisces about the old days at Alabama with Dabo Swinney, reflects on when he thought Steve Spurrier might be about to hang it up in 2008, and gives his take on this year's star-studded College Football Playoff.
David Teel, longtime observer of the ACC in general and Virginia in particular, visits with The Dubcast to give his insight into the remarkable revitalization of Cavaliers football under Bronco Mendenhall. Teel also tells old stories about going drinking with Danny Ford back in the 1980s.
David Hale joins The Dubcast to give his thoughts on college football as a whole and Clemson football in particular. Andy Staples also checks in to talk a little football and a lot of smoking/grilling on the Big Green Egg with Thanksgiving looming.
Dabo Swinney's mother, Carol McIntosh, shares the story of how she overcame a tragic childhood and how her son's fighting spirit is similar to hers. Also, former Clemson president Jim Barker offers some rich and fascinating anecdotes from his relationship with Dabo.
On Dabo Swinney's 50th birthday, we interview four figures who have witnessed his leadership up close: Current university president Jim Clements, Board of Trustees member David Wilkins, deputy athletics director Graham Neff, and former Clemson player and coach Thomas Austin.
Ron Morris, former longtime sports columnist at The State newspaper, joins The Dubcast to reflect on his recovery from a 13-month opioid addiction. He also gives his take on the craziness this week in Columbia with South Carolina administrators openly discussing Will Muschamp's buyout. And he gives his opinion on whether Clemson will win its third national title in four years this season.
Former Tiger great Nelson Welch joins The Dubcast to update on his progress since his heart attack in the summer of 2018. Welch also reminisces about the wild, strange era of Clemson football from 1990 to 1994 when the Tigers transitioned from Danny Ford to Ken Hatfield to Tommy West.
Upstate radio celebrity Mickey Plyler makes his third appearance on The Dubcast and we cover a wide array of topics surrounding college football: Is Clemson's defense better than last year's? Is it better than Ohio State's? Are Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields basically the same player? Are national pundits crazy for dinging Clemson? Are South Carolina fans crazy for wanting to run Will Muschamp out of town? And much more.
In 1972, after serving in Vietnam, Dr. Byron Harder took a job at Clemson and he and his wife figured they'd move on somewhere else after a year or so. They're still here. "Doc" Harder, now retired, reflects on his career as the Tigers' team physician and all the behind-the-scenes memories while also reflecting on the state of football and how much the concussion issue might change the game in the future.
Mark Ennis, publisher of the Louisville Rivals.com site and a prominent radio personality in Louisville, joins the podcast to talk the dramatic culture change with the Cardinals under first-year coach Scott Satterfield. Ennis also looks back on the wreck under Bobby Petrino, who wouldn't even give some of his own assistant coaches his cell number. And SI national college football writer Ross Dellenger tells us how he uncovered a really cool story on Trevor Lawrence earlier this season, plus his thoughts on college football's best teams six weeks in.
Riley Morningstar, a former Clemson student and intern at Tigerillustrated.com, was bitten hard by the newspaper bug. Now a news reporter at the Seneca Journal, Morningstar explains how a person so young can be so enthralled with an industry many see as antiquated. Morningstar also talks what it was like learning how the media thing worked while at TI, and also how he handled Dabo Swinney taking angry exception to one of his questions back in 2016 after a loss to Pitt.
In October of 2008, a few former Clemson players recorded individual videos that the Tigers would watch in the locker room before they took on Georgia Tech in Dabo Swinney's first game as coach. Charlie Whitehurst was one of the voices that day. "Fight for Dabo," he told them. "I don't know what kind of football coach he's going to be, but I know he's a leader. And I know I would fight for him." Eleven years and two national championships later, Whitehurst joins The Dubcast to talk Dabo, Trevor Lawrence and a bunch of other stuff.
Chris Hairston arrived at Clemson in 2006 in a class that included C.J. Spiller, Jacoby Ford, Ricky Sapp and Byron Maxwell. He left Clemson in December of 2010 after an awful loss to South Florida cemented a disappointing 6-7 season. Hairston joins The Dubcast to talk Dabo Swinney, playing in the NFL, life after the NFL, and a bunch of other stuff.
The McElrathbey brothers are in Clemson for the filming of "Safety," a Disney movie that tells their remarkable story from 2006 when Ray Ray took custody of his then-11-year-old brother as their mother battled addiction to crack cocaine. They joined The Dubcast to reflect on that crazy time, and to update on what they've been up to in recent years.
While pulling Austin Peay from the wreckage of a 29-game losing streak, and now as a first-year head coach of the Charlotte 49ers, Will Healy uses the Dabo Swinney model for leading a program and building a culture.
John Corry joins The Dubcast to share details on the exhaustive chronicling of Bobby Bowden's brilliant tenure and legacy at Florida State. The documentary aired for the first time in movie theaters in January of 2017 and is now being shown on The ACC Network.
Andrea Adelson of ESPN and Ralph Russo of The Associated Press join The Dubcast to reflect on what they saw from the Death Valley press box over the weekend when Clemson drubbed Texas A&M.
Monster guitarist and monster Clemson fan, Zach Thigpen joins The Dubcast to talk music and Clemson football. At halftime of Saturday's game against Texas A&M, he'll shred with the Tiger band at midfield -- and then he'll do the same thing Sunday in Charlotte for the Rams-Panthers game.
Cole Cubelic of ESPN joins us to talk Texas A&M-Clemson after spending last week visiting with Jimbo Fisher and other Aggies coaches in College Station. Corey Clark of Warchant.com visits to reflect on the second-half mess by Florida State last week against Boise State in Tallahassee. Cubelic also gives his thoughts on Jordan Burch after covering his game last week in Columbia.
We sit down with Dan Radakovich and ask him to talk about himself -- his roots in Western Pennsylvania steel country, his work with a bunch of great coaches at Miami, South Carolina, LSU, Georgia Tech and Clemson, and the stupendous rise of Clemson football under Dabo Swinney.
By request of a number of Tigerillustrated.com subscribers, Larry submits to an interview of ... himself. Upstate radio celebrity Mickey Plyler does the honors in exploring Larry's background, how he got into the business of sportswriting, his love of playing music, his thoughts on being around Dabo Swinney and this current era of Clemson football, and a bunch of other stuff.
Paul Myerberg, who covers college football for USA Today, gives his take on Trevor Lawrence after sitting down with him for a lengthy interview recently. Myerberg also calls the offseason scrutiny of Clemson "trash" given how badly the Tigers beat Alabama on Jan. 7. He recounts how he became a lover of college football growing up in Manhattan, and he explains why he decided to detach himself from social media. Myerberg also gives his prediction on how many more national titles Clemson will win in the next five years.
Mike Money, Clemson's assistant AD for marketing and game management, goes behind the scenes to talk about what it's like to be the conductor of game days inside Death Valley and Littlejohn Coliseum. Money's job isn't just to plan everything to the minute -- his scripts go down to the second. He reflects on coming up with the OPP sensation during Oliver Purnell's tenure, what it's like to plan for Military Appreciation Day, and also gives insight into the ever-popular Red Panda.
Bruce Thyer reflects on the celebrity that came from his decision to take his shirt off and read a book at a football game. And Chris Low of ESPN.com discusses his story on Dabo Swinney saying the Alabama "SEC grind" theory was just a myth last year.
Brad Brownell, preparing for his 10th season as Clemson's basketball coach, joins The Dubcast to talk the team's gold medal in Italy, the ACL injuries suffered by two anticipated starters, and the FBI wiretap revelations that ensnared a former Clemson assistant.
Brad Brownell, preparing for his 10th season as Clemson's basketball coach, joins The Dubcast to talk the team's gold medal in Italy, the ACL injuries suffered by two anticipated starters, and the FBI wiretap revelations that ensnared a former Clemson assistant.
Three Clemson assistant coaches go before the microphones to talk offensive line, quarterbacks, defensive tackles, and a bunch of other stuff.
Brent Venables reflects on the early days under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, on losing a brother to alcoholism and a Sooners linebacker to a drug overdose within a 24-hour period, and the decision to leave his comfort zone for something entirely new at Clemson with Dabo Swinney.
Brent Venables shares his amazing life story, one that is every bit as jaw-dropping as Dabo Swinney's tumultuous upbringing. This podcast is from an interview we conducted with Venables in March, when he recounts the complete story of his past for the first time to Tigerillustrated.com.
Two years ago, Kevin McCrarey left the sports-radio business. Kevin joins The Dubcast to reflect on that decision, the state of the radio industry, what it's like to have a so-called "real" job, and how South Carolina fans are coping with the existence of a dynastic Clemson football program.
Marc Dopher, who spent 10 years covering college football in the Palmetto State, reflects on all the fun he had as a TV sports broadcaster -- and all the fun he's having now, out of the media business and watching college football from the couch on fall Saturdays.
Tommy Bowden joins The Dubcast to reflect on a decade out of coaching, Clemson's amazing decade under his successor Dabo Swinney, and the run-up to Bowden's departure from Clemson on Oct. 13, 2008.
Norm Wood, longtime Virginia Tech beat writer for the Newport News Daily Press, shares what it's like to follow a team that often requires a nine-hour round trip just to cover a press conference. Norm also gives his take on Virginia Tech's dramatic decline in football since the Hokies ruled the ACC from 2004 into 2011 before Clemson broke the stranglehold. He also shares some anecdotes about the inimitable Randy King, a one-of-a-kind sportswriter with some legendary stories -- including that time when he accidentally set a Virginia Tech player on fire.
Abe Reed has worked in Clemson's football equipment room since 1998 and has been the Director of Equipment for six years. Reed shares what it's like to handle the logistics of so many moving parts, both when the team is at home and when it's traveling to Texas and California in back-to-back weeks for the College Football Playoff.
Richard Yeargin joins The Dubcast to share the story of how he got another shot at football after injuries from a horrific car accident two years ago left him thinking he had to give up the game. Yeargin, who will soon move to New England to join Boston College's football team, also gives his thoughts on whether college athletes should receive more compensation given the revenues they generate.
George Schroeder, national college football writer for USA Today, joins The Dubcast to share the amazing story of his son Christopher. When Christopher was just 7 weeks old, he underwent a heart transplant. As a 2-year-old, he underwent a kidney transplant and his father was the donor. Now, Christopher is 9 years old and a sports junkie. He even calls his own play-by-play when he's shooting the basketball in the family's driveway. George also reflects on the career of Brent Venables, whom he's known since Venables' days at Oklahoma, and Clemson's remarkable rise under Dabo Swinney.
Bill King, longtime college football radio talk-show voice, joins The Dubcast to talk about getting his start in this crazy business way back in the late 1980s. King also gives his thoughts on the two giants of college football, Clemson and Alabama.
Former Clemson offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain joins The Dubcast to talk about his dream job for ESPN and the ACC Network. Mac Lain also shares the story of how he got to Clemson in the first place: He was on his way home from a visit to Auburn when recruiter Dan Brooks called and asked him to stop by Clemson and take a look around. It was love at first sight.
Marcel Louis-Jacques of The Charlotte Observer joins The Dubcast to talk his cup of coffee on the Clemson beat, the vast differences between covering college football and the NFL, and a recent random run-in with Dabo Swinney in downtown Charlotte. And a bunch more, including his Haitian heritage and his storied run as the nicest telemarketer in the world.
Ty Hildenbrandt of The Solid Verbal joins The Dubcast to talk the growth of the podcast he co-hosts with Dan Rubenstein, how he and Dan come up with fresh ideas, and how they get by during the summer when there's almost nothing happening. Ty also reflects on Dabo Swinney and Clemson's place atop the college football mountain.
Matt Connolly, who writes for The State newspaper, joins The Dubcast to reflect on what it was like to go from covering South Carolina, to then covering both South Carolina and Clemson, to now covering just Clemson. Connolly also gives his thoughts on the state of both the Tigers and Gamecocks football programs, and much more.
Bryson Carter, 36, began going blind in high school and then later had to drop out of Clemson because of the trauma associated with his deteriorating vision. In 2007, he began a streak of attending Clemson football games that continues to this day -- 165 games and counting, home and road. Bryson, who lives in Anderson, shares his remarkable story to The Dubcast.
Jock McKissic, former Clemson defensive lineman and current resident of Hollywood, joins The Dubcast to reflect on his budding career in showbusiness. McKissic has enjoyed success as both an actor and a writer. And just like Dabo Swinney says of his football program, McKissic believes the best is yet to come for him in his career. McKissic also recalls what it was like being recruited by Swinney when Swinney was a receivers coach in 2004.