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Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Clemson would be smart to hire Bobby Johnson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nobody asked me but:
1. Clemson would be smart to hire Bobby Johnson: Given the turmoil that Clemson has been through the talent base that is already there, the school now needs a steady hand from a man who is also a great football coach. If you ask the coaches in the SEC they will tell you that week in and week out that Vanderbilt’s Bobby Johnson does more with his talent than anybody in the league. His teams play smart football and do not make a lot of mistakes. His teams tend to play very tough early in the season but run into problems when injuries start to kick in. Depth will always be a problem at Vanderbilt. Johnson is a Clemson grad and spent a huge portion of his career recruiting the state for Furman. But be warned, Clemson. Getting Johnson will not be a slam dunk. Since athletics at Vanderbilt now comes under the umbrella of the entire university budget, the school can use all of its resources to keep Johnson. From an educational standpoint, the exposure given the university through competitive football has been priceless. Vanderbilt will make it difficult for Johnson to leave.
2. Somebody is going to hire Will Muschamp: If Clemson can’t get Johnson or wants to go the assistant route, I’m suggesting that Will Muschamp is ready. Muschamp, who played for Ray Goff at Georgia, went to Texas from Auburn because he felt it would give him a better opportunity to be a head coach. He will be proved right at the end of this season. Statistically, the Texas defense is No. 40 in total defense (319 ypg) and but is No. 18 in scoring defense (15.3 ppg). But the most important thing Muschamp has brought to Texas is fire and attitude. A lot of schools want a young, aggressive head coach who learned a lot of his football from Nick Saban. Somebody is going to hire Muschamp this year. Schools have been looking for the next Bob Stoops or Mark Richt. Muschamp is the guy.
3. The Bowden coaching tree has been significantly pruned: What if I told you two years ago that in the middle of 2008 there would only be one member of the Bowden family still coaching and that his name would be Bobby? It just goes to show you how tough a profession it is and what a survivor Bobby Bowden is. By the way, Bowden turns 79 years old on Nov. 8. How’s this for irony? Both Tommy (Clemson) and Terry (Auburn) left their schools in the middle of the season almost 10 years apart.
4. Tuberville is in a no-win situation with Barrett Trotter: As bad as this season has been for Auburn, it’s worth noting that the Tigers are 4-3 with five games left to play. Coach Tommy Tuberville says that in an effort to improve his struggling offense nothing is off the table, including taking the redshirt off true freshman quarterback Barrett Trotter. It’s a no-win situation. If you take the redshirt off the kid and nothing improves, the fans are going to rip him. If he does nothing and the offense is still awful, the fans will rip him. My thoughts? Unless it is clear in practice that Trotter is significantly better and gives Auburn a chance to win, you leave the redshirt on. Of course that’s easy for me to say. My job’s not on the line.
5. The quarterback wasn’t the problem at Clemson: I’ll grant you that Cullen Harper was not playing well this season, especially for a preseason ACC player of the year pick. Harper had 27 touchdown passes and only six interceptions last season. But Harper also played behind a veteran offensive line a year ago. It’s hard for a quarterback to be sharp and confident when he is always under pressure. Maybe the Clemson team rallies behind new starter Willy Korn and the coaching staff that is now minus Tommy Bowden and OC Rob Spence. But Harper wasn’t the problem with the offense. It was the inability to run the ball with a patchwork offensive line that started the train wreck that ended in Bowden’s resignation on Monday.
BONUS PICK
I still believe the SEC is better than the Big 12: I caught a bunch of grief last week when I claimed that the SEC was better than the Big 12. The argument against me was that there are so many good quarterbacks in the Big 12 that by definition that league had to be better. I argued that when it comes down to big games, the team with the best defense usually wins. Think about this: In this week’s NCAA statistics 10 of the SEC’s 12 teams are ranked in the top 39 of total defense. The two worst defenses in the SEC are Ole Miss (No. 53) and Arkansas (No. 59). The Big 12 has only two defenses in the Top 40—Oklahoma (No. 23) and Texas (No. 40). The SEC may not play sexy football, but it has won the last two national championships.
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