What’s up with Clemson???

[Flipdaddy]

It’s not like they don’t have players but I think Tennessee would beat their ass right now. As much success as they’ve been having, you just don’t fall off like this. They’ve got something either internal going on or some bad chemistry. I’d love to know.

 

[bamawriter]

It’s not like they don’t have players but I think Tennessee would beat their ass right now. As much success as they’ve been having, you just don’t fall off like this. They’ve got something either internal going on or some bad chemistry. I’d love to know.

DJU is simply not Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson.

 

[loservol]

DJU is simply not Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson.

Or even Tajh Boyd.
Worse, he is a bigger head case than Guarantano and thinks he already a brand. Then you have arrogant Dabo, who has a taken page straight from the Pruitt coaching manual by refusing to put in the backup QB. It's so deliciously bad to see them struggle with teams like Georgia Tech.

 

[TJVol95]

Their pretty boy QB is not very good.

 

[Pepe_Silvia]

They're clemsoning.

 

[allvol123]

DJU is simply not Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson.

Still think OP has a point. Let BC block a punt. Watched most of that game. They looked like a bad football team and poorly coached.

 

[Volprofch05]

Some wondered if NIL would affect player’s mental state and DJ received a large NIL deal from Dr. Pepper. He played much better last year. Could it have all gone to his head?

 

[stolitonic]

DJU is simply not Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson.

The weird part is, he looked pretty good last year when Lawrence was out last year.

Personally I think Clemson lost most of their leadership after last season. Sometimes a field full of 5*'s is not all that is needed to win.

That and perhaps Dabo and crew of coaches are a bit overrated. Has anyone from Dabo's "tree" gone on to do anything? Morris did ok at SMU but he certainly bombed at Arky.

 

[Flipdaddy]

Some wondered if NIL would affect player’s mental state and DJ received a large NIL deal from Dr. Pepper. He played much better last year. Could it have all gone to his head?

The NIL can’t and won’t be good. If these skill players making that big money ain’t humble, I could see a couple of lineman miss blocks

 

[Remy]

DJU is simply not Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson.

He is not a big time player at QB. The lights come on and he looks scared the whole game. Clemson and Dabo and his celebrated staff look very ordinary these days.

 

[05_never_again]

Dabo should be quitting here soon, right? He said he'd quit coaching if the players ever started getting paid.

 

[05_never_again]

The weird part is, he looked pretty good last year when Lawrence was out last year.

Personally I think Clemson lost most of their leadership after last season. Sometimes a field full of 5*'s is not all that is needed to win.

That and perhaps Dabo and crew of coaches are a bit overrated. Has anyone from Dabo's "tree" gone on to do anything? Morris did ok at SMU but he certainly bombed at Arky.

Venables is a great DC. Has turned down a bunch of head coaching jobs. I'm not sure how good Jeff Scott was and Tony Elliott is. They looked awesome with 2 Heisman-caliber QBs, and Elliott looks very ordinary without them. Scott is HC and South Florida now and has been horrendous (2-12).

He could get better, but DJU just does not look like a prime time player. He probably has all the physical tools, but looks tentative. Last year was different - he was great when Lawrence was out, but he also had those receivers and wasn't expected to be a leader. When you're "the guy," I'm sure it is a lot different.

 

[rjd970]

I don’t think we could beat them yet. As good as our offense seems to be their defense is still legit and they have bona fide studs everywhere on that side of the ball.

It would be a good game for sure though.

 

[stolitonic]

Venables is a great DC. Has turned down a bunch of head coaching jobs. I'm not sure how good Jeff Scott was and Tony Elliott is. They looked awesome with 2 Heisman-caliber QBs, and Elliott looks very ordinary without them. Scott is HC and South Florida now and has been horrendous (2-12).

He could get better, but DJU just does not look like a prime time player. He probably has all the physical tools, but looks tentative. Last year was different - he was great when Lawrence was out, but he also had those receivers and wasn't expected to be a leader. When you're "the guy," I'm sure it is a lot different.

Yup, Venables has certainly got plenty of offers, but as you say he has turned them down. He could turn out to be another Pruitt where being a DC is his ceiling. Nobody is going to know until he goes out on his own whether he is great or is simply a product of routinely having more talent than any team you face until the playoffs roll around.

I am sooooo glad Tony Elliott rebuffed the overtures from the Vols. I may not be 100 percent sold on CJH (yet), but our offense looks light years ahead of what Clemson is putting on the field.

Your comments on DJU, kind of mirror my original post. Clemson lost a ton after last season on both sides of the ball. They seem like they have no on field leadership at times.

 

[Zues1]

Dabo to Bama.........

 

[05_never_again]

Yup, Venables has certainly got plenty of offers, but as you say he has turned them down. He could turn out to be another Pruitt where being a DC is his ceiling. Nobody is going to know until he goes out on his own whether he is great or is simply a product of routinely having more talent than any team you face until the playoffs roll around.

I am sooooo glad Tony Elliott rebuffed the overtures from the Vols. I may not be 100 percent sold on CJH (yet), but our offense looks light years ahead of what Clemson is putting on the field.

Your comments on DJU, kind of mirror my original post. Clemson lost a ton after last season on both sides of the ball. They seem like they have no on field leadership at times.

If being a DC is Venables's ceiling and he either knows this or just doesn't want to be a HC, then good for him. He's been a great DC there. It's a sweet gig - he makes $2.5m/year (more than a lot of HCs) and just has to run a defense. It'd take a lot to convince me to leave that job too.

I think their season is 95% a function of not having a top of the line QB, and it is particularly disappointing for them because of their preseason ranking and their assumption (which I made too) that DJU was their latest elite QB.

 

[DeepSpringsVol]

Losing 2 studs like Lawrence and Etienne has proven too much. If they had even 1 of those guys back they are undefeated right now.

 

[05_never_again]

Losing 2 studs like Lawrence and Etienne has proven too much. If they had even 1 of those guys back they are undefeated right now.

It isn't simply that they lost those guys - they lost DeShaun Watson and a bunch of others after they won their first title and didn't really miss a beat (and Kelly Bryant wasn't even an elite player). It really boils down to the fact that they don't have an elite QB this year. Football, especially the college game, is so QB-centric. Clemson had back-to-back Heisman-caliber QBs and everybody, myself included, assumed DJU was in that same category. He is not, or at least not yet.

The only program that consistently replaces elite players with other elite players year after year is Alabama.

 

[MurphyVol]

I have a friend that's a Clemson grad and he eats/sleeps/breathes Clemson football and has for 35 years.

He was telling me last year that Tony Elliott was very overrated and once Lawrence and crew were gone he'd be exposed.

 

[90 Vol]

I have a friend that's a Clemson grad and he eats/sleeps/breathes Clemson football and has for 35 years.

He was telling me last year that Tony Elliott was very overrated and once Lawrence and crew were gone he'd be exposed.

The same Tony Elliott that turned us down for the head coaching job? It looks like we may have dodged a bullet on that one.

 

[AthensVol2007]

Still think OP has a point. Let BC block a punt. Watched most of that game. They looked like a bad football team and poorly coached.

I believe they’re not a well coached team and not sure they ever have been all that well coached. They’ve built teams on infinitely better talent than the rest of the ACC, outside of FSU, and that allowed them to rest guys and build depth over the years due to blowouts (last year they had 100 guys get “meaningful” snaps in ACC play, nobody else can come close to that in any league). They don’t experience the grind that the SEC or even Big 10 teams face week after week and I don’t see how they’re not a benefactor of that come playoff time.

I personally think the recruiting has been extremely dirty (and I’m not pretending others aren’t) but the talent they’ve pulled from all over the country to Clemson, SC just doesn’t add up. I attended grad school there and loved the remoteness of it; because I’m from a town of >5,000 people an hour from anything. However, the idea that they could repeatedly pull kids from the likes of Miami, Tampa, Kansas City, LA, Sacramento, DC/Baltimore, etc. has just always been head scratching to me. I personally just can’t see kids from those areas being drawn to a town of 12,000 people simply to play for a winner but I could be wrong.

Dabo’s position staffers have not been extremely sought after for promotions and the ones that have (Morris and Jeff Scott) have failed miserably; I believe time will prove that Tony Elliot would’ve been a mistake here.

 

[Vol Farmer]

Dabo to Bama.........

OMG...

 

[05_never_again]

I believe they’re not a well coached team and not sure they ever have been all that well coached. They’ve built teams on infinitely better talent than the rest of the ACC, outside of FSU, and that allowed them to rest guys and build depth over the years due to blowouts (last year they had 100 guys get “meaningful” snaps in ACC play, nobody else can come close to that in any league). They don’t experience the grind that the SEC or even Big 10 teams face week after week and I don’t see how they’re not a benefactor of that come playoff time.

I personally think the recruiting has been extremely dirty (and I’m not pretending others aren’t) but the talent they’ve pulled from all over the country to Clemson, SC just doesn’t add up. I attended grad school there and loved the remoteness of it; because I’m from a town of >5,000 people an hour from anything. However, the idea that they could repeatedly pull kids from the likes of Miami, Tampa, Kansas City, LA, Sacramento, DC/Baltimore, etc. has just always been head scratching to me. I personally just can’t see kids from those areas being drawn to a town of 12,000 people simply to play for a winner but I could be wrong.

Dabo’s position staffers have not been extremely sought after for promotions and the ones that have (Morris and Jeff Scott) have failed miserably; I believe time will prove that Tony Elliot would’ve been a mistake here.

They started pulling kids from all over the country after they won that first title, and really after the second national title. That isn't a surprise. Alabama does it too. Did Tua commit there because Tuscaloosa is an awesome town?

Clemson's success has been built on elite offensive skill player play (QB/RB/WRs), a stout defense, and playing in the ACC. It hasn't been a fluke, although not being in the SEC has definitely helped.

 

[Otis1105]

They started pulling kids from all over the country after they won that first title, and really after the second national title. That isn't a surprise. Alabama does it too. Did Tua commit there because Tuscaloosa is an awesome town?

Clemson's success has been built on elite offensive skill player play (QB/RB/WRs), a stout defense, and playing in the ACC. It hasn't been a fluke, although not being in the SEC has definitely helped.

Easier to pull kids from out of state when you have put 2 first round qbs, and a lot of DL in the league. Sprinkle in Hopkins Sammy Watkins, mike Williams and renfrow. You don’t have to be in state to want that to be your life trajectory.. I’d sign up for it.

 

[05_never_again]

Easier to pull kids from out of state when you have put 2 first round qbs, and a lot of DL in the league. Sprinkle in Hopkins Sammy Watkins, mike Williams and renfrow. You don’t have to be in state to want that to be your life trajectory.. I’d sign up for it.

Yep. They didn't even start recruiting nationally until they won a national title(s). There's no great mystery as to why kids want to go there.

Dabo also plays the "we're a family here and not a football factory like Alabama" bit which I think is a lot of hot air/salesmanship, but I can see why some kids and especially their families fall for it.