Tommy Bowden set himself up. For what exactly remains to be seen. But he’s set up now.
Recruiting classes that deserve a standing ovation, like the one he wrapped up on Wednesday, have a way of doing that to you. It all has to do with the level of expectations.
And at Clemson, you also have to factor in “the wait.”
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A couple decades ago, longtime college basketball coach and voracious reader George Raveling said: “After reviewing more than 60 sports sections from across the nation, I have yet to find one college football coach who didn’t have a great recruiting year. Where did all the average players go?”
While the jab may have been fueled by the playful rivalry between college football and basketball coaches, it was indeed true. Back then, before the Internet gave birth to a multitude of recruiting pontificators and prognosticators, a coach’s class sometimes could be as good as he wanted it to be … until the players actually started playing, of course.
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Panther Field, where Ohio Dominican University plays its football games, is less than eight miles away from the Horseshoe, but they might as well be light-years apart. That’s the relative distance between the Panthers and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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When Pete Carroll was hired at USC in December of 2000, DeWayne Walker and Norm Chow were the first “recruits” he went after.
Walker was still the New England Patriots’ secondary coach, having stayed on as a member of Bill Belichick’s staff after Carroll was fired following the 1999 season.
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Due to the way the most recent season ended, talk of establishing a playoff has shifted into high gear.
An eight-team playoff bracket like the one proposed by University of Georgia president Michael Adams is too much of a leap and too harmful to the significance of the bowl system. But it’s not out of the question down the road. It’s more likely that a “plus one” scenario will serve as an intermediate step, following the 2010 regular season.
With that in mind, it makes sense to look at how such a scenario would have applied itself to the recently completed season. Would it have helped to clean things up? Judge for yourself and let me know.
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I grew up on University of Hawaii football. Names such as Falaniko Noga, Gary Allen, David Toloumu, Nuu Faaola, Raphel Cherry and Walter Murray are completely foreign to most, but they mean a lot to me. Some of my fondest childhood memories involve watching them play on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.
In 1981, when Hawaii went 9-2, I got hooked on college football. Coach Dick Tomey had established a solid program that consistently flirted with the idea of making it big someday. There was no harming in dreaming.
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When the first day of 2007 closed with Boise State’s thrilling 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl who would have known that it was just the beginning? The wackiest and most unpredictable year in college football history was born and it wasn’t about to let up.
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While getting set for the Poinsettia Bowl, the first of 32 bowl games, I’m here to pose this week’s 20 questions:
When you think about students possibly cheating on a test, wouldn’t an online music history course be among the furthest things from your mind?
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Although colorless and rather clinical, Duke’s public job posting for “football coach” was refreshing. Reading about the work expected from the person filling this position reaffirms the true essence of being the leader of a college football team. Much of that gets lost these days, especially when shady characters such as Bobby Petrino dominate the discussion.
Although the posting surely played no role in Saturday’s hiring of David Cutcliffe, as you would expect, Duke’s human resources department had all the nuts and bolts nailed down. Other schools still seeking head coaches should do the same, but with some slight changes. If they added a heavy dose of pure honesty into the mix, it would certainly result in a more effective process.
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At first I thought it was a great idea. ABC’s plan to unveil the 25 greatest players in college football history seemed like it would provide interesting nuggets each week as the countdown inched toward revealing the top two players during the Rose Bowl broadcast on New Year’s Day.
When Ernie Nevers started it off at No. 25, I was even more encouraged. College football has such a rich history and this process appeared to be destined for thoughtful selection and education. You knew it was going to be controversial, but I couldn’t help but think that this was going to be beneficial, especially for younger fans who may not be familiar with some of the legends of yesteryear.
Then it all changed.
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