We had a quick question and answer with Rally Death Valley this week to give us some fan perspective for the upcoming ACC Championship. Here are their responses to our questions:
1. After roughly one and a half years of Dabo, is your program better off than it was under Tommy B.?
There is really no question that the program is better off. Bowden had just worn us down as a fan base and the team really had begun to lose faith in him. Dabo has really breathed new life into the program and knows how to inspire the fans and players alike. Just look at the first Clemson vs. Georgia Tech game, that kind of a comeback was unheard of at our program under Bowden. Dabo has used his abilities to inspire and adapt to better the program overall. He has also done something that Tommy failed to do in nine seasons, and that’s get us to an ACC championship. That fact alone proves that we are better off with Dabo at the helm.
2. Georgia Tech fans like to put the weight of our team on Josh Nesbitt and his ability to read the defensive end. What individual match-up has the possibility of winning or losing the game for Clemson?
I’m gonna have to go with C.J. Spiller vs. GT Defense. He can score in so many different ways and usually matches up strongly with whatever defensive or special teams player he is facing, he really can do it all. Just ask NC State who felt him score on them by catching, running, and throwing. He is the team leader and his performance Saturday will most assuredly affect the outcome as it did last week against Sakerlina. I’m not saying we would have won if hadn’t been sick, but we would have had a much stronger performance in my opinion.
3. Does Kyle Parker have a brighter future on the Clemson baseball team or the Clemson football team?
Kyle Parker is a good QB statistically, but he is not a good leader. The QB is one of the most important positions on a football team and is often the captain position for the offense. Parker just seems to go through the motions instead of rallying and leading the team. With some time, he may grow into a leadership role on the team, but for now it’s just not showing. This being said, I feel he has a brighter future with baseball. He was a baseball guy before he started playing football and I feel that he will join the MLB next year.
4. Obviously, Big Papa Bowden got asked to step down recently. If none of them return to CFB, what is the lasting legacy of the Bowden’s in college football?
Their lasting legacy is pretty vast. Bobby took a struggling program at FSU and made it one of the most powerful football programs in Div 1A. He showed that any program can be great and inspired many great players and coaches along the way. Their contributions to the ACC have also been great. The Bowden Bowl provided a great spotlight on the ACC each year and helped both schools become stronger as a whole. Really and truly, the Bowden legacy is primarily Bobby’s. Tommy helped pull us out of the hellish nightmare that was the Tommy West Era. He also brought good, quality recruits to Clemson.(meaning, they did not end up in jail every 10 seconds like USC players).
5. Georgia Tech will wear white jerseys and gold pants. What is Clemson's terrible color combination this weekend?
Well, Dabo is all for a gimmick, so we could see a Purple and Orange swirly mixture with the words "ALL IN" stamped all over em. Really, I’m not exactly sure which uniforms Dabo has chosen to roll out this weekend, but it would be my guess that we will wear the standard orange jerseys with white pants. I just hope he’s worried less about the uniforms and more about the game. Cool uniforms don’t matter much if you lose the game, as we learned last week when we unveiled our new Nike Combat uniforms against the Shamecocks.
Thanks to the guys at Rally Death Valley for their time. Look for a Q/A with Block-C later.
1. After roughly one and a half years of Dabo, is your program better off than it was under Tommy B.?
There is really no question that the program is better off. Bowden had just worn us down as a fan base and the team really had begun to lose faith in him. Dabo has really breathed new life into the program and knows how to inspire the fans and players alike. Just look at the first Clemson vs. Georgia Tech game, that kind of a comeback was unheard of at our program under Bowden. Dabo has used his abilities to inspire and adapt to better the program overall. He has also done something that Tommy failed to do in nine seasons, and that’s get us to an ACC championship. That fact alone proves that we are better off with Dabo at the helm.
2. Georgia Tech fans like to put the weight of our team on Josh Nesbitt and his ability to read the defensive end. What individual match-up has the possibility of winning or losing the game for Clemson?
I’m gonna have to go with C.J. Spiller vs. GT Defense. He can score in so many different ways and usually matches up strongly with whatever defensive or special teams player he is facing, he really can do it all. Just ask NC State who felt him score on them by catching, running, and throwing. He is the team leader and his performance Saturday will most assuredly affect the outcome as it did last week against Sakerlina. I’m not saying we would have won if hadn’t been sick, but we would have had a much stronger performance in my opinion.
3. Does Kyle Parker have a brighter future on the Clemson baseball team or the Clemson football team?
Kyle Parker is a good QB statistically, but he is not a good leader. The QB is one of the most important positions on a football team and is often the captain position for the offense. Parker just seems to go through the motions instead of rallying and leading the team. With some time, he may grow into a leadership role on the team, but for now it’s just not showing. This being said, I feel he has a brighter future with baseball. He was a baseball guy before he started playing football and I feel that he will join the MLB next year.
4. Obviously, Big Papa Bowden got asked to step down recently. If none of them return to CFB, what is the lasting legacy of the Bowden’s in college football?
Their lasting legacy is pretty vast. Bobby took a struggling program at FSU and made it one of the most powerful football programs in Div 1A. He showed that any program can be great and inspired many great players and coaches along the way. Their contributions to the ACC have also been great. The Bowden Bowl provided a great spotlight on the ACC each year and helped both schools become stronger as a whole. Really and truly, the Bowden legacy is primarily Bobby’s. Tommy helped pull us out of the hellish nightmare that was the Tommy West Era. He also brought good, quality recruits to Clemson.(meaning, they did not end up in jail every 10 seconds like USC players).
5. Georgia Tech will wear white jerseys and gold pants. What is Clemson's terrible color combination this weekend?
Well, Dabo is all for a gimmick, so we could see a Purple and Orange swirly mixture with the words "ALL IN" stamped all over em. Really, I’m not exactly sure which uniforms Dabo has chosen to roll out this weekend, but it would be my guess that we will wear the standard orange jerseys with white pants. I just hope he’s worried less about the uniforms and more about the game. Cool uniforms don’t matter much if you lose the game, as we learned last week when we unveiled our new Nike Combat uniforms against the Shamecocks.
Thanks to the guys at Rally Death Valley for their time. Look for a Q/A with Block-C later.