A lack of respect

Sep 22, 2010, 11:29 AM

For the last few days I've browsed through umpteen posts about our loss to Auburn Saturday night. I'm encouraged by what I saw in regards to our toughness and excited by the reaction to the new attitude exhibited by our players.

One thing I have seen through these posts though is a total lack of respect for Tommy Bowden.

While I do understand that TB did not get us a championship at the conference level, I would like to remind those hurling the insults of a few things.

There are 3 huge figures in Clemson football that have made significant contributions to the program and school as a whole.

Frank Howard was a legendary, larger-than-life figure for someone like me. His last year as Clemson head coach was my first year playing football. I never saw the .580 winning percentage during his 39 years as a Clemson coach. All I knew were the quips that made him famous and the history of championships at Clemson.

Danny Ford recruited me as a player. One of my biggest years as far as recruiting was during the 1981 National Championship season. In my eyes, during that time, Coach was a God. I heard the whispers of violations, especially from Gamecock fans but it simply did not matter. And to this day it still doesn't. Coach instilled a brand of football that caused opposing teams to absolutely fear playing Clemson on a given Saturday. Whether in Death Valley or anywhere else.

While those two became legends for bringing championships to Clemson, Tommy Bowden was different.

During his 9 years, not once did Clemson win an ACC championship. Not once did we play in a major bowl game. What Tommy Bowden contributed was a change in the philosophy at Clemson in regards to the football program. We'd suffered through a decade of horrendous football under some other coaches and were at or near the bottom when discussing the national championship.

Tommy Bowden was able to do this because of the attitude from a university perspective. The West End Zone is obviously the highlight of the physical changes but once again, partly because of Bowden Bowls but mainly because we were winning again, Clemson University was talked about on Saturdays. And Tommy did all this with an impeccable record of recruiting great kids for our program.

Tommy Bowden's teams also supplied us with some unbelievable moments in Clemson Football history whether upsetting Miami in the Orange Bowl, beating poppa Bowden's teams or the sterling record vs the Gamecocks with HOF coaches Holtz and Spurrier. TB beat several coaches with national championships under their belts including Spurrier, Holtz, Bobby Bowden, Larry Coker, and Phil Fulmer.

TB laid the groundwork for the atmosphere Dabo is in right now. From the WEZ to the caliber of player we're now able to recruit, Tommy set the stage for a great era of Clemson football, far different than the attitude when he took over in 1999.

Respect what Tommy Bowden accomplished for the Clemson Tiger football program and stop with the childish insults.

Tommy Bowden simply doesn't deserve it.

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

A lack of respect

TigerBoard POTD