The Case Against Bowden (Revised)

Dec 30, 2006, 1:33 PM

Let me first say I don’t want Bowden fired this year, mainly because we’d have a hard time affording it, and because I’m not sure there are any good candidates out there at the moment. I believe Bowden has slowly improved the footing of the program from. We have better facilities, solid recruiting classes, and we graduate our players.

Yet I think its just about time for him to go. If he doesn’t correct the mistakes we’ve seen over the course of his tenure for next season, he needs to be gone.

Here is the case against Bowden.

The Sheer Numbers
Bowden averages 7.5 wins a season. After eight years, we are still averaging almost five losses a season. Eight years and we have not a single ten win season. In that timeframe Maryland, NC State, and Wake Forest have won ten games. Maryland and Wake Forest have won conference championships. We have yet to make a conference title game. No BCS, no ten wins, nothing. This is the biggest gripe I have against Bowden. We simply have not reached the goals he set for the program almost a decade ago. Next season we will have a rebuilt offensive line and a brand new QB. We lost our best WR. Next year will more than likely be a rebuilding season, which would be OK with me if we had just taken care of business this season. But it does appear that we will go nine years without reaching the “promised land.”

Ultimately, we just haven't shown much progress on the field. Here is a graphic representation of life in the Bowden era.

I just don't see the progress. I see flatlining.

Aside from the sheer numbers, there are other, more subtle things that have bothered fans, and I believe for good reason.

Excuses and lack of accountability
Bowden is a master of excuses. How many years in a row have we heard "Well we lost (X) games this year by (X) points, and had we just won one game we'd been in (X) bowl game."

"We were just a couple plays away."

"We're just one or two playmakers away."

"Well (X) has a good program and they've struggled too, so its not unheard of."

We have heard some combination of these comments for eight years under Bowden. I can remember of only once, after the 2003 Wake Forest debacle, that Bowden took responbility directly for a loss. Good coaches don't make excuses.

Everytime we struggle offensively we change or rotate to a new coordinator, or we change our offensive philosophy. Bowden simultaneously embraces the high expectations here (publically at least) while setting us up for mediocrity. Take his comments the week prior to the USC game, when he all but said that we were "due for a loss." It all adds up to a lack of accountability. Tommy Bowden flees from the responbility that ultimately, he promised us big things, and hasn't delivered.

Wasting Talent
Then there is the fact that Bowden has proven to be as big a waster of talent as we have seen. Yesterday was a perfect example. Two 1,000 yard performers in your backfield, against one of the nation's worst rushing defenses, and we give them the ball only 13 times. And when they DID get the ball, they averaged 6 yards per carry! Why take the ball out of your playmakers hands? There are other examples. Ben Hall comes to mind. The fact is we have had some supremely talented players that have not reached their potential.

Even with increasing talent, we have shown very little improvement in the win column. Sure, our recruiting classes have improved. We bottomed out in recruiting in 2003, with a class that ranked #63 in the country. In 2004 we "improved" to #53. In 05 we ranked 17, and 05, 15. This season will most likely finish somewhere around 17. The problem? Even with the improved recruiting, we're still essentially at the exact same point we've always been at; we're a middle of the pack ACC team.

Lack of Offensive Philosophy
How many offensive packages have we gone through under Bowden? From Indie, to the SAFA, to this "high percentage throw" package... lets be honest, our coaches have yet to settle on something that they feel works.

Our offense under Spence has been, at its worst, befuddling. Why throw for 8 yards when you need 10? Why run wide to the short side of the field twice in a row, especially when they're stacking the box? Why do we (as I've seen at least five times this season) roll the QB right, then not even drag a receiver across the field with him?

Just what the heck are we trying to do? At times Spence seems like he is flipping a quarter for his play calls.

Just Not Having Us Ready
How many times are we going to play down to the level of competition? How many games have we lost that we had absolutely no business losing under Bowden? How many times in his time at Clemson have we come out and you could just see from the outset that we weren't ready? I think we can all think of at least ten. A good coach maximizes his team's talent, and motivates them to reach their potential. Bowden's blase, non-chalant coaching style, as well as his penchant for excuses, rubs off on the players. After the USC game, one of our players echoed what Bowden had said all week. "It would have been nice to beat them five times in a row, but I guess we knew that would be hard to do."

I think Tommy is a good person who cares for the university. He will leave the program in better shape than he found it. But we're not paying him for 7 wins a year. We're not paying him to get dominated twice a year (last year was the only year that didn't happen under Bowden). We're not paying him for mediocrity. We're not paying him to stay in the same place for almost a decade.

Bowden has coached himself back onto the hot seat, and for the first time in a while, he belongs there.

Message was edited by: Tigerdon81®

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

The Case Against Bowden (Revised)

Point for the graph***

Well done and I agree. Look at the teams that were in just..

Best Post Ever! nm***

Nicely done ******

Right On Bud***

Excellent....print it and mail it to TDP. It can't hurt!***

TigerBoard POTD