A lack of respect

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.

Harley®

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Re: A lack of respect

Sep 24, 2010, 9:39 AM

I support all the men who are coaching the Clemson Tigers. I tend not to dog them while they hold the coaching reigns. I give the benefit of the doubt whenever I can. They are my guys.

Having said that, looking back over the past 9 head coaches, I can rank them on my own personal 'respect' scale pretty easily. Here's the way one old alumnus and fan sees the football coaches who have guided Clemson during my lifetime.

1. Coach Ford. Ford was the best Clemson football coach, so far, in my lifetime. He won the games. He made us count. And Coach Ford put his whole life, heart and soul into our corner. He still lives close. He still watches us play. He's a lifetime member of the Clemson family. He's number 1. (Yep, he had his faults.)

2. Coach Howard. Won a lot of championships. Shaped our expectations of being a football school, competing with the best and winning our share. When he was fired, he took it like a man, displayed no lack of support or gratitude, or animosity toward Clemson and went to work for Clemson every day until he died.

3. Coach Swinney. The current head coach will always rank high on my list. I support the coach. Additionally, Coach Swinney has done essentially everything I'd want a Clemson had coach to do but win enough games. His character, personality, and leadership style seem essentially perfect to me. He needs to win more games. He's got some years to get that aspect of his legacy established. Dabo is the man.

4. Tommy West. Coach West might not have been a very good football coach when he was at Clemson. Aside from that he did most things very well for Clemson. The week he was fired, he beat SC and was carried off the field on the shoulders of his team and his fans. I am not aware of any inappropriate remarks, attitude or malice Coach West has ever shown toward Clemson. He took his firing like an athlete who knew he hadn't done well enough and that he needed to be replaced. I like, admire and respect Tommy West, even while I don't think he's even remotely close to being a hall of fame type football coach.

5. Hootie Ingram. Coach Ingram did his best for Clemson. After 3 short years he figured out he was not a head coach and he quit and moved aside with grace and a good spirit. Coach Ingram moved on with his life, never disrespecting Clemson, the fan base or the chance he was given to be our coach. Again, he was not a great football coach, but I admire a lot about the man. And he gave us the Tiger Paw and he beat SC two out of three tries.

6. Charlie Pell. Pell was an excellent coach. He won most of his game and he gave us Danny Ford. He left us for Florida. He did not find the rules of recruiting to his liking and we paid a price for that. But he put our program on the map. And he put us on a path toward probation.

7. Red Parker. I'm nearly neutral of Red Parker. I don't think he was a very good coach. I don't have a strong impression of him as an ex coach. I'm neutral of Parker.

8. Tommy Bowden. Bowden is a decent man who was in way over his head at Clemson. Bowden is a principled fellow. He did a good thing when he stepped down mid-season. Coach Bowden had my support throughout his tenure at Clemson. Despite very good support from the fan base, Coach Bowden NEVER saw himself as one of us. Since he left, I have been dismayed that he has not accepted responsibility for not winning, that he packed up his family and moved away from the place that he lived longer than any other place in his life, dragging his kids away from the place they went to high school and college. Given great support for most of his tenure, Bowden never became a part of the Clemson family. He does not 'like' us any more than his father 'likes' FSU. In retrospect I think Tommy Bowden is almost entirely about himself and sees himself apart from the good people around him. Bowden is a principled fellow of very moderate coaching ability and a bit less leadership ability. I hope he comes to see his tenure at Clemson in a more realistic life and acknowleges his time here as the high point of his career. If he could embrace us, we could embrace him for what he was and forgive him for what he was not. If he's going to be haughty the rest of his life, he'll stay near the bottom of my list of ex-coaches.

9. Ken Hatfield. Hatfield was an excellent game day football coach. He made game day changes and adaptations that won games for us. He was a winning coach. But Hatfield was not the least bit of a great leader. He seemed not to like people. No one at his alma mater cried when he quit them to take our job. Darn few of us cared much when he left us. He did not get close to his players at Clemson, often not even knowing who was who. He inherited a solid top ten football program and his 3rd year he was next to last in a weak ACC. He abandoned our traditional recruiting territory and tried to get players from Ark, Texas and Oklahoma. At the end, having taken our program almost completely into the tank, he refused to accept respeonsibility for what he'd done. He demanded a contract extention when he knew he had not earned one and so made Clemson look bad. The balance of his career at Rice, he continued to look like a so so coach. To my knowledge he never returned to Clemson and has showed no affection or loyalty to his teams or players or the opportunity Clemson gave him.

Harley

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I agree with you here...

Whoa whoa whoa

I know, I can't believe he left out The Fridge

Re: Whoa whoa whoa

why do I have to name three?***

Nobody said you have to do anything.Just asked a

I respect Coach Bowden but I would say there are only two

Re: I respect Coach Bowden but I would say there are only two

no problem ***

everything happens in 3s. strikes, wise men, father, son &

I'm assuming you weren't paying attention

I have missed maybe 5 home games since 1999 so yeah

Coming from the guy with a Ken Hatfield Sig Picture?

I used to have an Alvin Greene sig, I guess you think I am

^^^^^poppa's a coot^^^^^^***

thought poppa was a rollin stone?***

Why are we relevant then?

Re: I have missed maybe 5 home games since 1999 so yeah

Re: A lack of respect

Re: After Thinking About it...I CONCUR. Thx Coach Bowden.

Bowden's bowls were a side effect of too many bowl games

Bowden Bowls not Bowden's bowls

While I wouldn't put him the top 3 Clemson figures, I can't

Re: A lack of respect

Well said Grover

Re: A lack of respect

Agreed. I think you said it very well. However, I still

as do I MD, I was first row behind CU bench

Re: Thanks for reclarifying things

nicely stated. Thank you

People tend to forget that football programs particularly

Agree 100%***

I agree TB brought back alot of talent in recruiting.

I agree TB rebuilt the program and brought us back to

Re: A lack of respect

agreed, was brought up the same way

thank you for showing that there is still some class

Re: thank you for showing that there is still some class

He was a good person, just not a good game day coach***

nonetheless doesn't deserve the insults***

Who cares***

anyone with any sense of decency***

Thanks Tommy...for 63-17.***

I have not ever, and will not ever respect Tommy Bowden***

I'm sure you'd have liked it much better if

at what point did expressing personality disorders

lets see, you most likely do not know the man and

Well Said!! There's a lot of trash that goes on around here

Bump***

Re: A lack of respect

While I don't necessarily disagree with your "rankings"

Re: While I don't necessarily disagree with your "rankings"

I don't disagree with you very much on this

Re: A lack of respect? I don't think there is any way I

Re: A lack of respect

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