Dabo melts down
October 30th, 2023 at 9:58 PM ^
I don't think Tyler and people like him "are the problem" or whatever. And Coach K really did never have a bad year.
But the rest of it is kind of true.
October 30th, 2023 at 11:08 PM ^
The year of K's back surgery was rough - Duke had a losing record. He conveniently got most of that season reassigned to his lead assistant.
Dabo took that call more personally than he should have but yeah, can't really argue with his point. He took a Clemson program that hadn't done much for 30 years and made them an annual playoff contender and two-time national champ. He should have some political capital with the fanbase.
October 30th, 2023 at 11:16 PM ^
Duke was crappy in '20-21, K's penultimate season. But that was obviously not a normal year.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:50 AM ^
Seems like a bad idea to me to have a coaches radio show that answers to callers, you're only gonna get the dumbest of the bunch.
October 31st, 2023 at 5:35 PM ^
Yeah I'm baffled every time I see stuff like this. It seems like a total lose-lose for the coach. As others have said, he's pretty much on point with 95% of what he said and yet it comes across poorly because "Head college football coach ranting at some random phone troll on an afternoon radio talk show" is a bizarre thing to occur.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:00 PM ^
Listened for about a minute and seemed pretty measured TBH.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:14 PM ^
It got worse.in fact, the longer Dabo talked, the worse it got.
October 31st, 2023 at 12:24 AM ^
Ya I had it on in the background and like 3-4 minutes in started thinking "dudes kinda going off the rails right now about this"
October 31st, 2023 at 12:30 PM ^
I think the exact moment is when he mentioned his two degrees and then talked about being a husband and father which then sunk to the twelve year old comment
October 31st, 2023 at 5:25 PM ^
Melt downs arent what they used to be. An entire world (outside of Clemsons fans) hoping you melt down MEANS you melted down. Michigan fans, in this current environment, should know this all too well.
He didnt yell or scream he stated facts and put the guy in his place. "We dont like you" is far to often the reason for us to be judge and jury.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:01 PM ^
Lucky for him it wasn’t “Al from Dadeville”
October 30th, 2023 at 10:02 PM ^
It's hard to be a great coach when you don't have generational talents at QB.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:38 PM ^
Something something... Lincoln Riley
October 30th, 2023 at 11:27 PM ^
Would you consider Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts to be "generational" talents at QB? I sure don't. Lincoln Riley is a damn good coach.
Baker was a walk-on at Oklahoma from Texas Tech. Kyler is 5'8" in shoes. Jalen Hurts got benched at halftime in the biggest game of his college career for a true freshman (deservedly so). All of those guys were great under Riley.
Edit: would those that are downvoting me please explain how Baker, Kyler, and Jalen are generational QBs?
October 31st, 2023 at 12:29 AM ^
In college, those 3 certainly are "generational." Nowadays, CFB generations last a season. 2 if you're "Smart."
October 31st, 2023 at 10:35 AM ^
I'm considering more than just college in my definition of generational. That is where our difference in opinion is.
October 31st, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
So would Tim Tebow be generational by your measure?
October 31st, 2023 at 12:36 AM ^
Maybe not generational but if those 3 QBs played for Michigan they'd all be in the top 5, at least top 10 of UM QBs ever.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
I think the top 10 QB's at Michigan is a pretty low bar to clear. Remember that Chad Henne and Elvis Grbac still hold the record for most passing touchdowns in a season at 25. That's a pretty low number. Shea Patterson had 23 in 2019, and we all know he wasn't generational.
October 31st, 2023 at 6:40 PM ^
My point is that's quite a run and imagine what we woulda done to OSU if we had those guys at the helm instead of Speight, O'Korn, etc..
October 31st, 2023 at 12:38 AM ^
Heismans you dingus. Jalen didn't win it but he got to New York. At most programs a Heisman is more rare than a whole family generation (33 years). A college football generation may be every four years. Under Lincoln Riley, Heisman QBs became annual affairs. He turned generational into annual.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:29 AM ^
Was Troy Smith a generational QB? Chris Weinke? Ty Detmer? Andre Ware? The Heisman is massive, yes, but when I think generational I think Andrew Luck, Trevor Lawrence, Peyton Manning etc. Guys that were great at all levels of competition, accolades or not.
October 31st, 2023 at 1:14 AM ^
Kyler was, something like, the #1 QB in his class. Hurts was Alabama's starting QB so I assume he was a highly rated guy and Baker would have been considered the premier transfer QB option at his time. I guess it's how you define generational, but trying to paint those guys as random Joe's until Riley got his hands on them is just dumb.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:25 AM ^
Baker was not considered the premier transfer QB of his time. He didn't even transfer to Oklahoma, he walked on. Kyler wasn't number 1, he was number 38 on 24/7 while still considered a five star, I'll call that a push.
To assume a QB that committed to Alabama was highly rated or "generational" is silly to me. Other than Bryce Young and Tua, I don't think Alabama has been known for great QB play. Mac Jones wasn't highly rated either, he just out-worked higher rated players and had the best receiving corps in Alabama history to throw to.
October 31st, 2023 at 6:21 AM ^
Dude, those are 3 bona fide NFL Starters. Name the Michigan QBs over the last 20 years that can make that claim.
That’s why you were downvoted.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:21 AM ^
Just because a QB starts in the NFL doesn't make them generational. Matt Cassell, Todd Collins, Jimmy Garoppolo, and loads of other players have started at QB in the NFL. Matt Cassell barely played in college.
Also, the way Baker is playing right now in the NFL doesn't help your point in my eyes.
October 31st, 2023 at 6:37 AM ^
If your point is that "generational" should refer to something so special it happens only every 25-30 years, I agree.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:19 AM ^
That's my point. The responses so far haven't changed my mind in that regard. Trevor Lawrence and DeShaun Watson were absolutely generational QBs. No-doubt prospects. Guys that were going to be great no matter what school they went to. Kyler might not fit my thought process (though I still think his height holds him back from being truly generational), but the other two I mentioned absolutely do.
Baker was a walk-on, not a highly sought transfer like one person replied. He was a low-to-middling 3 star, rated an 84 out of 100 on 24/7's scale, committed to Texas Tech. No where near a 4 star. He never made it at Tech, could've transferred to a smaller school, but decided to walk on at Oklahoma. Important to note that he walked on, not transferred to Oklahoma.
Jalen Hurts was a good prospect, ranked 104th as a 4 star on 24/7 but that doesn't strike me as generational. At Alabama he was dangerous running the ball, but just an OK passer. He improved tremendously in that regard under Riley. To go from being passed by a true freshman at halftime of the National Championship game to a legit Heisman contender is important. He didn't make that transition under Saban, he did it under Riley. Riley's defenses have been horrible and that's why his teams have underachieved, but to say he's only had generational QB talent to work with is insane to me.
For me, the only generational QB Riley has worked with is the one he has currently.
October 31st, 2023 at 11:49 AM ^
Not downvoting, but I do side eye the "damn good coach" part given his defense optional approach to coaching. "Damn good offensive coach" I'll agree with. Giving up 49 to Cal--eh.
October 31st, 2023 at 7:25 AM ^
Lincoln Riley is a very good head coach. But his record is not as good as Dabo. All really successful head coaches have great assistants.
And his line about appreciation is so right on.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
Jesus take the Schpiel!!!
October 30th, 2023 at 10:04 PM ^
I actually agree with him. How freaking stupid would a Clemson fan have to be to complain about their coach right now.
October 31st, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
Well they did go to a regular playoff/NC program to a very good program to a 4 loss program. They will probably lose another 2 or 3 games. They still have ND, GT, UNC, and USC. I can't blame their fans for having higher expectations.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:04 PM ^
I mean, I get the argument he's making that fans have become spoiled at Clemson and one mediocre year shouldn't be treated as the death rattle for the program...but he's also being pretty disingenuous about how mediocre they've honestly looked for a couple years now. Last year they went 11-3 and beat exactly 1 ranked team (FSU) and were pantsed by Tennessee in the bowl game with its backup QB and also lost to state rival South Carolina for the first time in a while. In 2021 they went 10-3 and beat 1 team that finished the year ranked (Wake Forest). They've feasted on an ACC that is decent in the middle but lacked another high-level team and that looks to be changing. Plus his offense has looked poor for a couple of years and they don't seem to really have any playmakers since Lawrence left on that side of the ball. So yeah, at $11.5M a year and seemingly no real constraints put on you by the school, you shouldn't be 4-4 and get so thoroughly outplayed in some of these losses.
Oh also he's a sanctimonious asshole, but that doesn't seem to disqualify most college coaches.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:28 PM ^
Dabo without Watson and Lawrence is just…decent. Back to back generational QBs goes a long way
October 30th, 2023 at 10:36 PM ^
Ryan Day 🤝 Dabo
October 31st, 2023 at 9:19 AM ^
What also helped is that he had stability with his coordinators for a while. Brent Venables was there for....how many years? And then I believe, at least over the 2010s, they were fairly solidified at the OC spot as well. But you had guys coming into a proven, solidified system that you knew wasn't going anywhere and what is more important, was working.
Kind of like why Wisconsin was able to churn out top OL prospects for so long. They had the same style of play for decades, a style of play that worked for them and for the caliber of player they could recruit, and even if they changed coordinators they didn't even remotely change philosophy or scheme, so there were never those "transition costs" with bringing in new schemes.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:58 AM ^
They also had a great run of elite WRs and RBs that clearly has dried up, which makes the QB deficiency even greater. Lawrence covered up for a lack of WR quality toward the end with his arm and legs. Similar to what Bryce Young did last year (along with Gibbs) with mediocre WR and offensive line talent at Alabama.
October 31st, 2023 at 8:20 AM ^
Well, the South Carolina loss was our fault, of course. /S
October 30th, 2023 at 10:05 PM ^
I have never failed at anything.
- Dabo
October 30th, 2023 at 10:06 PM ^
Dabo needs to take some shrooms or something.
It's really absurd for any Clemson fan to really be mad --- Dabo took Clemson beyond their fans' wildest dreams. He's a Clemson legend, even if they were to lose 100 straight games.
But Dabo: yeesh dude. Chill. That's an easy-to-finesse question and now he's made a meme of himself.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:10 PM ^
I mean, sure, he could have finessed his answer better. And I'm sure he should have. But I really don't blame him. We didn't get to hear the question so we don't know how insulting it came across. But it's dumb to make these coaches justify their salaries, like that one guy did to Jim Calhoun however many years ago.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:23 PM ^
Calhoun --- he responded to a free-lance journalist who was a politician/activist and had no real interest in sports. I loved Calhoun's response because that "reporter" had an agenda and was interested in embarassing Calhoun, not talking UConn hoops (FWIW, UConn was actually ranked number 1 in the country on that day).
Tyler from Spartanburg--- I'd argue, despite how spoiled and obnoxious he is - he's still a fan who deserves better than what Calhoun gave that reporter.
October 31st, 2023 at 1:26 AM ^
He is a legend. But he would be a bigger legend if he lost 100 straight games.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:09 PM ^
Don’t like the approach but can’t really disagree with what he’s saying here. And I can’t stand Dabo
October 31st, 2023 at 1:26 AM ^
The only thing is that Dabo makes eight figures, and he and Clemson have clearly made it part of his job to answer live questions from the general public. If he doesn't want to answer questions, from those who "are the problem" but also probably financially support Clemson athletics, then stop doing it.
Otherwise, take your pile of money and do your job professionally. Dabo is in a nearly unique position to design and carry out the exact life he and his family want. So in my opinion, his own behavior should be better and if he doesn't like a question, he should keep that to himself.
October 31st, 2023 at 7:34 AM ^
He's blaming fans for having a bad season. He's absolutely wrong in his answer.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:10 PM ^
Yeah, I don't know. As a Christian, I'm not really a fan of Dabo and how he frequently plasters his program with a very thin veneer of Christianity.
But setting that aside, the clip sounds to me like a man who has worked very hard to accomplish some lofty goals, and is frustrated that naysayers are ready to pick him apart for failing to meet the incredibly high standard that he himself set for the program. He's clearly responding emotionally and so it's not entirely coherent, he gets off track here and there, but he's not far off of the well-known Teddy Roosevelt "man in the arena" speech at least in terms of central thesis.
Honestly this is probably one of the more relatable moments I've heard from him.
October 31st, 2023 at 5:39 PM ^
It also seems dumb that the complaint is about his salary with the obscene amount of money the success Clemson has had with him as head coach must have produced for the school.
October 30th, 2023 at 10:13 PM ^
Quite a rant. Didn't hear the question but the caller sure seemed to strike a nerve. Pretty sure "lack of appreciation" and "people like you" are not "the problem" or a reason they lost some games. Dabo won't be making 11.5 million a year in his next job if he loses it like this too often and it sounds like he is the one with a lack of appreciation problem.