Comments by 33dtb

Written on As Texans prepare for full-scale minicamp, Nuk Hopkins wows coaches, teammates:

......"The Texans have also been impressed by Hopkins' professional demeanor and his team-focused approach to his game."......

Been that way since high school.
A gentleman and a scholar.

Written on Clemson bound: catcher Chris Okey gives Tiger baseball program a big boost:

........."gives Tiger baseball program a big boost" ..........

Is he going to coach ?????

Written on Leggett, Tigers turn the page, hurt, determined, and with essential work to do:

"...."The problem was just not getting big hits at the right time,".........."

Someone recently pointed out that "small ball" teams usually won the CWS.

Two words......tommy bowden

Written on Tigers end season at 40-22 after 3-1 elimination loss to Liberty:

two words.. .......tommy bowden

Written on Still no TV for Tigers: Clemson-Liberty game available on ESPN3 only:

Leggget kinda puts one in mind of T Bowden

Written on Liberty sends Tigers to loser's bracket behind dominant effort:

might want to get some "pitchers" instead of being obsessed with the fastball.

Gamecock's Roth had a top speed of 86mph and I don't think we EVER beat him.
If we indulged in some real pitchers, we could do some batting practice against real pitchers.

Written on Clemson stumbles into Columbia Regional losers' bracket with 8-3 loss to Liberty:

might want to get some "pitchers" instead of being obsessed with the fastball.

Gamecock's Roth had a top speed of 86mph and I don't think we EVER beat him.
If we indulged in some real pitchers, we could do some batting practice against real pitchers.

Written on Notre Dame deal gives Clemson schedule a boost in new playoff:

Actually, beating them will be minimized one way or other (esp if they have one of their trademark bad years) and there is always the possibility that they beat us, esp playing with ACC referees, who historically have done Clemson NO favors- again, esp if they can benefit Tobacco Road.

Written on Upstate lawmaker blocks bill that would have eased state oversight of Clemson athletics projects:

Might be for the good..... Never can tell when David Larson(ey) or someone like him might reappear.
Not to mention Barkley or Marriott.

Written on Nuk Hopkins' sure hands made him top-target pick-up for Houston Texans:

...""He's going to catch the ball when it's in his zip code - that's what I really like about him," Dennison said." .....

....""Ultimately, the Texans value hands much higher than 40 speed, because if you don't catch the ball, it doesn't matter how fast you run," Stadley wrote. "Also, 40 time doesn't take into account speed and precision in route-running, which is a key to getting separation.". ......

The man is good and he's proven he's more than fast enough after he's CAUGHT the ball, unlike some of our other "super stars".

Written on NFL Draft: Andre Ellington selected by Arizona in sixth round:

in response to jarheadtiger:

Rad, I must say, I dont think anyone thought he was Stellar minus a few in the Orange Glasses. That said I loved the Kid, played hard every time, but the knock on him from his soph year on was he was a bit small and fragile. I think its because he was a Beast actually for his size is why he got banged up a bit. Great Effort player that frankly could have done even more while he was at CU, but playcalling wasnt always his friend frankly. PLUS this year was a bit of a down year for backs. Where he should have been say a 3rd rounder at worst before, everyone dropped by a bunch, no 1st round RB's caused a trickle down. Heck Johnathan Franklin was the leading rusher in the nation this year and he went in like the 4th round. Still, no one thought A.E. was the second Coming. Heck, I can easily think of 7-8 Tiger backs that I was a bit more keen on, and if I think bit, maybe even 10. Not at ALL a knock on him, but those of us that have been long time fans know there have been a LOT of super nice RB's to come through Clemson. Still, the ACC has some super nice talent In my opinion, and has been a great conference over the years.

Or if he had had more O-Line

Written on Anatomy of game-changer: 4th-and-16 connection defied odds in several ways:

...."But first, Boyd had to have time".......

a RB had to really block....... and of course we HAD DeAndre Hopkins ....

Written on The spread more spread-out: Swinney expects a balanced attack:

......."Swinney said. "We're a long way away from being a great team right now.".........

Is the O-Line going to be "much improved" again this year.. ??????????

Written on DeAndre Hopkins ready to be 'that guy' for Houston Texans:

Congratulations ....Go Nuk .... Go Tigers...

Go D DUB !!!!! Got to watch DeAndre there as a WR, DB, QB....... Kept waiting for him to throw a pass to himself !!!!

Written on Clemson defense showing 'edge' and effort Venables likes:

Coach Danny never bragged on 'em too much till the end of the season.

Written on Clemson defense dominates second scrimmage:

as Gomer Pyle would say."Surprise, surprise"

course it always takes longer for offense to come together.

Written on Clemson o-line a work in progress, with 'championship-caliber' potential :

....."With all of the shuffling, it hasn’t been easy to judge o-line progression.".......

but we're better this year, right ??
again ????

Written on 4-star RB Dalvin Cook flips to Florida:

reckon he took a hard look at our casual approach to recruiting O-Line ???

Written on Tigers concentrate on short-yardage, two-minutes in stiuational scrimmage:

...."Tigers concentrate on short-yardage, two-minutes in situational scrimmage"......

sort of thing that really features the O-Line.

Written on Maverick Morris bringing 'mud truck' toughness to Tigers' offensive line:

in response to MatthewBlackstone:

It takes time. The O-Line goes from gaping hole to moderate weakeness, we go from 2* recruits to 3*. We use those 3* to go from moderate weakness to neutral, we get a 4* or two. We use them to get to where the O-line is a little bit of a strength, we get mostly 4*, maybe a 5*. The O-line is the slowest developing position on the field. I would expect a 5 year turnaround, and Caldwell is getting ready for only his 3rd year.

I've been worried about this for much longer than 5 years. .... and the number of stars was NOT the issue of my first comment on this article. I am talking about the # of O-Line routinely signed ..... every year... the O-Line has just not an apparent priority since before the "late/great TB".... "late/great" thought he was just too smart to need an O-Line... "How's that Arkansas gig working out for you tb ??"... ... Someone suggested that a BIG O-Line couldn't keep up with our offense.. Tell that to the winner of the last 5 National Championships. .....
ANY QB needs at least 3 seconds to complete a pass. ANY RB needs a 3 second gap to make meaningful INSIDE yards.

Written on Maverick Morris bringing 'mud truck' toughness to Tigers' offensive line:

in response to BrandonRink:

Only 85 scholarships - only two seniors graduate, 16 freshman/sophomore/juniors (8 guards, 8 tackles, 2 centers).

Coach Morris spent the latter of the past season lamenting the lack of competition in the O-Line and the O-Line was hardly our strong suite. For many seasons, very good running backs can't make that many yards. ...Our QBs haven't had three {3} seconds to get off a pass.

We keep transferring D-linemen to shore up the O-Line and EVERY summer we hear that the O-Line is fixed. Every fall we put a patch on a patch and still have a hole.
When did we last send an interior O-Lineman to the NFL ???

Somewhere down the line this situation is going to impact the recruitment of QBs, WRs, and RBs.

Written on Maverick Morris bringing 'mud truck' toughness to Tigers' offensive line:

..." and along with late-deciding Tyrone Crowder makes up Clemson's 2013 offensive signee class.". ...... did I read this correctly..??. ......we signed all of TWO {2} O-Linemen ??????
Will we EVER learn ????????

Written on Spring Football Check-In: New conference, new coach & many questions for Syracuse:

They're still missing the "mad scientist" Rob Spence OC. Clemson certainly IS NOT.

Written on Mike O'Cain named offensive coordinator, QBs coach at James Madison:

He'd Clemson Head Coach now if the "late/great" had not been job-scared.

Written on Draft stock rising, Nuk Hopkins leaves Clemson with good memories:

Nuk was a prime reason Tajh was able to get passes off despite the O-Line He had to deal with.

Written on Draft stock rising, Nuk Hopkins leaves Clemson with good memories:

Go Nuk !!!

I just wish we had thrown to him more when we had him.
Afraid next year we're going to have a hard lesson in how much we are missing.

A true gentleman and scholar.

Written on Ready to 'go, go, go,' Dabo Swinney laments another practice day in shorts:

Didn't hit in practice till practice for LSU.

See what that did.

Written on With core of Shuey, Anthony, Steward, Christian, Tigers building something special at LB:

finally !?!

Clemson has suffered at LB since "late/great's" brother-in law RUINED the position at Clemson.

Clemson used to be Linebacker U .

Written on In ACC-SEC country, not all non-conference schedules are created equal:

in response to Bleedsorange:

Considering his comments, incredible math skills, and screen name this guy should be in terrible pain.

There's only two (2) real teams in the SEC and we just beat one of them (LSU).
Can't figure WHY we've been beaten 4 times by the gamecocks, but actually they've just now caught up with us on the "4-counts". We've both beaten other 4 in a row twice.
Course the series overall is STRONGLY in Clemson's favor.
And as one of our Trustees once famously said on a bumper sticker "celebrating" gamecocks 100 years of football......"Anybody can have a LOSING 100 years !"
.......................................

We've 4-peated the Lamecocks 8 times in our history to their 2,
Clemson 4-peats
1897-1900
1916-1919
1927-1930
1934-1940 (7!!)
80-83
88-91
97-2000
02-05
SCAR's 4-peats
51-54
09-12

Yeah, they've got quite a lot of catching up to do in the 4-peat department as well as the most wins in a row.

Written on Rain, snow or today's score, the best is yet to come for Leggett's young Tigers:

Legget has a history of avoiding "pitchers" while recruiting 90+ mph, leaving Tigers with no "pitchers" to practice against before an actual game. ..Not to mention that your "heat" pitchers rarely pass up a chance to be drafted early.

Last year USC's ace had a fastball of 85 mph and we NEVER beat him.

So, with streaky hitting and pitching clearly not as good as USC's, I dread a long year.

Written on Dabo Swinney expecting spirited competition this spring for backup QB spot:

in response to Clemorange:

Anybody who actually knows Clemson realizes how special it is and what a wonderful place it is to be and I love the fact that heads are turning back our way but I can't help but to fear that it may somehow change clemson. It has its own atmosphere I don't wanna see it change. Some of my earliest memories were born there.

We sat around the office one day after the National Championship..........counted up ......and realized that Clemson (town AND Campus) had a total of three (3) STOPLIGHTS at the time...

Written on Tigers vs. Seminoles: Once again, the ACC has misplaced its jewel match-up:

......"The ACC's schedule-makers, it seems, have no flair for the dramatic."...........

They do, however, have a strong instinct to minimize anyone outside Tobacco Rd,and Clemson in particular.

Contributes to the perceived weakness of the conference- esp given the desperate "spinning" of the weaker SEC clowns.

Written on 'They know how to win, but more importantly, they know how to prepare to win':

...."Swinney announced one position switch, as rising junior Tra Thomas, who began his career as a defensive lineman, has moved to the offensive line, where he's working at center behind projected starter Ryan Norton, Jay Guillermo and Reid Webster."...........

At least we are getting an EARLY start on patching holes in the O-Line.

Written on Dabo Swinney expecting spirited competition this spring for backup QB spot:

in response to TigerMarine:

Aren't Auburn & LSU an sec schools ? You can try that crap on just about every other team in FBS but Clemson was 2 for 3 against the sec last year. I don't give a crap about the rest of the ACC and how horrible they may be. Trolls like you on the other hand cling to the fact that SOMEBODY ELSE in their conference has won the national championship the past few years. Georgia-chicken fans come back and talk all the crap u want WHEN YOU WIN A NC not somebody else!

Amen.!

There's only two (2) real teams in the SEC and we just beat one of them.
Can't figure WHY we've been beaten 4 times by the gamecocks, but actually they've just now caught up with us on the "4-counts". We've both beaten other 4 in a row twice.
Course the series overall is STRONGLY in Clemson's favor.
And as one of our Trustees once famously said on a bumper sticker "celebrating" gamecocks 100 years of football......"Anybody can have a LOSING 100 years !"

Written on Scouting Report: Hopkins 'may be the most complete receiver in this year's class':

Go Nuk !!!
we've known since Daniel HS that his "closing speed" was awesome. It's like a passing gear. And those hands !!!!!!!
Good Luck to a Gentleman and a Scholar!!!!

Written on From first to last: Tyrone Crowder put the crowning touch on Tigers' signing class:

If he's that good, I guess he'll end up at left tackle

Written on Dabo Swinney on SEC's aura of superiority: 'We don't buy that':

in response to YabbaDaboDooDoo:

But see, the problem is that the only championship Dabo can sell is the ACC championship... and that trophy gets smaller and smaller every year. If you want to play for a national championship, you go to the SEC. They've won the last 7. If you want to play at the highest level of college football, you go to the SEC. Dabo can rave all he wants about this class but it would've been the 7th best class in the SEC. 10 of the top 25 recruiting classes are in the SEC. You can go to an SEC school where every single game is huge and in front of 80k+ people. Or you can go play road games at Duke, Wake Forest, and Boston College. Add now you can add Pitt and Syracuse to that list. Should've call Bob Bowlsby when you had the chance. The Big 12 offers a lot more opportunity.

can you not afford to log into the cheapskate State paper's gamecock "fish wrapper" ?????

Written on NSD Live: Crowder completes Clemson class at 23:

in response to tw30241:

How many O-liners we losing....oh that's right, just 1. 2-1=1...we net gained 1 O-liner.

I think that it has been pretty well established that we had very little depth on the O-Line.

Chad himself said there wasn't enough depth to have competition for the first string on the line.

Written on NSD Live: Crowder completes Clemson class at 23:

Yep Two O-Liners
WTH ????

Written on Danny Ford, Frank Howard, Banks McFadden named to S.C. Football Hall of Fame:

With the "late/great tb" safely gone to "Arkansas", we are long overdue to have Coach Ford in the clemson Ring Of Honor.

I normally capitalize clemson, but in this case, we don't deserve it.
The reason Coach Ford isn't in the Ring of Honor is because "the late/great tb" couldn't stand him, for obvious reasons, Coach Ford was a winner and "late/great" was even afraid to hire any assistant coaches that knew anything for fear of his own job. Evidently Dabo snuck in under the radar.

There is still a contingent of "late/great" fans that didn't think "late/great" should have been fired.

Written on Countdown to Signing Day: Palmetto State showdown extending to recruiting trail:

in response to Mebbeimamazed:

Interesting article; but what was the saying about Bear Bryant?
"He'll take his'n and beat your'n; or he'll take your'n and beat his'n!"

Keep up the good work, Dabo! I can barely remember Tommy Whathizname!!!!

Ah, the "late/great TB", presumably still waiting for that call from Arkansas.

Try and imagine him coaching there. Heck, about that time, they fired a better coach,with a better record.

Written on Four 'mock drafts' project Nuk Hopkins as first-round pick in NFL draft:

in response to Bigboots:

As if that mattered?
Brilliant.

Yep, it does.... had issues with Tajh, the offensive coaching staff, and the media in general for not being able to find Nuk anytime Sammy was standing upright. look at the stats for the last two years.

Written on A strong foundation 'in the trenches' has Dabo Swinney excited about 2013 Tigers:

in response to TigerNE:

Just curious, what would you prefer he say to the public?

My only beef with Swinney is that he has excused bad performance in the past and highlighted some kind of 'feelings' or another after bad games. If you lose in the last few plays, I buy it. When you get hammered, maybe you've focused too much on the 'feelings' part. The LSU game proved that at least his OC and DC know how to push beyond the 'feelings' and create hard, dedicated players. But what Swinney says to the press is pretty standard to me.

like I said, the strong Clemson O-Line should, and used to, go with out saying.

I long for the days when we STARTED the season with a strong O-Line instead of hearing the same party line every year and hoping against hope that they would grow and meld into a cohesive unit and not lose what little we had to injuries.
Remember 2011 season when the starting Left Tackle started at Clemson as a walk-on ????

Someone rebuked me with his theory that a big strong line like some of Coach Ford's would not be fast enough for our current offense. Tell that to Saban and Malzan.
Tell that to Charlie Whitehurst and Tajh Boyd with 2 seconds to get off a pass and coming out of a game looking like they've been beat with a 2x4.

I realize that it takes a while to put together a cohesive O-Line complete with capable back-ups.
But it's been 5 years since the "late/great TB" thought he was too smart to even need an O-Lime. Did Arkansas ever call back? Heck, they had just fired a better coach WITH A BETTER RECORD.

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