Thursday June 19, 2008

Ryan Update - Clemson QB Recruiting

Ryan Update 8-19
Thanks to all who continue to call, visit, e-mail, text and or pray about Ryan. He continues to show little signs of improvement each day.

Ryan's EEG showed signs of seizures so he is on new medication as of last night in order to get this under control. He will be on this drug for a week before another EEG. If they clear up after a week, the doctors will begin Ryan on a brain stimulating drug.

His burns, cuts and bruises look better every day.

Ryan's lungs are doing better partly because they have dried up his secretions so he has less drainage into his lungs and thus less to get back up.

He is starting to track with his eyes a little better and during physical therapy today he responded a couple of times to commands.

Kelly is by his side 24 hours a day and I get about 17 hours so we see these steps frame by frame but those who see his less frequently say he looks even better each time they visit. Please keep Ryan in your prayers. We feel your prayers and are forever grateful.

Clemson Quarterback Recruiting
The Tigers would like to sign one quarterback in this class but have been very selective in who they have offered. In fact, Clemson has narrowed its current search down to two possible candidates.

Ryan Mossakowski is a 6-4, 210-pounder from Frisco, TX. He had an offer before the Clemson summer camp a few weeks ago but his performance only increased Clemson's interest. The Lone Star State product has offers from Clemson, Alabama, Texas A&M, Nebraska and most of the other schools that recruit the area. The Tigers are in his top five at this early stage and should get an official visit.

Morgan Newton is another big signal caller that Clemson has offered. The Carmel, IN native also owns offers from Florida, South Carolina, Illinois, Miami, Kentucky and several Big Ten programs. He is 6-4, 215 pounds and has been to Clemson for an unofficial visit. Currently, Newton is not ready to narrow his list but the Tigers are squarely in the mix.

I am not sure Clemson would take a quarterback in this class unless it is the right one because the staff has already identified several in next year's class that they really like.

With Cullen Harper entering his senior year, you would think this would be a priority but Willy Korn will be a red-shirt freshman and Kyle Parker and Jon Richt may red-shirt this season. Clemson could be a lot more patient if Parker had not had such an incredible baseball season this spring.

Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?
The country music legend George Jones had a great song entitled, 'Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?" In the song, Jones wonders who will take over for Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Conway Twitty and Charlie Pride. He wanted to know about the new generation and how they would take over the heart of the industry.

Today I ask the same question here at Clemson. This week we found out Clemson men's track and field coaching legend, Bob Pollack, announced his retirement. I know he wanted to stay and I am saddened that no one at the university stood up for Pollack. Here is a man that developed some fine men, fathers and husbands. His athletes were never in trouble and his graduation rates and GPAs were outstanding. Pollack produced All-Americans like no other Clemson coach. He was also an ACC title machine winning 21 conference championships.

However, now as we look forward, I wonder who will fill his shoes?

At the same time, Clemson is in search of a new men's tennis coach to replace Chuck Kriese. How do you replace a legend that has looked over the program as the head coach for 33 seasons? Kriese was the national coach of the year and one of the most respected leaders in his field.

So who will Clemson hire to fill their shoes? Hopefully they will do better than they did with the Jim Davis situation but I am not confident. As I have said many times on this blog and on the radio, Clemson's biggest athletic department personnel blunders came with the end of the Danny Ford and Jim Davis tenures. Neither should have been let go and history has shown that.

I don't know anything about the women's basketball coach at Clemson and it was probably unfair to expect a whole lot from her program. However, I do know how and why Davis was let go and I said it then and will maintain this was a tremendous mistake. Somehow I get a similar feeling on the Pollack resignation. This does not feel right to me. Someone should have shown some guts and someone should have shown some loyalty.

Clemson's fraternity of really good guys who are really good coaches and really highly thought of in the community is shrinking. Thank goodness we still have Trevor Adair and Larry Penley around. They better not ever lose another game or make any mistake or they may be gone prematurely also.

People like Davis, Kriese, Pollack, Adair and Penley are hard to find so you have to make sure you keep them around. All of these guys had other programs come after them but they remained loyal, more loyal than Clemson was to Davis and Pollack. It is still hard for me to believe that Davis, Kriese and Pollack won't coach at Clemson next year but a couple of other coaches and administrators there still get to keep their jobs.

You see, Clemson is such a unique place and such a nice place to work that many who come here do not leave for other, more lucrative jobs. It has not happened in baseball for the past 50 years. Charley Pell did it in football and Rick Barnes and Press Maravich did it in basketball. The women's soccer coach left this year to go to Alabama but Clemson rarely loses a coach to another school.

Maybe this will help attract a new men's tennis coach and a new men's track coach. But the shoes will be difficult to fill.