Monday June 04, 2007

2006-07 Athletic Year

2006-07 Athletic Year
This week the men’s track program will compete in the NCAA track championship and the baseball team will hopefully continue through the next couple of weekends. The success of those two programs will have a big impact on the overall feeling of the 2006-07 year. Clemson needs big things from both of these programs to salvage a fairly uneventful athletic year.

For the second time in recent years Clemson did not win an ACC championship in any sport and that is unacceptable.

Most of the athletic teams at Clemson had good but not great years. Most of the teams were solid and had marquee wins but championships were missing.

Men’s Sports
Football
A 6-1 start and a top 20 ranking had everyone excited. A 1-4 finish that included a loss to less talented Maryland, South Carolina and Kentucky teams did not. An 8-5 season and a 5-3 ACC mark should not be acceptable. In my opinion only Virginia Tech had more talent that Clemson. This program needs to be more consistent and win the close games to get to the next level.

Once again Bowden finds himself needing to have a good year or the hot seat talk will begin to heat up.

Soccer
The Tigers finished 13-5-2 overall and 3-3-2 in the ACC. Clemson advanced to the Final 16 in the NCAA tournament. This was a solid year for coach Adair’s club who has been in national title contention year after year.

Trevor Adair has recruited well and has the program back in national title contention. He is on very solid footing as far as his contract is concerned.

Basketball
A 17-0 start had the Tigers highly ranked and receiving national attention. Like the football team, the Tigers struggled late in the season and fell out of the NCAA tournament. However, unlike the football team, the basketball squad got it back together and enjoyed a run in the NIT. All things considered this was a successful campaign and another step in the right direction under Coach Purnell.

I would think we would see Coach Purnell sign a new contract before next season. His program continues to progress each year.

Golf
Coach Penley started one of the youngest clubs in school history. The Tigers played well at times throughout the season but did not take advantage of a shot to win the ACC tournament. The season’s biggest disappointment came when the Tigers failed to advance from NCAA East Regional. The big news this past weekend could have become the highlight of the Clemson sports year but Kyle Stanley could not close the deal and finished second at the NCAA tournament despite being just a freshman.

Coach Penley has a young and talented team that should contend on the national scene again next season.

Swimming and Diving
Because of inadequate facilities it is not fair to judge this program. The men’s team went 9-3 overall and 4-3 in the ACC. I don’t know enough about swimming and can barely swim myself so I guess that is an OK season.

Tennis
The men’s tennis team had a solid year with a 31-10 record and a top 25 finish. The Tigers advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Coach Kriese has been very consistent and this program is on solid footing.

Coach Kriese should not have to worry about his contract and should be safe until he decides to retire at Clemson.

Track and Field
The men’s track and field team finished second in the indoor ACCs and followed that up with another second place finish outdoors. Nine athletes compete this week at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Cross country finished fifth in the ACC meet.

Bob Pollack has won more titles than any coach at Clemson and is also on solid footing.

Women’s Sports

Basketball
The women’s team had a losing record at home. They had a losing record on the road. They had a losing record in the ACC and a losing overall record. In my opinion a 12-18 overall record and a 4-10 is unacceptable.

I cannot see this program progressing. Coach McKinney needs to show significant improvement.

Rowing
This is the only sport to fire the head coach at Clemson this past year. I would not know what is good or bad at this sport but I can’t think of why they are not national title contenders. Name another school that has an on campus facility like Clemson’s?

Soccer
An 11-8-5 record is respectable but the Tigers had a great run in the NCAA tournament. Clemson’s three straight shootout victories got the team to within one win of the Final Four. A 5-3-2 record is respectable in the tough ACC.

Coach Bramble has done an good job here and should be on solid footing in terms of his contract.

Swimming and Diving
Like the men’s team, the facility is not up to standards so judging this program is not fair. They have only a 50m pool. But the women’s team had a good year by their standards and went 10-5 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. It marked just the second time in 19 years that the women had double-digit wins.

Tennis
The women’s team is now a top 10-15 type of program. They once again made it to the round of 16 at the NCAA championships. Nancy Harris has stabilized the program and now has this program near the top of the conference and is a national title contender.

Track and Field
Under Wayne Coffman this program was a conference title contender year in and year out. Instability hurt but this program has been in shambles in recent years. Actually a fifth place finish in the indoor meet and an eighth place finish in the outdoor were tremendous improvements. Cross country finished fifth in the conference.

The facilities and traditions are better than the recent 11th and 12th place conference finishes. While 2006-07 was an improvement, I think this program should be on the hot seat.

Volleyball
Coach Hoover had another solid campaign with a 20-10 record and a 15-7 mark in the conference. Her program has shown improvement and again is solid. I would think her contract is safe for the foreseeable future.

In summary, with the exception of a few programs, most of the athletic teams seemed to have solid years but lacked the big bang. Consistency is nice but championships are needed.

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