Monday December 17, 2007

Rich Rod

Rich Rod
As I watched Rich Rodriguez’s press conference in Ann Arbor, MI this morning I went online to see what West Virginia and Michigan fans were thinking of the hire. The Michigan fans were excited but as expected the West Virginia fans were irate. They were ripping Rodriguez. There were some that even went to the airport and screamed at him and his family as they were leaving last night.

I wondered what Clemson fan’s reaction would have been and how the fans here would have handled it. I went back and thought about the head coaches here and how their tenure ended and came to some conclusions based upon history.

We almost had that situation a few weeks ago when Arkansas flirted with Tommy Bowden and I know some would have welcomed the move and some would have been heartbroken.

From a football standpoint a Clemson coach has only left to take another job on a few occasions. I don’t know of anyone to ask how they felt when John Heisman left over 100 years ago but it probably helped his cause that the internet was still several generations away. Heisman probably took the train but I could not imagine a lot of Clemson fans yelling their frustrations at the legendary coach as he rolled out of town. Heisman went 19-3-2 at Clemson, so could you imagine if a highly successful coach like that left Clemson today to take the job at Georgia Tech?

In 1930, Josh Cody left to go to Vanderbilt but he was going back to his alma mater and was going to be an assistant football coach and head basketball coach. Cody was a very popular figure at Clemson but let’s face it, this was a different era.

In 1940, Jess Neely left for Rice after a successful stint at Clemson. Neely is now in the college football Hall of Fame but made most of his impact at Rice. Again this is a different time and place.

Coach Howard, Hootie Ingram and Red Parker did not leave for other jobs but in 1978 Charley Pell made the biggest move.

Pell’s departure was one of the most controversial until ten years later when Danny Ford resigned. Pell got Clemson back in the national picture in college football and the program was on a roll. There were rumors of his flirting with the University of Florida but denied the reports and rumors. The day before he left the program he was on upstate TV broadcast denying any interest in the Florida job but the next day he was introduced as the head coach of the Gators. Clemson’s AD at the time Bill McLellan said he was told 30 minutes before Pell left that he was not leaving.

Hindsight tells us that everything worked out OK for Clemson anyway. Danny Ford was named the head coach a few days later and success continued and the program was even escalated. However, for a few weeks Tiger fans ripped Pell. I can remember the Clemson song that came out around the time of the Gator Bowl when it said, “Give ‘em Hell Coach Pell! Give ‘em Hell Coach Pell!” then exclaimed, “Ah Hell. Just give ‘em Coach Pell.”

Fans were bitter and Pell’s name was mud in these parts.

We were hurt but if we were not biased then we would have admitted that the move made sense. Pell went to a better program and made more money. Again, it seemed to work out OK for both of us.

In basketball Press Maravich left Clemson before my time so I must defer to more experienced Tiger fans. It would have been nice to have had Pistol Pete in your record book though.

Most of us remember Rick Barnes leaving like it was yesterday. Barnes had turned the Clemson program around and fans loved the guy. He was “one of us.” Barnes made Clemson fans feel good about Tiger basketball. He stood up for Clemson.

The Sweet 16 was nice and the win in Rupp Arena was special. I loved seeing the Tigers ranked as high as we were at the times and who could forget the Wake Forest game in 1997? But to me the defining moment of Barnes’ Clemson career was when he got into it with North Carolina legend Dean Smith. Barnes said what every Clemson fan had felt for years and we all loved seeing him stand up for us and our program against the evil empire and Smith.

When Barnes left he and his wife made some stupid statements about the education in our state but that was just an excuse. Many people in the community were hurt because they loved the guy. He was a hero to Tiger fans and the idea of him leaving us just hurt. But if we were honest with ourselves we would have understood the move. Texas is a better job and the money was terrific. Barnes did the right thing when he headed to Austin and the truth be known he probably should have taken other jobs before like the Ohio State job.

West Virginia fans are like the rest of us. When we look in the mirror we see something different than others see. When I look in the mirror I don’t see a 212-pounder but the scales don’t lie and a 36-inch waist is nothing to be proud of.

Pell was right when he thought Florida was a better opportunity and Barnes did the right thing when he traded in his Clemson orange for the burnt orange of Texas. Some Mountaineers will never admit it but Michigan is a much better job than West Virginia.

It is funny how things work out though. If Tulane had done the right thing then Rodriguez would have never spent two years in Clemson. Had Pell stayed at Clemson who knows what would have happened to Danny Ford.

We have been lucky here that coaches usually like it here and don’t leave for other jobs but it will happen again sometime. In the end, you are what you are and the mirror is not the best place to judge it. The scales are much more scientific and reliable.

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