Tuesday December 18, 2007

The Assistant Coaches

The Assistant Coaches
A couple of former Clemson assistant coaches have been in the news recently. Bobby Johnson interviewed at Duke and then withdrew his name from consideration. Reggie Herring will coach Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. Ellis Johnson may become the new defensive coordinator at South Carolina and Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia to take over at Michigan.

We have been blessed at Clemson to have some outstanding head coaches but the assistant coaches often shape the success of football programs. I did some research on the history of the assistants at Clemson and came up with some interesting information.

All have interesting stories but many of the former Clemson assistants are linked by other factors. Below are some categories that I came up with. Feel free to add names and/or categories. Also this list

Tigers and Chickens
By my count 12 coaches have been assistants at both Clemson and South Carolina. Miles Aldridge, David Bibee, Rich Bisaccia, Ricky Bustle, Clyde Christenson, Buddy King, Woody McCorvey, Frank Orgel, Chuck Reedy, Rick Stockstill, Tommy West and Rick Whitt were assistants at both in-state rivals.

Ellis Johnson was an assistant under Tommy West and may join South Carolina as soon as this week.

Art Baker coached at Clemson and was the director of the Gamecock Club for several years.

John Latina coached under Tommy West at Clemson and later joined the South Carolina staff as the Gamecocks as their offensive line coach. Latina was a Gamecock for only about 48 hours because he left to join Charlie Weiss’ staff at Notre Dame the same week.

Brad Scott is a current assistant coach at Clemson and was the head coach at South Carolina from 1994-1998.

Current Clemson assistant Chris Rumph was an outstanding defensive end for South Carolina in the mid-1990s.

NFL
Several Clemson assistants have gone on to make an impact in the National Football League. The most notable was Jimmy Johnson. The Super Bowl Champion coach was not for Clemson very long and I am not sure if he was a full-time assistant or a graduate assistant but there is a great story about the first time Johnson met Frank Howard that I will save for later.

Current NFL assistant coaches Rich Bisaccia and Clyde Christenson are two former Clemson assistants that have won Super Bowl Rings as assistants in the NFL.

Head Coaches
By my research 26 Clemson assistant coaches have been head coaches in college. Please feel free to add to this list.

Rodney Allison-UT-Chattanooga
Art Baker-East Carolina, The Citadel
Rickey Bustle-Louisiana-Lafayette
Bobby Johnson-Furman, Vanderbilt
Jack Crowe-Arkansas
Ron Dickerson-Temple
Ed Emory-East Carolina
Danny Ford-Clemson, Arkansas
Curley Hallman-LSU
Frank Howard-Clemson
Ellis Johnson-The Citadel
Joe Kines-Arkansas
Jimmye Laycock-William and Mary
Charley Pell-Clemson, Florida
Chuck Reedy-Baylor
Rich Rodriguez-West Virginia, Michigan
Rick Stockstill-Middle Tennessee State
Nelson Stokley-Southwest Louisiana
Tommy West-UT-Chattanooga, Clemson, Memphis
Mike O’Cain-NC State
Tom Moore-The Citadel
Brad Scott-South Carolina
Vic Koenning-Wyoming
Bill Oliver-UT-Chattanooga
Mickey Andrews-West Alabama, North Alabama
George McIntyre-Vanderbilt

Administration
Former Clemson assistant coaches have gone on to make great strides in the academic and athletic administrations at Clemson.

Clemson legend Walter Cox became Clemson University President after his stint as a player and assistant football coach at the school.

Bill McLellan was an assistant at Clemson before he worked his way up and became the Athletic Director here.
Current senior associate athletic director Bill D’Andrea also began his career at Clemson as an assistant football coach.

Clemson Graduates
By my count, 39 Clemson graduates have gone on to coach football at their alma mater. They include Willie Anderson, Stumpy Banks, Rickey Bustle, Jules Carson, Bobby Johnson, Fred Cone, Walter Cox, Cary Cox, Bill Dillard, James Earle, George Fritz, John Gantt, J.B. Gee, E.F. Gettys, Big Ben Goodale, Ronnie Grace, BC Harvey, Randy Hinson, Joe Holland, Lawson Holland, Bob Jones, Buddy King, Whitey Jordan, Bobby Long, John Maxwell, Banks McFadden, Bill McLellan, Goat McMillan, C.S. Moss, Mike O’Cain, Frank Padgett, Bob Patton, William Schilletter, Ken Segars, Don Wade, Billy Ware, Ron West, W.P. White and Ormand Wild.

Head Coach at Clemson
By my count four former Clemson assistant coaches went on to become the head coach of the Tigers. Frank Howard was on staff when Jess Neely left for Rice and Howard was promoted to head coach. Charley Pell was on Red Parker’s staff and Pell was promoted after Parker was terminated. Danny Ford was on Pell’s staff when Pell left for Florida and Ford was promoted.

Tommy West was an assistant under Ford and later returned to take over after Ken Hatfield was fired.

I Will Always Remember
I have had the privilege to get to watch many of these guys coach over the last 20 years and have lasting memories of each coach. Feel free to add your memories but when I think of these coaches in think of:

Miles Aldridge’s voice
Rich Bisaccia’s intensity
Burton Burns’ grace
Clyde Christenson’s faith
Bobby Johnson’s integrity
Walter Cox’s charm
Bill D’Andrea’s common sense
Danny Ford’s presence
Charlie Harbison’s smile
Les Herrin’s grin
Reggie Herring’s emotion
Lawson Holland’s optimism
Ellis Johnson’s accent
Whitey Jordan’s stories
Woody McCorvey’s draw
John Latina’s knowledge
Banks McFadden’s greatness
Bill McLellan’s leadership
Rich Rodriguez’s sense of urgency
Rick Stockstill’s thoroughness
Billy Ware’s generosity
Tommy West’s dignity
Bill Oliver’s genius
Mike O’Cain’s composure

Note:I have already written tomorrow’s blog and hope you will enjoy it. It focuses on four valuable life lessons I learned from four former Clemson assistant coaches. Please take time to read tomorrow’s blog as it is very special to me. Thanks for your continued interest and support.

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