Clemson Fires Tommy Bowden

by T Kyle King on Oct 13, 2008 1:07 PM EDT in Football

The other shoe officially has dropped: Tommy Bowden has been fired.

As I mentioned in my BlogPoll ballot rundown, I had occasion to be in Clemson, S.C., on Friday, coincidentally on the day after the Tigers’ loss to Wake Forest, and I will say this for the Clemson faithful: I saw an awful lot of fans walking around wearing orange and purple, clad in gear emblazoned with tiger paws and the words "Clemson Tigers." It was a pretty impressive showing for a team that had just lost any realistic shot at a conference crown and knew that a coaching change was imminent (albeit not quite this imminent).

Let the "bring back Bobby Johnson" (native South Carolinian, Clemson alum, former head coach in the Palmetto State, successful head coach in a major conference) campaign begin in earnest!

If the predicted number of Bowden firings this season is 1.5, are you taking the over or the under?

Go ‘Dawgs!

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Unless Terry is going to get fired from Yahoo! Sports, it’s the only Bowden firing of the year. FSU will never fire Bobby, and if he leaves it won’t be until after the bowl season next year. He’s not leaving though, I can all but guarantee you that.

by Year2 on Oct 13, 2008 6:54 PM EDT reply actions

You're probably right that he won't be fired per se . . .

. . . but I believe Bobby is closer to being pushed out the door than you give him credit for being.

If you’ve seen a Florida State game on television lately, it’s abundantly clear that Jimbo Fisher already is the head coach in everything but name, and there’s only so long the administration can afford to keep their “head coach in waiting” in waiting.

Clearly, Bobby’s goal is to last one year longer than Joe Paterno; that’s the only way he can overtake JoePa for the all-time wins record. If Coach Paterno retires at the end of this year, Coach Bowden might be back so he can break the record. Even then, it shouldn’t surprise you if, after breaking JoePa’s record, Saint Bobby steps down partway through the 2009 season.

If Coach Paterno comes back next year and the F.S.U. administration realizes that Coach Bowden pere is going to want two more years, they may get fed up and find a way to force him into retirement.

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Oct 13, 2008 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Yesterday...

I think I speak for most Tiger fans when I expected it to either be Friday or December. We assumed something was coming all weekend, but when nothing materialized by Sunday night, we assumed there was nothing to hear. We pretty much got blindsided by the news over everyone’s lunch break basically. :-p

Anyone with a brain in their head knows that the fact that Bobby Johnson is a Clemson alum means nothing. TDP isn’t going to make the feel good “Clemson guy” hire. He’s going to make the best hire for Clemson, regardless of that guy’s pedigree. He knocked it out of the park hiring Oliver Purnell to build our basketball program, and he hired Les Miles at Oklahoma State. Our football program doesn’t need that much help honestly. The foundation is there; the coaching wasn’t. This program basically just needs a shot of enthusiasm and testosterone. Dabo’s one of those guys that’s been getting positive press for years as an excellent recruiter and potential HC for someone down the line. Now he’s get a seven week job interview. This should be fun.

by CStiger on Oct 14, 2008 7:22 AM EDT reply actions