Tommy Bowden Resigns: Stunning, But Not Shocking

I’ll be the first to admit that I was somewhat stunned as the news came at midday Monday of Tommy Bowden stepping down at Clemson. Shocked? No.

At a post-practice news conference Sunday night, there was no inkling that he would step aside the next day. In the big picture, pretty much everyone saw something coming at season’s end.

This was supposed to be the season that it all came together for Clemson under Bowden. It was supposed to be the year that an ACC championship was finally attained after a 17-year drought (keep in mind, Clemson’s won at least one ACC title per decade since the league was formed in 1953 but has just this season and next to match that).

One could argue the Tigers looked more worthy of a conference title and Top 10 ranking last year than they have in 2008.

In my dealings with the coach from the time the team lost to Alabama in its opener, he just seemed a little different than usual. About 50 minutes after each game we taped his TV show and this was when I pretty much had center stage with him. In years past, win or lose, we’d discuss various topics just before or just after each taping. Nothing too detailed but it was conversation. There was little of that this year.

In the past, he was pretty much neutral whether his team had just won or just lost. But there was a certain edge there this year I hadn’t noticed in the past, even after wins.

Maybe it’s just the hindsight of me looking back at those moments with the news of Monday having broken.

Maybe it’s that Bowden realized that he was simply not the one who could take Clemson to the next level. He certainly got the program close and no doubt leaves it significantly better than what he inherited. He had his critics but their rancor seemed quieted by pre-season expectations that were as high in the national media as they were among the school’s fan base.

His seat certainly reheated after the opening loss and really never cooled.

I found it a little strange during the build-up to the season, with those expectations mounting, that Bowden didn’t do anything to temper them as most coaches would. I recently realized that he couldn’t. For if he did, the immediate backlash would be: ‘why isn’t he more confident in this team’s chances as he enters his 10th season?

When Dabo Swinney held his introductory news conference Monday night he quoted his college coach Gene Stallings as saying that five plays in each football game usually determine the outcome. I can think off the top of my head of one play in two separate games in each of the past two seasons that were just inches away from a different outcome that would have led to Clemson winning the ACC Atlantic.

Those plays didn’t work out for the team and, ultimately, may have been enough to sour even Bowden’s hopes that he was the one to bring Clemson that next league title, let alone to that next level.