The Tough Times Return To Clemson

As Clemson Nation deals with the anguish of last Saturday’s loss to Maryland it’s interesting that we’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of the Tigers’ coaching transition from Tommy Bowden to Dabo Swinney and here is Swinney under the same microscope Bowden found himself under, with a similar type of loss to Maryland making his seat hotter.

While Swinney will be the first to tell you that when you’re a first year head coach, who’s never been a head coach, and you get off to a 2-3 start you’re going to hear it from a fan base.

Had he been someone brought in from the outside he’d probably get somewhat of a honeymoon. The fact that he spent the previous six seasons on Bowden’s staff obviously links him to the previous administration and so we have the anguish in which he’s now fully centered.

While the fans have become tired of giving their patience along with their contributions to the program (based on various web postings) he would be nearly inhuman if he didn’t need some type of learning period. In fact, I would suppose all of this would be even worse to take for the Tiger faithful if he came off as a know-it-all, a trait his predecessor was accused of displaying, right or wrong.

Based on what’s happened in this conference and with this team so far this season, I think it’s a safe bet that Clemson’s remaining seven regular season games can be classified as winnable---yes, even at Miami because every team has that “trap game”, like Clemson did at Maryland, and the Tigers have enough defensive speed to make things interesting.

I also think that you can look at six of the final seven and say they can very easily end up in the loss column based on the lapses this team has shown in its games this season.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to watch as the fall unfolds will be how Swinney’s demeanor is impacted if things take a down turn that many fear the 2-3 start portends. He’s always come across as affable and optimistic in his public appearances. Can he keep that up under duress??

On another coaching note, Dorman’s Dave Gutshall is on the verge of a milestone as his next win will be the 300th of his 31-year career. His unbeaten Cavaliers have a tough road test Friday night at 6-0 Mauldin.

Gutshall’s run began at a school in Mayoden, North Carolina (that’s since been consolidated) in which his very first win also snapped that program’s 23-game losing streak and he once had a team at Burlington Cummings that went 15-0 and never trailed in a game.

At Dorman, he’s won a state title and played for two others. His Cavaliers once snapped Spartanburg’s 37-game win streak and last year stunned a Byrnes squad that was number two in the nation at the time.

The simple math shows he’s averaged 10 wins a season in his four career stops, the past 17 seasons of which have been spent at Dorman where he’s adapted his offensive plan to the talent he has and that tells you everything you need to know about how he’s worked his way to the precipice of this latest milestone.