Tigers mythbuster: Pre-Bowden Clemson was a wreck

By Marc Hudgens  |   Sunday, July 06, 2008  |  Comments( 22 )

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Among many falsehoods talked about by Clemson fans is the notion that Tigers head coach Tommy Bowden has struggled to win an ACC title because he inherited a program that was a shambles.

Admittedly, the Tiger program during the Ken Hatfield and Tommy West years wasn't anything to brag about, but that doesn't mean Clemson football was a complete wreck.

As far as what wasn’t so great, one can thank former president Max Lennon and ex-athletic director Bobby Robinson for those years. While there may have been valid reason for firing legendary Tiger coach Danny Ford in 1990, Hatfield simply wasn’t a good fit. Largely perceived as soft compared to the combat-hardened Ford, Hatfield entered Clemson during a highly controversial time and was simply in over his head. After Clemson fired Hatfield following an 8-3 regular season in 1993, the school hired West, a former Ford assistant who had only one year of head coaching experience prior to Clemson: at Tennessee-Chattanooga, where he earned a poor 4-7 mark in '93.

Surely the conflicts of those times helped contribute to three of those nine seasons being losing ones and a 2-4 bowl mark, and losing is not tolerated at Clemson. However, on the flip side, one can’t deny that, in spite of those losing season, the Hatfield/West years garnered a 63-41-1 overall mark, which included, ironically, the Tigers’ last ACC championship. So, although it wasn’t pretty, that era wasn’t exactly hideous.

Therefore, it's fair to say Bowden inherited a mediocre program, not a hideous one. Those who support Bowden out to find another excuse for why he hasn't won enough at Clemson.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He ...
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CommentsComments: 22  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
swingaway		08:24 AM
07/07/2008
The cupboard was pretty bare, as evidenced by the following numbers: 1.) The first two Hatfield years (with Ford players) had ...
No.2
RazzMaTazz		01:52 AM
07/08/2008
If the cupboard was so bare when Bowden arrived, and it's so much better now, then one would expect Clemson to be doing much ...
No.3
swingaway		07:56 AM
07/08/2008
Razz: This article is not about marked improvement - stay on subject. This is about the level of the program that was acquired ...
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