Thought on Morris, Dabo, and Optics

I agree with WillyDee! Edit: Except for the buy out part. Firing a Hall of fame coach who still has some fire in his belly and paying him 50M to watch him on ESPN isn't the way out. That will set us back much further than we are now. Man, can't Kathleen or someone just talk to him. As A fan base, we also shouldn't pretend like we know the all the right moves.

Dabo is definitely going to do it his way, right or wrong at this point. TBH I don’t think my opinion will change until after the LSU opener, I need to see a different product actually competing on the field to really sway my opinion at this point.

A big button he can press is a portal QB

Love Dabo, but it ultimately comes down to the fact that he used to have great internal alignment. Now even the folks in the building are frustrated with his unwillingness to listen and adapt. They think he’s “beyond stubborn”. When there’s not alignment with Coach and the powers that be, things don’t work out well for Clemson football.

willydee1 said:

Being a head football coach and a good politician have a lot in common. You gotta understand that you MUST have the support of the masses…but at the same time, sometimes the right thing is going to be unpopular. Years ago, Dabo was PHENOMENAL at pushing the right buttons for the fan base. I think we all remember the “Carolina is in Chapel Hill” speech. But in recent years he has had a lot of mid steps. The “Football Matters” shirt…criticizing NIL…being openly anti portal. These were all open mouth and insert foot moments. Coincide all that with the clear drop off in product and he has a huge problem on his hands. I don’t think the fan base has been this down in a long time. Huge buyout or no, if it gets too bad, admin will have to pull the plug. I think Chad Morris is a really good coach and might be a solid answer. The fan base wants to see change and rightfully so. I get why there is a lot of push back. Dabo has pushed all of the wrong buttons lately.

Totally agree with this spot on take. The other reason that I think we the fan base are frustrated is that despite the decline in the product year over year the Athletic Department has been tone deaf and continued to raise prices, and ask for more. That does not sit well when the product is going down hill and instead of using money to retain or acquire talent, the head coach goes out and gets more former players as support staffers at what are large salaries. Additionally, to show hubris to continue to do things his way when the results say that way doesnt work is not sitting well and understandably so. I am sure the pumpers will jump all over me, but honestly what has CDS' approach done for us lately? The answer is not a lot of positive things. I get he feels that molding young men is his job, but that is not the main role of the Head Football Coach at a major university who is paid eleven million dollars a year. The role is to do what it takes to win Football Games. Molding young men can and should occur, but as a biproduct of running a successful program.

willydee1 said:

Being a head football coach and a good politician have a lot in common. You gotta understand that you MUST have the support of the masses…but at the same time, sometimes the right thing is going to be unpopular. Years ago, Dabo was PHENOMENAL at pushing the right buttons for the fan base. I think we all remember the “Carolina is in Chapel Hill” speech. But in recent years he has had a lot of mid steps. The “Football Matters” shirt…criticizing NIL…being openly anti portal. These were all open mouth and insert foot moments. Coincide all that with the clear drop off in product and he has a huge problem on his hands. I don’t think the fan base has been this down in a long time. Huge buyout or no, if it gets too bad, admin will have to pull the plug. I think Chad Morris is a really good coach and might be a solid answer. The fan base wants to see change and rightfully so. I get why there is a lot of push back. Dabo has pushed all of the wrong buttons lately.

I will say that Morris is the only OC we’ve had where there was no question who ran the show. His offenses were productive. If we can get a good QB to run it I’m not as worried about the play calling. Great Jimmies and Joes beats great Xs and Os 10 out of 10 times. As to the rest: The ‘Football Matters’ shirt was the absolute dumbest controversy in history. Holy shit. The real anger there should be at the idiots who repeated it. Criticizing NIL - he said the quiet part out loud. I’d guess his stance has changed but I doubt anyone likes this current model. But in recruiting that is almost certainly problematic. Easy to fix though. The part about molding young men - Bill Cowher said the same thing about his time in the pros. He said he felt his job was to mold men into good fathers, husbands and members of the community. ALL coaches think that (except maybe TI hero Lane Kiffin because he’s a dipshit). Why? My theory is because they don’t want to admit that winning or losing a football game DOES NOT MATTER in the grand scheme of the world. Clemson winning or losing doesn’t fix any of the real problems we have. It just pulls attention and resources away from them. So in effect they’re being paid millions to do a job that in the grand scheme makes not one iota of difference in the world. And might actually do harm. Their influence on the men they coach does last. So they focus on that as their mission. This does not MEAN they don’t understand that you have to win.

I agree. I am talking myself into the hire. I don't think it is a disaster. It could go wrong obviously but there are some real positives to it depending on Chad's mental state and how Dabo views their relationship

The Mixed Mamba said:

Love Dabo, but it’s ultimately come down to the fact that he used to have great internal alignment. Now even the folks in the building are frustrated with his unwillingness to listen and adapt. They think he’s “beyond stubborn”. When there’s not alignment with Coach and the powers that be, things don’t work out well for Clemson football.

This is accurate. Feels like bringing back Chad is bringing the band back together to an extent. That usually works in the short term, but usually falls apart quickly. Also, what is the BOT going to do? They hold the purse strings? Maybe it's time they show some balls and tell Dabo no for once.

CU Alumnus said:

I will say that Morris is the only OC we’ve had where there was no question who ran the show. His offenses were productive. If we can get a good QB to run it I’m not as worried about the play calling. Great Jimmies and Joes beats great Xs and Os 10 out of 10 times.

I think Dabo has the trust in Morris to not meddle as much as he has recently or that when Morris tells him to back off he does

HunterPKP said:

This is accurate. Feels like bringing back Chad is bringing the band back together to an extent. That usually works in the short term, but usually falls apart quickly. Also, what is the BOT going to do? They hold the purse strings? Maybe it's time they show some balls and tell Dabo no for once.

Neff or the BOT won't interfere like that

Dabo is done. I hate it but he’s done. The Morris hire just makes it more real.

Chad’s offenses were some of the highest in Clemson history and set records that still stand today.

Everyone with eyeballs agrees that this program has become soft on the field an to a large part off of it. Chad Morris's offense is a soft offense as well. Getting rid of Riley and Con is not gonna solve the softness. An offseason in desperate need of real change isn't going to get it. All the crappy coaches are still there. I willl watch the LSU game but if it's a boomer or mid afternoon of Labor Day weekend, I will get score updates on my phone while out on the lake. I have never in my life been this disinterested in Clemson football.

Bassslayer said:

Chad’s offenses were some of the highest in Clemson history and set records that still stand today.

Is Tahj playing? Sammy still have eligibility? Morris never beat Uof and would call trick plays at the worst times.

I think you’re one of the better posters here, OP. I always like your takes and the football knowledge you bring (we seem to be lacking actual personnel and scheme discussions during the season - the only personnel discussions are regarding the need to use the portal). I agree Dabo has had a lot of missteps. I’m really curious how Woody McCorvey and the other respected figure heads inside the building feel about Dabo and all that’s been going on. I hold Woody to very high regard and admire him greatly - but the game has changed so much in such a short period of time lately that it’s certainly a different game. To use your politician analogy, Dabo needs a really good PR person. He’s just had far too many missteps in front of the mic on top of his miscues on the field. I don’t think our fan base would be this upset if he just layered back some things he says

sleepy64561 said:

Dabo is definitely going to do it his way, right or wrong at this point. TBH I don’t think my opinion will change until after the LSU opener, I need to see a different product actually competing on the field to really sway my opinion at this point.

Ding ding ding.

Austincole21 said:

A big button he can press is a portal QB

My hope is we at least get a year of chandler out of this hire

Tbh, I’m not a fan of hiring Chad if that’s the route we go. However…if we pair him with a good portal QB I’d dislike it less. The most likely outcome appears to be a Chad and Vizz pairing tho which will go up in flames

r_rabooze said:

Is Tahj playing? Sammy still have eligibility? Morris never beat Uof and would call trick plays at the worst times.

Still set records despite that. Chad wasn’t perfect but he’s offensives have the best results.

r_rabooze said:

Everyone with eyeballs agrees that this program has become soft on the field an to a large part off of it. Chad Morris's offense is a soft offense as well. Getting rid of Riley and Con is not gonna solve the softness. An offseason in desperate need of real change isn't going to get it. All the crappy coaches are still there. I willl watch the LSU game but if it's a boomer or mid afternoon of Labor Day weekend, I will get score updates on my phone while out on the lake. I have never in my life been this disinterested in Clemson football.

There is no such thing as a soft offense. Scheme is scheme. Only soft players who play like they are coached to play. I agree that we have some soft ass coaches. Toughness is a learned behavior.

willydee1 said:

Being a head football coach and a good politician have a lot in common. You gotta understand that you MUST have the support of the masses…but at the same time, sometimes the right thing is going to be unpopular. Years ago, Dabo was PHENOMENAL at pushing the right buttons for the fan base. I think we all remember the “Carolina is in Chapel Hill” speech. But in recent years he has had a lot of mid steps. The “Football Matters” shirt…criticizing NIL…being openly anti portal. These were all open mouth and insert foot moments. Coincide all that with the clear drop off in product and he has a huge problem on his hands. I don’t think the fan base has been this down in a long time. Huge buyout or no, if it gets too bad, admin will have to pull the plug. I think Chad Morris is a really good coach and might be a solid answer. The fan base wants to see change and rightfully so. I get why there is a lot of push back. Dabo has pushed all of the wrong buttons lately.

Add to all that - now we have a University President change in process. Someone who didnt get to enjoy Tampa and Santa Clara..who doesnt have the memories to fall back on. I trust the BOT will insist on a Prez who values athletics, but a mis-hire or a good hire who feels the need to make a splash....could ignite the powder keg

We're screwed

willydee1 said:

There is no such thing as a soft offense. Scheme is scheme. Only soft players who play like they are coached to play. I agree that we have some soft *** coaches. Toughness is a learned behavior.

I don’t think Chad is a soft coach either

r_rabooze said:

Is Tahj playing? Sammy still have eligibility? Morris never beat Uof and would call trick plays at the worst times.

Morris and Clemson beat Uof in 2014. With a 1 legged QB.