One on One with Tim Bourret

Perhaps no one knows Clemson athletics better than Tim Bourret. In his 32nd year at Clemson, the Tigers' sports information director is best known in the media ranks for his ability to find and recall virtually any statistic. But Bourret is also a Clemson historian, magazine editor and color analyst for Tigers' basketball. Bourret recently went One-on-One with the Post and Courier's Travis Sawchik:

How does a West Hartford, Conn., native and Notre Dame graduate end up as a fixture at Clemson?

"From the time I was 10, I would sit at the kitchen table with my dad and we would listen to Notre Dame games on the radio. He taught me how to keep play by play and a stat sheet. Looking back, it's unbelievable of me to say this, but I did not try out for high school football because my high school played on Saturday and I asked myself would I rather listen to the Notre Dame games or play football? I said I would rather listen to the Notre Dame games. I played (club) football at Notre Dame, I was the punter. But that's how much I was into it. I never knew what sports information was. I never thought about it. I had worked for a brokering firm in the summers of 1973, '74 and '75. I thought I was going to go back to Connecticut to become a stockbroker. (But) the summer before my junior year my father had a freak meeting with Roger Valdiserri, who was the SID at Notre Dame. He told him about my interest in sports. He said, 'Well, have him write me a letter.' He said he couldn't pay me but I could work as a volunteer. So in the fall of 1975, I went to work in the sports information office. I knew it is what I wanted to do. (After accepting an assistant position at Clemson, with plans to return to Notre Dame) I said, 'All right, no matter how bad it might be going to this place where I don't know a soul, I don't know anything, it's the South, I'm a Yankee, I thought I could survive for a year."

You've spent considerably more time at Clemson, but you also nearly left for another position, correct?

"(In 1983), a job opened up at Pittsburgh. I applied for it and got it. I got so sick over it, I lost 25 pounds in a month. I had accepted the (Pittsburgh) job on July 5, 1983. On July 10, I flew to Pittsburgh and looked for a place to live. I got really sick and flew home to Connecticut because I thought I might have cancer. They ran a bunch of tests, and said 'Nope, it's all nerves.' They said, 'Do you have something stressful in your life that is causing this?' I determined I didn't want to go to Pittsburgh I wanted to stay at Clemson even though (Longtime Clemson SID) Mr. (Bob) Bradley had another five, six years before he retired. I told myself I really liked Clemson. When I came back, (Bradley) had bought the biggest box of grits he could find and put it on the my desk and said, 'You are now committed to being a Southerner.' I still don't eat grits."

What did you learn under Bradley?

"I just learned from him the importance of treating everyone fairly and that you work for the school, you work for the media and the public. Just dealing with people. Being a good listener and doing everything you can to help the media, whether they are from a student paper or the Washington Post. The other thing I learned was the best way to get your message out was for things to happen naturally. Don't try to create something that isn't there. Don't promote a guy for the Heisman Trophy every year. Because when you really have a candidate, you'll hurt his credibility. Your credibility is the most important thing you have."

Where does the obsession -- and skill -- with numbers come from?

"My father was always good with numbers. I must have inherited that. He helped design the Apollo (spacecraft) fuel cells. He was a Notre Dame grad, an electrical engineer. He got his master's (degree) from Harvard. He's 87 and sharp as can be."

You've known and worked with every Clemson football coach the last three decades. Let's play some word association. Danny Ford?

"Hard-nosed. I mean that in a positive way because I can't tell you how many times I went out to a football practice and he went down in a stance and showed those guys how to block. He probably doesn't get the credit he deserves for being meticulous in preparation. In 1989, we go to Virginia Tech and Frank Beamer is in his third year and hasn't been doing very well. We beat them 27-7. We walk out to middle of field to shake Beamer's hand. They are talking and then all of the sudden, Ford gets down on one knee and goes like this and that (with his hand). I said what was that all about? Ford said, 'I noticed their starting right tackle got in a stance, and when he went like this, it was pass play, like this, it was a running play.' "

Ken Hatfield.

"One of the most respected people I've ever worked with. Because of the situation he came into, and he and met everything front and center. All the tough questions he never backed down from."

Tommy West.

"Wanted to be the Clemson coach. That was as hard of a dismissal as I can think of. He wanted to be the coach here the rest of his life. He just really loved Clemson, maybe more than any other coach that I've worked with here. The week before the South Carolina game, we announced it was his last game. After we beat South Carolina, our fans carried him off the field. I went in there with him to do his radio show after he talked to the team. It was just the two of us in there and he looked at me and said, 'Do you think they'll change their minds?' It showed you how much he still wanted to be the coach."

Tommy Bowden.

"Chairman of the board. Had a set plan on how to do things like his father (Bobby Bowden) had and he followed that same plan. He wanted to be here more than people thought he wanted to be here. He wanted to remain here a long time like his father at FSU. Aaron Kelly catches the ball in 2007 against Boston College and he's still probably the coach at Clemson."

Dabo Swinney.

"Could also be the mayor of Clemson. He has a real infectious personality. I think he could do great things here because he has a sixth sense about the right thing to do in all the different areas of coaching. The thing I like about the guy, it goes back to what I said about letting things happen naturally, when he does a press conference nothing seems contrived."

Favorite Clemson sport to cover?

"It's golf. Golf is like no other sport. You walk. You get to know the parents. Larry Penley just finished his 27th year. The student-athletes on the team are just top notch guys. I was following Ben Martin at the NCAA tournament and there was a backup. (Near) the 15th tee and he just sat there and talked about his round with his father. C.J. Spiller can never talk to his mom during a football game. I've even seen dads find golf balls for their sons and save them two or three strokes."

Favorite statistic you've researched?

"The one I got the most attention for was in 1985. We were having a so-so season and Danny Ford's wife was pregnant with their third or fourth child. I was not trying to make a rationalization, but coach was also preoccupied with things at home. I found out that in seasons Coach Ford's wife was pregnant, we won 50 percent of our games, in seasons she wasn't, we won 80 percent, and it ran everywhere. Coach Ford kind of kidded me: 'Are you telling me that me and my wife shouldn't have any more kids?' "