Bowden asks his peers for some advice
CLEMSON — You have to give Tommy Bowden credit for having some humility when it comes to coaching.
After his Tigers were embarrassed in a 34-10 loss to Alabama Saturday night, the Clemson coach used the next few days to call some fellow coaches to get some advice on what to do next.
The first one he called was Nick Saban, coach of the Alabama team that had just humiliated Bowden's Tigers on national television.
"As I talked to coach Saban I said I'm not one who has so much pride that I think I've got all the answers," Bowden said during his weekly news conference Tuesday. "A guy like you had six months to study me, what did you see?"
Then he called Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, whose team lost its season opener to LSU last year and came back to win the Atlantic Coast Conference crown. That was followed by a call to Georgia's Mark Richt, whose Bulldogs lost an early game to South Carolina last season, only to rebound and finish second in the nation.
"They all had several answers on why their teams performed the way they did, and some ideas on bouncing back," Bowden said. "And we have to bounce back."
No pride
So, how common is it for college coaches to communicate with each other during the season? Is this something Bowden does often?
"It was very gracious of those guys," Bowden said. "Right now they're taking my calls. My wife's not, but those guys are."
So here's Bowden, days after of one of his most demeaning defeats, working the phones, trying to pick the brains of coaches who had been in this situation before.
"As I said, I don't have enough pride to think I've got all the answers," Bowden said. "Nick Saban is a proven winner, a successful winner, obviously an intelligent guy on defense who's made his living creating defensive schemes. What better guy to go to. Maybe he can help us with some things down the line.
"I don't know about other coaches' egos when it comes to sharing information. I don't play Alabama again, don't play Virginia Tech for a couple of years, or Georgia for a while. So I'm always trying to learn and correct mistakes."
Walhalla calling
It's not the first time Bowden has picked up the phone and asked for help.
When his Tigers were going through a rough patch with turnovers a few years ago, he called Lloyd Carr at Michigan, Pete Carroll at Southern Cal and Sonny Lubick at Colorado State to get their coaching philosophies on holding onto the football.
He said it helped, and he's not above doing it whenever he has problems.
One of the biggest problems Clemson had Saturday night was attitude and intensity. Alabama seriously manhandled the Tigers, whipping them on the offensive and defensive line from the get-go.
Quite a letdown after all the preseason hype about how good the Tigers were going to be.
"I think our team read the articles," Bowden said. "Then Alabama came out and played with an attitude and viciousness that we did not. The question now is whether or not we can react with a sense of urgency."
If Clemson does manage to bounce back from this debacle, then perhaps some other coaches will be calling Bowden for advice.
So, have any coaches called him lately?
"The coach at Walhalla High School called me recently," Bowden said with a laugh. "He wanted to know if he could use our practice turf in case of bad weather."
Reach Ken Burger at kburger@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5598.
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Comments
TsQc (anonymous) says...
I bet the players and recruits feel great about this! What a loser.
If I get my butt kicked by someone, I'm not going to call them the next day and ask how they did it.
September 3, 2008 at 7:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reverseknarf (anonymous) says...
I wish I could get paid $2M/year to ask my peers how to do my job.
I hope he realizes that if he has to call the citadel's coach this weekend, his next call better be to united van lines...
September 3, 2008 at 7:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
DCartisan (anonymous) says...
How could you not know why you lost? Review the tape with all of your assistants, see the plays the opposition ran, their defensive schemes and fix the problems. Is he so blind that he couldn't see what millions of others saw during the game? Clemson was out played on both sides of the ball. If I was recruiting from one of those schools and Clemson was the competition I'd just show the recruit this article. Nuff said...l
September 3, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
froglegs (anonymous) says...
What a loser! What makes this worse is that a similar article written by the Associated Press was released yesterday.
Tommy Bowden cannot win a BIG game, natural loser.
September 3, 2008 at 7:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TAR1 (anonymous) says...
And this is the head coach that's going to bring Clemson back to the promise land!!!!!!! What a joke. He's getting paid over 2 mill. a year and he's calling around asking for advice. Hang your head tiger fans, this is about as bad as it gets.
September 3, 2008 at 7:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sbs920 (anonymous) says...
Please. . . Stop. . . Don't. . .
I'm sorry. . .
my sides are hurting so bad right now I can barely type. . . I just can't stop laughing!
Paying the guy 2 mil with a contract extension,then calling around to get advice on how to do his job.
Fire Tammy! LOL! I wish I could get a job like that!
C'mon fjms, fantasy-5, can't wait for your reply on this one. . . so much talent... so little coaching...
September 3, 2008 at 8:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rooster07 (anonymous) says...
reverseknarf, that's hilarious, but so true. Clemson will rebound (how could they not vs. Citadel, SC State and NC State). However, The Citadel will have no bigger fan Saturday than this guy!!
September 3, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
robbybobby (anonymous) says...
he is calling his lifelines because he is in total denial about why the tiggers never beat good teams, and that is they simply are not good enough. Haven't been, aren't and won't be, then, now or ever. Just that simple. A mediocre team at a very mediocre college in a, well, you get the picture.
September 3, 2008 at 8:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
clemsonfn (anonymous) says...
Luckly, we seem to have no problem beating USC with regularity. If we're a mediocre team, what does that make USC?
September 3, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TAR1 (anonymous) says...
And once again a cu fan falls back on the sc crutch. Enjoy it, b/c beating another mdeiocre team doesn't make you any better.
September 3, 2008 at 8:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SangareeCrew (anonymous) says...
man.........if you Clemson people didn't have USC to beat up on, your life would REALLY suck then, wouldn't it? Is that really all you have? Get totally embarrased and humiliated on national TV, then come back and talk some crap about the Gamecocks.........that really is all you have. Congrats, you suck, but hey........at least we can sneak by the Gamecocks most years. Who cares about ACC titles anyway, right?
September 3, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rggr (anonymous) says...
He doesn't know that this should be embarrassing. Look at the film. Alabama didn't do anything tricky; they ran straight over the top of both lines. Nobody was fired up for the game, and Bowden doesn't know how to fix that.
September 3, 2008 at 10:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
fjms (anonymous) says...
No excuses from me sbs920. He got out coached, plain and simple!
September 3, 2008 at 10:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Clemsurf (anonymous) says...
I'm more embarassed that he is getting paid millions and asking other coaches for advice than getting our tails whipped Saturday. Please spare us the heartache and just fire him already! I wish Buchholz had missed that field goal against USC last year and he would have been gone.
September 3, 2008 at 10:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Nonsense (anonymous) says...
How embarrassing for Clemson and their fans! Except for one good season at Tulane, this guy has hung on the coat tails of his father for way too long. "My team is broken and I don't know how to fix it" - what a whiney butt! Like the other poster said - had the kicker not made the field goal last year against Carolina - he would be gone with the wind - like brother Jeff.
September 3, 2008 at 10:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
clemsonfn (anonymous) says...
Just saying that some of you need to worry about your own house before you look at others. If the Clemson game isn't important to you, could be why you can't beat us on a regular basis.
September 3, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sbs920 (anonymous) says...
Clemsurf, you are right if Bucky missed the kick, In one fell swoop you get rid of little tammy, Fat Brad and the Lab Rat. CU would be much better off and with the talent coming back, and get a really good coach to boot. Should have called little tammy's bluff and sent him packing to Arkansas. Spiller & Davis (Blunder and Frigthning) wouldn't have come back but he11, their offensive output combined, is well, just "offensively bad". What have you really lost. . .
Face it too. . . CU and USC fans are just as interested in each other's team as well as the team we root for. . .
If not it would be any fun. . . its nice to be ranked huh?
oops. . . sorry. . . for some of us I guess. . .
bye bye #9
September 3, 2008 at 1:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rebel1 (anonymous) says...
I wonder if tammy is like the puttykat fans when he talks to players, cu ad, iptay, ect,ect. does he say , we beat USC last year. Thats all he's got and that's all the fans have. he is alittle smarter than some of the fans. He knows the SEC is the best that's why he called 2 sec coaches.I still cant believe he made those calls and emb himself. Even if USC dont win another game USC will never stoop to this level. BTW, please dont fire tammy. He is all USC has.
September 3, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rebel_Yell (anonymous) says...
I think I would not pull for the opposition so much if it was not for the head coach. He is a stupid man who hired a fat stupid man who ran the SCar program into the ground. What would Jim Grobe do at Clemson? I know one thing, he would not hire more chins than wins.
September 3, 2008 at 5:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tgrfan2 (anonymous) says...
Where else could a coach get a new LTC for $2M a year and not be embarrassed to admit he is still on OJT.
He said he talked to Danny last week. That was about 10 years too late. I think Saban showed TB what the "new" 2008 model Ford team would look like!
RS has promised to figure out how to use JD and CJ for way too long with zero results versus physical teams. Scrap the OC and his schemes and let the new OC talk to Danny Ford and listen this time!
September 3, 2008 at 8:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
IOP4ME (anonymous) says...
Other coaches might call Bowden for advice. Other bad coaches might want to know how you manage to perpetrate a scam on the administration, alumni, student body and fans and somehow convince them that you are capable of and qualified for your job description.
September 4, 2008 at 10:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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