The first Perfect Storm was Dabo in an environment where everyone knew the rules... and he hit on the perfect balance of new kid on the block, awesome post game fiery speeches, genuineness, a facility building boom, and a recruiting pitch that bought in loads of top-tier talent. And that talent proceeded to kick the shit out of every blue blood that crossed their path.
Everybody loved Clemson. The excitement of a fanbase (and even a nation that was happy for that fanbase) was just off the charts. ROY bus. Pizza parties. Actually incredible and so much more than we could ever have dreamed for or asked for.
The second Perfect Storm was the Pandemic followed by NIL. It eliminated what we do better than anybody... get them on campus, love on them, preach family and loyalty. And 100% back it up. Focus on exclusivity and a tried and true process.
So that's gone.
Now our approach more resembles gaslighting recruits and their families with a pitch about all of those things from before... that just, comes across as cheesy and out of touch. Come here for family and earn your $$ after you show us what you've got. Surely you agree with that? Get them nodding their heads.
And then they leave, go visit other legit programs who offer ten times what we do and get to 95% of what we feel like as a "family." All the while making subtle references to Clemson and their naive approach. We really make it easy on those programs - Clemson is currently the least of their worries.
We just got it wrong. And I think we will adjust, but I don't know that?
It's just that we sit perilously close to falling below that line. Decreased blue chippers. Zero portal involvement. Those lead to rosters that just can't compete year over year while other teams can edit, reload, and tweak rosters annually to address weak spots. For me, the lack of portal involvement/philosophy is where I really think we need to change. I mean really commit to this instead of making excuses each year.
I'm desperately trying to make myself still enjoy the ride as I flat out love Clemson football. I was a Freshman in 1981 when the first National Title come out of nowhere, Stayed loyal through the Dark Ages. My oldest daughter was a freshman when it happened again in 2016. Those days tailgating with family and friends in Lot 2 for those 4 years were some of my best days on this Earth.
So that can never be taken away from me (us).
Just want to try and enjoy Tiger Football going forward wherever the path leads.
Of course the beauty of sport is that anything can happen, right? Let's beat UGA in a few weeks and live in that moment lol.
Everybody loved Clemson. The excitement of a fanbase (and even a nation that was happy for that fanbase) was just off the charts. ROY bus. Pizza parties. Actually incredible and so much more than we could ever have dreamed for or asked for.
The second Perfect Storm was the Pandemic followed by NIL. It eliminated what we do better than anybody... get them on campus, love on them, preach family and loyalty. And 100% back it up. Focus on exclusivity and a tried and true process.
So that's gone.
Now our approach more resembles gaslighting recruits and their families with a pitch about all of those things from before... that just, comes across as cheesy and out of touch. Come here for family and earn your $$ after you show us what you've got. Surely you agree with that? Get them nodding their heads.
And then they leave, go visit other legit programs who offer ten times what we do and get to 95% of what we feel like as a "family." All the while making subtle references to Clemson and their naive approach. We really make it easy on those programs - Clemson is currently the least of their worries.
We just got it wrong. And I think we will adjust, but I don't know that?
It's just that we sit perilously close to falling below that line. Decreased blue chippers. Zero portal involvement. Those lead to rosters that just can't compete year over year while other teams can edit, reload, and tweak rosters annually to address weak spots. For me, the lack of portal involvement/philosophy is where I really think we need to change. I mean really commit to this instead of making excuses each year.
I'm desperately trying to make myself still enjoy the ride as I flat out love Clemson football. I was a Freshman in 1981 when the first National Title come out of nowhere, Stayed loyal through the Dark Ages. My oldest daughter was a freshman when it happened again in 2016. Those days tailgating with family and friends in Lot 2 for those 4 years were some of my best days on this Earth.
So that can never be taken away from me (us).
Just want to try and enjoy Tiger Football going forward wherever the path leads.
Of course the beauty of sport is that anything can happen, right? Let's beat UGA in a few weeks and live in that moment lol.
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