@Cris_Ard
@Larry_Williams
@Paul Strelow
Cris/Larry/Paul,
I am interested to get your take on a few questions related to the program. If you feel compelled, you could find a way to professionally ask some of these to Dabo:
Do you feel that Dabo has the same fire and drive that he had in the first 10 years of his career that led to 2 national championships?
From us fans and keyboard warriors, it certainly seems like a sense of complacency has developed. We have seen Dabo make changes that have helped (Firing Spence/Koenning/Napier/Steele/etc., replacing Stout/Bryant/etc.), but recently, it certainly seems like Dabo is taking the friends and family route and not as willing to make the necessary changes. I would like to give Dabo the benefit of the doubt and trust that he knows what he is doing, and maybe the recent hires work out in time. But it certainly appears that Dabo’s logic has shifted and he is no longer living by his “Best is Standard” slogan.
Special teams – do you think Dabo puts enough emphasis on special teams? I haven’t done any research on this, and I’m not at practices or in the game planning office, but it seems like we can certainly find plenty of games where special teams beat us, but not many where we can say that we won because of special teams. I recall Dabo saying that with Watson and Lawrence, he was primarily concerned about catching punts just to give the ball back to the elite offense. However, with those playmakers gone, it seem like we could use the spark of special teams to help our team win. How would you view our special teams play compared to other teams?
***An interesting note for those reading this – go back and watch the final punt return that Williams fumbled. You will see a Clemson blocker motioning that Williams should have run the other way and it certainly seemed liked the blocking was set up to allow more of a return to that side. I’m not blaming Williams nor am I looking to bash the specific player making these motions (#81), simply an interesting note that something as simple as running the other direction may have changed the outcome of the game.
NIL – not so much of a question, but can you give your thoughts on Dabo’s take on NIL? To me, it seems a little tone deaf to be making videos requesting fans to donate more money so that we can get good players, but then proceed to not utilize a full 85 scholarships for “recruited” players; not utilize the transfer portal to make your team better; and even have a coach making $11 million a year while also using a scholarship spot for his own kid. I understand that money is needed to compete at the highest level. But it seems a little tone deaf and misguided to be asking for more money from fans when the roster doesn't seem to be fully utilized to start with.
I’ll tag @areeves on this as maybe he can weigh in.
@Larry_Williams
@Paul Strelow
Cris/Larry/Paul,
I am interested to get your take on a few questions related to the program. If you feel compelled, you could find a way to professionally ask some of these to Dabo:
Do you feel that Dabo has the same fire and drive that he had in the first 10 years of his career that led to 2 national championships?
From us fans and keyboard warriors, it certainly seems like a sense of complacency has developed. We have seen Dabo make changes that have helped (Firing Spence/Koenning/Napier/Steele/etc., replacing Stout/Bryant/etc.), but recently, it certainly seems like Dabo is taking the friends and family route and not as willing to make the necessary changes. I would like to give Dabo the benefit of the doubt and trust that he knows what he is doing, and maybe the recent hires work out in time. But it certainly appears that Dabo’s logic has shifted and he is no longer living by his “Best is Standard” slogan.
Special teams – do you think Dabo puts enough emphasis on special teams? I haven’t done any research on this, and I’m not at practices or in the game planning office, but it seems like we can certainly find plenty of games where special teams beat us, but not many where we can say that we won because of special teams. I recall Dabo saying that with Watson and Lawrence, he was primarily concerned about catching punts just to give the ball back to the elite offense. However, with those playmakers gone, it seem like we could use the spark of special teams to help our team win. How would you view our special teams play compared to other teams?
***An interesting note for those reading this – go back and watch the final punt return that Williams fumbled. You will see a Clemson blocker motioning that Williams should have run the other way and it certainly seemed liked the blocking was set up to allow more of a return to that side. I’m not blaming Williams nor am I looking to bash the specific player making these motions (#81), simply an interesting note that something as simple as running the other direction may have changed the outcome of the game.
NIL – not so much of a question, but can you give your thoughts on Dabo’s take on NIL? To me, it seems a little tone deaf to be making videos requesting fans to donate more money so that we can get good players, but then proceed to not utilize a full 85 scholarships for “recruited” players; not utilize the transfer portal to make your team better; and even have a coach making $11 million a year while also using a scholarship spot for his own kid. I understand that money is needed to compete at the highest level. But it seems a little tone deaf and misguided to be asking for more money from fans when the roster doesn't seem to be fully utilized to start with.
I’ll tag @areeves on this as maybe he can weigh in.
