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From our interview in 2011:
Ard. I want to talk about a game you'd play in week six - Wake Forest at home. They finish up 2-9, but you drop a 20-16 decision to Wake in Death Valley in front of an 'announced' crowd of just over 60,000, though there may have been just under 40,000 in the stands. What do you remember about this game?
Hatfield. (Pausing) "That's the game that probably had the greatest impact on my career (at Clemson). That's the one that disappointed a lot of people and soured a lot of people in the whole program. We didn't feel that we should be losing to them at that time."
Ard. It wasn't too long after this game where Phil Kornblut reported on his statewide radio show something to the effect of - and I'm paraphrasing, "I'm not saying where I got it from, I'm not saying how I know it, but I can tell you Ken Hatfield will not be the head football coach at Clemson next year.
"Do you remember that report?
Hatfield. "Oh yeah."
Ard. You always tried to be positive, publicly, but privately what did you think at this time, as rumors began to swirl about your future?
Hatfield. "I think it was this game when everyone at Clemson had made up their minds. Looking back, I think things were set in motion for the rest of the year. But I didn't know that at the time.
"I wasn't going to change anyone's mind. All I could do is go on to coach the team. I didn't expect my players to quit. We just had to continue to give our best effort. We played hard and focused on what we had control over."
Ard. But as a coach, as a professional, when the rumors began to pick up steam, how much of a distraction was this for you, personally?
Hatfield. "None whatsoever. None, or else I wouldn't have been able to focus.
"We were 4-2 at this point and after that game we changed offenses. We went to the wishbone full time. We needed to do something completely different offensively."
From our interview in 2011:
Ard. I want to talk about a game you'd play in week six - Wake Forest at home. They finish up 2-9, but you drop a 20-16 decision to Wake in Death Valley in front of an 'announced' crowd of just over 60,000, though there may have been just under 40,000 in the stands. What do you remember about this game?
Hatfield. (Pausing) "That's the game that probably had the greatest impact on my career (at Clemson). That's the one that disappointed a lot of people and soured a lot of people in the whole program. We didn't feel that we should be losing to them at that time."
Ard. It wasn't too long after this game where Phil Kornblut reported on his statewide radio show something to the effect of - and I'm paraphrasing, "I'm not saying where I got it from, I'm not saying how I know it, but I can tell you Ken Hatfield will not be the head football coach at Clemson next year.
"Do you remember that report?
Hatfield. "Oh yeah."
Ard. You always tried to be positive, publicly, but privately what did you think at this time, as rumors began to swirl about your future?
Hatfield. "I think it was this game when everyone at Clemson had made up their minds. Looking back, I think things were set in motion for the rest of the year. But I didn't know that at the time.
"I wasn't going to change anyone's mind. All I could do is go on to coach the team. I didn't expect my players to quit. We just had to continue to give our best effort. We played hard and focused on what we had control over."
Ard. But as a coach, as a professional, when the rumors began to pick up steam, how much of a distraction was this for you, personally?
Hatfield. "None whatsoever. None, or else I wouldn't have been able to focus.
"We were 4-2 at this point and after that game we changed offenses. We went to the wishbone full time. We needed to do something completely different offensively."
