The Clemson Dubcast

Matt Baker and Eli Lederman

We check in with two writers in Tampa and Norman to get a sense of what things are like in the wake of Jeff Scott's firing, and in the midst of Oklahoma tumbling to a 5-5 record in Year 1 under Brent Venables.

Matt Baker covers South Florida for the Tampa Times. Eli Lederman covers Oklahoma for The Tulsa World.

Baker reflects on what sealed the fate of Scott, who came close to a win at Florida earlier this season.

Lederman shares what some of the complaints have been of Venables during the struggles, and answers whether Venables might have to make changes to his staff -- particularly the defensive side, which has struggled mightily with several former Clemson staffers (Ted Roof, Todd Bates, Miguel Chavis) running the show.

 

 

 

 

David Hale

David Hale of ESPN.com rejoins the podcast to discuss the state of college football, and the rather seismic development of both Clemson and Alabama looking as if they'll both be outside of the CFP for the first time in the format's existence.

Should Clemson fans be panicking after the humiliation in South Bend? Has complacency creeped into the programs in Tuscaloosa and Upstate South Carolina? Is Georgia indeed the new Alabama?

Hale also gives his take on how Dabo Swinney has handled not just the disappointment of this week, but the past year as he experienced the first major turnover on his staff since Clemson ascended to the elite level.

 

 

 

 

Tyler Venables

In 2012, Tyler Venables and his brother Jake moved to a strange and different new world when they left Norman for Clemson upon their father becoming the Tigers' defensive coordinator.

A decade later, Tyler's sisters are going through the exact same experience in Norman after leaving the place they knew as home when Brent Venables went back to Oklahoma to be head coach.

Tyler, a junior safety for Clemson, reflects on the devastating 24-hour period in 2011 that ended up playing a major role in Brent leaving his comfort zone in Norman and doing something completely new and different with Dabo Swinney.

Tyler was only 10 at the time when Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box and Brent's brother Kirk died within a day of each other. He was too young to grasp the magnitude of it in the moment, but as an adult he still has trouble holding it together as he reflects on that immensely difficult period for his father and the family.

After Brent left for Oklahoma last December, Tyler surprised everyone and maybe even himself when he opted to remain at Clemson. He stayed because of his love for Swinney and his attachment to the holistic culture he has built over the years.

When Brent turned down the Auburn job in 2020, Tyler thought that sealed his future.

"I thought at the time: 'He's going to retire as a defensive coordinator,'" he said.

A year later, Lincoln Riley shocked the college football world by leaving for Southern Cal. And soon thereafter, Tyler's father was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.

 

 

Charlie Whitehurst

Charlie Whitehurst returns to the podcast to share what it was like joining Pat McAfee's live broadcast during the recent Clemson-Florida State game.

The highlight of the show for Whitehurst: A show staffer doing dead-on impersonations of Lou Holtz late in the broadcast.

Whitehurst gives his perspective on the current situation with DJ Uiagalelei, who was benched temporarily last week against Syracuse after committing three turnovers.

Whitehurst revisits the 2002 change at quarterback to him from Willie Simmons. He still gets emotional when he thinks about Simmons' graciousness and warmth even as he was being surpassed in a move that led to Simmons' transfer to The Citadel.

Whitehurst has plenty of hobbies in his post-football life. He and his father restore Porsche sports cars, and Charlie just recently returned from long hunting excursions to Utah and Texas. He lives in the Atlanta area.

 

 

Bill D’Andrea

Fourteen years ago, Billy D'Andrea was the man who went to fetch Dabo Swinney from the football offices after Terry Don Phillips and Tommy Bowden parted ways.

Swinney, then the receivers coach for Clemson, couldn't understand why he was being summoned to the AD's office.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked D'Andrea. "How long is this going to take because we're busy getting ready for Georgia Tech."

Swinney's world was rocked a few minutes later when he was told not just that his head coach was out, but that Phillips had chosen him as the interim coach.

"Who? Me? Really?" was Swinney's response as he looked at D'Andrea and then back at Phillips.

D'Andrea, who was Phillips' right-hand man during the most important juncture in Clemson football history, looks back at a time when most everyone outside of Clemson was questioning the hire at best, and mocking it at worst.

D'Andrea lives in the Clemson area and serves as a municipal judge. He also is a beekeeper, having learned the craft from the wife of former AD Dan Radakovich.

 

 

 

Mickey Plyler

Longtime Upstate radio host Mickey Plyler joins the podcast to talk about the furor he caused on his show when he poked fun at the Beastie Boys.

The discussion then moves to the calamitous situation unfolding at Oklahoma with Brent Venables' team looking back at three consecutive weeks of performances ranging from inconsistent to downright brutally bad.

What does this mean for not just Venables but the cluster of assistants and support personnel who left the idyllic situation at Clemson to join him when he replaced Lincoln Riley?

Where does Clemson stand in the hierarchy of elite teams at or near the top?

Should Clemson fans be nervous about Saturday's trip to Tallahassee against a team that looks much more formidable than in 2018 when the Tigers went to Doak Campbell and burned down the place?

We also explore why people are so confrontational and indecent now when they communicate with their fingers, instead of having respectful and maybe even enlightening disagreements.

Joe Giglio

What is Dave Doeren really like?

Is he as much of a jerk as Clemson fans like to think?

Joe Giglio has covered N.C. State since Doeren's arrival in late 2012 and says the coach hasn't been easy to get to know during his long tenure in Raleigh.

Giglio, formerly a longtime newspaper guy who is currently a radio talk-show host and contributor to WRAL TV, joined the podcast on the drive home from Clemson to talk about what Clemson's convincing victory meant for Doeren and the Wolfpack.

A passage from the column Giglio wrote from Death Valley late Saturday night:

While winning is in Clemson’s DNA, NC State’s double helix is laced with wasted shots and what-could-have-beens. Much of the ’21 State team, which finished 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the ACC, came back for one more crack at the elusive ACC crown.

The two main players that didn’t — All-American left tackle Ickey Ekwonu and receiver Emeka Emezie — are proving to be a huge void to fill.

Clemson’s defensive front, even without injured star Bryan Bresee, dominated the Wolfpack blockers on Saturday night.

“They won the line of scrimmage,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “Their D-line played really good.”

The Tigers also got a bounce here and made a break there. That’s what good teams do. Dabo Swinney’s coaching staff has changed but the concepts remain solid.

The basic premise — ride your stars, die with your fastball — remains as true as the ride down Route 76 into town is long and filled with radar guns.

 

Tye Hill

Tye Hill watched every bit of last week's double-overtime victory over Wake Forest.

He's a hardcore Clemson fan. And, as a former cornerback in college and in the NFL, he pays close attention to his old position.

Hill, who lives in the Atlanta area with his family, joins the podcast and goes deep on proper coverage technique.

He was as frustrated as any Clemson fan with all the penalties drawn and catches allowed, but he says he's optimistic about what the scorching trial by fire will mean to this group of corners moving forward.

Hill remembers his own trial by fire in 2003 when he moved to corner from running back and found himself covering a bunch of imposing, talented receivers every day in practice.

Hill explores how much offensive football has changed in the last decade-plus, and how much harder that makes it for defenses to adjust.

He also shares what he's up to these days, and how he satisfies the competitive urges that can no longer be quenched by playing football.

 

 

Ben Boulware

Ben Boulware is a business owner.

He's married.

He's usually asleep by 8 PM.

Boulware said even he's surprised that he's all grown up now. He's come a long way from his playing days as a bombastic, freewheeling force of nature for Clemson's football team.

"I'm 28," he said. "But I feel like I'm 58."

Boulware, co-owner of The Junkyard fitness centers, said it's been an adventure opening a location in downtown Clemson. 

Boulware is now the voice and face of Clemson's pre-game entrance to Death Valley, as a video booms his commands to the players and fans to give everything they have to sustain the Tigers' reputation for greatness.

Boulware remains close with Brent Venables, the most important figure in his playing career. He shares a story from 2014, his sophomore year, when he was upset that the wasn't starting over Tony Steward and he told Venables he was quitting the team.

Venables laughed and told him he wasn't going anywhere. Boulware started the next game, and by the end of the year he was contributing a pick-6 in the Tigers' bowl destruction of Oklahoma.

Two years later, Boulware was giving a speech at Death Valley as the fans and team celebrated the Tigers' 2016 national championship.

 

 

 

 

 

Justin Falcinelli

In addition to his full-time job as a data analyst at Northrup Grumman in Baltimore, Justin Falcinelli is spending considerable time working to affect change as a member of the College Football Players Association.

As a member of Clemson's football team from 2015 to 2018, and the starting center on the team that smacked Alabama 44-16 for the national title, Falcinelli has a deep understanding of how big and profitable college football has become.

He also believes athletes should have a bigger share of the revenues that are currently being spent on skyrocketing salaries for coaches.

The thrust of Falcinelli's efforts is to secure long-term health care for college athletes. In his mind, that's the least that big-time athletics can do for players who often face lifelong health issues after playing a violent game.

Falcinelli also looks back to the amazing run he was able to be a part of, when Clemson rose from pretty good to perennially great.

In the 2018 CFP semifinal against Notre Dame, Falcinelli suffered what ended up being a serious ankle injury. He pushed through as the Tigers' offensive line protected Trevor Lawrence and allowed for the Tigers to slice apart the Crimson Tide's defense.

Falcinelli graduated from Clemson with a degree in management and then earned his MBA.