The Clemson Dubcast

Bob Thomas

It's been quite a ride for Bob Thomas over the last 15 years.

A longtime newspaper guy and distinguished chronicler of Florida State football during the Bobby Bowden dynasty, Thomas was laid off by the Florida Times-Union in 2008.

He then took a job with Florida State as the head sports information director for football and found himself navigating the tumult of 2009 when FSU's administration told Bowden it was time to go.

When Jimbo Fisher arrived, the coach had other ideas about the football team's communications and Thomas was pushed to a different department.

Just a year ago, Thomas found himself a victim of pandemic-related job cuts within FSU's athletics department. He's now adjusting to his new job as media specialist for FSU's College of Medicine.

Thomas is a trove of knowledge and stories about FSU's incredible run under Bowden, and he explores the similarities of that era with the current Clemson-dominated ACC world.

Thomas also gives his thoughts on how long it'll be before the Seminoles can contend with the Clemson monster.

 

 

Brett Jensen

Brett Jensen, formerly a Clemson beat reporter and currently a news reporter for Charlotte radio station WBT, gives his perspective on his tense exchange with North Carolina governor Roy Cooper this week.

Jensen, who said his station has not been called on to ask a question over the last 14 months at routine press briefings from the governor and his staffers, said other outlets are also being frozen out.

Jensen reflects on the need for accountability from all public officials regardless of political affiliation, and then draws parallels to his former profession as a scrutinizer of highly-paid football and basketball coaches.

Another topic covered is how media access has changed overall over the years, both in sports and in general news.

 

 

 

Drew Butler

Former Georgia and NFL punter Drew Butler joins the podcast to talk Clemson-Georgia, and also his role in helping college athletes navigate the coming age of Name, Image and Likeness. Butler works for Icon Source, which connects both pro and college athletes to businesses that are interested in sponsoring them.

Butler is also the creator and host of Punt And Pass podcast, which he co-hosts with former Bulldog quarterback Aaron Murray.

When he was with the Arizona Cardinals, Butler became good friends with former Tiger Chandler Catanzaro and said Catanzaro helped give him a deep appreciation for what Dabo Swinney has built at Clemson.

 

Brian Boone and Clay Lowder

On the weekend of Dabo Swinney's All-In Ball, Brian Boone and Clay Lowder join the podcast to talk philanthropy and helping others.

In late December, Lowder decided he was going to fully fund a trip to the Sugar Bowl for a Clemson family that had gone through struggle. He sent the family of Ken Kelly, who spent the previous year battling liver cancer and COVID.

Months later, Boone was similarly inspired when he decided to give up his six-seat table at the All-In Ball to a Clemson family who would be positively impacted from the experience.

Saturday night, Joey Millwood and his family will attend the All-In Ball, listen to guest speaker Jon Gruden, and receive a full tour of the Reeves Center. Joey and his wife Erin lost their 10-year-old daughter Eliza Cait to leukemia in 2018. They began a ministry in her honor, Bright Light Dance Ministry, to send dancers across the world to spread the gospel because Eliza Cait loved Jesus and loved to dance.

Boone lost his wife, Kathy Boone, in May of 2018. Five months earlier, Clemson's football staff opened its doors and its hearts to the Boone family in a story documented by Tigerillustrated.com.

Boone and Lowder reflect on how much giving to others can help not only the recipient but the person giving.

 

 

 

 

Matt Hayes

Jacksonville radio personality and longtime college football writer Matt Hayes joins the podcast to give a sense of what it's like in Jaguars Land in response to Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne joining the franchise.

Hayes said the locals are giddy over not just what Lawrence can do on the field, but the leader he promises to be in the community.

Hayes recently recently interviewed Stanford coach David Shaw, who said Lawrence is going to be one of the NFL greats.

Also, Hayes reflects on a media climate that creates hysteria over someone such as Lawrence merely mentioning that there's more to his life than football.

Hayes also shares his take on the college football hierarchy.

Despite Georgia's presence, and despite Ohio State's romp over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, Hayes says: "I think it's still an Alabama and Clemson world."

 

 

 

 

Kyle Young

Kyle Young, associate AD for administration at Clemson, joins The Dubcast to reflect on the remarkable coaching job by men's soccer coach Mike Noonan over the past year. Noonan and the Tigers withstood major attrition from last year's team and are a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Young also explores the Academic Common Market and provides insight on how it affects Clemson's baseball and soccer teams.

In February of 2008, Young was working for Terry Don Phillips when receivers coach Dabo Swinney asked for Phillips advice on pursing the head-coaching job at South Alabama. Swinney was a finalist for the job.

"I remember talking to Terry Don at that time," Young recalled. "Terry Don said to me: 'I just told him he didn't need to take that job.' That was Terry Don telling me he saw bigger and better things for Dabo."

Less than a year later, Swinney was Clemson's head coach. 

 

 

Cole Cubelic and Pete Yanity

Cole Cubelic of ESPN joins the podcast to give his reflections of Georgia after spending last weekend in Athens covering the Bulldogs' spring game. Cubelic says Kirby Smart's team is among the more physically imposing he can recall in recent college football history, and he raves about JT Daniels' progress and presence as Georgia's quarterback.

Pete Yanity, who covered the Danny Ford era as a young TV reporter in Florence, gives his memories of those days after reading some of the Tigerillustrated.com series on Ford's Clemson tenure, and compares those glory days to the current run of brilliance under Dabo Swinney.

Billy Davis

Former Clemson Tiger Billy Davis rejoins the podcast to reflect on the ongoing Tigerillustated.com series on the Danny Ford era at Clemson.

Even for someone who was present for much of that era, Davis finds his own eyes opened by all the tumult that occurred during the 1980s -- from probation, to the revelations of steroid use, to regular clashes between Ford and his administration.

Davis, whose long punt return in the 1981 Orange Bowl helped set up a score that gave Clemson breathing room in a championship victory over Nebraska, looks back on those days and views all the baggage as yet another affirmation of Dabo Swinney's greatness.

One of Davis' daughters is a freshman swimmer at Kentucky, and he goes into deep reflections on parenting a child in athletics through elementary school, middle school and beyond.

Last fall, as Kentucky's swimming team was preparing for a crucial meet against Tennessee, Dabo Swinney spent 45 minutes on a Zoom call with the Wildcats' team. This was the week of Clemson's game against Boston College, and the week the Tigers lost Trevor Lawrence to a positive COVID test.

Davis is an avid reader of Tigerillustrated.com and a regular poster on the WEZ message board.

 

 

 

John Newman

Former Clemson basketball player John Newman discusses the reasoning behind his transfer from the Tigers' program, and his decision to join UNC Greensboro.

Newman also gives his perspective on the growing anguish and alarm over the proliferation of transfers in college athletics.

 

 

George Sluppick

George Sluppick, professional drummer, has played with such acts as Albert King, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, JJ Grey and Mofro, Luther Dickinson, Robert Walter, Charlie Hunter, Melvin Sparks and numerous other music luminaries.

Sluppick joins the podcast to talk life on the road, including several visits to Clemson when Mofro played a popular music venue called The Joint.

He shares details on the tumultuous, volatile nature of life on the road with Chris Robinson and what he learned from that experience.

He also recalls as a 19-year-old playing for Albert King and regularly being cussed out on stage by the legendary bluesman.

Musicians everywhere have had their worlds rocked by the pandemic over the past year, and Sluppick shares how he's adapted to continue making a living doing what he loves.

Sluppick is a widely respected soul/funk drummer known for honoring the song and providing a thick, groovy backbone.

Noted music critic Ben Ratliff once wrote: “George Sluppick puts a lot of funk into a medium tempo, and recalls the kings of heavy foot: musicians like John Bonham and Gregg Errico from Sly and the Family Stone, who drove their bass-drum beats into your spine.” 

George and his Memphis-based organ trio, The City Champs, recently released their third album: "Luna 68."