The Clemson Dubcast

Dayne Young of UGASports.com

With Kirby Smart and his program facing repeated off-field-incidents, the latest the arrest of receiver RaRa Thomas and his subsequent dismissal from the team, what's the common view of Smart and his culture from typical Georgia fans?

Is it fair to say he and his program have a character problem? 

What of Dabo Swinney, and the view of him from Bulldogs people?

Is there a belief in Athens that Clemson is a legitimate threat to beat Georgia in the Aug. 31 opener?

Young, who has three different jobs -- one at the UGA Rivals site, the other teaching at UGA's college of journalism, and the other in public relations -- is well positioned to give an answer to those questions and many others.

Young is also a weekly guest on Mickey Plyler's morning radio show at WCCP-FM.

 

 

 

 

 

Kyle Richardson and Mickey Conn

In our final installment of the full, uncut media sit-downs recently conducted by Clemson's assistant football coaches, we present Kyle Richardson and Mickey Conn.

Richardson is in his third season coaching the Tigers' tight ends, and he has a potential star in Jake Briningstool.

Conn, who is in his eighth year coaching safeties while also holding the co-defensive coordinator title for a third season, reflects on the depth he has on the back end with RJ Mickens, Khalil Barnes and Tyler Venables ahead of a cluster of young players who should push for playing time.

The Tigers began August camp Thursday. They open the 2024 season Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta.

Tyler Grisham and Mike Reed

We continue with the uncut audio from the recent sit-downs with Clemson's football assistants.

Tyler Grisham prepares for his fifth season in charge of Clemson's receivers after taking over for Jeff Scott in 2020. He sees big things out of this group if the receivers can stay healthy, something that's been a major obstacle in recent years. 

Mike Reed discusses replacing Nate Wiggins after a spectacular 2023 season from the cornerback. Avieon Terrell is expected to be an elite presence sooner rather than later as he enters his sophomore season. Jeadyn Lukus and Shelton Lewis could be in a fierce competition for the starting spot on the other side. And newcomers Tavoy Feagin and Corian Gipson are considered fast risers also.

Reed has been at Clemson for 11 seasons. This past offseason he was in the mix to become head coach at his alma mater, Boston College, but the Eagles ended up hiring Bill O'Brien from Ohio State.

Clemson begins August camp Thursday and opens the season Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta.

C.J. Spiller and Nick Eason

We continue presenting the full, uncut audio from the recent interviews conducted of Clemson's assistant football coaches.

Today C.J. Spiller reflects on his upcoming induction into Clemson's prestigious Ring of Honor, and also his assessment of the Tigers' situation at running back behind starter Phil Mafah.

Nick Eason, back for his third season as defensive tackles coach, holds court and shares his thoughts on what should be a highly disruptive interior. He also gives his opinions on the current state of college football with the transfer portal and NIL.

Clemson begins August camp a week from today. 

The Tigers open the season Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta.

 

Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin

We present the full, uncut audio from the recent media sit-downs by Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin.

Riley discusses Year 2 in his role as offensive coordinator at Clemson after last year didn't go according to plan, with the offense frequently succumbing to self-impaling turnovers, erratic quarterback play, lack of cohesion at receiver and inconsistent offensive line play.

Goodwin, who rebounded in 2023 after a difficult first season filling the shoes of Brent Venables, looks to have the defense at an elite level thanks largely to a defensive front that could rank among the nation's best.

Clemson opens the season Aug. 31 against Georgia in Atlanta. The Tigers open preseason camp Aug. 1.

 

 

Matt Luke and Chris Rumph

We present the full audio from the media's visit with Matt Luke and Chris Rumph last week.

Dabo Swinney made a major splash last December -- one his skeptics didn't think he'd make -- by parting with Thomas Austin and Lemanski Hall.

Much like with the Brandon Streeter-Garrett Riley transition, Swinney probably wasn't going to make a change if he couldn't land a big fish.

Luke and Rumph qualified as big fish, and from all accounts they are bringing a different dynamic to the football building and practice fields with their authority, command and demand for physical and mental toughness.

 

 

Dubcast Rewind: C.J. Spiller

With C.J. Spiller in the news recently upon the announcement of his induction into Clemson's Ring of Honor, we go back four years to an extended interview with the former superstar and current running backs coach.

Back then, Spiller was preparing for his wedding. He had not yet joined Dabo Swinney's staff. He was a volunteer track coach at Liberty High School, trying to impart some of the lessons that helped made him a great football player and track athlete.

In the course of this interview Spiller covered a number of topics, including the back of a business card that Swinney turned into a pseudo contract with Spiller to assure that he followed through on his commitment to Clemson in 2006 (Swinney was then Clemson's receivers coach).

Spiller did follow through on the unconventional path to Clemson, and his decision could reasonably classified as the most important by a player in Clemson's football history.

Because without him, it's hard to imagine Swinney later leading Clemson to prominence and dominance.

This interview took place in late-April of 2020 after COVID had shut down just about everything.

That summer, Spiller would join Swinney's staff as an intern. A year later he became running backs coach after Tony Elliott's departure for the head job at Virginia, and he is now preparing for his fourth season in charge of the position.

 

Dubcast Rewind: Steve Spurrier and Tom Rinaldi

We travel back to late 2018 when Clemson was on a rampage to its second national title in three seasons.

In the days before Clemson's rivalry game against South Carolina, we visited with Steve Spurrier for his recollections about his epic wars of words with Dabo Swinney when Spurrier was the Gamecocks' coach.

As Spurrier crept closer to walking away from the game, and as he saw Swinney building Clemson into a powerhouse, the two became closer and Spurrier ended up inviting Dabo and wife Kathleen to his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Late in 2018, Rinaldi traveled to Clemson for an in-depth ESPN story on the 10th anniversary of Swinney taking over as Clemson's head coach. As he said during this interview, the inspiration for his feature was a multi-part series Tigerillustrated.com reported on the same topic earlier that fall.

The interview with Rinaldi took place as Clemson was preparing to face Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.

The Tigers went on to beat the Irish and Alabama by an aggregate 74-19 in the 2018 College Football Playoff.

 

Billy Donlon

Billy Donlon goes way back with Brad Brownell -- all the way back to when Brownell was an assistant at UNC-Wilmington and Donlon played for the school.

Donlon later served as an assistant for Brownell when Brownell was head coach at UNC-W, and then he followed him to Wright State when Brownell got that job.

After Brownell left for Clemson, Donlon took over for him at Wright State and lasted six seasons.

Donlon has been Brownell's associate head coach for the past two seasons. He joins The Dubcast to reflect on the Tigers' stirring Elite Eight run and all the things that went into it.

Donlon also goes deep on his life story: His grandparents came to America from Ireland, living in New York after entering via Ellis Island.

Donlon's father was an assistant coach for Providence and played a major role in recruiting the team that went to the Final Four in 1987. He had left a year earlier to join Bill Foster at Northwestern.

Donlon remembers growing up in the Chicago area when the Bulls were becoming transcendent with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and others.

He routinely visited the Bulls' practice facility, and he recalls one day when Pippen and Horace Grant invited him to lunch.

"I was three hours late coming home, and the cops were at my house when I got home because my mom didn't know where I was," he said.

 

Thomas Austin, Part 2

In Part 2 of our lengthy interview with Thomas Austin, the former Clemson offensive line coach reflects on how he has transitioned from the non-stop grind of coaching.

Having become strongly rooted in Clemson, he and his family are hoping to remain. 

"My oldest is 12, and he was on the sidelines when I was the coach. He's still processing it. He's pulling for baseball right now, and he loves Clemson Athletics. But the football side of it is complicated for him. 

"Our other children, we'll sit them down and say: 'We need to talk to you guys.' And they'll be like, 'Oh no, are we about to move?' And we'll say no, we're just going to the lake this weekend."

"They're always worried that the next time we sit down to talk to them is going to be when they're told they have to leave all their friends.

"So that's the human element of it. It's not just about me. It's about my wife and my family too. It affects a lot of people. But that's a part of the business."

Austin also shares a classic story from his recruitment, when a first-year South Carolina coach named Steve Spurrier tried to pursue Austin but was told in no uncertain terms by Austin's mother that her son was going to Clemson.