The Clemson Dubcast

Chris Low

Chris Low, longtime chronicler of college football for ESPN.com, joins The Dubcast to reflect on the recent monumental events at Alabama.

Low, who broke the news that Nick Saban was retiring, said he received a tip about two hours before Saban announced it to his team. 

Low said Saban indicated to Alabama AD Greg Byrne late in the season that he was leaning toward retirement, but he wasn't certain of it until the morning that he actually announced it.

Though Alabama contacted Dabo Swinney to gauge his interest in the job, Low believes Washington's Kalen DeBoer and Florida State's Mike Norvell were the top two candidates on Byrne's list.

Low also gives his thoughts on the state of college football, which a growing number of people believe is unsustainable in its current form with NIL and the transfer portal creating fluid and unpredictable situations just about everywhere.

 

 

 

 

C.D. Davies of the 110 Society

C.D. Davies of the 110 Society joins The Dubcast for an extended conversation about the complicated, murky world of NIL in college football.

Davies believes the common narratives about Dabo Swinney being against NIL do not comport with reality, and a chief piece of evidence is the coach's very decision to hire Davies to preside over the football program's NIL operations.

Davies, a 1986 Clemson grad who went on to be highly successful executive in the banking and lending industry, believes his experience dealing with regulatory authorities makes him highly suited to dealing with the NCAA's ever-changing messaging and regulating of how players are compensated.

Rules explicitly prohibit pay-for-play, yet the practice is so commonplace that television announcers discuss such arrangements about specific high-profile players during their broadcasts of games.

"I see that and hear it," Davies said. "That's flat-out cheating. We haven't done that, and we're not going to do it. We're going to follow the rules."

Davies takes us behind the NIL curtain and shares what it's really like as Clemson navigates the process of fundraising for NIL, and arranging deals with its athletes.

He says "donor exhaustion" is very real, at Clemson and everywhere else. His model for the future is exploring and creating a commercial side of NIL funding that relieves a significant amount of pressure on fans to fund yet another expensive reality of major-college athletics competition.

 

 

Mickey Plyler

Mickey Plyler joins The Dubcast to reflect on Michigan winning the national title and what it means.

Is Jim Harbaugh really as bad a guy as the general college football populace believes? Should Clemson fans, who have often seen their own coach trashed in the college football conversation, have some perspective on the view of Harbaugh?

If Michigan were in the SEC, would the day-after conversation be asking if the Wolverines' defense is one of the best ever?

What of the over-the-top reactions to Florida State's playoff snub?

Are bowl games basically toast?

Speaking of food, we take a detour into one of Plyler's passions: Grilling on his back porch.

How best to cook a pork chop? Or a filet mignon?

How does Plyler master the art of cooking pizza on the Big Green Egg?

Best of 2023 (Part 2)

We look back at some of the best interview segments from The Clemson Dubcast in 2023.

In Part 2 we feature David Pollack, Jeff Scott and Lucas Glover.

Pollack reflects on what it was like to lose his job at ESPN, and the joys he took from suddenly having a lot of time on his hands to enjoy his family. Pollack is also close with Clemson defensive back Khalil Barnes.

Scott details why he's still loving being out of coaching as he coaches youth soccer and makes up for family time that was lost when he was head coach at South Florida and an assistant at Clemson.

Glover shares the story of his torturous, decade-long battle with the putting yips, and how he managed to get past it by completely changing his putting stroke.

 

Best of 2023 (Part 1)

We look back at some of the best interview segments from The Clemson Dubcast in 2023.

In Part 1 we feature Tim Cowan, Holden Thorp and Eric Mac Lain.

Cowan, a Clemson graduate, became a bit of a celebrity when he was discovered standing behind visiting coaches after their teams won at Death Valley: FSU's Mike Norvell in 2023, South Carolina's Shane Beamer in 2022, and Pitt's Pat Narduzzi in 2016. When Cowan was a student at Clemson he owned a downtown bar called Rumors.

Thorp served as chancellor of North Carolina during some of the early stages of realignment, and was a key behind-the-scenes figure as the ACC explored strategic moves. Thorp said the Tar Heels could've gone to the SEC if they wanted to, but they ended up choosing to remain in the ACC.

Mac Lain, who works for the ACC Network, goes in-depth on what it's like criticizing his alma mater during some of Clemson's rougher patches the past couple years.

Part 2 is coming this weekend.

 

 

Dabo Swinney on NSD

Dabo Swinney had two extended media appearances on National Signing Day to discuss his signings for the 2024 recruiting class.

Swinney visited with Adam Gorney of Rivals.com, then sat with the media who cover Clemson.

Swinney speaks extensively on his portal philosophy, and why portal targets weren't a match for Clemson this year.

He also raves about the four offensive linemen that are part of this class, all of whom will be mid-year enrollees.

The latest rankings by Rivals have the Tigers' class at No. 10 nationally.

Clemson plays Kentucky in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 29.

 

 

Rick Stockstill

Former longtime Clemson assistant coach Rick Stockstill joins the podcast to reflect on life after 18 years as Middle Tennessee State's head coach.

Stockstill was fired in late November, and he says his main objective now is trying to find jobs for the staffers who worked for him. 

Stockstill is full of stories from working under the likes of Danny Ford, Tommy Bowden, Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier.

His reluctant decision to leave Clemson in 2003, for the offensive coordinator job at East Carolina, might have been the most important coaching departure in Clemson history:

Tommy Bowden filled the vacancy by hiring Dabo Swinney, who'd been out of coaching for two years and was well on his way to being successful in commercial real estate.

After a year at East Carolina, Stockstill left to work for Lou Holtz at South Carolina. He said coaching and recruiting for the Gamecocks was strange initially because he spent so many years competing against them.

"When we were at Clemson I would throw the football with my son Brent, and I'd give him signals for which route to run," Stockstill said.

The signal for a go route was Stockstill tapping his head, and the name of the play was "Gamecock Killer" in reference to Rod Gardner's legendary catch of Woody Dantzler's desperation pass in a 2000 victory over South Carolina.

"When we went to South Carolina, Brent was asking me why. I told him this is part of the profession, and we'll have to come up with some new signals."

Stockstill's first of two seasons in Columbia was 2004, which ended in the infamous brawl against the Gamecocks at Death Valley.

He remembers standing on the South Carolina sideline before the game and watching Gamecock players run to the east end zone to greet Clemson as it ran down the hill.

Stockstill turned to a South Carolina staffer and said: "These boys don't know what they just did."

Clemson dominated the game and won 29-7 in Lou Holtz's last game as coach.

Stockstill said he hopes join a college staff as an analyst.

 

 

 

Matt Connolly

Longtime Clemson chronicler Matt Connolly joins the podcast to reflect on what it's like working normal hours now after years of being a one-man show covering the Tigers, and basically being on call at all times as he reacted to every piece of news.

Connolly still covers Clemson, but more from a distance from his home in Spartanburg. The more regular structure has allowed him to spend more quality time with his family, though he did get to Clemson this season for games against Florida State and Notre Dame.

Connolly gives his take on Dabo Swinney's decision to fire two assistants, and what it means about Swinney's commitment to getting the Tigers back to the top.

Should Swinney and the Tigers' staff consider adding a portal quarterback to challenge Cade Klubnik for the starting job?

Does the successful pursuit of Matt Luke and Chris Rumph -- and the eye-opening salaries for both -- say something about Clemson positioning itself to play big-boy football long-term, perhaps in another conference?

What of the chaotic uproar that followed the Seminoles' snub from the College Football Playoff? Connolly said he'd have also left FSU out because of Jordan Travis' season-ending injury, but he feels awful for the Seminoles' entire team.

 

Ellis Johnson

Ellis Johnson has been on both sides of the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry.

As Tommy West's defensive coordinator from 1994-96, Johnson remembers facilities that were so bad that the Tigers once tried to practice in a nearby livestock arena.

"That lasted about 40 minutes and we left," he said. "The reason most people have never heard about it is because we didn't want to let it get out and risk recruits hearing about it. 

"Clemson obviously doesn't have that problem now. Their facilities are amazing."

Johnson, a native of Winnsboro, was also on Steve Spurrier's staff at South Carolina from 2008 to 2011 as major recruiting hauls helped push the Gamecocks to sustained success they'd never experienced before and haven't since.

The Gamecocks beat Clemson five years in a row from 2009-13, all by double digits.

South Carolina's win last year in Death Valley snapped a seven-game Clemson winning streak in the series.

"I don't think they'll ever get back to winning like they did when we were there," Johnson said of the Gamecocks.

Johnson, whose last stint as a full-time assistant was at Auburn in 2013-14, said Dabo Swinney wanted him as his defensive coordinator when Swinney took over as head coach in 2008.

Johnson's contract at South Carolina had a massive buyout of more than $1 million, and Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips was against the move. Swinney ended up hiring Kevin Steele, who lasted three seasons.

Johnson's son Charlie is a freshman walk-on receiver at Clemson. Charlie had a scholarship offer from The Citadel, but he wanted to walk on at either South Carolina or Clemson. He chose the Tigers in part because of how much Swinney's culture embraces walk-ons.

Ellis has watched both teams from afar this season, and he believes Clemson has been better than all 11 opponents it has faced.

"Turnovers are the reason they've lost four games," he said.

He thinks Swinney's team is significantly better than Shane Beamer's.

"If both teams come in and play well, Clemson will win by 10 points," he said. "But in that game, and at night, and at South Carolina's stadium? You can't count on that happening. There may be some turnovers and other things that happen. 

"Clemson better be prepared for the noise, because on offense it's a very difficult to place to play. It will be a factor in that game. If Clemson sputters and turns it over early and keeps that crowd in it, they're going to have a hard time. But if they come out and control the ball and put points up, take the ball off of South Carolina, it may not be a close game.

"But I wouldn't begin to try to predict this game, because both teams have been less than consistent."

 

Laura Rigney, mother of Tristan Leigh

When Laura Rigney learned her son was probably going to be good enough at football to play in college, she began making plans to move with him wherever he ended up.

So in 2021 when Leigh left for Clemson, Laura sold their home in Fairfax, Va., and took the family with him.

Leigh, a third-year sophomore who starts at left tackle for the Tigers, chooses to live at the family home 20 minutes from campus near Lake Hartwell.

Beyond the football field, Leigh is far from the typical jock. He has a soft spot in his heart for people with disabilities, or kids who aren't popular.

"Growing up, he would always find the person sitting alone in the classroom and befriend them," his mother said.

Included was Zoe, a special-needs student Tristan protected in high school.

“If you have the power to change the culture in school or in a group, you gotta use that,” Tristan told Jon Blau of The Post and Courier. “That’s where I saw that opportunity. I saw them picking on her, I’m like, ‘I can shut this down right now.’ It’s what we should all do.’”

It's those moments that make Tristan's mother the proudest. Whatever her son goes on to achieve on the football field, it won't match the loving and empathetic soul he's become off it.