The "North Carolina Perspective" Edition

Josh Graham joins the show to discuss the ACC and college football, plus Faxon Childress talks Clemson in hour two.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time Clemson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan. Finally, Clemson

(00:45):
Sports Talk has come back to drive time. Hello everybody,
Lowton Swan back in the saddle once again. It is
d show that Shakes the south Land, Clemson Sports Talk
for you each and every afternoon as you make your
way around the great state of South Carolina and beyond,
listening to us on incredible radio stations like Fox Sports
Radio fourteen hundred the Midlands, around the world on the

(01:07):
iHeartRadio app and of course, the Show that Shakes of
South lambrought to you in part by our good friends
over at METS Plumbing seven three two drip, Drip, Drip drip.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
You know the.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Jingle seven three to two drip. That's Mets Plumbing, mets
Plumbing dot com. That's their website as well, and again
thank you to Mets Plumbing and all of our sponsors
here on the program. Coming up today a couple of guests.
We'll talk with Josh Graham about the thought process in
the state of North Carolina. He's a kid that grew
up in the Raleigh area, went to East Carolina and

(01:40):
works I believe it's stations over in Winston Salem, but
without further Ado. Josh, welcome in man. How are you.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's good to be here.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
Anytime you get a chance to talk ACC and specifically
clenchedon tires, you've got to take the opportunity. You gotta
be two feet in. You gotta be all in Malton,
we gotta.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Be gotta be all I. We'll get to the Tigers
at a minute. I will say, I guess the stories
of their demise may have been exaggerated given what they
did a year ago and the expectations. Now, that's something
that's kind of blowing me away a little bit. Josh.
Let's start though, for our audience that maybe hasn't heard you.
I know you've been on the show one other time,
maybe twice at the a SEC kickoff over the years.

(02:20):
Give us some insight into Josh Graham and kind of
your path to where you are today on WSJS up
in the Greensboro area hosting The Drive with Josh Graham.

Speaker 4 (02:32):
Yeah, I grew up in North Carolina.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
I went to East Carolina.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
University before doing my show here in the heart of
the ACC. Even though the headquarters are in Charlotte, the
home of the a SEC is always in Greensboro. Folks
that need to.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
Know that distinction.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
So I'm the longest running local talk show that the
Triads had sports talk show running seven years starting next month,
and we're proud of that. And I guess the East
Carolina piece is kind of important because everybody, you know
how it works when you have several teams in the state,

(03:10):
everybody likes to claim, you know, bias or preferences when
when you're talking about teams.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
So I because I went to East.

Speaker 4 (03:19):
Carolina, I have an equal amount of love and I
guess hate for inc State.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
Duke Carolina wake for us and it makes for a
fun time.

Speaker 4 (03:27):
So we're at it seven years and the acc it's
a lot different.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Today than it was seven years ago, but.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
Still just as much as fascinating and maybe even a
little more.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
So yeah, well we got that in common. So congratulations.
I got the longest uninterrupted show here in the midlands
of South Carolina, and maybe if we go around the state,
I may have the longest uninterrupted sports talk show in
the state. But I don't know. There's been some that
have been around longer, but they've had some interruptions in
their programming. But congrats on that, sir.

Speaker 4 (03:57):
I'm sure your show has gone just as long as
the South Carolina Clemson.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Rivalry on an around years. Yeah, I'll do it somewhere close.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Well, Hey, with twenty twenty, I now have a longer
streak than Clemson in South Carolina, giving that little hitching
the gideo kah well a ridiculous thing. Anyway, all right,
let's talk a little college football. Look, the expectations for
Clemson is where we'll begin. Because you kind of touched
on that. I think the big conversations that I have

(04:27):
with people in and around the Tigers are just trying
to kind of temper that, if you will, because it
is a little bit out of the norm. I think
Clempson warmed up to it during their run twenty fifteen
to twenty twenty. But up until this season, Josh, you
really haven't had the off season conversations about the team
in Tigertown the way you are right now.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (04:49):
And I think Clemson earned that benefit of the doubt
last year where Dabo Sweeney doubled down on.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
His system, his processes.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
Everybody said, oh, you needed to go heavy into the
bordal after twenty twenty three, and Dabo's in it, and
Dabo had.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
A fabulous year last year.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
And now what.

Speaker 4 (05:12):
We're seeing as we enter the revenue sharing age and
so much of college football is going to become about
acquiring talent and retaining talent. Dabo retained his players, and
he retains the top guys on his team, and guys
want to stick around even when they have opportunity to
potentially jump to the NFL. And thus there are a

(05:34):
lot of familiar faces, and it makes it very easy
for the often lazy folks in our industry to get
behind a team if they know who the players are.
And everybody knows who.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Follows college football and the ACC who Cave Club Nick is.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
And the kind of crazy part about it, honestly is
when you look at it from the NFL perspective.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Long I saw a mock draft.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
I think it was Todd McShay who put it out
right after the draft had ended, because you got to
get the pre draft or the will too soon mocks
out there after the last or the last draft is completed.
And there were six Clinton Tigers in the first round.
So when you talk about that that kind of talent,
does that mean.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
You're gonna have six first round picks next year?

Speaker 5 (06:16):
No?

Speaker 4 (06:17):
But if you have guys who are in that conversation
more than a half about a half dozen maybe more.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
You should be in the conversation.

Speaker 4 (06:25):
You should be given that type of hype, not just
being the best team in the ACC, but potentially being
the national title contender as well.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
He's Josh Graham. You can watch his show The Drive
with Josh Graham on YouTube. Just search for it over
there each and every afternoon from three until six o'clock.
And so from the outside of the Upstate looking in Josh,
I think a lot of people nationally also kind of
laugh at some of the things in the way Dabo
Sweeney wants to run the program this, you know, this

(06:53):
sort of lolly pops and bubblegum mentality that he believes
can still exist. You're somebody that's a little closer than most.
But when you look at it, I mean, and even
your listening audience, what are their thoughts on maybe what
Dabo Sweeney feels college football should be and in some
respects what it's become.

Speaker 4 (07:12):
I think, Davo, when you're in the position that Davo
Sweeney's in, and you've won as much as Dabo has,
you have more license, more freedom to say the things
that perhaps the less achieved, the less accomplished coach coaches

(07:32):
probably think, but don't want to say out loud out
of fear of the criticism and the blowback that might
come with spouting things.

Speaker 6 (07:42):
To have.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
The opinions Dabo.

Speaker 4 (07:44):
Has about where college football is at, I doubt they're
incredibly positive. I doubt he likes it as much as
what he liked about ten years ago when it comes
to amateurism and getting agents.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
Involved and all these things. But I guarantee you, I
can't guarantee it, but it would.

Speaker 4 (08:04):
Be I wouldn't be surprised if the best, if the
majority of college football coaches feel the way Dabo does.
And you know, I'll give you a good example of
Dabo saying something that perhaps the less achieved might not say.
He did the hour long sit down with Belichick with
rhices Davis at ACC spring meetings, and he said, Man,

(08:26):
I'm sitting here in a meeting and I see Bill Belichick.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
I ask some questions.

Speaker 4 (08:30):
I'm thinking this guy is more accomplished than all of
us here, and he's sitting here, has the time for us,
and asking these questions.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
Now that might sound like a small thing to you.

Speaker 4 (08:39):
But what Dabo's saying there by giving that type of
praise to.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
To Belichick is that, hey man, this guy might be
better than all of us are.

Speaker 4 (08:47):
And it takes a special type of confidence, a special
type of you know.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
Feeling self feeling.

Speaker 4 (08:57):
Inside to admit something like that and the way that
other coaches and I talked to other ACC coaches about it,
but publicly they want to gush about Belichick the way
that Dabo did, and some of it has to be like, well,
this guy has to coach in the same league that
we have to as well as a way to kind
of stick your chest out there and try to measure up.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Well, let's go right there. I mean with Belichick coming
in a chapel hill at North Carolina. Obviously it's a
different area in the world of college football. We know that,
but recruiting still exists. What is the tenor of the
fan base there as far as what the tar Heels
expect in your.

Speaker 4 (09:31):
One, Oh, they're super excited for the team. I mean
you talk about the hype that surrounds it. There's just
a different level of attention that's been on this program
than any other point in their history.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
So there's certainly.

Speaker 4 (09:53):
Excitement that comes along with that, but honestly, it's it's
all tethered to this trust in Belichick's ability to coach,
because in terms of the football piece Lawton, it's a mystery,
and it's a manufactured mystery where Bill Belichick doesn't want.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
Us to know what he has. He doesn't want us
to know.

Speaker 6 (10:17):
You.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
A lot of coaches.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
Would take a job and they feel a huge part
of the job is selling the program, selling your players publicly,
going on every show, doing all these things.

Speaker 3 (10:33):
That's not who Bill Belichick is.

Speaker 4 (10:35):
And thus, during camp, during the spring, players weren't made
available for interviews.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
Neither were assistant coaches.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
There were a couple of practice they didn't have a
spring game. They had a couple of like practice sessions
that you could watch, and then you get out to
the practice sessions and none of the players have jersey numbers,
so hard to identify who's making catchup, who's running the ball.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
They don't.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
That's a Belichick thing.

Speaker 4 (11:02):
They don't know jersey numbers at practices, and Belichick views
that as a way for teammates to get to know
each other better. Hey, remember their faces, remember the person.
Don't just use the crush of a jersey number. But
also some of it is to make his team a mystery.
So we don't know who is going to be playing quarterback,
whether it's true freshman Bryce Baker, a local kid from

(11:25):
North Carolina, or if it's Max Johnson coming back from injury,
or if it's the transfer comes in after the spring
from South.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
Alabama and g Lopez. We don't know. We don't know
who some of the game breakers are going to be.
We know that they spent a.

Speaker 4 (11:40):
Lot of time adding guys in the transfer close to
twenty five thirty guys out of the transfer portal, a
lot of focus on the offensive line, but nobody knows
quite what the style of play is going to be,
who some of the guys who will be the impact
players will be, and a lot of that is by
design for Bill.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
Belichick three to six every day The Drive with Job
Graham on WSJS and on YouTube. Just search for it
over there as well. Josh joins us here on the
program on a Wednesday afternoon, and Josh, you brought up
a point that's mind boggling to me. I can't imagine
being Phil Steel right now, Like and he's still the

(12:19):
anchor of the off season in the minds I have
so many people with his magazine, but with the players
moving around, it just completely shifts every dynamic that you
could imagine from you know, team chemistry, you know, how
are these guys going to play together? It just blows
my mind and what that job must be like for him.
It's it's gotta be incredibly difficult.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
Is it possible?

Speaker 4 (12:41):
Like I think, how do you do the depth chart
if guys are switching rosters?

Speaker 3 (12:48):
Like just from a practical magazine.

Speaker 4 (12:50):
As somebody you used to turn out magazines on a
quarterly basis a few times of years, I could tell
you that you need a lot of that stuff in
months in advance. Phil Stields certainly has his work cut
out for him.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Taking a look at the four teams in the state
of North Carolina, in your opinion, is a guy that
is right there talking about it each and every day.
Who do you expect to have the best season.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
It's interesting.

Speaker 4 (13:13):
I think by schedule, I think North Carolina has they're
going to win. It would surprise me if it was
below seven, and it also would surprise me if it
was I'd say they probably are winning seven or eight games,
maybe nine on the high end.

Speaker 3 (13:32):
No way they get lower than six wins. So there's
your range with some of the unknowns of Carolina.

Speaker 4 (13:39):
Oddly, I think out of the teams I trust the most,
given the personnel, I think I trust Duke the most.
And Manny Diaz followed up back to back nine win
seasons for Mike Elko with a nine win.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
Season of his own.

Speaker 4 (13:54):
And if you want to talk about a fabulous addition
that was made finding their Darien Mensa, the quarterback from Tulane,
convincing him to come.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
To Durham, that's a huge, huge deal for Duke having.

Speaker 4 (14:09):
Some assurances at that position. Funny enough, it might be
the only time I've ever seen this. I've covered, as
I mentioned, ACC Sports for the better part of the decade,
and they've gone to so many duke basketball games, and
they have this thing where when a top duke recruit
is coming in, like a Cooper Flag or whoever, if
they're at the game, the fans, the camera crazies will

(14:29):
recognize who it is and they'll chant at some.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
Point in the game, Cooper Flag, come sit with us.
Cooper Flag comes sit with us.

Speaker 4 (14:36):
And then sometimes most of the time they'd come over
and watch some of the game with the Cameron Crazies.
Darien Mensa is the only football recruit I can ever
remember that the Crazies recognized and had him come sit
with them while he was on his visit out of
the portal during basketball season, and then the next day

(14:57):
he committed the Duke. So the Cameron Crazies did their
job and Duke got their quarterback. So I venture to
say it's Duke, even though the schedule is slightly more
difficult than North Carolina.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
Says well, and then that would it kind of begged
the next question because I think for Clemson fans, the
team that most of them look at as being more
of a traditional football team in the ACC has always
been kind of NC State at least arrival for the Tigers.
They open against your East Carolina Pirate Scully Nation, but

(15:28):
they close with a stretch against Georgia Tech, Miami, Florida State,
and North Carolina. And I'm not saying that they're going
to go zero to four in those games, but it's
very possible. And if they do, where does that put
Dave Doran, who's been in Raleigh for years and certainly
has been on and off of the hot seat during

(15:48):
his tenure.

Speaker 4 (15:49):
Elly, you're talking about a dozen years. That's that's the tenure.
Looking at for Dave, it's hard to say. When you
look at the roster. There are a lot of pieces
that you like the FCJ Bailey back at quarterbacks got
While you don't have Casey conception on, you do have
Jolly at receiver and a couple others that returned.

Speaker 3 (16:10):
You have Hollywood some others at running back. The defense
always seems to.

Speaker 4 (16:14):
Be good, but you know, Dave is on the hot
seat coach in generals on the hot seat when he's
making assistant coaching changes. And Dave dealt with it himself
as early as twenty sixteen when he brought in some
guy named Eli Drinkwitz to be a OC and they
got a win late in that year in Chapel Hill

(16:35):
that many didn't think they get on Thanksgiving weekend, and
Dave even said years later that that saved his job.
And after a four win season in twenty eighteen, twenty
nineteen rolls around, or I guess that would have been
twenty nineteen.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
The twenty twenty.

Speaker 4 (16:47):
Season, he had a different OC, a different DC, and
he had maybe the best year he's had at NC State.

Speaker 3 (16:53):
The problem is.

Speaker 4 (16:54):
Last year, the expectations were sky high. But that was
supposed to be the year for the Pack when you
bring a quarterback back and you have all those weapons
and a lot of guys you who have proven things
in the ACC and you had a really good year
in twenty twenty three.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
But it just and it happened.

Speaker 4 (17:08):
And you mentioned East Carolina and the opener. They lost
to East Carolina in the bowl game as well, and
so you were talking about a five hundred season when
some were expecting. This is the year that for just
the second time ever in C State was winning double
digit games. So it kind of does put Dave Dorn
in a tough spot. And you have an ad don't

(17:29):
forget Lawton that just made a basketball coaching change, and
the basketball coach that he fired was a year removed
from making NC State's first Final four since nineteen eighty three.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
Right, So.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
There's certainly some urgency this year for the Pack, and
as you mentioned, it's not going to be easy with
that schedule.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
Josh Graham again host of The Drive with Josh Graham
three to six the BSJS, also streaming live on YouTube
Go find him over there by searching for the drive
with Josh Graham. All right, final thing, we will talk
about Coastal and Louisville. That game's obviously underway this afternoon,
this coast of Carolina in the driver's seat. Let's talk
about gauge Wood and the performance that he had, the

(18:10):
no hitter. That was nearly a perfect game. Man, I
think if you're just a fan of sport, you lock
in for that. Was where was your head as that's
kind of unfolding the other day?

Speaker 4 (18:19):
My head was that obviously the history of the facts
you talk about third hitter and the history of the
College World Series and just the eighth or ninth in
the history of the NCAAA tournament. But also from a
competitive standpoint with LSU playing Arkansas tonight, the biggest disadvantage
you're at in coming out of the losers bracket is
pitching and pitching options, and it kind of mitigates the

(18:45):
advantage that LSU has would have in the scenario tonight
coming out of the winners bracket against ls or against Arkansas.
When a kid throws nine innings, you don't need a
reliever at all. Now they had to bring a couple
of arms out of the pen yesterday in order.

Speaker 3 (19:04):
To get to this stage.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
But Arkansas and LSU, in terms of pure talent, might
be the two most talented teams that are in Omaha,
I think, regardless of how the rest of this game
shakes out, with Louisville Toastals in a great spot because
of all the arms they have and the advantage they
do have for all the reasons we just outline, coming
out of the winners bracket, it's gonna be a fabulous

(19:28):
regardless of what happens, a fabulous championship series.

Speaker 3 (19:31):
We get whether it's.

Speaker 4 (19:32):
The ACC against the SEC or Coastal Carolina against the SEC,
and all the teams left.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
Standing are worthy national championships.

Speaker 4 (19:41):
If they're able to hold the trophy.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
Some might say it's the World against the SEC. He's
Josh Graham, Josh Buddy, always appreciate you, my man.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
Thanks Lawton.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
There you go, Josh Graham. Come to an hour two
Facts and children S will join the show as well.
Keep it locked for more. The show The Shakes the
south Land, Clemson's Sports Talk on a Wednesday. Again, that
will Josh Graham. Before the break, we'll talk with Factson
Childress coming up in our number two eight zero three
four five zero zero eighty six text line, phone line. Again,

(20:14):
you can be a part of the program anytime, any place, anywhere. Well,
big start today in the bottom of the first ending
at the College World Series where the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

Speaker 7 (20:26):
Everybody say it with me, Shanta clears, Shanta clears, not Chanticleers, Chanticleers.

Speaker 1 (20:34):
We got it, Chanticleers. The Chanticleers went up six zip, yeah,
six nothing in the first inning over Louisville. And again
time bending and time shifting here on the program, as
you can imagine, giving the fact that I pre record
the show a little bit, not as far in advance

(20:56):
today as usual, by the way, because I've been working
on a little project. But I am a guy that
knows how to maneuver for the clock. So six to nothing,
end of the first ding out in Omaha. Of course,
for Louisville they have to win two games in order

(21:20):
to advance. For Coastal they just need to win game one,
So things getting early. Big pressure on the Cardinals. We'll
see how they handle things. And then of course tonight
on the opposite side, you've got Arkansas and LSU facing

(21:43):
off and I honestly couldn't help but think about loll
the producer extraordinary as we get closer and closer to
a possible and again it's not looking likely, but the
possible scenario of Louisville and LSU playing in the College
World Series, Because for years and even to this day,

(22:05):
there are times where, for whatever reason, and I think
it's cause Louisiana and Louisville are similar in the sense
of their names, but I've missaid those over the years
here on the program, and I did it a lot
back in the day. I can only imagine if those

(22:28):
two teams had to face off of the College World Series,
what kind of conundrum I might find myself in.

Speaker 8 (22:36):
Again.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Tonight at seven o'clock, LSU looks to advance over Arkansas
as two SEC teams vie for the right to go
to the College World Series Championship, which again begins on
Saturday at seven o'clock on ESPN. So a lot of

(22:57):
work remaining for the Louisville car Cardinals as they go
down big early out in Omaha. And you know the venue.
I was reading an article about, well not necessarily about
the current venue, but about Rosenblatt Stadium built in nineteen
forty eight. Now they play it, of course at Charles Schwabfield.

(23:21):
And how the city of Omaha became the destination for
college baseball and it's fascinating. And they mentioned in the
story much like the Masters at Augusta National, and that's

(23:43):
probably the closest correlation to sort of the vibe, if
you will, or the feeling behind the College World Series
being played in the same town for season after season
after season. And I think in some respects, like we

(24:08):
talked yesterday about would you want to see the Rose
Bowl become the home of the national championship in football?
And I think, Mike, you've have made some great points,
most notably the fact that I think that in this

(24:28):
day and age, you would have to yield towards a
city in the middle of the country. And whether that
created a geographic advantage for Texas, well, that's just dumb
luck because I just can't imagine that the positive reasons

(24:49):
that people would recognize, like the historical significance, the Granddaddy
of them all since nineteen oh two. You know, they
say it's it's the most iconic and tradition rich I
don't know. I've always felt so distant, and maybe this

(25:09):
is being living on the East Coast, I've always felt
so distanced from the Rose Bowl, But if you made
it the permanent side, it would certainly elevate that history
and that prestige that so many people do have about it.
With the San Gabriel Mountains behind it in the background,
it's a scenic view. It's fantastic weather most of the time. Now,

(25:35):
the New Year's Day tradition would have to go away.
That's something that might bother the Rose Bowl if it
were recommended, unless it could keep it on January first
or second. And then the other thing is that it's
just called the Rose Bowl, you know what I mean.

(25:56):
It's not the Chick fil A Rose Bowl. It's just
the Rose Bowl. Plus it's close to Los Angeles, which
a lot of people would say huge media market, would
bring a ton of coverage. And you know, going back
to my original thought on why I don't see that

(26:18):
the Rose Bowl and the same lane that other people
might as because it was always, for most of my
life just the big ten in the Pac twelve. And
so if you were from the Southeastern Conference or the
Atlantic Coast Conference, you probably are even the big twelve.

(26:40):
For that matter, you probably don't view that Bowl game
with the same aura that Michigan, Ohio State and Southern
cal and UCLA and teams that won the Rose Bowl
and played in the Rose Bull see it. And there
are other reasons not to like the Rose Bowl, for sure.

(27:01):
We'll give you some of those when we get back.
I think that, you know, proximity number one is the
biggest for me, But I'll tell you some other reasons
why a lot of people think that, Yeah, as great
as it would be, putting the National Championship game yearly
in Pasadena would be a pain for patrons. How's that

(27:22):
for a literation, pal, Stay with us. Lawton swam with
you on a Wednesday, a College World Series Wednesday, Coastal Carolina,
who is two and zero, can advance to the Championship
Series with a win over the Cardinals, and Coastal jumped
out to an early six oh lead. But we were
talking about Omaha and the venue, and I talked about

(27:50):
the Masters and how it's seen. But I can give
you reasons and I will give you reasons why the
Rose Ball doesn't work in my opinion, and I think
more than proximity and having to go across the country
if you're from the East coast and all of that.

(28:12):
I think, just for me personally, I think it's too
late in the game to make that type of move
to a previously established venue. Do you know what I mean?
Like if if in nineteen oh two, and I know

(28:37):
we didn't have the national Championship and things like we
do now and all that, but if in that era
the originators of the Rose Bowl had said, we are
going to invite any and all comers. We are going
to invite the top two teams season to play here,

(29:03):
regardless of it. And again, things that would eventually get
in the way of it, right was conference affiliation and
things of that nature. If you could go back in
time and you could establish it in nineteen oh two
as the crim Dela Krime the venue just so that

(29:25):
all of us, those of us born in the seventies,
and those of you born in the fifties and the thirties,
those of you born in the nineties and two thousands,
would all have the same timeline of Okay, this is
where the best of the best play. I don't know
that I'm necessarily going, Man, we got we can't go

(29:48):
out to you can't go out to the rose Ball.
I'm probably going how could you break that tradition? Like
my comments would be things like, yes, I under stand
that it's a long way across the country, but since
nineteen oh two we've been playing the national championship between
the top two teams in southern California. But that's just

(30:10):
not the case, that's not the truth, which would bring
me to kind of a point. I just made a
minute ago about making it a game that's in a
more neutral sight like Jerry's World in Dallas, which I
brought up the other day. But you know what, that's
an established venue already too. Maybe it needs to it

(30:31):
needs to be somewhere else that's never really been a
big part of the pantheon of college football. Maybe that
would be a more ideal circumstance. But reasons it shouldn't
go to Pasadena outside of the geographic nature, which with

(30:55):
the PAC twelve not quote ceasing to exist, but the
teams in that league all be in other conferences for
the most part. That's another reason not to put it
out on the West coast. But let's say we were
committed to a host site, right, here's reasons that the

(31:15):
Rose Bowl wouldn't be a good choice because there are
reasons to move it around, right so everybody can get
a chance. If it's in Florida, that's great for people
in Florida. If it's in Tennessee, that's great for people
in Tennessee. If it's in Texas, that's great. Like right now,
the cycle and everything that we have isn't bad. But
let's say that we agree we were going to make

(31:38):
it go to one site. Here's the reasons the Rose
Bowl's not it. The Rose Bowl lacks club seats, luxury suites,
modern and updated locker rooms. I mean, part of the

(31:59):
I'm bey of college football at that level if you've
never been, is unfortunately the kind of elite nature of
what it presents to businesses and business owners. Pasadena also

(32:21):
doesn't really have the infrastructure, no direct freeway to the stadium,
limited hotel capacity. It's already a challenge for the Rose
Ball on a regular basis, let alone if every year
you were doing the national championship and fan bases from

(32:43):
across the country were pouring in. I mean, because when
you have Southern cal there or UCLA, those are people
there are within a reasonable distance. But if Alabama and
Clemson are playing and the ran daddy of them all
for the national title, what a paint? And the last

(33:05):
thing that I hear in addition to the lack of amenities,
if you will, is the lack of infrastructure in the
stadium for restrooms, the modernization of the food area, like

(33:27):
all of that. Again, I don't think that you could
put enough. I won't say lipstick on a pig. That's
not fair to that venue. But I don't think you
could give that thing a big enough facelift that it
would make it worthwhile. Even still, I think a nondescript venue,

(33:51):
centralized that has not really had a huge place in
the world of college football would be the better destination.
But I'm kind of old school in that I think
if it has not been done yet and it's twenty
twenty five, there's no reason to do it. Like it's

(34:17):
great that seventy five years ago they got things going
out in Omaha. Good for them back in the day.
But in this day and age, trying to make that
kind of switch, I think it would be bad for
college football. You know, I could make an argument about
basketball and whether, like the men's Final Four should always

(34:38):
be in like Indianapolis because of the influence of Indiana
and basketball and things of that nature in the movie
Hoosiers and all that. But I can't make a compelling
argument for football to be played at the same site,
or the championship game to be played the same site
every year. I just can't do it. It is a Wednesday afternoon,

(34:59):
the show The Chase of South playing and on the
guest line, our buddy double Oh, he takes advantage. You
shot me a text to eight oh, three four five
zeros eighty six. He said, Swanne, I want to be
on the show, I said, double oh, Hot, take alert.
What's going on? Buddy? Welcome in? Double Oh.

Speaker 6 (35:16):
Hey, it's double Oh. Some people call me Oberton's Orange.
Some people call me double o eight.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Just don't call you late for dinner.

Speaker 6 (35:27):
That is a fact, because I'm never late.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
What's all your mind, double Oh?

Speaker 6 (35:35):
I'm just going on. What is going on with these
ridiculous offers to players like sellers? And you know why
why they've ruined college football? Loton?

Speaker 1 (35:53):
Well, you know all of this comes from the norse
Seller's dad, the norse Seller's dad, the athletic report, or
did that the Norse Sellers was offered eight million dollars
over two years to go play football somewhere else.

Speaker 6 (36:12):
So that information is from his dad. That's that's so
it's not might be no official.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
His dad said, you're nineteen, you don't need eight million dollars.
You're in a great spot.

Speaker 6 (36:26):
Yeah I would, I would say that's good advice. But
you you know what I think about. You call it
the portal, and I call it the port hole because
it is a hole, and you know, it's all it's

(36:52):
all mess. It's messing up. College football is kind of depressing.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
No, I mean that. I think if the numbers, if
the numbers weren't what they appear to be, right, like,
if this is an accurate statement and it's eight million
over two years, like that's what I think rubs people
the wrong way. I think people clearly get that these

(37:20):
players create a ton of money. If it was eight
hundred thousand over two years, I think people's eyebrows would
still be raised doub But eight million to play college sports.
College is what I think really bothers people because the
word college was always kind of seen with the opportunity

(37:42):
for education. I don't think that's really the case at
every program in the country.

Speaker 6 (37:50):
Well, I know that Clemson is Gabbo will always be
dedicated to the the players graduating. And it's a shame,
you know, Like I said, that used to be going
to college would be to get your education. And you know,

(38:13):
if you can get a scholars football scholarship and get
a free education, you know that's even better. But now
they got to pay you. And if they're gonna eventually
have to have a salary cap, don't you.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
Think they gotta do They gotta do something. Something's got
I mean, it can't. There's a reason that professional sports
don't operate under these guidelines, right. Can you imagine if
the NFL and Major League Baseball and the NBA operated
under the same conditions that college sports are currently operating under.

(38:50):
It would be absurd.

Speaker 6 (38:52):
Yeah, it wouldn't work. It would not work. So how
do you fix it? Lawton?

Speaker 1 (39:02):
I think, and I've said this before, I think the
transfer portal is problem one. And I don't think that
kids should be able to leave a school and play immediately.
I think if you just changed that, Doubo, you'd eliminate
a lot of this because once you committed to go somewhere,

(39:23):
people aren't gonna come offering you eight million dollars. Now,
not many kids would get those kind of offers.

Speaker 6 (39:29):
The smartest thing I've heard come out of your mouth.
Two in three months. That would eliminate a lot of problems.
Making the guys stick to where they commit, make them
play at least two years there, That would alleviate a
lot of problem You wizard, you're a grand genius.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
Well, thank you, sir. You've been keeping up with the
College World series.

Speaker 6 (39:53):
Absolutely, I love I'm pulling from my Chantalier Calso, Carolina.

Speaker 1 (40:01):
Just make sure you said get a title. Yeah, just
make sure you say it right. You heard the coach,
didn't you did?

Speaker 6 (40:07):
I did? I mispronounced a shot to clears.

Speaker 1 (40:10):
No, you got it right, You got it right. Okay,
Well Double Oh call us any time, my man.

Speaker 6 (40:17):
I enjoyed it long as always. Goodbye.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
Look at there. We got a signature on the way out,
a little on the way out from double ow today.
He got it right.

Speaker 7 (40:32):
Everybody say it with me. Shanta clears, Shanta clears. Not
Shanta clears.

Speaker 1 (40:38):
Shanta clears, Schanta clears. Don't mess it up. A zero, three,
four or five zeros were eighty six, so in looking
at that conversation around Leonora Sellers and his father and
the potential eight million dollars he was offered. Uh the

(40:59):
twenty twenty four Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, threw
for twenty five hundred and thirty four yards and eighteen
touchdowns with seven interceptions. It became just the third FBS
freshman quarterback to throw for twenty five hundred yards in
rush for five hundred yards, joining Johnny Manzel and Jalen

(41:23):
Hurts and pulling that fee off. I did not know that,
all right. When we come back, Facson Childress on Twitter
at Facts on Sports joins us. We taught to Facts
in last week. I got some insight into his thoughts
on the Clemson program. We'll talk with him about several

(41:45):
different topics, including that no hit or pitched at the
College World Series by gage Wood that really set the
tone for tonight's matchup between Arkansas and LSU at seven
o'clock on es P an All right, quick break, we'll
come back. Facts and joins the program right after this.
Stay with us each time for Clemson Sports Talk with

(42:10):
Lawton Swan. Swanny, it is our number two. That's drivetime

(42:51):
right here on the show The Shakespeare Southland, Clemson Sports Talk,
lo Swan hang out with you of course, the show
The Shakespare south Land brought to you in part our
good friends over at METS Plumbing seven three two drip Drip,
Drip drip. You know the jingle seven three to two drip.
That's METS Plumbing, mets Plumbing dot com. That's the website

(43:12):
as well. Facts and Childress joins the program at our
number two Facts and welcome in, my man, how are you?

Speaker 8 (43:19):
What's going on? Swany? Grateful to be on the program
again here today and we always have a blast, so
let's hop right into it.

Speaker 5 (43:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
Look, with the College World Series unfolding as we speak,
I want to ask you Arkansas is still alive and
maybe has a great chance against LSU because of the
fact that Gage would pitch a no hitter, which was
in and of itself fantastic to watch, nearly a perfect game.
As you watch that unfold the other day, what are
you thinking as far as the College World Series? And

(43:48):
it was actually a topic I talked about a few
weeks back when Clemson had their no hitter with three
combined pitchers. I was like, it's hard to believe how
few no hitters we have in college baseball. What were
your thoughts on that game out in Omaha.

Speaker 8 (44:02):
Yeah, I mean, what a special performance. First and foremost,
I mean, I think everybody watching the game was immediately
captivated by gage Wood's energy, his passion and really just
go into war for his teammates out there. And Arkansas
didn't have a great game offensively, That's what's being lost
throughout this as well as Murray State was a very
live dog that was playing some of the best baseball

(44:24):
in the country. Their bats were absolutely score chain and
for Wood to get on that stage and did make
history with just the third no hitter in the history
of the College World Series was nothing sort of sensational.
And I think the postgame press conference where he said
just wish I didn't hit the guy referring to a
hit by pitch because he wanted the perfect game showcases
what type of competitor he is and just how engaged

(44:44):
he was. And you know, Swanee, I think that the
Hogs are a very live dog against LSU, and I
know they've got to win two to get to that
championship weekend. But when you have a performance like that,
that team carry and that can radiate throughout your group,
and that can really be the catalyst for something special.
So I'm not gonna go out here and make a
prediction or anticipate Arkansas to find a way to win

(45:05):
the whole thing. But just keep your eye on those
Hogs because it wouldn't surprise me if they can force
at least a second game for Friday against that LSU team.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Well, it's huge because you don't have to go one
guy to guy, four guys into your bullpen. And it's
kind of the reason when Clemson lost and fell into
the loser's bracket in their home regional. You know, I
thought to myself, man, to battle back and win three
consecutive games, just having enough arms? Is it? I mean
that that may be. I'm sure a hold in one

(45:36):
and this, that and the other are some of the
more daunting task in sports. But dude, if you get
beat in a regional, to climb back out of that, man,
that is a tough, tough road to ho.

Speaker 8 (45:47):
It is, and you know, it actually just puts such
a stretcher as well on the weaknesses of your roster.
And this year for Clemson specifically, the biggest weakness was
both then death as you alluded to, and that was
kind of the daunting feeling that was creeping into us,
you know, in the press box and really just amongst
the fan base and the media members as Clemson was
losing that West Virginia game, was Yeah, this isn't gonna

(46:10):
go great the next couple of days without the back
end of the bullpen looks and a lot of that
due to injuries to Bill Gillen, etc. Throughout the course
of the season. Right, it just didn't shake the Tigers
way this season. But for Wood to be able to
step in in an elimination game, as you alluded to,
it to save a lot of those arms. So now
they can showcase some of their premier talented players out
of that bullpen against the do or die game like LSU,

(46:32):
that's a big time advantage. And he bailed his whole
team out mightily with that special special performance. And it's
clear that that group is engaged, and it's clear that
they've responded and they didn't come this far just to
come this far a lot. And it's it's cliche, but
there's something about that Arkansas group this year that's been
different all year and I know they've never won the
whole thing, and LSU's got the championship experience, but something

(46:52):
tells me the Hoggs might not be done out.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
No Mo, He's on Twitter at Facts on Sports Go
follow him today. Of course every day from nine until
noon one five to five. There were in the upstate
Facts and Childress hanging out with us year on the
program all right, Facts And so earlier I was talking
to Josh Graham, who hosts the drive up on WSJS
up in Greensboro, and we were talking about the schools
in North Carolina, and you can't help like, look, when

(47:17):
when North Carolina brought in Mac Brown, there was a
whole new kind of amount of attention that was put
on them. And it's even Furthered now by having Bill
Belichick come in. And I don't know how long he'll
be there. I don't know how successful he'll be. But
you're a young guy that grew up watching Belichick and
the great job that he did with New England. Certainly

(47:40):
had the greatest quarterback in the history of the game.
And you know, and Tom Brady they're helping him out.
But from what you see, I mean, what do you
expect out of the tar Heels this year, and could
they very well be a team that challenges for a
shot at the ACC Championship game.

Speaker 8 (47:57):
You know, as far as ACC Championship Game goes, I
think that might be a little bit bullish. But you know,
to your point, Lawton, when you have Belichick that most
of the resume that Bill BELLII, then you know has
the things that you can point to and the rings
that you can point to, and he's done it with
the whole world watching him and the biggest stage in

(48:18):
American sports. You have to give that guy the amount
of respect to give him that ceiling, right like you
have to acknowledge the fact that Bill Belichick does have
that coaching acumen that could carry this North Carolina team
as far as a championship game in year one. Now,
when you look at the roster, that becomes even harder
to project because there's been so much turnover and volatility.

(48:39):
I think North Carolina is the biggest question mark in
all of college sports entering the upcoming sports calendar, and
I'm just so intrigued to see how all of it's
going to transpire. You've got the storylines with the girlfriend
and her being banned and unbanned from the facility in
North Carolina having to put out official statements on Bill
Belichick's girlfriend. Like, think about where we are North Carolina
is putting out official statements about Bill Belichick's girlfriend. All

(49:02):
of this is just absolute cinema to me, to be
honest with you, Lawton. Yeah, and I'm excited to watch
Dabogo against one of the greats and Bill Belichick, and
you know, seeing their interview in the way that they
interacted was really cool as well, in two of the
greats in their respective world. So it's a weird crossover.
I'm not sure anybody knows what to anticipate, and if
they tell you they do, I think they're lying to you,
lowt And to be honest, but I know I'll be

(49:23):
with my popcorn in the front row watching the Targetars
play football this season, and that's not something I've been
able to say at any point in my lifetime.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
So she's like your age, right, I mean this girl,
she's like, what twenty five?

Speaker 8 (49:34):
Yeah, she's thirty four and I just turned twenty three.
I believe that.

Speaker 1 (49:41):
That's incredible. Again, following on Twitter at facts on sports
Facts and Childress here with us for a few more minutes,
so facts and one of the other things I wanted
to talk to you about being a younger guy covering
That's why I love having you on. So prior to
twenty twenty, right during that tremendous stretch that Clemson had,
social media was kind of on the rise, whether it

(50:02):
was Twitter, Instagram or whatever, and Dabo Sweeney's leadership team
of players, not Sweeney, a lot of people put it
on Sweeney, like, Dabo Sweeney's got a band on social media?
You know, should he be doing that? Should he be
able to control the players? And it didn't keep them
off of it, but nobody was posting right, So fast
forward to twenty twenty, the COVID year, those guys kind

(50:23):
of decide, I guess maybe Darien Rincher and Trevor Lawrence
and some others decide that, hey, we're all right, we're
being on social media. But Clemson hasn't had the same
level of success since the players voted to get rid
of the social media band. Given all the buzz, giving
everything the surrounding this program this year, would you suggest
to that leadership team that maybe, hey, guys, maybe we

(50:45):
don't take our eyes off the prize and focus a
little more on football and not social media. What would
you say to that statement facts, I'm.

Speaker 8 (50:55):
Conflicted, obviously, you know, I'm conflicted on how to feel
on that law. And I think those are great points,
and you know, I kind of struggled to decipher correlation
and causation for a lot of that, right. I don't,
for example, I don't think Clemson football is a regression
if you would like to call it that, from a
perennial contender to attend eleven win program, which we've seen

(51:15):
as of late. I don't think it necessarily has anything
to do with the social media or lack thereof social media. However,
I will say that I think the game has changed
with what social media has become in the NIL era,
and I'm not sure how realistic it is to take
that tool away from athletes now. And what I mean
by that is, you know, I do media training as

(51:37):
a part of what I do for broadcasting, and I
was at the University of Idaho a couple of weeks back,
or actually it was a couple months back now rather
and a part of my you know, media training is
establishing a personal brand for athletes while they're in college,
because I think it's something that's very important. You have
the opportunity to earn money off of social media. You
have opportunity to earn, you know, nil deals, And there

(52:00):
have been a lot of Clemson student athletes in the
last year that I'm friends with or have heard through
the grapevine that have landed a lot of these deals
through social media and their platforms on social media. So
I think part of the cell of being a student
athlete in twenty twenty five is having a personal brand
and having the perks that come with it. And I
think that's inherently a part of your name, image and

(52:21):
likeness is your ability to showcase who you are, what
your brand is, and what you bring to the table.
So with all of that being said, I'm aware that
that's not a very traditional way of thinking, and that's
something that's only been the case in the last let's say,
eighteen months. For example. Do I believe social media to
be a distraction and an overall net negative to student athletes? Yeah,

(52:41):
I do, and that can be my opinion. I just
don't know how realistic it is to take that away
after you've already it's a toothpaste and tube situation, and
then you throw the nil element in there, and the
fact that a lot of the student athletes that clumpson
especially are making money off of these brand deals through
social media, and I'm just I'm not sure what the
infrastructure would look like around a social media band being reintroduced.

(53:06):
I'm not saying I think it's a bad idea for
what it's worth. I think, you know, if all student
athletes could definitely not have Twitter on their phone, specifically
where they're getting a lot of these hate comments, I
think that's got to be overall better for everyone. Right,
And it goes without saying but as far as like
the personal brand elements of this goes, I just don't
think it's very realistic in twenty twenty five to think
that that's going to happen again.

Speaker 1 (53:26):
Speaking of brands, follow them on Twitter at Facts on
Sports every day from nine until noon. Facts on Sports
on one oh five to five. The Roar in the
upstateies Facts and Childress and so from their facts and
will turn our attention to some of those, you know,
topics that fans want to know about. When you look
at Kate Klubnick in the wide receiving room, you and

(53:50):
I have kind of touched on them, but the running
back room and maybe more specifically tied in may be
the bigger piece to this puzzle this year for Clemson.
Where there are you when it comes down to both
of those two positions in your expectations for both As
we are about two and a half months away from kickoff, I've.

Speaker 8 (54:11):
Got a lot of opinions on both, and as I'm
sure you know and you know my opinion on the
tight end room, I'll just go ahead and preface this
and we'll start there. Is not going to be popular.
I'm aware that this isn't going to be popular. I
think Clemson's better at tight end right now than where
they were a year ago today, and that's with the
exclusion of Jake brenning' stool. And I'm actually a firm
believer that Olsen pat Henry should have been playing more

(54:32):
last year and arguably brings more to the table than
Jake Brenning Stool does even in his last year's form.
And listen, I get that on a baseline level when
you look at Jake Brenning Stool breaking the record for
receiving at Clemson at tight end, I sound ludicrous, but
I'll always emphasize with people that there's more to the
tight end position than just catching the football. And there

(54:53):
has always been more than to the tight end position
that just catching the football, and there always will be.
You have to block. You have to block to be
an effective tight end and twenty twenty five football in
the same way you had to in nineteen thirty five football.
And that's a major, major element to the game of
playing tight end. And when I look at Clemson's tight
end room this year, I see hungry competitors that are
athletic and willing to block, emphasis on willing to block.

(55:16):
Olson pat Henry is a physical menace that wants to
get in your grill and shove you into the ground.
And that's what Clemson needs at tight end. And a
large element of what was missing from Clempson last year
was the run game offensively, and a lot of people
will point the fingers at that for a litany of
different reasons, Oh, Wamfa was injured, or we didn't have
the depth, and all of those things can be well

(55:36):
and true. But if you go back and you turn
on that tape from TCU Garrett Riley's in twelve personnel,
because he has two tight ends that are willing to block,
and Jake Brenningstool's unwillingness and inability to block hindered Clemson's
offense drastically in my opinion, over the course of the
last three years, to the point where.

Speaker 3 (55:54):
I could argue there were times where he was.

Speaker 8 (55:56):
A negative overall.

Speaker 5 (55:57):
To the team.

Speaker 8 (55:57):
So I'm not saying Jake's a bad player. I think
is catch radius, He's athleticism at tight end. It's all
freakish of nature.

Speaker 6 (56:04):
You know.

Speaker 8 (56:04):
He signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Chiefs.
I like that landing spot for him. I think he's
got talent and things that he brings to the table
that are a positive. But when I look at Coach
Riley's dirt raid is what he deemed when Shipley and
MafA got here, and really just even with the offensive
explosion last year, the lack of a consistent run game
since Coach Riley's arrival. I go back and I watch

(56:25):
more and more tape from that TCU team that ran
all over everyone all season, and I'm like, what am
I dismissing from?

Speaker 5 (56:32):
That?

Speaker 8 (56:32):
Is twelve and Clemson could not run twelve personnel with
Jake Brenning Steel on the field the last couple of
seasons because he was a liability in the blocking game.
So now with Oph who is a really good blocker,
with Christian Ben Sankor, who I think will go down
as the best tight end in the history of Clemson
football when his career is over, and you can quote
me on that, and with a guy like Sap and Dixon,

(56:53):
even with the position transition, you have four capable, physical,
willing blockers that can help you in more facets of
the game than just running over the middle of the
field and lining up as essentially a wide receiver. And
maybe that's a traditionalist view for a young guy to
have of the position of tight end, but I will
never waiver on the point that my tight end needs
to block on my team or they're not providing me

(57:15):
as much value as they could be. And I'm always
going to side with the tight end that can block
over the tight end that can't block.

Speaker 1 (57:21):
And then if we shift a running back, where are
you currently?

Speaker 8 (57:27):
I know I came on here a couple of weeks
ago and said that I think Adam Randall's going to
be RB one to start the season. I think I'm
still there right now with Adam Randall, I think Clemson's
running back room is better than people realize. I just
don't think it's good in the same way it's been
good in the last couple of seasons, if that makes sense.
Like you had Phil Maffa as your top dog RB one,
everybody knew that Phil MafA was going to get the
ball twenty twenty five times a game, you know, when

(57:49):
he was healthy, and that was the way that the
workload was going to be dispersed. And there wasn't really
a lot of an argument to that. And then when
you had Ship and MafA for the two years prior,
you knew where the carries were going. I think a
lot of the question mark this year with Clemson is
where the carry's going to be divvied up. And I
want to provide, you know, just kind of some calmness
that needs to go to the Clemson fan base right

(58:09):
now at running back. I've seen a little bit of
panic online, you know, whether it be Twitter, whether it
be messageboards, whether it be people that listen to my show.
If you know, we don't like are starting running backs
supposed to be? It was a wide receiver last year,
like we just got Shipley and MafA and all these
great guys. I want to express the fact that everybody
needs to take a chill pill on the running back thing.
And now Gideon Davidson's the truth. I said the same

(58:31):
thing with you two weeks ago. Kid's going to be
the starting running back before the end of the season.
And I also think that Adam Randall is good. I
think Adam Randall is good at playing running back, Like
I've seen this with my own two eyes on more
occasions than just the Texas game. I said before the
Texas game that I thought that they should give him
a look at running back and if they didn't consider Randal,
they should go with Sammy Brown. And Adam Randall is

(58:51):
really good at running with the football, and he's also
uniquely profiled to where he has route running ability out
of the backfield. He is significantly bigger and stronger than
any other running back Clemson can throw, and while that
might not translate to technique in the pass protection game,
it leads me to believe that he is more physically
tasked to take on a linebacker that could be blitzing
or picking up a week side blitzer. So I think

(59:12):
that there are undeniable positives that Adam Randall brings to
the table. I think Gideon Davidson's the most talented of
the group by a landslide and will be your starter
by the end of the year. He looks the part,
he walks the walk, he talks to talk the kids, legit,
and he's going to be the next Clemson back. But
the forgotten element of this and a guy that I
do want to bring up because I think he's the
only other candidate that I would say is buying for
consistent carries in this backfield to date. Don't forget on,

(59:37):
don't sleep on Easy, and don't forget about David Ezia Mume.
I think that David Azimume provides a unique profile and
a violent type of running styles of the Tigers. He's physical,
he wants to get in between those tackles, and he's explosive.
I think you see three backs get consistent burned this
year because Jay Hanks is working his way back from
the ACL and I'm not privy to what the recovery
looks like there. I think you're Randall game one RB one.

(01:00:00):
At some point in the middle of the season, it
starts to become more of like a separated workload between
the three backs of Randall, Davidson and Essie and Moume.
And then by the end of the year you've got
kind of a hierarchy with Davidson as your premier guy.

Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
Listen to Matt.

Speaker 8 (01:00:13):
I could be wrong and look like a moron down
the stretch, but with those three guys, I don't see
any reason for Clemson fans to be panicking about running back.
I think all three can play.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
Follow him on Twitter at Facts on Sports. That's the
name of the show as well. It is on one
oh five to five The Roar WCCP each and every
day from nine until noon, leading into our buddy William
qwalkin Bush's program Out of Bounds with qualking Ben Faxon.
Have a great week, my man, and enjoy the rest
of the College World Series and we'll talk to you
real soon.

Speaker 8 (01:00:43):
I appreciate Swanny, thanks for the time. As always, they.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
Get more thoughts from Fax and Childress on your Clemson
Tigers ahead of the twenty twenty five football season. Hard
to believe. We're about what a month. It's some change
away from heading up to Charlotte for the a c
C kickoff. Kind of touched on some of that with
Josh Graham in our number one. All right, don't forget

(01:01:07):
about our friends at Alumni Hall on the corner of
campus on College Avenue and downtown Clemson for all your
officially licensed Clemson merchandise from hats, t shirts, to tailgate
gear and more. Don't forget to ask them about the
Alumni Hall Rewards past program. And when you are in store,
if you're a Clemson student, faculty member or in the military,
you get ten percent off your orders. So that is

(01:01:29):
a great way to save yourself a little money there,
and of course you could support us. You can't get
your ten percent if you're a student, faculty or military member,
but you can go through the links on our website
to Alumni Hall site and place your order there. Again,
it's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. All right, with
a quick break, we'll come back. We'll give you a

(01:01:51):
little update on Omaha what we can here in our
number two. As you know, I am a world class
time traveler. Stay with us long and swan with you
on a Wednesday again, thank you to facts and Childress.
And then our number one Josh Graham joined the program.

(01:02:12):
So we'll get back to our thoughts about Omaha in
just a minute with some history on college baseball. And
obviously we kind of got to do that because guess what,
the NBA wants to stretch their series out about six
weeks long, like some taffy or something. Anyway, the NBA

(01:02:34):
Finals Game six tomorrow night, but Coastal with the early
six o lead against Louisville in the bottom of the
third though with a runner on first, I saw something
that I've never seen before. Now, I don't watch as
much baseball as most of you, Well maybe I do.
Maybe maybe I do baseball. Uh, to me, baseball slips

(01:02:59):
significant lee in my life. But maybe some of you
are still hardcore. Again, I've given you my reasons or
ways to change in the past. I won't dive into
those here, but so I am. I am familiar with
the infield fly rule, and I think that's one where
most people, maybe people that don't watch a lot of

(01:03:22):
baseball may not understand it. But basically the infield fly rule.
What that means is, if there is a fly ball
into the infield, a second baseman, shortstop, whatever, can't just
allow the ball to fall at his feet, which would

(01:03:43):
hold a base runner on base and allow for double
plays and triple plays. Now, I don't know when the
infield fly rule became a thing, but I would imagine
before that existed that there were a lot of plays
like that in baseball, where guys would create an advantage

(01:04:08):
for the defense by intentionally bobbling an easy catch. The
officiating rational that ultimately led to the rule began in
the eighteen sixties due to the requirement to tag up
on base, which was formalized in eighteen seventy four. So
the infield fly rule apparently was implemented in baseball eventually

(01:04:29):
by eighteen ninety five to address infielders intentionally dropping pop
ups to create double plays. So what that does is
when there's an infield fly, they just automatically it's automatically
deemed it out at that point, so everybody can just
stay at home. You can't do anything tricky. But I

(01:04:50):
saw something in this Coastal Louisville game that I've never
seen before. And what this was. It was not an
infield fly. It was a liner to the second baseman
at Louisville, and it got on him pretty quick, and
the ball was sort of turning down. You know, it

(01:05:11):
had a little top spin on it. I think that
was kind of forcing it towards the ground. If he
could have backed up a little bit, he could have
let it bounce and quickly turned the double play. But
instead what he did was he kind of caught the
ball but never really possessed it, carried it to the ground,
bounced it up, and before he could start turning a

(01:05:32):
double play, they the referees waved it off, and then
they stopped the whole play and came to the microphone
and said, he intentionally dropped the ball, so that's an out.
I never realized that that was something I've never in

(01:05:53):
my life. I can remember seeing something like that, and
it made me wonder, theoretically, on a liner like that
or just a line drive, if you were the fielder,
could you and I'm not suggesting somebody do this, I
don't know what the odds are that they could, but

(01:06:15):
it made me think of honestly made me think of
the Savanna bananas because they're doing trick plays. As that
boss coming to you, could you instead of catching it
with your glove, could you take your glove kind of
like a fly swatter and just bat the ball down
now attempt to make a catch, so they couldn't say
you intentionally didn't catch it, or is that it is

(01:06:36):
the infield fly rule? Does it exist for more than
just pop flies? And somebody said that the infield fly rule,

(01:06:57):
yeah I'm seeing here, is not applied when there's only
a runner on first base because the defense can't gain
a significant advantage by intentionally letting the ball drop because
the guy would be safe at first. But in this scenario,
because it wasn't a flyball, there was an advantage that
would have would have existed because in this scenario they

(01:07:20):
would have had time to turn the double play. They
absolutely could have turned the double play there. I don't know,
never saw, and I've never seen that one before. But
if you're a Coastal Carolina fan today, you are crowing.

(01:07:43):
For those of you that don't know, I mean, I
know you, I know you learned how to say chanticleer.
But what is a chanticleer? It's a fierce rooster. And

(01:08:04):
of course, Coastal, much like a lot of the other
schools around the state of South Carolina, were part of
the USC umbrella. They were, I believe at one point
USC Coastal, but in nineteen ninety three, it was it

(01:08:24):
was up until ninety three it had been called USC
Coastal Carolina. It was also very early on in nineteen
fifty four and it was founded it was Coastal Carolina
Junior College. And so they got their independence in nineteen
ninety three from being a part of the South Carolina
University system like USC, SAUK, USC, Beaufort, et cetera. But

(01:08:50):
the Chanticleers mascot sort of a playoff of the game
cat mascot. And there is another one that's pretty unknown
to most people, but my high school the war horses.
I know, thankfully, our mascot is a horse, and most

(01:09:12):
people associate horseshoes and things of that nature with my
high school. But the war horses, if you do a
little research, you'll find out that a war horse is
a champion fighting rooster. It's not a breed or a type.
But when you're a champion and you're a game cock,

(01:09:34):
you can be known as a war horse. So there
you go. Lawton Swan with you on a Wednesday afternoon
Clemson Sports Talk, Steamy Wednesday. But I feel like it's
been a pretty moderate summer thus far. We we're past
mid June, and I haven't really felt like we've hit
the frying eggs on the concrete a portion of the

(01:09:58):
calendar yet. Speaking of frying the eggs, the Coastal Carolina
in a battle of birds, fry in the eggs of
the Louisville Cardinals early six to nothing at last check
for me top of the fourth inning. Arkansas and LSU
later tonight. Those two teams are the favorites to win
it all. Coastal was the third favorite, though, and they

(01:10:19):
have a chance and may very well, by the time
you're listening to this, may very well have booked their
spot in the Championship series, which begins on Saturday. Now,
we were talking about Omaha earlier, and so one of
my arguments for its existence is the long term establishment.

(01:10:44):
The first College World Series that took place in Omaha
was back in nineteen fifty, but it was not the
first venue. As a matter of fact, the first College
World Series was held in nineteen forty seven in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
and then it was in Wichita, Kansas in forty eight
and forty nine before going to Omaha nineteen fifty, and

(01:11:06):
it was host at hosted at what was known then
as Omaha Municipal Stadium, which was later named Rosenblatt Stadium.
Of course, Omaha still the main venue, the destination, I
should say, the venue now shifted though to Charles Schwab Field,

(01:11:31):
and as best as I could tell, it was still
an eighteen format back then. Now, prior to that, I
did wonder before the College World Series, what did college
baseball do? And what I found that was before nineteen
forty seven, there was no official NCAA sanctioned national championship

(01:11:55):
in college baseball, and instead the national champion was determined
by polls, kind of like football is done now. And
if you followed baseball polls over the years, you know
you might as well just put those names in the
hat and draw them out, because they are all over
the map. In some situations, strong teams regional powers were

(01:12:20):
informally recognized. Schools like Harvard and Yale, Michigan and Southern
cal were deemed elete, but there was no unified postseason
tournament to really prove it on the field, and there
have been some retrospective national championships given organizations like the

(01:12:44):
NCAA Record Book, the Helms Foundation. In college baseball, historians
have awarded titles before nineteen forty seven, but those aren't
really official. So the College World Series does give us
a true official national champion and again an opportunity setting

(01:13:10):
up for Coastal Carolina to not only cement themselves as
one of the pre eminent baseball programs in the country,
but one of the pre eminent baseball programs in the
last decade. And with nil and the transfer portal and

(01:13:33):
all of that, can you imagine what the benefits might
end up being for Coastal if indeed they do win
a national championship. A second national championship, I mean, the
first one back in twenty sixteen. Didn't happen during this

(01:13:53):
era where you could freely transfer things that I don't
really like, of course, but it didn't take place in
this era. It happened just before it. And even with that,
and with players on their roster having the ability to

(01:14:14):
leave and go elsewhere, they've maintained and some might say
they've even excelled to the point where some people might
argue that Jacob Morrison is their picture, their best picture
ten and zero a one point nine to five era.

(01:14:35):
And while he's not necessarily considered the best pitcher in
college baseball this season. He's certainly projected to be in
an MLB draft selection, and even more so might be
the most confident pitcher out in Omaha.

Speaker 6 (01:14:55):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:14:56):
The kid for LSU, Kate Anderson, is a guy that's
expected to be one of the top selections in the
Major League Baseball Draft. But man, if those two guys
get to go head to head, look out, it will
be a dandy, you would think ault in Omaha. As

(01:15:19):
the College World Series rolls along heading towards the weekends
Championship Series, Kate Anderson I think projected as the third
best prospect in the upcoming MLB draft. Ethan Holiday, who
I believe is a high school player out in Stillwater, Oklahoma,

(01:15:40):
is expected to be the top pick, followed by Seth
Hernandez who's a right handed pitcher out of Corona, California.
But the top expected college prospect off the board is
Kate Anderson, the pitcher for LSU, And sure enough, if
things shake out, you know, if Coastal continues to hold
on the day, and if LSU takes care of business tonight,

(01:16:03):
I would imagine with a couple of days rest, you'll
get this and maybe without a couple of days rest.
It would be interesting to see what the decision would
be from LSU with Anderson if they were to lose tonight.
But if they win, I think it's gonna be a

(01:16:24):
no brainer. Then you're gonna see those top two pitchers
going head to head out in Omaha in game one
of the three game potential three game series for the
National Championship. All right, with a quick break, we'll come
back and we'll put a big old ribbon, a big
old bow on the show that shakes the Southland on

(01:16:46):
a Wednesday afternoon. Keep it locked.

Speaker 2 (01:16:51):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately? What have you done?

Speaker 1 (01:17:11):
Always are the same.

Speaker 2 (01:17:18):
We win, so.

Speaker 5 (01:17:26):
We have some times, do have some time?

Speaker 7 (01:17:43):
Some time.

Speaker 1 (01:17:59):
That final segment on a Thursday, So I did some googling,
and I want to give myself a little pat on
the back today for having a majority of the conversation
would be about the College World Series. Yes, indeed I
did that. I'm there.

Speaker 4 (01:18:19):
You'll fill my head with such propaganda.

Speaker 1 (01:18:22):
Well, get this propaganda. I looked during the break to
see if there was a rule that prevents an infielder
from dropping a line drive, and that is called the
intentional drop rule. So I don't think you could even
bat the ball down intentionally, like keep your glove closed.

(01:18:45):
How you might be able to pretend like you didn't
see it in the lights or something. I don't know.
There's no I knew the infield fly rule until today.
I had never heard of the quote intentional drop rule.
I mean, it takes a lot to pull that off.
I mean, you gotta be you gotta be very well
prepared for it, that's for sure, because you gotta be
thinking in advance. Okay, if this ball comes to me,

(01:19:06):
I'm not just gonna catch it, because your natural instinct
is certainly to make the play, all right. Last night
in the NHL, the Florida Panthers won their second consecutive championship,
and you know, they dominated the Carolina Hurricanes on route

(01:19:32):
to the Stanley Cup finals. And they've solidified themselves now
being in the finals three consecutive years, but winning it
back to back over the Edmonton Oilers and just smacking
Edmonton last night five to one. It was three to
zero heading into the third period. The Panthers win that

(01:19:54):
series four games to two. Dominant stretch for them. And
I hear people talking about, hey, with Brad marchand and
those guys Matthew Kuchuk are they is this a new dynasty?
And it's hard to argue, man, when you do what
they've done. And I hate it for the Carolina Hurricanes

(01:20:16):
because I really think that the Hurricanes have the talent
to be a champion, but they just happened to be
together in the midst of another dominant team like it
would be honestly in some respects and certainly look, Clemson
and Alabama both won national titles multiple during this stretch

(01:20:43):
at the beginning of the college football playoff, But could
you imagine for a second if one of those other teams,
if either of those two programs didn't exist to that level,
Like if Alabama had not been that same team who's
the threat to Clarid during that era, the Ohio State
team that Clemson mopped the floor with several times, right, Like,

(01:21:08):
if Alabama's not where they are, does Dabosweeney have national
championship one in twenty fifteen, two in twenty sixteen, maybe
three in twenty seventeen, four in twenty eighteen, Like seriously,
because if the opposite team doesn't exist, what does what

(01:21:36):
does Clemson and or Alabama do during that stretch? Matter
of fact, I'll tell you what I know. I'm near
the end of the program. I'm gonna put this out
on social media and check and see what you guys
think over the next twenty four hours or so. Not

(01:21:57):
just from the Clemson perspective. I know you aren't shaded,
aren't glasses wearing Tiger fans? I know how you feel
about it. Well, pardon me, mister perfect, But what about
Alabama fans? How do they feel? I want to hear
from both fan bases. If Clemson existed in the same

(01:22:18):
magnitude that they did but Alabama didn't, and vice versa,
how what do those teams look like in terms of
their championship status? My hunch just based off of what
Nick Saban was able to do. Anyway, Sabin certainly wins

(01:22:42):
the two championships where Clemson beats Alabama, But what about
in those other years? What does it look like? My
guess is Clemson is some type of special. I mean
it was already special without the titles. But if Alabama

(01:23:03):
doesn't exist, who's beating Clemson those years again? Out in
Omaha Coastal six, Louisville nothing on my timeline. Top of
the fifth inning, the Chanta clears looking like they're gonna
pop the champagne bottles to get into the College World

(01:23:25):
Series Championship Series. Is how you would say it, the
College World Series Championship Series. I think that's what we'd
say against potentially LSU or Arkansas as Coastal up big
in the top of the fifth. I remember a couple
of days ago we played Dan McDonald, head coach of Louisville, say, hey,

(01:23:47):
you gotta shorten up the bats. We're not gonna try
to get back into this thing in the ninth inning. Well,
Cardinal Nation, you better shorten up your bats real quick
because it's looking like a long day at the ballpark
from my perspective. We'll talk to you till then. As always,
you'll take care now and go Tigers.