Would I compare Ingram to any of those you just named??

Hell yea I would lol. He was one of the top players in the SEC and one of the top defensive players in the nation. Yes he is right up there with all those players. Hence the reason he went 18th overall in the NFL draft. To even mention him and Steward in the same sentence is a joke lol. He hasn't done anything at all at Clemson. Just because they are rated 5 stars coming out of HS doesn't mean that sticks with them strait through their college career. Just ask Mike Bellamy. If all of Clemson's 5 stars turn out to be Bellamys and all of our 4 stars turn out to be Ingrams I'll be content. I told you before I don't have much confidence in the star ranking system anymore. Comparing a player like Ingram to a player like Steward is a big reason why.

Hey I hope Clemson's boosters will trump the SEC/ESPN TV deal.......... LOL.



On to our defense, I have seen Ward's defense in action at Carolina vs Nebraska and it looked pretty damn good. We also return a bunch guys from last year's defense. That could be bad for some teams that had a terrible defense last year but in our case it's good lol. Oh and how has Venables' defense looked in a game at Clemson so far? Oh wait..

We may have beat Auburn with Clemson's players but I'm glad we had the players we had when we played Clemson lol.

Send us a pic of the glasses bro. I'm supposed to wear them but never do.

In other news...

I start back college 20 august and now I wear glasses, lol.

Yes...

But what Clemson will go with is an inovative business background guy. One guy they will go for is TCU's old athletic director that is with the Carolina Panthers.

Also, if Plyler said that he needs to just stop. 3 or 4 million is not going to make one shred of difference when you are talking about 60 70 80 million dollars. I think winning is the key really and I like our chances much better over the long haul.

So you are comparing recruiting a player like Ingram to recruiting players like clowney, Lattimore, then the out of state players at Clemson like Watkins, Spiller, Steward, the list goes on... I wasn't talking about that type of player, I was talking the number one player, top ten in the nation types. In other words clowney and Lattimore. But I think you know that already bro.

Also, you did win 5 of 6 games and had the best football team in scars history? (if you agree) in other words a damn good team. But you were still the 4th or even arguably the 5th best team in the SEC. If it's not depth what is it bro?

How would you know how your defense is? You have a new DC and I believe 90 percent of your success on the field was Ellis Johnson. All that swapping dl etc... Has to be coordinated.

Also, while you may not have won 11 games with Clemson players you would have beat Auburn. Lol

I think you should have a better team than Clemson tho.

Yes but everyone has weak spots on their OL

outside of a select few schools like LSU, Bama, SoCal, ect. And Carolina has one of those SEC defenses that you speak of that can exploit weaknesses. Somewhere in there it balances out. All I'm saying is that all teams will have trouble with injuries. That's why you have depth and I believe Carolina has it now. They didn't before last year.

As far as Lattimore and Clowney go sure they are great players. It may take the state of SC a while to churn out another player like them. But now I bring you back to losing Lattimore half way through the season. We won 5 of our last 6 games without him. Clowney was a freshman last year and yes he made some big plays but was he a game changer as freshman? I would be willing to bet that we would have won the same amount of games without him last year. The way we rotate our DL it wouldn't have been a big deal. We still had Ingram. Speaking of Ingram, he was probably our best player on the whole team last year. Guess where he was from? North Carolina. We recruit a lot of good players out of Ga, Fl, and NC. As a matter of fact 9 of the 22 starters on our team are from out of state. That's one more than Clemson. We have just got our better players from instate lately. I guess that's where the myth comes from that we don't recruit well out of state.

As far as the changes at Clemson, that sounds great. Sounds like they have some big things going on there. Sure if you can make up the difference of the TV contracts with booster money that's great. I think what Plyler was saying is that South Carolina, UGA, and most of the other SEC schools get the TV contract money and the booster money. They don't have to make up for what they don't get from TV money with booster money. The SEC schools just start out with a big head start, that's all.

I do think Clemson will be better off with a new AD. I'm not sure a lot of the boosters wanted to give money to a athletic dept that was under his control. Not sure I blame them.

South Carolina started a big capital campaign right after Spurrier started and it really has made a difference. One other reasons Tanner was chosen for the AD job is because he is familiar with the ongoing campaign and they know he can get the $$$ from the boosters with the clout he holds amongst the Gamecock faithful. The man is pretty much an idol and they will give anything he wants.

Less than 3 weeks away bro! Probably before Carolina is upset by Vandy and Clemson the same by AU LOL. J/k bro, I think both our teams will be fine this season.

Its a prime example...

but at the same time a coincidence. Yes, looks as if the starting RT is out or not at 100% Now what? Even if we had the best back up RT in college football, what happens when he gets injured or tired? It happens, and it only takes one weak spot on your OL, a good DC (the best are in the SEC) will exploit this all day long. But the truth is IMO, we don't have any great OL back ups. If they were great they would be starting because they are very hard to come by. We generally have holes in the OL before the injuries even start.

No one said anything about his job being in jepardy. Just saying he has no excuses right now for fielding a crappy team. It might be 20 more years before the state of SC produces another Clowney or Lattimore and then not at the same time. In terms of talent I don't think its going to get any better unless you start pulling them from out of state. So now is the time.

A team of successfull bussinessmen were hired to evaluate IPTAY, the way fundraising is done etc... some time ago. TDP's is pretty much falling on the sword to gut the whole thing. Clemson is in the dark ages in terms of management of funds, fundraising etc... You are going to see alot of money shelled out for the next AD aimed towards fundraising as one priority and IPTAY is also getting gutted. Katie Hill is also leaving, Clemson is expected to hire externally. But we will see. Thats yours and Plylers answer to the money gap. The conference really does not have allot to do with it. But money givers definitely are going to want to see results on the field.

Spurrier out of excuses?

I haven't heard Spurrier use depth or injuries as an excuse for losing since he's been at Carolina. I was referring to us as fans using injuries as a excuse. I don't think Carolina fans can do that anymore. As I said, I think we now have the depth that yes UGA, UF, Tenn, ect has. And yes I think that we would be just as well off as any of those teams if we lose our starting QB. It wouldn't be good for any of those teams but our situation wouldn't be worse than any of the rest. That goes for most positions at Carolina including OL, DL, and LB. We are solid on all fronts. We are thinner in some areas than others but every team is including the ones I named above. We wouldnt be in any worse shape than them if we lost a player. I'm not talking about Lsu and bama. Bottom line is that injuries happen. It's a part of football. It would be hard to enjoy the season if you worry about injuries all the time. Speaking of, I hear Clemson lost their starting RT with a knee. May be that's where this stuff is stemming from. You can't worry about it bro. If you do you will be in for a miserable season.

Going back to Spurrier, he doesn't have to have any excuses. He just led Carolina to their best season in the history of the program. I would say the guy's job is safe. It will never not be safe while he's at Carolina. He's said before that he won't have to be ran off. If he knows he's not doing the job he'll step down and hand it over to somebody else. I'm not worried about that though. I think he proved last year he's got some good coaching years yet ahead of him.

Anyway, this is good discussion. Nothing wrong with arguing both sides. I'll take the glass half full approach. I mean the only consequence is that I'll have to admit that I'm wrong lol. Won't be that bad.

You also have me interested in these big time changes at Clemson. So there are a LOT of them huh? Do you know what they are or?

LOTS of big time changes...

coming at Clemson, TDP you already knew. But allot of other ones too.

I do trust you....

but you already hit the nail right on the head. He is out of excuses, its no longer time time say we are just not looking good, we should be better but we are not. He has got his staff, his players and as much talent as you could hope for at Scar. There is no more room for those kinds of excuses right now. So if you come out and say we are not very good right now? Should not be very acceptable.

Also, its not out of the question, its simply out of the ordinary. For Scar in fact when is the last time you put together back to back 10 plus win seasons? I think you have a damn good shot to do that this year. But, it is not easy to do or something that happens allot. So if it does, its a big deal.

Same with Clemson, back to back 10 win seasons, been quite a while and I am not expecting it.

Sorry bro, but I still believe our QB situation is more dire than most other major teams we compete with. For you its LSU, Florida, UGA, Arkansas etc... If Lattimore actually stayed healthy this year I would agree it would not be as big of an issue for you.

So you are telling me if you had a couple of OL or DL go down you could just replace them with no problem? How about LBs? Its not impact postions, its the trenches and what right behind the trenches thats important. Injuries does not always mean out of the game completely, many are playing injured by the end and not at 100%. But if you have got all that and I am not saying you don't because I certainly don't know as much as you, then you are there.

You play glass full and I will play less than half full, lol. But I am not really disagreeing with you. Just presenting the other side.

Yes it will be interesting to see if the other SEC teams improve

It will also be interesting to see if Carolina improves. If we do, and that's not out of the question, we should be better than everyone in the east again.

I know what you're saying about the QB getting injured. That can go for any team though. I bet you can't name 10 teams in the country that wouldn't be in trouble if they lost there starting QB. I think Carolina would be able to handle it as well as any one. Spurrier has had some really good things to say about Dylan Thompson. Judging by the play by play in the mini scrimmages we've had so far I can see why. He's been able to drive it down field and score. Kinda surprising to me honestly but they say he's one of the hardest workers on team so I guess it shouldn't be. He's a guy that plays it very safe and doesn't make stupid mistakes. May be too conservative at times. We just had a pretty talented QB transfer in tanner mcevoy because Thompson was so far ahead of him.

I also think Carolina has got to the point where we can't blame it on depth any more at any position really. We have quality talent back ups at every position. We've finally gotten to the point where we have SEC depth. I'm not talking about LSU and Bama type depth but UF, Tenn, UGA, Arky... certainly. I can kinda point it back to last season with Lattimore getting injured. Carolina had already lost their 2nd string RB in Shon Carson the 2nd week of the season. They then lose the backbone of their offense in Lattimore. Everybody including me thought our season was done. We then came out and won 5 of our last 6 games. Another sign of good depth at Carolina: our starting CB Akeem Auguste has been out with a groin injury since the beginning of Fall practice. When Lorenzo Ward was asked about it he said it wasn't a Carolina problem it was a Auguste problem. While he felt bad for Auguste we had plenty of players that could play.

I just think Carolina is finally to the level that we can't blame depth and injuries any more. I guess we'll find out though. I could be wrong.

We do have question marks, like all teams. The big one is punting. We don't have a sure fire guy right now. We did get a little help from a transfer that just got on campus yesterday. They say he can boom it but when he got into live practice drills he shanked it. We've had good reports about our WRs but I wanna see how we'll do without Jeffery. That will be a "?" for me until I see it in a game.

I'll let you be the judge. Go watch some of Spurriers post practice interviews and tell me if he seems different or not. I think he believes he has something this year. You tell me if it's just me.

It was different last year...

and if either or both teams actually improve as they should logically it should be great years. But.......

I think Scar will do well, just curious to see what other teams in the SEC improve? It really depends on that IMO, you could be 5th best in the SEC with a damn good football team, especially if you are just a little bit unlucky. But what is the most important and also most uncontrollable factor for both of us is injuries. We simply do not have the depth when it comes to that. But if both teams actually stayed healthy all year? Would be all the difference in the world on the season.

But if the starting QB from either teams goes down? Its going to be ugly.

No, I know you don't mean anything by it

and I know what you're saying. The difference is that it is Spurrier saying this stuff, not GCC. Yea GCC gives reports like that all the time, maybe not quite as homerish but they do give sunshine reports. Spurrier on the other hand doesn't. It's kind of uncharacteristic for him. I'm sure it's coming but he hasn't went off on his "QBs are playing lousey" vent yet. He has nothing but good things to say about Shaw. The stuff in my last post came from Spurrier, the only thing that didn't was the stuff about Sutton being the best backup DE in the SEC. That part was a little sunshine nugget from GCC lol.

Can't help but to have high hopes a little this year. May be it will be different this year. Last year was for both teams. We'll see how it goes, can't wait.

Lol...

I don't mean any thing by it bro... But every year at least for Clemson we get these type reports. Right now Boydd is the next Dan Marino, our offensive line would rival Mike Ditka's Chicago Bears superbowl team. The defense is really buying in to Venables and they are going to tackle much better. Chad Morris did not implement his blocking scheme or most of his plays last year and now he has and the OL etc... have really caught on (Dalton Freeman). Martavius Bryant is like Jerry Rice only taller and Nuke Hopkins is ahead of him. I'm going to say it now bro, Clemson is going to win the National Championship!!!!!!!!

Then the season starts and WOMP WOMP WA WAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Most of that is not true as you already know, just like every year, at least at Clemson.

Practice is in full swing now

Spurrier seems happy. The QBs are throwing the ball well and WRs are catching it. Lattimore is full speed, not holding back any. Clowney is beating everyone off the edge like last year. Spurrier even mentioned moving him to middle LB in some formations like they did with Ingram last year. As you know Ingram was very successful moving around like that. It's a lot harder to double team a MLB than it is a DL. I think this is also to let Chaz Sutton see the field more. People are saying he is the best backup DE in the SEC.

I'm just doing a little sunshine pumping bro lol. Excited for the season.

I definitely...

Would say that there are more and more over rated 4 stars every year. It's definitely important to do your own evaluations. I think some coaches go for the stars, lol. I think Richt does that at uga. You can look at Bama for the opposite, well evaluated legit highly rated talent.

Did you get the pictures from what I did yesterday?

Good post

I can see it both ways.

Fall practice starts tonight for the Gamecocks! It's finally here. I'm pretty pumped about the season this year bro. Remember when we used to say that we wanted both of our teams to be undefeated when we play each other? Well this is the season that gives us the best shot. I'm not at all saying either team will. In fact I don't believe either team will but I think this is the best both teams have been at the same time. Carolina in the top 10 and Clemson in the top 15. Pretty amazing really. Our little old state has to teams ranked that high. I'm ready for it bro.

I'm hearing it's official that Sammy will be out for the first two games. It's rumor right now but that's what I'm hearing. How bad do you think it will hurt vs Auburn?

I tried to get Brent to post. Don't know if he will or not.

I think stars...

matter a little in terms of impact players. I consider your secondary and DE's to be impact players or at least a talented DE is an impact player. Same thing on offense, I think it matters at RB, QB and to a lesser extent WR. Not often you are going to see a 2 or 3 star RB do that great in the SEC. For a QB it just really depends what type of offense. Power running sure, spread offense? Not so much IMO, especially in the SEC. I say SEC because of defense of course, if we are speaking offense and the spread I would look to the Big 12.

Look forward to the pics

I hate that you're not excited for the season though. I can't help it, this time of year is very exciting for me. I can't wait for kick off!

I think to say that clemson's class is taking shape a little bit is an understatement. Clemson is killing it right now. I don't think they have to do allot more in this class to make it solid. Same with Carolina really. We just got a 4 star DB tonight by the way. A player that from Georgia that UGA really wanted (Check the MB http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2208&tid=176379612&mid=176379612&sid=880&style=2 )(also had offers from every other SEC school). The UGA rivals insider came over to GGC to talk about him and said he is one of the best pure athletes in the state of Georgia this year.

I don't care a whole lot about the stars anymore however. The 5 stars are the only ones that are 95% automatic great players. The others 2-4 stars can go either way. That's the truth of it. I've seen as many 2-3 stars succeed as I have 4 stars fail at Carolina. It all comes down to player evaluation and player development. As long as our teams can do that we will be fine. Not saying pure talent doesn't matter but I put more stock into evaluation, strength and conditioning, and player development.

Kind of went off on a tangent but solid post on how I feel..

Sorry bro...

Busy time of the year, but I am starting Saturday for sure. I we cannot talk about it here, but I will email you for sure today. I tried to post here last night (my time) and my Ipad would not let me type in the box for some strange reason.

Yes OL are certainly not know for being smart but good lord. How stupid can you be? If I'm MR, social media sites would be getting the axe for a while for the team. He had better do something on the field this year, he is actually starting to lose allot of top prospects from the state and that has always been his bread and butter.

Clemson's class is starting to take shape a little now, we have a good chance to be in the top 10 this year I think. Just depends if we hold them and sign a couple of more. I will try to get excited about the season, but I think it will take a good run for that to happen for me. I am more excited about starting back to school, wood working ect... to be quite honest tho. Like I said, maybe that will change when it starts?

Watched a decent movie yesterday

"Meeting Evil" with Luke Wilson and Samuel L Jackson. It was ok, kinda weird.

Boat pics

Where are they?