Fjoinkay
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is just as big for Coach Clawson as anybody else. Last year it was reported or rumored that Clawson may have used some choice words with his team in the locker room after his team's loss to SU, and I really have no idea about that. I do know that the following week Wake played BC, and Wake played much better. SU beat Wake by 23 points, and BC beat Wake only by 6 points. I say this because I caught the end of the first half of Wakes' game against BC, and when Clawson was interviewed on the sideline he said he was happy with his offense in the first half. He also said (and I'm paraphrasing here and my interpretation may be mistaken) that he was happy with his offense in the first half against BC especially in light of the fact that they were playing against a real ACC defense. He never said anything directly about SU, but his comment, at the very least, reminded some of the rumors of things he had said to his team after SU's win the previous week.
My point is simply that Clawson is confident. He is a bright coach. He is aggressive. These qualities are common in college football coaches. You have to be a little crazy to go into coaching, which is one of the reasons I respect coaches so much and prefer to support them especially the coaches who work for SU. They live in constant competition and uncertainty, and I respect the heck out of that. As for Clawson, I'm not so sure, though, that his personality works very well in Winston-Salem. I say that, in part, because I think a lot of people around the ACC have had a negative and inaccurate perception of HCSS's personality. Last year when Shafer made the change at OC, which was sudden and unexpected and a surprise to everyone, some of the rumblings questioning Shafer's motivation were so far wide that it was clear that those people knew nothing about Shafer and his personal relationships with his players and with his coaches. I suspect Clawson is misunderstood at times, and I have no doubt that he is under a lot of pressure right now. This game is big.
ACC football is improving across the board, and the gap between all of the p5 schools across the country continues to narrow. Some programs struggle one year and then the next year they are better, but overall I think a lot of people are seeing that there is more and more parity across the p5 landscape. If SU's defense can play well again this year (they were a legitimate ACC defense last year and I think they can become as good this year), I think SU can go bowling. I also believe that SU can pull off an upset or two, but I admit that it's also true that SU is capable of losing to Wake and so forth. It's as competitive as ever and this applies to each school. One thing I'm very confident about is that last season SU learned some valuable lessons. If they can stay together and keep it real behind the scenes they can win some games and go bowling. Go Cuse!!
My point is simply that Clawson is confident. He is a bright coach. He is aggressive. These qualities are common in college football coaches. You have to be a little crazy to go into coaching, which is one of the reasons I respect coaches so much and prefer to support them especially the coaches who work for SU. They live in constant competition and uncertainty, and I respect the heck out of that. As for Clawson, I'm not so sure, though, that his personality works very well in Winston-Salem. I say that, in part, because I think a lot of people around the ACC have had a negative and inaccurate perception of HCSS's personality. Last year when Shafer made the change at OC, which was sudden and unexpected and a surprise to everyone, some of the rumblings questioning Shafer's motivation were so far wide that it was clear that those people knew nothing about Shafer and his personal relationships with his players and with his coaches. I suspect Clawson is misunderstood at times, and I have no doubt that he is under a lot of pressure right now. This game is big.
ACC football is improving across the board, and the gap between all of the p5 schools across the country continues to narrow. Some programs struggle one year and then the next year they are better, but overall I think a lot of people are seeing that there is more and more parity across the p5 landscape. If SU's defense can play well again this year (they were a legitimate ACC defense last year and I think they can become as good this year), I think SU can go bowling. I also believe that SU can pull off an upset or two, but I admit that it's also true that SU is capable of losing to Wake and so forth. It's as competitive as ever and this applies to each school. One thing I'm very confident about is that last season SU learned some valuable lessons. If they can stay together and keep it real behind the scenes they can win some games and go bowling. Go Cuse!!
