this year’s Clemson football season has had some MAJOR ups and downs. it started off with such a high degree of anticipation, and then came crashing down almost immediately after the first half against Alabama. i still haven’t really talked about that game very much, because it was so disappointing. let’s just say i now have a hatred for some Alabama fans, and that i knowingly let a Clemson fan walk past me on the way out to go fight an Alabama fan in the walkway. nothing really happened, just some missed punches and hollering.

anyway, when Tommy Bowden got let go, i didn’t really like it very much. i didn’t like the timing, and i didn’t like our QB and his dad basically throwing him under the bus. i thought after such high expectations, and then it becoming obvious that we were not even going to win the division much less the conference, maybe it would be time for a change, but at the END of the season.

the first thing the new interim coach Dabo Swinney did was fire the offensive coordinator, which was awesome. i thought the playcalling (on both sides of the ball) was a lot of the reason for the Alabama fiasco, and other games, and i thought if they were getting rid of the head coach, might as well get rid of the OC too. the first game Dabo coached was the GT game, and we lost. i didn’t like that, because we definitely had our chances to win, but our arrogant QB couldn’t get the job done. the last 5 weeks of the season though were fantastic (except for the FSU game where again our QB made a STUPID play to totally shift momentum).

on Saturday the entire season came down to the game against our archenemies from south carolina. i know we only play them once a year in football, and we usually beat them, but i still detest the thought of them winning anything. the whole coaching change would come to a head and Dabo would either get the job or he wouldn’t, and i think the entire decision was based on the last game. my friend Scott called me Saturday morning to talk football, and i told him i’d be okay with Dabo getting the job IF they won. they did, and they won in dominating fashion. it was awesome. i still wanted them to score when they were up by 17 with 2 minutes to play. James Davis ran for 3 TDs, even our stupid QB made a couple of good throws, and Dabo was carried off the field. the game for me was so great to watch, because it was such a culmination of the sacrifice the team had gone through, and now even if they were not going to win the conference, they were going to a bowl game.

today Dabo was officially given the job, and i’m totally in support of the decision. the emotion he shows on the field and in his press conferences is amazing. i’m stoked for the bowl game, but what i’ve really wanted to see is Dabo working with a different QB. the season opener for next season can’t come fast enough! and you know what’s funny? Dabo is a former Alabama player, but i can forgive him for that.