Let the Bobby Johnson Speculation Commense
Tommy Bowden has been fired at Clemson, something no one thought would happen back during the off season. Partly it was because the Tigers were everyone's ACC favorite, and partly because he just signed a new extension with a hefty buyout.
SB Nation alumnus Dr. Saturday has a fairly exhaustive rundown of the breaking news, and I put together a fairly exhaustive look at Bowden's record during the off season. Basically, it's been almost a decade and nothing has changed. It's a minor miracle he lasted this long.
So why do we care in the SEC? Because Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson's name will be floating around a lot when it comes to this job. It already has, in fact, well before this week. He is a Clemson graduate, and with his team's hot start (four consecutive weeks ranked for the first time ever), his profile has been raised considerably.
I don't know enough about him to say whether he'd leave or not; you'll have to hit up our Commodore comrades around the net to find out. He seems like a great guy though, and if he gets a payday I will feel great for him. I will say though, it's rare to have your prospects of getting a bigger-name job go up the week after losing to Mississippi State, but that's where we are with him.
Another name being floated around is former Auburn defensive coordinator (and former Georgia safety before that) Will Muschamp, the guy who just helped engineer Texas' big win over Oklahoma. Either one, Johnson or Muschamp, would probably be an upgrade.
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I'm hoping for Greg Robinson
But that’s just the South Carolina fan in me. Bobby Johnson with legitimate BCS talent is a very, very scary thing.
I think Dr. Saturday makes a good point: This could cause more heads to roll as folks try to get in line for Muschamp. There might be a couple of seats warming up in the SEC.
by cocknfire on Oct 13, 2008 8:49 PM EDT 0 recs
Muschamp...
It’ll be interesting to see how the Auburn and Tennessee situations develop. I think Tuberville can save his job by winning a few games down the stretch, but Fulmer is probably already done unless he wins out. If you were Will Muschamp, who would you want to coach—Auburn, Tennessee, or Clemson? Which school can pony up more money? Hard to say.
Not sure about Bobby Johnson. I think he’s a great coach and he would probably be very successful at a school where he could recruit big time talent, but I wonder if ADs will look at him and ignore the fact that he coaches at Vandy and just wonder why he hasn’t won more games. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out.
Go Cocks!
by Gamecock Man on Oct 13, 2008 10:03 PM EDT 0 recs
Clemson, I think
The fans are just as, um, intense, but a good coach with a decent recruiting base should be able to make a splash in the ACC pretty quickly. At Auburn you’d have to face Bama, LSU and UGA every year; at Tennessee you draw UF, UGA and Bama. Matters might change, but the top end of the ACC just doesn’t have the same murderer’s row quality right now.
Of course, if you have really grand dreams, one of the inevitable openings in the Big East would be even better…
by peachy rex on
Oct 14, 2008 1:10 AM EDT
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That's part of the problem at Clemson, though
Being South Carolina fans, Gamecock Man and I can attest to the fact that they think they should be in the national title hunt every season. I’m not sure consistently contending for ACC titles would be enough — though Bowden didn’t even have to do that to stay around for a decade. They honestly believe they’re still a nationally relevant program.
by cocknfire on
Oct 14, 2008 1:22 AM EDT
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Fair enough
But do Auburn and Tennessee fans feels any different? If the expectations at each are roughly the same, then the school in the (currently) less competitive conference is the logical choice.
by peachy rex on Oct 14, 2008 3:05 AM EDT 0 recs










