There’s a good interview with Dabo by Travis Sawchik over at the P&C (note: the formatting on their site is a little off, so some of the questions aren’t bolded and it looks like Dabo is talking to himself, or, at least, I hope that’s what’s going on). Having read it, I feel a lot more comfortable with Dabo as the head coach. This paragraph stands out:

I can draw Xs and Os all day on that board; a lot of coaches come in and do great things on the board, but coaching and leadership is really about getting people to do things they don’t want to do, getting them to places they can’t take themselves. Motivating people to be great. … Coach (Bear) Bryant also talked about there are four kinds of players. You’ve got those players that have it and give it, like C.J. Spiller. You have players that have it but won’t give it — you want to get rid of those guys. Then you have players that don’t have it — and this is what the majority of your team is — but don’t know they don’t have it and give way beyond their ability. And then you have the guys that don’t have it, and know they don’t have it. You want to be nice to them because they will make great alums. … You’ve got to be able to motivate all those different guys. … I think that’s what separates good coaches from bad coaches.

Hopefully Dabo’s thoughts are translated to actions. In short, he has to convince the team that winning is more important than they currently believe it to be; this is no small task.

So you’ve got guys who A) have it and give it, B) have it and don’t give it, C) don’t have it but give it, and D) don’t have it and don’t give it. One criticism for Bowden was that he was much better at finding the “have its” than he was at developing the “don’t give its”. Any coach who can do both is going to enjoy a long and successful career.

Via Larry Williams

Here it is folks, your weekly football weather forecast. Light-saber sold separately.
Wel begin to trend towards what we typically expect during the grid iron season, with Saturday being the warmest of the three days anyone heading to Tiger Town will experience. It’s still going to be hot. Projected high around 85 but it may not be until late in the afternoon. However, due to the overnight and early morning showers that have been projected, it could be a steam bath. We may get a good dose of “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” At least we won’t be wilting under the sun with temps in the mid 90′s in the tailgates and pushing 100+ in the stadium. When the sun pops though, be sure to have that sunscreen out, especially if your plans include pre and post game fun. The days may be getting a little shorter but the flaming ball in the sky will still leave you with quite sunglass and farmer tan line.
Look for the Paladins to get knocked off their horse early and often. It should be another great game for Harper and back field tandem to build stats. At the same time, expect to get another dose of Korn to keep the heat on Furman and hope for a better performance from the late game D.
Weather on Friday and Sunday should be about the same with highs around 80 and a decent chance of rain (Rain, what is rain?) on Friday. It should be great overall weather in God’s Country for man and gnome alike. Hopefully so as we celebrate eldest gnome’s two hundred and 30th birthday. Happy Birthday Clem!

-Furman was the first football team Clemson ever played. The game was held in Greenville, SC on October 31, 1896, Clemson won 14-6.
-The second meeting between the two schools was not until 1902. (Clemson-28 FU-0)
-Clemson won the first seven matches between the two school between 1896-1918.
-Furman’s first win came in 1920 with a 20-0 victory.
-Clemson’s first win ever on Riggs field came against Furman in1916.
-Since 1937 Clemson has gone 28-0 against Furman dating back to a 0-0 tie in 1937.
-Furman’s last win, Nov. 26 1936, with a score of 12-0, is Clemson’s only recorded home game, played in the snow.
-The overall record between the two schools is 40-10-4 (Clemson of course)
-Since 1960 Furman has only scored 21pts total against Clemson, 17 of which came in the last meeting in 2003.
-On Oct. 8, 1960 Clemson and Furman wore the same uniform pants. Clemson played Virginia in the afternoon, shipped the pants to Furman for a night match up against William & Mary. Both teams won their games. The story goes, the Furman players had to tape the pants around he waist and the legs to keep them up because the Clemson Players were so much bigger. The pants are regarded as the only Clemson uniforms to defeat two opposing teams from the same state, on the same day.
-Two current Clemson coaches are Furman graduates, Billy Napier and Mike Dooley.
-Clemson has not lost to a Southern Conference school since joining the ACC in 1953, a 37-0 record.
-The last time a team currently in the Southern Conference defeated Clemson was 1936 (Furman), which is interesting because the University of South Carolina was a member of the Southern Conference between the dates of 1936-1952.