Then and Now

Fike Field House

New Football Ops Center

What a difference 50 years makes.  The picture on the left is old Fike Field House.  The side door shown is the entrance that leads down to the dressing room, which served all sports.  Each athlete had little more than a hook or nail on the wall.  I was proud to have a “nail” with the football team for a few weeks during Spring practice of 1965.  That didn’t work out so well, but then in Spring of 1967, I got a more permanent “nail” with the baseball team.  The upstairs floors housed the offices for EVERY coach for all sports.   Marvelous Herman McGee was THE trainer, equipment manager, field maintenance crew, counselor, and confidant for every athlete in every varsity sport.   I remember Herman had one assistant to help him line and drag the field for baseball games.

The picture on the right is the new football complex, or at least as much of it as I could get in the picture.  This is for football players only; however, each of the other major sports has its own operations center with its own coaches offices, dressing rooms, and strength facilities.  Each athlete’s “nail,” or locker, is now about the size of a generous walk-in closet.  Now there’s a crew of about 15 men that line and drag the field for baseball games.

Clemson just enjoyed another superb football signing day, bringing in one of the top classes in the nation although they only had a relatively small number of scholarships available.  They signed the #1 (by most evaluation services) offensive player and the #1 defensive player in the country.  They signed the #1 players from five different states, three of the top five players in the country, and four of the top ten.  I’m often asked by friends who have not been to Clemson how they do it, this little school in upstate South Carolina forty miles from the nearest airport.  Having facilities second to none obviously helps, but that’s not the main reason.  First, I really believe that Dabo has built a culture here that is unsurpassed in college football.  He and his staff are very selective about the type of student athlete they recruit.  If you saw K.J. Henry’s signing ceremony on TV yesterday, that’s an excellent example of the kind of individual Clemson goes after.  Second, Dabo and every member of his staff – coaches, administrators, and student assistants – are all-in on the family concept.  A large part of that is the P.A.W. Journey program run by Jeff Davis, where the emphasis is on developing the players as young men off the field.  Passionate About Winning (P.A.W) focuses on personal growth, life skills and community service, and career and professional development.  I don’t doubt that other schools have something similar to this, but I know of no school that puts the emphasis on it that Clemson does.  And third, there are few schools in the country, even among the so-called Power 5 conferences, that have the combination of Board of Trustees, University President, and Athletic Director totally on the same page in terms of building winning athletic as well as academic programs, and also have the money (IPTAY) and space/land to commit to that effort.   Dabo has built a brand that, whether a star athlete wants to go to school here or not, he at least wants to see what its all about.  They don’t all commit or sign here, but they all like their experience here; and if they have the right character and work ethic, they may be fortunate enough to get an offer and an education here.

I know this sounds too much like a recruiting pitch, but after all, this is the early signing period.   I’m proud to be here and to enjoy all that this great university has to offer.

GO TIGERS!!