The Clemson Dubcast

Larry Williams
The Clemson Dubcast

Larry Williams of Tigerillustrated.com takes you inside the helmet and inside the press box (minus the free food) to deliver the stories behind the stories. No screaming. No hot takes. No picks. Just honest insight and informed conversation.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Mike Noonan

    Mike Noonan doesn't sugarcoat where he thinks college athletics is headed. "Buckle up and hold on tight, because we're going to go through a hurricane," he said. Noonan, who has led Clemson to two national titles in men's soccer, is privy to major changes taking shape in the college game. "We've made about five different attempts to become a two-semester sport, and modernize the sport, but we have hit roadblocks in the NCAA bureaucracy every time," he said. "So with all the changes going on with college athletics, and there's been a number of changes in the governing body at U.S. Soccer ... we re-engaged in conversations with them. "There was a pilot program put forward, similar to the College Football Playoff. We're not leaving the NCAA, but we would play over two semesters and there'd be a national tournament sponsored by U.S. Soccer at the end of the spring portion of our season. The national governing body would pay for the championship, and we would be able to progress our game in a way that we haven't been able to."  Noonan said athletics directors have been in "great discussions" with U.S. Soccer about adopting the pilot program for the 2026-27 year. He said there are different championship models that feature 36 teams, 48 teams and even 72 teams. "We all feel favorable that it's going to happen. It will be a big change." Noonan also shares how, a few years into his Clemson tenure, he significantly changed his recruiting model. "When we got here we were in a position where we had to just look for talent. And talent without character is a recipe for disaster." Noonan consulted a familiar name as he constructed his new model: One Dabo Swinney. Swinney's advice to Noonan: It's not what works everywhere; it's what works at Clemson. "That flipped a switch for me," Noonan said. "We came up with 10 recruiting criteria and decided we were going to recruit to them. And any player that we were going to let come into our program was going to have to tick seven of those criteria."

    1h 6m
  2. JAN 24

    Patrick Sapp

    As college athletics enters the revenue-sharing model, Patrick Sapp has a different perspective than most because: 1) He played in the NFL; 2) His son Josh is currently being paid to play at Clemson. Josh, preparing for his third year with the Tigers, certainly didn't command the major price tag earned by some of the team's elite weapons including Cade Klubnik, Antonio Williams and Peter Woods. But there were actual negotiations and he is making an actual cut of the revenue share. "Going through the negotiating process and conversations with Josh was very interesting," Patrick said. "It truly reminded me of the NFL contractual conversations that my agent and I went through when I played for San Diego and Arizona.  "What's the player's value? What has he contributed? What do the coaches feel like a player can contribute in the future? All those things go into what a player demands from the university, or from the internal collectives. And that is truly how those numbers are reached. "The other influence on this whole thing is other school are now interested in your players. So for people who say 'This is all crazy,' schools are now coming after your starters. It's not as much about kids being angry over playing time. It's now a case of, you have to protect your starters all 12 months of the year." Sapp says he does have some concerns over what gobs of money can do the minds of young men who are still in their formative years and expected to attend classes and make progress toward graduation. "Fortunately my son has me. And we are definitely taking care of his money the right way. He's definitely with a financial planner, accountant and all those surrounding things. And we're not doing it just to manage it for him; we're doing it to educate him along the way so he truly understands it. He and I talk about what's important and not important about how you spend your money, so that he can have those good habits early in life. "Unfortunately all kids don't have that situation. So then it's up to the coaches and the support staff and all those people to wrap their arms around those young men who are in those situations so they don't do crazy things with the money they have.  "And I explained it as simple as this to my son: 'This is the only time in your life where you will make a significant amount of money with no financial responsibility. So given that, the money you make in college should triple by the time you leave. Because you have no expenses. This is the only time in your life that you will have that, so let's get a head start on life.' That's where our conversation started." Sapp also gives his thoughts and insights on the fundamental defensive flaws in 2024 that led Dabo Swinney to fire Wes Goodwin and bring in Tom Allen from Penn State.

    1h 13m
  3. 12/31/2024

    Best of 2024, Part 2

    In Part 2 of our Best of 2024 podcast, we revisit some of the more memorable excerpts from our interviews over the past year: -- Thomas Austin, on what it's like to deal with being fired by Dabo Swinney. In 2008, Austin was an offensive lineman on the team that helped Swinney secure the head-coaching job with a victory over South Carolina. Swinney even rode on Austin's shoulders to midfield that day to shake the hand of Steve Spurrier. -- Otis Pickett, on returning to his alma mater from Mississippi to be the historian of Clemson University. A significant part of Pickett's mission is introducing and framing the public conversation on Clemson's past, which includes difficult and complicated topics on race. -- Cliff Ellis, former Clemson basketball coach, shares numerous stories about his musical career. Had he not chosen coaching, Ellis could've easily spent his life as a professional musician. In the mid-1960s, his group The Villagers was a sensation and even recorded at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. Ellis remembers joining Roy Orbison on stage at a sold-out concert in Dothan, Ala. "If you can perform in front of people with Roy Orbison behind you, you're going to be OK going up against Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski," he said. -- Tommy West looks back to a totally different time for Clemson football in the 1990s when the Tigers didn't have any facilities to speak of and were so behind on that front that he once tried to stage an August practice at a local livestock arena.

    1h 33m
4.9
out of 5
198 Ratings

About

Larry Williams of Tigerillustrated.com takes you inside the helmet and inside the press box (minus the free food) to deliver the stories behind the stories. No screaming. No hot takes. No picks. Just honest insight and informed conversation.

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