Weekly Treat — College Coach Benches Ego For Advice

By Jacob Carpenter

Created:
09/04/08 9:46pm

Last updated:
09/04/08 9:51pm

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Nobody has all the answers. Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden apparently knows that better than anyone in college football.

Bowden can’t catch a break with his Clemson Tigers team. Every time the Tigers get close to making their paw print in the sand and breaking away from Atlantic Coast Conference mediocrity, they find a way to implode like a mid-level mortgage company. Last week’s disastrous season opener was no exception.

So Clemson is No. 9 in the nation — looking at a cupcake schedule you could find in a middle school bake sale — and needs to just get by the young Alabama Crimson Tide on its way to a BCS bowl game.

Then, it lays the largest opening-day egg this side of Michigan circa 2007.

Expectations aren’t exactly Bowden’s forte. At the mere mention of “clutch victory,” the Tigers curl up like a cub about to take a nap.

Obviously, Bowden needs some help. So he puts his pride in his pocket and makes a few calls. Not to his dad, legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, or even brother Terry Bowden (who apparently is more of a motivational speaker than coach right now).

No, Tommy Bowden called the guy who just might have put him in the unemployment line: Alabama head coach Nick Saban — the guy who just knocked out Clemson with a haymaker in the first round.

(And if there’s one thing I learned this week, it’s that getting ahold of Saban isn’t easy. Apparently the Bowden name carries a little more weight than mine.)
Bowden continued his self-help telethon by dialing up Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer and Georgia head man Mark Richt in search of answers.

Not many college coaches would sacrifice their image for some tips from the sport’s most pre-eminent names.

You have to hand it to Bowden for putting his neck out there and saying he needs help. Here’s guessing that this story probably wasn’t supposed to get as public as it did — but Bowden deserves kudos for benching his ego and admitting that he doesn’t have all the answers.

Now if we can get Matt Millen to follow suit, we might have something here.

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About The Huddle

Sports reporter Jacob Carpenter examines sports issues from the past and present.

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