Where do we go from here? First, let me say that the rage that we feel as Clemson fans is not a rage towards a coach, a game, a season, or a staff. While we may not agree with the route that an individual team has taken, surely we can agree on the direction of our athletics program as a whole. Clemson has repeatedly underachieved under the watch of our current administration. STS has repeatedly discussed these shortcomings. Admittedly, we thought that the Clemson BOT finally understood the ramifications of the AD's actions (or inactions)...but we were wrong and extremely disappointed with the announcement made earlier this week.
The inaction of our BOT this past week indicates a couple of things:
- They have seen the results and apparently are willing to accept mediocrity.
- They have listened to the fans/alumni begging for a new direction and really don't care what we think.
- They don't understand/don't care how much the sports programs mean to those who support this university.
- Mismanagement will be accepted.
There is no excuse for the mediocre cycle known as Clemson athletics. We encourage you to make your opinions known everywhere and allot your money as you see fit. If you don't think the AD is headed in the proper direction, withhold your money until they either prove you wrong or listen. If you don't agree with a BOT member's vote, do not support the companies affiliated with that member. I don't particularly like the boycotting idea but I also despise the fact that our athletics department has been taken hostage and essentially set up to fail.
What are we going to do here at STS regarding athletics? We will NOT pull against Clemson on the athletic fields/courts. We may show our displeasure by withholding our resources but will hope for a miracle turnaround. We will not revel in failure nor do we want our university to endure defeat. We will continue to be objective when discussing the results of our athletic programs and genuinely want to discuss more successes than failures. We want to be firm but fair. Our goal is to point out what we think is necessary to win championships.
We get a lot of questions about our football staff, so let me go ahead and make this perfectly clear: We do not dislike Coach Dabo Swinney nor do we want him to fail. We will be objective with his results. We don't agree with many of his decisions, but want our football program to succeed.
All we want is for our programs to win. All we strive for at this site is to is be fair and honest. You cannot accurately assess where you are if you lack objectivity and, sometimes, brutal objectivity. If you feel the truth is a pill too tough to swallow, you are at the wrong site.