Word has been leaking for a few days now that Clemson decided to listen to our complaints about the lack of a training table, in addition to over a year of complaining about the lack of the Indoor facility that we just got wind of. It appears they will now do something about it.
Clemson plans to announce numerous upgrades to the WEZ Phase III, including the Oculus, Tiger Field improvements, the Indoor Facility, a new basketball practice facility (that I heard inklings of just before OP left), Riggs, and a large component addition to the WEZ that will be used as an athletic-oriented dining facility. They'll have to raise the funding and the plan should entail how they will do that. TDP should announce it next month, so if youre looking for a full official outline of the plan -- sorry but its not out yet.
So almost everything we've complained about, they're doing. As for that, I'm totally thrilled. My question is, what prompted this? The timing is curious.
If this kind of comprehensive plan has been in the works, why the hell didn't you announce it post-ACCCG or post-MC Bowl last year, when fan excitement for this season was comparitively high? Why did you sit on it? We could've been raising the money already, and instead they did nothing. They said nothing. They didn't say anything when the NFL scouts made fun of our "indoor facility" and would've rather practiced in the rain than inside it. Why wouldn't you roll it out then, or at least say you've contracted an architect to render one? Or said that you already started a feasibility study? Instead of uniting fans (or trying to) behind Phillips and the AD and IPTAY, they let things go on. How do you feel about the leadership of this Athletic Department when you think about these things?
No matter what everyone else believes, I firmly believe that TDP was within a hair's breadth of losing his job two weeks ago. Something happened in that Board meeting that prompted this along. Last week, I heard that Dabo told the team they were getting the IPF and didn't believe it, a few days before it was initially announced by TI and CU. If Dabo only announced it to the players a week or two ago, then I am curious why it wasn't revealed to him much much earlier as a possible recruiting pitch? Is it possible they only told him that it was a "Go" two weeks ago, after this meeting between TDP, Barker and the BOT? If it was a "Go" before then, why not announce it right after the SC loss, to perk Clemson fans up? They could've headed off all the negativity, but instead they sat on it, waited to see if TDP got fired or not, and let everyone get pissed off.
Why is Clemson always reactive and never proactive?
I get the distinct impression that this whole plan was sitting on someone's desk for months, Barker and/or TDP held it up, and that Board members told them to get off their collective asses and start doing something before they lose their IPTAY donations. That is the only thing that makes logical sense to me, regarding this timing.
At this point I'm sticking to my wait-and-see approach. Show me. I'll believe things are improving when I see them improving on the field. 20 years is long enough to see results of our donations to IPTAY, even though our coach says never to focus on the results.