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Friday, December 13, 2002
Q&A with Tommy Bowden
BCSfootball.com
Tommy Bowden is at Troy State University this week, working at the 15th Annual Bowden Academy with his father Bobby, brothers Terry, Jeff and Steve and brother-in-law Jack Hines. BCSfootball.com spoke with Coach Bowden about the upcoming season, his third at Clemson.
Do you have a quarterback controversy, or is Woodrow Dantzler going to be your starter?
|  | | Clemson QB Woody Dantzler is a candidate for the Heisman Trophy. |
We have a starter with Woodrow Dantzler. If something happens to him, we have a quality guy who got good work in the spring with Woody out. We have two capable guys. If you have that at any other position, you call that competition. For some reason, they call that controversy at quarterback. We have two capable guys.
So do you see Willie Simmons getting playing time?
It depends on how Woody plays. You need to ask Woody (laughs). If he doesn't play good, he will.
With Rod Gardner gone, is freshman Roscoe Crosby ready to fill in?
He'll get a chance early. All of our signees will get an opportunity to start. If they are good enough, they will. Roscoe Crosby showed the potential in high school. He was signed with the intention of helping us immediately. Whether he can or not will depend on injury and what shape he comes in. He will have an opportunity early.
Is baseball a concern for Crosby, or do you expect him to be there in August?
It looks like the reason he didn't go in the first round (of the baseball draft) was he told them that he wanted to consider college football. That's why he dropped to the second round. He was drafted second with the intention that he would play college football and pro baseball in the summer. That's my understanding.
I don't think he has signed yet. He might change his mind. They might say, we will give you first-round money even though you went in the second round if you changed your mind. But I think the reason he told them no the night before the draft for the first round was because he wanted to play college football.
Defensively, is the loss of linebacker Keith Adams your biggest hole to fill?
|  | | Can Chad Carson and the Tigers end Florida State's nine-year run as ACC champs? |
We have all three senior linebackers back, so our defensive problem won't be so much linebackers, but depth on the front and depth in the secondary. We have inexperience at those positions. In fact, the first 11 is not going to concern me so much, but football is often about injuries and nicks and bruises. I'm concerned about depth on the defensive front and depth in the secondary.
How will the NCAA violations affect the program? Will the self-imposed loss of two scholarships in 2003 affect the program?
Not really. All the penalties were self-imposed due to secondary violations. You try hard not to have secondary violations. It's awful difficult; that's why they call them secondary violations. We had them last year and the year before. We had them at Alabama, at Auburn. My father's had them about every year. What you try to do is not have them. But the self-imposed sanctions won't be a factor.
In the ACC, everyone is talking about Georgia Tech as the preseason favorite, and Florida State has to replace Chris Weinke. Is this the year that Clemson could win the conference?
I think the three choices would be Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson, based on last year's results. There are a lot of question marks. There are four brand new coaches. You don't know much about them. We lost to Georgia Tech by three points the last two years.
If you had to pick a pecking order, it would be Florida State, Georgia Tech and then us.
Are you going to be confident about facing your father this year?
I was confident last year and only lost by 50 (laughs). I am confident every year. The first year, we lost only 17-14. I was confident that year, and I was confident going down there to Tallahassee and we lost by such a big margin. I am sure I'll be confident this year. We'll be confident when we play them.
Your brother Terry has openly rooted for your father the past two seasons. What do you have to do to get him on your side?
Well, I need a couple more things like last week when my job was threatened. Then I think I will get him on my side. A couple of more losses and my job is threatened, and I am sure I can swing it. And maybe I can swing my mother.
This week, you are working side-by-side with your dad and brothers. Your dad has said how much he enjoys it. Is it just as enjoyable for you?
We have a large family, and we are a relatively close family, so we don't have much time to spend together. In the coaching profession, Daddy's busy in the fall, I'm busy in the fall, Terry's busy in the fall. Then we go to recruiting, then spring ball, then go to your fundraisers, then go to your own camp. So the only time we have together is this time. And it's something we enjoy. We enjoy throwing and catching. It's strictly quarterbacks and receivers, so it's all throwing and catching. It's football, something we enjoy. And it's family, something we enjoy. So it's a pretty good combination.
Your dad mentioned that he sometimes keeps information on certain players at the camp hidden from you. Who's sneakier -- son or father?
We were raised in different generations, so I am probably a little sneakier than he is. He's got a lot of wisdom in him, but he was raised during the depression and World War II. I was raised in the Internet/Baby Boomer age. We have a little more CIA in our age.
Have you seen a few players that could help Clemson?
There's a couple that I am going to try to sneak their home address and home phone that he won't get. And somebody else that's a head coach that might not be here. I have 19 years in the system. I still go through all the ground work, so I might work a little harder than he does.
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