I really didn't want to get in the " Would you want him to coach here." topic ( and the answer is Heck no for me Btw), my whole point in that post is that it always seems when Bama fans watch Clemson there is always a comment similar to what we give for Malzhan about being lucky. But if he is relying on luck, I want to know his secret without him coming here because even Malzhan isn't capable of 6 straight years of luck.
We've probably heard similar things, but I tend to think he wasn't acting alone if it was true. But its besides the point of not giving him credit
92 SECCG was probably the most Keith Jackson ever called his name
Let's be honest: there's a segment of our fan base that is never going to give Auburn credit for diddly. Auburn won a national title and the only thing said was, "Yeah, but he was paid." I'm sure he was...but many teams have paid many players and most did NOT win national championships. (Look no further than SMU). The dollar bills didn't make a single play that season.
As far as luck....I'd call Auburn 'lucky' in one particular game, the 2013 UGA game. You cannot draw up a play to do what the Ricardo Louis touchdown did. But most of the other things derided as 'luck' are more precisely called 'taking advantage of the situation you were given' or 'executing at critical moments.' I realize it's painful, but the 2013 Iron Bowl was NOT a lucky win. The last play was the kind of thing Saban does to other teams. But the only reason it came down to that last play, of course, is our failure to punch it into the end zone despite three red zone trips in the fourth quarter. At some point, the Auburn D HAS to be given credit for executing.
And it's the same, I think with Dabo at Clemson. Clemson got a bad reputation over years - hell, decades - of being 'good but just not good enough.'
Just look at their pre-Dabo history:
1993 - start at 22, lose to FSU, fall out....and never come back
1994 - start at 24, beat Furman and go to 22, lose....and fall out
1997 - start at 18, begin to climb, narrowly lose to FSU and don't drop.....and then lose the very next week
1999 - start unranked, get in at 19...and immediately lose and fall out
2000 - start at 17, got up to number five in October while unbeaten....and lose 3 of 4
2004 - start at 15, beat Wake Forest then lose four straight
2005 - win the first 2 unranked, jump into the polls....and lose the next three, two against unranked opponents
2006 - start at 18, lose to BC, beat FSU and come back in the polls rise to 11....then lose four out of five
2007 - start unranked, climb to 13 by October lose two in a row, fall - rise again, lose again and fall...then lose the bowl game
2008 - start at 9, lose to Alabama and fall to 22, hang tough.....and lose four of five and fire Tommy Bowden
Over and over......just as they're looking like the new hot girl in school, they turn out to have an STD. Dabo has put that behind them.
