Was Brother Oliver Responsible for Clemson's Defensive Game Plan?

TiderJack

Hall of Fame
Jul 9, 2010
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No one had the DC title in 1992. But Oliver was the de facto DC. I can't provide documentation but I am certain I have read this over the years.
All the talk after the Miami NC game was what a great plan Oliver came up with. He may not have been listed as the DC (but I think he was) but he was the "coaching leader" of that great defense.
 

GrayTide

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Nov 15, 2005
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I thought about who beat a Nick Saban team as bad as Clemson did and it came to me, Alabama 31 LSU 0. It makes me believe Franchione put together Clemson's game plan on offense and defense, although I don't recall seeing the "smoke draw".
 

4Q Basket Case

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I’ve heard Oliver speak in the last couple of years. Came across as in the early stages of dementia. I do not use that word metaphorically, and no, there was no alcohol involved.

I would be shocked if he could name his starters from 1992, let alone out-scheme today’s offenses.

We got out-coached, no doubt. But that had nothing to do with Bill Oliver.
 
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trenda

Hall of Fame
May 17, 2000
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I wouldn't be surprised if Chad Morris helped from an offensive standpoint. Former Clemson coach, had a modicum of success against us this season.

But, as others have stated, I think Oliver is too far removed from the game to be "responsible" for Clemson's defensive game plan.
 

TideEngineer08

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Jun 9, 2009
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All the talk after the Miami NC game was what a great plan Oliver came up with. He may not have been listed as the DC (but I think he was) but he was the "coaching leader" of that great defense.
That's what I meant by de facto DC. I am almost 100% certain I have read in some book about that season or that era that we didn't have a named defensive coordinator back then. But the brains behind the defense was Oliver.

And for the record, I don't think he had anything to do with Clemson's effort. If anyone is so bold as to go back and watch that game, you'll see that our offense was carving Clemson's defense to pieces. We made unforced errors - false starts, penalties, throwing into double/triple coverage - at critical times and that's why we only scored 16. Not because Clemson's defense had some great strategy. Well... I take that back. Their strategy was great. It was sit back and let this team implode and we obliged them.
 

dayhiker

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There was no DC listed in 1990 or 1991 either.
I was surprised that it only listed OC and HC. No position coaches at all were listed.

JOX mentioned Dabo honoring Woody McCorvey this morning. That had me wondering who all was on staff back this. Then, this thread popped up, and I had to start searching.
 

NativeTider

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I was surprised that it only listed OC and HC. No position coaches at all were listed.

JOX mentioned Dabo honoring Woody McCorvey this morning. That had me wondering who all was on staff back this. Then, this thread popped up, and I had to start searching.
Well...Coach Oliver and Coach Stallings were not exactly chummy at the time so maybe that had something to do with no official title.

I have not heard from or seen Coach Oliver in years so I don't know about his current health. Below is an interesting article about the connection between Dabo and Brother which was only written 2 years ago.

https://www.postandcourier.com/staff/gene_sapakoff/brother-bill-guru-to-dabo-and-muschamp/article_abcb30d7-730c-5ada-97bf-e8e3aa668439.html
 

CrimsonBloodn62

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Feb 1, 2002
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With all due respect to Brent Venables, I will bet you a ham sandwich Brother Bill Oliver was the one who came up with Clemson's defensive game plan. From Clemson lining up in a zero defense to the creative coverages and jumping of routes, it had Oliver's fingerprints all over it. Much the same way he got into Torretta's head in '92. Oliver has Clemson ties and is reportedly close to Dabo. What do y'all think?
Clemson could have watch the unOFFICIAL Assistance Coaches video that's posted after every game and came up with a better game plan than Bill Oliver. I think Bill has been out of coaching too long to come up with defense game plan in today's offense.
 

jashleyren2

1st Team
Aug 27, 2018
755
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Alabama has a lot of enemies. Some, we even confuse as "friends". Clemson prepped better than we did, and we had complacency hanging over our heads in that game. We deserved to lose it as much as Clemson deserved to win it. 2019 will be a better season because of the loss,and the way we lost.

I'll never look back and be grateful for a loss. But, time to put this one in the rear view and look forward to what we have returning. And how to get another shot at Clemson, who I will guarantee is not looking forward to playing Bama again.
 

CaliforniaTide

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Aug 9, 2006
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It's a 4 hour drive from Durham to Clemson. What former Alabama coach would be able to help Clemson with a short drive like that? Who would have the motivation? Who had a defense known for shutting out team after team?

You guessed - Wallace Wade.
Since there's no blue font, it must be true.
 

SkullDuckery

1st Team
Dec 28, 2015
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We ran at will on them. Our play calling played right into what they wanted and we never adjusted. They had a great game plan but we didn’t help ourselves either.
 

USCBAMA

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Sep 21, 2001
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Wasn't the gist of Venables gameplan for his defense to not give up big plays and to keep everything in front of them, banking on the impatience of Bama's play callers? I'm not sure he needed outside talent to come up with that. Venables is one of the top defensive minds in the game today, this is a silly thread.
 

bamaga

Hall of Fame
Apr 29, 2002
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There is very little chance Brother Oliver could scheme a defense to stop today’s offenses , being out of coaching that long. The types of offenses are really different, the size of the defensive players are different, the rules are different. He would need a year or two to get up to speed on RPOs and read options and the like before he would be successful. JMO.
 

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