Clemson is Already Winning Big ...

... And it's only July. Tigernet's David Hood looks at how the Tigers were the all-encompassing focus of both the ACC AND the SEC media days:

It’s easy to understand why Clemson would be the main topic with ACC teams, but the SEC teams also had to answer questions about how this upstart from South Carolina could, gulp, be the favorite again this season.

Read the whole thing.

Sad News: Former Tiger Dies

Former Clemson running back Tyshon Dye drowned during a family get-together during the July Fourth holiday.

Tigernet has posted a lovely tribute to a player who was "a sweet soul."

My son Koty was born nine weeks early and spent most of the first two months of his young life in NICU at Greenville Memorial Hospital, fighting for survival. He is mostly deaf and there are other issues that make it hard for him to make friends or socialize with other people. ... Four or five years ago, Dye was rehabbing from injury but Swinney’s high school camp moved him out of the indoor practice facility. For some reason, we were allowed to interview Swinney that day and I took Koty with me to hold the mic. When the interview was over, I still had camp to cover and Koty wandered off. When it was time to leave, I looked everywhere but didn’t see him anywhere. I finally heard the sound of laughter and found him sitting upstairs at the indoor practice facility with Tyshon. The two were having all kinds of fun – they aren’t far off in age – and I almost hated to break it up. 

Read the whole thing.

'Hold Me Closer, Woodrow Dantzler'

Tigernet catches up with Clemson great Woodrow Dantzler, a run-pass quarterback with the Tigers from 1999-2001:

In 2001 as a senior, Dantzler became the first quarterback in NCAA history to throw for at least 2,000 yards and rush for another 1,000 yards. He was 188 for 311 (60.5 percent) passing for 2,360 yards and 17 touchdowns. He added 1,004 rushing yards and another 10 touchdowns. 

Today, Dantzler is doing vital work as a mentor and role model.

Death Valley Will Look a Little Different in 2019

Tigernet details some changes to the physical plant at Memorial Stadium. This includes removing the small ticket office at Gate 1 to create more access points, finishing the IPTAY building in the WestZone, and adding some national championship signage.

Sounds like positive changes.

I'm All Ready for 'All In'

Clemson 24-7 has some news today: The ACC Network, which will launch on August 22, will present a four-part documentary on Clemson football entitled All In: The Clemson Football Family. The episodes will run in prime time, August 25-28.

From the post:

“We knew early on that we wanted to do something special with Clemson,” said Stacie McCollum, senior director of programming and acquisitions. “We wanted to showcase the people and culture behind the program’s success as they prepare to defend their national title. Access programming and storytelling will be hallmarks of this network, and the opportunity to feature the Tigers in our first series is a testament to that commitment. Anyone who loves college football will enjoy this series.”

Check out the trailer:
All In The Clemson Football Family Trailer from ACC Network on Vimeo.

"Let Ole Arri-Arri Kick the Hell Out of It"

The headline refers to comments that Charlie Pell allegedly made about Clemson kicker Obed Arriri, a Nigerian-born soccer player at Clemson who switched to football from 1977 to 1980 and became a star.

He's the focus of the Tiger Pregame Show's Letterman Photo of the Day.

 From the post:

Obed Ariri was enrolled at Clemson in 1977 when Charlie Pell was in dire need for a kicker. Dr. Ibrahim offered Obed only if he would still continue to play soccer. Pell agreed, and Obed went on to nail every attempt thus securing his place as the kicker for the Tigers. Obed's scholarship was shifted to Football and Pell insisted that Obed forget about soccer. 

The last we heard, Arriri was driving a cab in the Tampa area. And like everyone else, he's on Facebook. 

The Unprecedented Trevor Lawrence

Clemson 247 crunched some numbers, and it turns out that quarterback Trevor Lawrence's performance in his freshman year was even better than we thought:

Using Sports Reference data, which circles back to 2000, 247Sports looked for any true freshman season that even slightly resembled Lawrence's. There aren’t any. For those wondering, pre-2000 stat lines wouldn’t encompass the same sort of passing numbers Lawrence and modern offenses produce.

Wow.

Shakin' the Southland's "Farewell" tour continues today with a biggie -- receiver Hunter Renfro, the hero of the 2017 national championship game against Alabama.

 

Renfro was recently drafted in the fifth round by the NFL's Oakland Raiders, so hopefully we'll see him playing on Sundays this fall.

Trevor Lawrence is the Man ...

You knew that already, of course, but USA TODAY (my old employer) just made it official by ranking Clemson's Trevor Lawrence as the No. 1 quarterback for the 2019 season:

Lawrence tossed just four interceptions against 30 touchdowns during his first year on campus, capped by his 347-yard, near-perfect performance against the Crimson Tide. That's just a taste of what's to come for a sophomore already compared to some of the great prospects at his position in recent history — including Peyton Manning.

I am so ready for this season to begin.