BIG UPDATE (12:05): According to the Clemson Rivals.com and Scout.com sites, Tommy Bowden is out and the wide receivers coach Dabo Swinney will take over for the interim.
This photo of Tommy Bowden is a perennial favorite, and fits so well after almost every Clemson mind-blowing, mistake-filled, low intensity loss.
The rumors were hot and heavy in the aftermath of Clemson's dismal performance against Wake Forest, that Tommy Bowden's tenure at Clemson would be abruptly terminated. In the alternative, if not Bowden, offensive coordinator Rob Spence would be thrown overboard, since the Clemson athletic director has gone on the record plenty of times, stating he won't evaluate the coach's performance until the end of the season.
Well Bowden and Spence survived the weekend. Instead, it was quarterback Cullin Harper who was blamed for the problems. He was benched, and redshirt freshman Willy Korn gets to start on Saturday versus Georgia Tech.
This was predicted last month, when Clemson didn't waste anytime tanking the season and crushing Clemson fans' expectations. Bowden handled the decision to bench Harper like a high schooler dumping a girlfriend/boyfriend -- he text messaged (or left a voice mail).
Considering the dismal performance of the Clemson offensive line, to date, it shouldn't be a big surprise that Harper has struggled. The one good thing about Korn, is that he is more of a scrambler. Something that may help a little.
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Bowden's termination seems to be predicted every year, but he keeps managing to do just enough and shift the blame to survive. That probably won't work this year, but that $4 million buyout might.
