They just told us. It's what he deserved," said senior quarterback Cullen Harper, who was benched after the Tigers' loss to Wake Forest loss and replaced by highly regarded sophomore Willy Korn. "Dabo Swinney is a fine man and will do an excellent job.
Harper struggled playing behind an inexperienced offensive line this season. His father, Jeff Harper, an offensive lineman on Georgia's 1980 national championship team, said Bowden's dismissal was justified.
"I'd call it karma," he said. "I thought it needed to be done. I think anytime a head coach or someone in a leadership position starts to place blame on his coaches and players, it weakens their respect on the team. His past experiences have shown he's done that."
Clemson running back C.J. Spiller had mixed emotions seeing Bowden let go.
"I'm shocked. We are 3-3 because we didn't make enough big offensive plays," Spiller said. "I'm shocked by our record and now I'm shocked that our coach is gone.
"I enjoyed playing for coach Bowden and I liked him, but in the end he was yelling at us to be leaders and it wasn't working. He did all he could to motivate us but guys weren't buying into what he was saying. And he said a lot of the same things over and over again.
"He let the offensive coordinator [Rob Spence] run the show and we got away from me and James [Davis]. I think part of the problem was when he benched Cullen. Some people wanted the offensive coordinator fired, [Bowden benched] the quarterback and then he got fired."
While the Tallahassee Democrat reports that Bowden was fired, ESPN.COM reports that he "resigned.
Um huh...he resigned...right after they fired him. But I ain't mad. Matter fact I'm glad. Now, I don't have to root for Clemson anymore. The only reason I tried to get with them was because Tommy was Bobby's boy. Now, I hope they lose every game they play. And how classless is Cullen Harper? He should have kept his mouth closed. The fact of the matter is that he deserved to be benched with that raggedy performance he gave Thursday night. Both he and his father need to learn when to talk when to shut the heck up.
Tommy is coming out of this pretty good too. Bowden will be paid through the end of the season, then get $3.5 million as a buyout negotiated in the contract extension both sides agreed to last December. Boy, white folks sho'll don't get fired like us.
Come on to Tallahassee, Tommy. We'll leave the light on for you.
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