Clemson Tigers News: Will Shipley, Gene Chizik, Monterio Hardesty

Scoreboard

Clemson Men’s Basketball 82, Miami 95: The Tigers played well in the first half, but Miami exploded in the second half to top Clemson in Coral Gables.

We will have more on this game later this morning.

Will Shipley declares for the NFL Draft

The talk yesterday was Hevin Brown-Shuler’s comments that Will Shipley was turning pro and entering the NFL Draft. By the end of the day, we had clarification from Shipley himself.

Shipley will forgo his final season of eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft.

The dynamics for running backs in the NFL have shifted considerably in the past decade, and there are several reasons why this makes sense for Shipley at this point in his football career.

We do not have confirmation yet from Phil Mafah if he will return in 2024. If he does, we would be the feature back. Behind him will be several options, including incoming freshman David Eziomume.

Shipley’s exit brings the scholarship count to 85 total.

Programs are making coaching changes now that the transfer portal window has ended

The official transfer portal entry window closed earlier this week, and suddenly there are coaching changes around the Carolinas.

ACC opponent North Carolina made a big change at defensive coordinator.

Most sources indicate that Gene Chizik and UNC reached a mutual agreement to part ways. This is big news because of Chizik’s profile as a former national championship-winning head coach at Auburn.

Clemson’s archrival down the road made a change yesterday as well.

The timing of these changes brings scrutiny to the programs that make them. Typically, these kind of staff adjustments are made shortly after the regular season ends.

When programs wait until right after the transfer window closes, it gives the appearance that they were holding off on the change because they were worried players would decide to leave if they knew their position coach or coordinator was not going to stay with the team.

Now any players who want to leave will have to wait until after spring practices.

In the case of South Carolina, I do wonder if the three running back transfers committed to South Carolina before or after they knew that Monterio Hardesty wasn’t going to return as position coach for the group.

If you think either of these moves were shady, look at what Brian Kelly did yesterday at LSU.