Saturday, November 21, 2009
Clemson QB succession could be cloudy for Boyd
Some buzz about Air Force’s Calhoun
Doug Doughty
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Just having transcribed part of a teleconference with Virginia football coach Al Groh, I was struck by his assessment of Clemson redshirt freshman quarterback Kyle Parker and the promise he holds for the future.
“Looks like they’re set at that position for quite some time,” Groh said.
You know what I’m thinking? What about 2009 Tigers’ signee Tajh Boyd, rated the No. 2 prospect in Virginia last year by The Roanoke Times?
Boyd, from Phoebus High School in Hampton, originally committed to West Virginia in the winter of 2008. He subsequently re-opened his recruiting and committed to Tennessee during the fall of 2008, only to be cut loose by the Vols because new coach Lane Kiffin didn’t picture him in a West Coast offense.
Boyd had knee surgery after the 2008 season and it made sense for Clemson to redshirt him. But here comes Parker, who has passed for 1,848 yards and 16 touchdowns in 10 games, and where does that leave the rest of the Tigers’ quarterbacks?
Willy Korn, once viewed as the heir apparent at quarterback, is now the back-up to Parker as a redshirt sophomore. The Clemson roster indicates that Boyd is being redshirted and he has been contributing to a diary for scout.com, but what does Parker’s progress mean for Boyd’s future?
That all depends on Parker’s choice between football and baseball. After graduating from high school in December 2008, Parker enrolled at Clemson in January and had a banner year for the Tigers’ baseball team, batting .303 and hitting 14 home runs, with 50 runs batted in.
Parker played in 63 of 66 baseball games for Clemson last year and, while participating enough in spring football practice to win the starting quarterback job, saw his batting average drop to .255. He also hit 12 home runs and knocked in 52 runs.
Interestingly enough, while Parker is listed as a redshirt freshman in football, he will be a junior in baseball eligibility this spring, which means that he could turn pro after the season, according to my interpretation of the rules.
Parker’s quarterback numbers are impressive enough that he could project as both an NFL and MLB prospect. He’s not tall for an NFL quarterback at 6 foot 1 (and 200 pounds) but there have been shorter.
HEARD AN INTERESTING nugget at the SEC Roundtable today, where local talk-show host Greg Roberts floated the possibility of Clemson and Virginia Tech meeting in the Orange Bowl.
That’s assuming that Clemson would beat Georgia Tech in Tampa, Fla., and would get the automatic Orange Bowl bid that goes to the ACC champion. Because Clemson and Virginia Tech are in opposing divisions and did not play this year, there would be no issue with a postseason rematch.
Roberts says the qualification for an at-large BCS bid include a spot no worse than No. 14 in the final BCS rankings. He projects the Hokies at No. 10 or 11 if they win their final two games.
If Tech doesn’t play Miami in the Orange Bowl, Roberts sees another trip to Atlanta, where they could possibly play Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Chick-fil-A people would be reluctant to take Georgia Tech for a second straight year after the Yellow Jackets’ 38-3 loss to LSU last year.
Of course, there’s a very good chance that Georgia Tech could beat Clemson in the ACC championship game, sending the Yellow Jackets to the Orange Bowl and probably Clemson to Atlanta. That would mean another Gator Bowl trip for the Hokies and their esteemed beat man, Randy King, whose hospitality-room exploits are as memorable as the Hokies’ on-field doings.
PREDICTABLY ENOUGH, the lunch conversation turned to potential successors to UVa’s Groh and there can be little question that Richmond’s Mike London is the front-runner.
While many fan bases of Virginia’s standings would shy away from a Division I-AA head coach, it would be impossible for any search team to know any more about a candidate than the Cavaliers do London after his two stints in Charlottesville.
I would imagine that UVa would seek to interview Temple’s Al Golden, if there hasn’t already been some third-party dialogue, but I’ve been told by a good source that there is “no chance” that Wake Forest coach and UVa alumnus Jim Grobe would take the job.
Among other things, Grobe’s Wake contract is said to have a hefty buyout.
The name of Boise State head coach Chris Peterson won’t go away, particularly given executive associate AD Jon Oliver’s connections to Boise, but a more plausible mystery candidate would be Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, whose Falcons carry a 7-4 record into their season finale tomorrow at BYU.
Air Force has lost two overtime games and dropped a three-point affair to unbeaten TCU. Calhoun, a former Wake assistant, was the offensive coordinator with the Houston Texans before returning to Air Force, his alma mater. Calhoun is in his early 40s.
