Tommy Bowden Press Conference Audio

Nov. 11, 2003

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Head Coach Tommy Bowden Press Conference Highlights, 11/11/03

On defensive performance last Saturday versus Florida State: “When I got hired, I said defense was the name of the game. If you want a championship, you better start on the defensive side of the ball. It gives you a lot of flexibility on offense, as far as your play calling and style. We’ve taught that from day one. We haven’t always gotten the results we wanted. But on Saturday, they (Florida State) went three-and-out on the first drive and threw an interception on the second drive. The defense kept the fans in it. Our defense never really allowed them to change momentum.”

On facing interim Duke coach Ted Roof: “When I coached at Duke in the early 80s, Ted Roof was an outstanding linebacker from Georgia Tech. When I coached at Alabama, he was a graduate assistant there. There are several times I came close to hiring him, but it just didn’t work out. I always thought he’d be a good coach. He’s caught my attention. He was an overachiever, not a very talented player. A lot of times those make good coaches, and he has. It looks like he has become a very worthy candidate for that position (head coach at Duke).”

On Duke being a “trap” game: “It’s a trap game in the fact that we’ve beaten them four years in a row. The game last year was close. As my father said after the game last week, you can only beat someone for so long. The percentages run out. You don’t beat everybody forever. In that regard, yes it is a “trap” type of game. Whether or not we can instill that into the players, we won’t really know until Saturday at about 3:30 or 4:00.”

On the play of Duane Coleman: “He’s gotten better every week. He’s learned a little bit better from tackle to tackle. In high school, he ran a lot in space. He’s learning how to run north-south. He has to learn to finish a run after contact.”

On the performance of Charlie Whitehurst: “Charlie just continues to get better. Sometimes he’s his own worst critic. I think he’s played good, solid football to this point. I see him doing good things in the future for Clemson football. He had a really good performance against a really talented team Saturday. They’ve made a lot of quarterbacks look bad, but Charlie held his own.”

On the all-around abilities of Derrick Hamilton: “He is the best all-around athlete I’ve coached at Clemson, he’s got all the records. If he’s not the best I’ve coached, he’s close to it. And he can be better. If he gets polished and fine-tuned, I think he can do a lot of damage and really benefit himself next season.”