By Rock Westfall
In this new era of college football, dominated by news of the transfer portal and NIL , fans who loved the game for not being like the NFL are having a crisis of faith. For some of these fans, that old feeling is fading or already gone.
The original attraction for many college football fans was the ideals of scholarship, the development of boys into men, watching players mature on and off the field for four years, and amateurism. Sure, the bag and cheating have been a part of the game from the start, but it was not as crass, loud, vulgar, and in our faces as today. Furthermore, the adults oversaw college football’s glory days. Rosters were not revolving doors. Now, the opposite is the case.
Many college football fans believe that they are not leaving the game but that the game is leaving them. They hate that coaches are so terrified of players that they won’t make scholarship and citizenship demands. Many coaches won’t coach players hard for fear of losing them in a huff to the portal . College football is devolving into a player’s league , like the NBA, where coaches are cowering and subservient. For countless fans, that is a deal breaker.
But all is not lost. Fans in search of programs and coaches who do it the old way can find refuge in Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers and Matt Rhule’s Nebraska Cornhuskers. Swinney and Rhule are spinning the old classic tunes, and it is music to the ears of countless fans not enthralled with today’s obnoxious noise of selfish narcissism.
Dabo, Dabo, Do!
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is increasingly derided for being a dinosaur facing eventual extinction. Swinney is the opposite of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin , who is known as “The Portal King.” By contrast, Swinney is the Culture King. He defiantly leads with his chin, stating that Clemson football is about the complete college experience, which includes getting a degree and being a part of a brotherhood for life.
Before the portal and the bag exploded into prominence, Swinney built a Clemson program that rivaled Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty as the best in college football. But in recent years, Clemson has been merely good and no longer great.
Swinney has told critics that he has made multiple transfer portal inquiries, only to be rejected by players who got a bigger bag elsewhere. But that does not discourage Dabo. He believes that Clemson can be a regular in the expanded College Football Playoff and still contend for national championships.
There is something uniquely special about a game at Clemson. Death Valley offers an experience that is hard to match at any other school. Last year, when Clemson circled the wagons to beat Notre Dame, it triggered a field rush celebration emblematic of its culture.
On Saturday, the Brotherhood of Dabo faces the Fast and Furious Georgia Bulldogs culture of reckless driving fame. Georgia opened as a 13.5-point favorite, but Clemson has enough talent and character to shock the nation potentially. Fans without a team should get on board this weekend for a noble cause of the white hats vs. the black hats that may not yet be lost.
Speaking of worthy causes, another good one is offered in Lincoln, Nebraska.
New Rhule Built on Time-Tested Truths
While Dabo Swinney has become a punching bag of ridicule, Matt Rhule is doubling down on Dabo’s values at Nebraska. Like Dabo World, Matt’s Rhule is based on education, citizenship, brotherhood, and players earning everything they get.
A great example of the Big Red culture is when Rhule flipped 5-star QB sensation Dylan Raiola from the Georgia Bulldogs last December. Raiola was entitled to nothing but an opportunity to earn the starting position, which he clinched last week.
Rhule is fearless and demanding in his relationships with coaches and players. Everyone works hard and faces an unprecedented level of accountability. In turn, Rhule shows enough interest and care in each Husker that they stay with the program, knowing of its long-term benefits. He promises that Nebraska is a player's foundation for the next 50 years and will have them prepared for the NFL and life.
Perhaps the most appealing trait of Rhule’s coaching style is his defiant nature. Rather than fearing his players, he has the attitude that a player can leave anytime if he refuses to buy into the team concepts and relentless demands .
What is most revealing is that by being such a taskmaster, Rhule is attracting tough kids with the character necessary for success in the bruising Big Ten . Rhule is winning a contrarian bet.
Rhule loves to compare his program and its challenges to those of the farmers of the Cornhusker State. He reveres living in Nebraska and its resilient people who are short on excuses and long on the virtues of work and beating challenges.
This week, Nebraska hosts the UTEP Miners. The game is a perfect opportunity for new fans to become acquainted with the Big Red before an epic September 7 NBC prime-time showdown against Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes' click-and-bag culture.
Adopting Nebraska as a favorite team puts you in a family regarded as the best fans in college football. A game at Memorial Stadium has been a guaranteed sellout since 1962 and comes with a sea of red that is awe-inspiring, even on TV.
So, to those who are fans without a team and in search of the way things used to be, are you ready for some football now?
Dabo Swinney and Matt Rhule are offering the college in college football at Clemson and Nebraska.
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