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Mac & Bone Show - Chapel Fowler Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We got to talk some college football. Right, that's the big,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: big theme. It's really been a football Friday. ACC Kickoff
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: wraps up today here in Charlotte. Yesterday it was Dabo Day,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: all right, Dabo, it was his day, and of course
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: he has people talking about what he said. Let's talk
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: about what Dabo has been saying this offseason and what
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the season looks like with a guy who covers them
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: day in and day out. Chapel Fowler covers them for
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the state newspaper, and he's nice enough to join us
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: here during ACC Kickoff on the Mac and Bone show. Chapel,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: How you doing, man, what's going on?
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: What's up? Mac? I'm good, I'm here, I got my coffee.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I'm ready for day three out of three of ACC
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Kickoff in a nice but somewhat frigid hotel in uptown Charlotte,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and I'm ready to roll. Excited to talk, clenchon Dabo
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: and whatever else with you guys.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Let's do it, baby, let's do it. Well. We've we've
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: been playing some audio today of Dabo and the one thing,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the first thing I want to say about Dabbo all
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: off season, and he's been out there like he hasn't
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: hit right. He has been out and about whether it's McElroy,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: whether it's with Josh Pate or others, And he said
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: some of the same stuff yesterday. He's been very accountable.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Last year's on me and it's unacceptable. He also does
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: the thing to Chapel where it seems like he's reading
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: off his resume and wants to make sure everybody remembers
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: what he did. What do you think kind of about
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: how visible he's done. He's done a lot of national
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: media and he's been open this offseason. What do you
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: think about the way he's approached and what he's been saying.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because I totally agree,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: and it's it's interesting to hear that, even you know,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: for someone like you who's not falling us in day
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: to day, you notice because I mean, gosh, I noticed.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: He'll usually do a few off season interviews every year,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: but I swear it's been posted at ten or twelve
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: this year. Like you mentioned, Josh Pate was trying to
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: get him on a show forever that finally happened. He
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: was on with Adam Brendman the Macrory Podcast. He's been everywhere,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: And I think that's reflective of kind of a renewed
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: hunger and grit. And you know, Clemson would tell you that, Hey,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: around this time of year, every year, we wipe this
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: plate clean. We're locked in on the new season, you know.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: But a seven and six record, four and four ACC
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: record kind of has a way of lighting a fire
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: under a team, under a coach, under a staff that
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: you know, making a playoff really can't. So I think
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: there's a definite sense of urgency from everybody in that building, Dabbo,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: including and I think kind of the extended media's war
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: of the offseason, which is usually a time that he
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: you know, retreats a little bit, which is totally fair.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Get your vacation time in relax through your media. Around
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: this time of year when ACC pickoff starts, he has
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: been front and center, owning stuff, talking about what went wrong,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: but also, like you said, kind of playing the greatest
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: hits and reminding people, hey, there's a track record here
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: that one bad year doesn't totally erase.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but ultimately they've got to do it on the field, right,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Like I appreciate how open he's been his passion, but
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: they've got to do it on the field. This team
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: feels to me, I expect them to be better but
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: less talented. Is that? Do you view it that way?
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: What do you think?
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: I kind of like that traming, and I think I'm
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: leaning toward that as well. I don't know that the
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: infusion of transfers, and you know, there's guys on this
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: roster now that have grinded it out at key five
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: schools that are you know, they're about at Old Dominion
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: and Southern Myths and all these schools that aren't you know,
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: giving them millions in nil and that may be what
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Clumpson needed in a lot of ways. You know, their
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: competitive death last year was just not good enough. They
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: did not have enough death at so many positions, especially
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: the secondary, And to me, really that's like a miss
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: on the evaluation and recruiting side of things. That's not
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: you know, you can kind of blame a player for
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: busting in the secondary, but if so many players are
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: doing it, what does that say about the people put
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: together that roster in the first place. So I think
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: there's a lot more hunger and a lot more positions.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: A lot of returning guys are now feeling a little
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: bit more heat because hey, you know, here's a transfer
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: coming in that's played for years somewhere else that has
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: had production and he's trying to take my spot again,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: a little different than when a true freshman comes in.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: I think all this the stuff Climpson should have been
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: doing a few years ago, but I think you're seeing
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: that now at a lot of positions for where there's
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: a renee again, competition, urgency, all that stuff is across
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: the board. That's the theme. But again, you have to
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: go out and do it. So that's the big question.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: The Chad Morris thing obviously is interesting, right. I mean,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: this is just a blast from the past, and Chad
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Morris hasn't exactly been uber successful either as a head
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: coach or you know, anything else since he was with Clemson.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: But my god, it was beautiful when they were together before.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Do you think they can Can they create that magic
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: again or are you skeptical? How do you feel about
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the Chad Morris higher.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: I'd say skeptical, but I think that's a good thing
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: because it shows that you know there's risk involved. I
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: think about three years ago when Dabo hired Garrett Riley,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: and that was a lamb dunk high across the board, right.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Everybody was raving about that, and we saw how that
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: experiment played out. It was inconsistent. It was at times flashy,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: at times stuck in the mud three and out every drive.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: It just wasn't consistently good enough for Clemson. So I
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: can understand the logic of it. Let's go back to
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: something that works in the pass with Chad Morris. But
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: at the same time, you know that first year with
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Sumpson and eleven he had Taj Voydage his quarterback. You
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: know he does not have a Taje Boydant quarterback. This
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: time around. He has either Christopher Zina or Tate Reynolds
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: and no transfer quarterback to work with, which is Dava's
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: decision to not take one. So maybe he'll be handicapped
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: a little bit by the quarterback play. But at the
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: same time, they have some really good receivers, a decent
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: running back in tight end room, so there are weapons around.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: But I think it's going to come down to can
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Chad Morris create some sort of offensive setup where these
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: quarterbacks don't have to be like a Heisman winner every
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: week and they just need to kind of play point
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: guard toss the ball around, make a few big plays,
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: but kind of let those skill guys go to work.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: So I can see where Davo was coming from. But
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: as everything, we keep coming back to this, let me
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: see it against LSU before I declare it a success.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah, that's trying to be the test right away,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: and the test for that quarterback going to Death Valley
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: at LSU is going to be huge. What do you
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: think of the quarterback position? It's interesting I hear we
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: hear from some Clemson fans on our text line that
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: like zena number. You know, he's pretty good in that
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: one starred he made last year. But there are some
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Clemson fans are saying, man, Tate Reynolds is a real deal.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: I think he'll have he'll have the job at some point.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: How do you view that quarterback combo and how do
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: you think it'll play out.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: I think whatever happens in that position is going to
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: define this season for better works. How the quarterback room
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: plays out will determine if Clemson finishes with the same
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: number of wins this last year, or makes the significant
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: jump up, or some chaotic happens that they miss the
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: bowl game. It all depends on Mazina Reynolds, and again
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: the decision to not take a transfer, which I think
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: is going to live so large. I mean, imagine the
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: disburse I mean, we're already talking about the transfer quarterback
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: situation right now. Davio admitted, you know, we're gonna get
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: rightd Orever the Coles if this goes wrong. Imagine what
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: this is going to be in like October, if they're
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: you know, one in three or you know, two and four.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: They just lost at home to Miami, and now that
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: these quarterbacks are really doing anything, so uh, I understand
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: his decision to kind of roll with who he has.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Zina again, has been in the program for a long time.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: He's been super loyal. As you mentioned, he was pretty
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: productive against SMU with some caveats, you know, within a
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: home loss by eleven points in one of his touchdowns
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: was like a garbage time fourth and twenty one. Ail
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Mary of sorts, and you know, Reynolds is another guy
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: they're confident in. I just think I personally would have
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: gotten to transfer, But at the same time, you only
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: have a certain amount of nil rep share money if
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: they had gotten a transfer quarterback. I don't know if
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: these other defenders that they really needed are coming along
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: with them. So it's all a finances game now. But
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: Devo's loyalty has kind of in one of his defining characteristics,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: whether that staff players, quarterback, and he's definitely sticking to
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: that and holding onto Vizena and propping him up as
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: the likely starter.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: All Right, last thing I want to ask you, what
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: do you expect out of this team? It was interesting
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: here in Clemson fans way in on that earlier today.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Some are like, hey, we got to be in the
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: ACC title game, that's the standard here. Others were like,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: I think it's an eight or nine win season, and
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: some Clumpson fans are saying that would be a good season.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: So that's some have dropped the standard. What are your expectations?
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: What should fans want out of this year's team.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a really interesting question, and again just speaks
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: to a bit of the lowering of the standard that
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Debo created, which is a credit to him. You know,
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: nobody at Clumpson has elevated them like he has. But
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: you know, in my head, what I would consider to
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: be a good season for Clumpson. I think if they
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: could win nine games, that would be impressed. Double digit wins.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: I think with this roster it would be a pretty
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: resounding success. I do think they're a bowl team. There's
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: no question there, Like there's plenty of talent on the roster,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: and they did, you know, lose a number of one
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: possession games last year that maybe could slip. But the
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: quarterback situation is such a big question. I think obviously
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: they'll be in a bowl game. I think they could
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: tend for like eight wins or so. I think anything
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: above that would be a pleasant surprise. I don't really
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: see them being a legit player in the ACC title
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: race that you never know, so that would be I
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: think a step in the right direction. You know, you
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: have that year, if you're winning eight, nine, ten games,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: you probably have a decent idea for your quarterback situation
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: going forward, whether that's one more year of Zena or
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Rental just taking over at that point and you kind
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: of gear up for twenty seven. But I think this
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: is not a rebuilding year, but kind of a resetting year.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: And it's okay for programs to have those sort of years,
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: but it is a little bit of a weird situation
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: for that to be happening at Clemson because you just
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: think about Clemson of old Clemson of recent and this
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: year's team, although it does have some talent, it is
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: not exactly you know, Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun that's beating
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: up on Saban in the title game.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Definitely, definitely. All right, let's we got to close this
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: with the biggest news out there. This is nothing about
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Clemson football. This is your personal news that you and
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Augusta Stone, who a lot of our listeners will know
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: from when she covered the Panthers at Panthers dot com.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: You two are engaged after dating for a while. Congratulations.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: We always loved her on this show. She always matched
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: the energy of this show. I don't know if you've
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: noticed Chapel we yell, we laugh a lot, and I
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: loved her her energy. She would come on this show
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: and I would be like this energy. Her energy matches
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: the show. So that's awesome, awesome news. Congratulations brother, Yeah,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: thank you guys so much.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I'm happy to be the second most famous Mack and
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Bone guest in our household. Rob. We're super excited, be
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: super excited. She'd love to hear that this came up
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: on the show. So I will pass that along. I'll
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: clip this and send it to here. What's going to
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: make your day?
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Definitely tell her congratulations, all right, brother
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: be good man, keep up the good work.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: All right, Thank you guys. Bye,