NCAA Football clemson Tigers

Kyle Parker's childhood sports heroes were Chipper Jones in baseball and Brett Favre in football. Even when pushed, there was no way, no sir, Parker could select a favorite between the talented pair.

Picking between the two sports at the collegiate level has been as difficult for Parker, a starter in right field on the Clemson baseball team and a possible starter at quarterback on the Tigers football team.

There is, apparently, no recession in college football. Or, if there is, it has bypassed the South Carolina uplands. Now that Dabo Swinney (right) has had his training wheels taken off, it's time for the rest of the staff to get paid accordingly. And oh boy, are they going to. Clemson will pony up $1.8 million for Dabo Swinney's staff next season.

That's staggering, even if the ACC still trails the SEC in the coaching staff arms race. Last season, only 25 of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams paid their head coaches $1.8 million or more. Thus, as ridiculous as head coach salaries have become, the staff adds the equivalent of yet another head coach to the overall operating expenses.

You can complain all you want, but (a) it won't do you any good, and (b) there's a very good reason why these schools will pay a staff so much.

There's been a general outcry for the ACC to recruit more quarterbacks able to succeed on the NFL level. Otherwise, the argument goes, no other quarterbacks will want to go there, let alone top-notch wide-outs, running backs or other players via the whole trickle-down thing.

And in truth, despite the success of Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub and Philip Rivers, it has been pretty slim pickings. Maybe, until now.

Well, at least someone from the Alabama program is having a good 2009 so far. Not to be confused with "defensive coordinator," "defensive head coach" Kevin Steele is being tabbed as the new DC at Clemson under the no-longer-interim, no-he's-not-the-new-Bill-Stewart Dabo Swinney. He will also coach the linebackers. It's a return home for the 50-year old from Dillon.

It continues Swinney's infatuation with former 'Bama coaches, and expectedly so considering his ties to the program. Sources aren't certain whether it's a significant pay raise for Steele, but if Clemson's been knowing to have deep pockets when things like this hang in the balance. Regardless of the performance in the Sugar Bowl (Steele coaches the inside LBs), it's probably a wise hire for Clemson, as its become clear that expanding further into SEC territory can only help taking into account the dearth of top-level talent in their own state.

FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

Onyx? Anthracite? Obsidian? Nothingness? Whatever they come up with, Nebraska needs to find a color beyond black and give its defense shirts in that color. After spotting Clemson an 11-point lead, Bo Pelini's Cornhuskers got huge help from their defense in the second half while the offense almost came to life.

Joe Ganz hit on two touchdowns early in the third quarter to pull within four points, but the Huskers couldn't find the end zone again. It didn't matter. The Nebraska defense had things so clogged up in the second half they could have been sponsored by Imodium. Dabo Swinney's crew couldn't even get into field goal range until it was too late to do them any good.

A lot of Blackshirts contributed to the win, but two in particular stood out. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh's name came up about every other play, with the other half of the plays being made by his linemate Ty Steinkuhler. The real game-ending play, however, came from sophomore cornerback Eric Hagg, who dropped Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper for a 16-yard loss on 2nd and goal with about two minutes left. Wayne Larrivee didn't broadcast this game, but he would've told you that was the dagger.

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Florida), which pits Clemson against Nebraska.

Overview/Matchup: Clemson and Nebraska both come into this bowl at interesting points of their respective would-be dynasties. Obviously, Nebraska's tradition is nearly untouchable, but Bo Pelini is looking to pick up his first bowl win as head coach there. And to juice up the storyline a little bit more, Dabo Swinney, who took over the team after Tommy Bowden "resigned" midway through the season, is also looking for his first. The Tigers have a ton of momentum, beating arch-rival South Carolina to close the season, but Nebraska, winners of four straight to end the year, are coming on strong as well.

Hotels: Between its prime location (walking distance of the Jacksonville Landing shopping center, Center for the Performing Arts and the sports complex), luxurious accommodations, on-site dining and excellent service, the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront is easily the finest hotel in Jacksonville. On the opposite bank of the St. John's River, the Crowne Plaza Jacksonville has good proximity to the stadium, balconied guest rooms and reasonable prices. Just blocks from the Crowne Plaza, the Hampton Inn Jacksonville I-95 Central offers the same great location with rooms usually available for less than US$100 per night.

Now that the interim tag has been lifted from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, he's ready to build his own staff. While defense rarely seemed like much of a problem for the Tigers (not while their more high-profile offensive stars were getting injured and/or benched), it looks like Vic Koenning will be moving on in favor of Maryland assistant Danny Pearman (a former Clemson tight end) and a few Mississippi State guys who share Swinney's ties with the Alabama. From the sound of things, Koenning was the guy who laid out the ultimatum and despite accepting defeat (sorta) when Swinney couldn't commit, he didn't mind clapping back a little on his way out:

"They were being very noncommittal with our future, and we had already been through seven weeks of that," Koenning said. "With what we'd done on defense here, not just this year, but four years in a row, the best they've had over a span in the school's history by a lot. ... Over a four-year period there might be one or two defenses that have been better. For them not to be able to commit ... I just didn't think it was fair."

And keeping with the SEC theme, reports indicate that Swinney has already contacted longtime Tennessee assistant John Chavis. Well, it's not Fulmer, but on the same path.

As recently as this morning, the Gator Bowl was beset with a quandary, albeit one that most bowls with ACC ties would love to have. It gets the third choice of ACC squads, and while the Orange Bowl will get either Boston College or Virginia Tech, the Chick Fil-A Bowl stands at #2 with the presumption that it will take Georgia Tech, in part because they have the best Sagarin ranking in the conference, and that whole being in Atlanta thing. That left the Gator with the opportunity to take either Florida State or Clemson, and let's face it, after last year's sparsely attended (though thrilling) matchup between Texas Tech and Virginia, I suspect they could care less about an 8-4 or 7-5 team playing on New Years. Them dudes travel.

That might've not been the case with FSU this year, as a Gator Bowl bid would've resulted in their third game in the Jacksonville area in a little over a year. Add that to the fact that they stumbled down the stretch with a trip to Tampa within grasp. So, despite having lost to the Noles 41-27, it looks like Clemson will face Nebraska in Dabo Swinney's first game as official f'real, f'real Tiger coach (not to mention the first Cornhusker appearance in the Gator Bowl). While neither squad is averse to cupcakin' (Clemson has two non-FBS wins), it'll still be a decent way to kick off the New Year in that "entertaining if you really don't need to pay attention" way.

It stood to reason that Clemson would likely have its choice of top-notch coaching candidates this offseason, particularly with Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee pairing that is a pretty bad idea when you really think about it. Look at the other openings- Washington is an astounding rebuilding project, same with Syracuse and beyond that, you're looking at second-tier situations meant for newbies or fallen angels. As far as Clemson, as the saying goes, it's an SEC job with ACC competition- excellent pay, super-supportive fanbase, top-notch facilities and an esteemed tradition. That is, if you're willing to overlook how difficult it generally is to recruit in a talent-barren state like South Carolina.

If you haven't noticed, after a bumpy beginning, Dabo Swinney has got Clemson playing a lot better and as it turns out, his audition was a successful one- sources indicate that he will be named head coach of the Clemson Tigers. Before anyone brings up a Bill Stewart namecheck, keep in mind that he's been at the helm for longer than one game and is about half Stewart's age. Personally, it looks like the right call, in terms of ensuring continuity as well as energy at a school that a: has an AD looking to make a smart first hire and is often a little excessive in its expectations of being regarded as a top ten power.

The Lane Kiffin Sweepstakes have begun. The former Oakland Raiders coach was interviewed last week by Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips, according to ESPN.

Initial impressions? Clemson seems like it would be a relatively good fit for Kiffin, whose NFL background and history of player development at Southern Cal would help the Tigers' recruiting efforts. Kiffin is known for being a good nationwide recruiter, although he tended towards west coast haunts in his college coaching career.

Kiffin would inherit a team with talent at many positions and would likely get the breathing room necessary to build the program into a competitive ACC squad. The current state of the Atlantic Coast Conference -- that is to say, woeful -- might also be an inducement for Kiffin, whose USC teams were routinely among the nation's best, leading many offensive categories. If any one conference is waiting for an alpha dog to take over, it's this one.