One-on-one with Thad Turnipseed -- Part 2

Here, in Turnipseed’s own words, are more reflections from the mind of Clemson’s daydream believer:

About three years before I came here, I interviewed for high-level positions at LSU and Wisconsin in their athletics departments. I always knew I wanted to be an athletics director. That was always my goal. But what I’ve learned from Dabo being here is what he says all the time: Bloom where you’re planted. He says that weekly to us around here. Because it’s human nature to always want to be at the next step. But I guess you change with age. For 10 years, I was worried about the next job. Even though I was at Alabama, I’m thinking, “When can I be the AD somewhere? How long is it going to be?”

When Dabo was trying to hire me, he told me, “Thad, you’ve done everything you can do.” I was Director of Event Management, Director of Capital Projects, Director of Major Gifts, Associate AD for Special Projects, Director of External Operations for Football. I had done everything, but I was never on a sports staff. And that’s what brought the sales pitch from Dabo: You’ve done everything, and for you to grow you need to come here and get a totally different perspective.

And that’s brought a funny realization: Now, my goal is to be the best football guy in the country. Because while I chased that AD job for 10 or 12 years, there’s none out there that I’m chasing or looking for now. I’m happy and blooming where I’m planted. And a lot of that goes back to working for a guy I love.

Great leaders have three things in common: They’re highly intelligent (and Dabo is as intelligent as anyone I’ve ever been around; he could have been a brain surgeon); they’re respected; and they’re feared. Most of us relate fear to being fired, getting cussed out, getting yelled at. And unfortunately, that’s the way I was before because of my old construction side. I’ve changed from the three years I’ve been here. With Dabo, you fear him because you love him so much. He creates fear out of love. And that is a totally different way of creating fear out of what we all relate fear to. So because of that management style, and knowing he gives you a different sense that you don’t have to be out there patting your shoulder and saying “I’m the guy,” all of us – I’m just a microcosm of the whole department.

You see a lot of staffs out there where the coordinators want all the glory. We don’t care who gets the credit. We just want to love one another and serve one another, and it’s that simple. It works. We love, care and serve the player and each other, and it all works out. And that is the uniqueness of this department – every facet of it. Recruiting, operations, weight room, training room. We love, care and serve. And that comes from the head coach saying that’s how it’s going to be. And that allows you to manage totally differently when you have that comfort level.

Dabo has so much conviction for what he believes. I think part of the reason he’s successful is he’s hard to convince otherwise when he believes in something. I don’t want to make it sound like he doesn’t listen, because he does. But you’ve got to do a lot of convincing for Dabo to change his mind. And I think that’s a great thing because people in that leadership position can’t please everybody. They’ve got to believe what they believe.

From the accounts at Georgia, it seems that Kirby Smart is taking just about everything Alabama did when he was there and implementing it with his new job as head coach of the Bulldogs. Not that there’s anything wrong with that approach, but I think there’s a contrast between that and what is going on here. I took some thoughts and principles of what we were doing at Alabama when I came here, but we’re all Clemson. The concepts are the same with the overall recruiting structure, but even within that recruiting structure it’s totally different.

All the other schools under the Nick Saban tree that have used the recruiting War Room concept that they started, they all have the same type board and they’re going to have 25 or 40 names at each position. Where we’re different is we focus on the quality of the individual and not the quantity of names. Fewer people get more attention, more letter-writing, graphics, direct messages, more touching. And the difference is this: Dabo Swinney demands a social-media report – he calls it Google Central – that tells us everything about these players. It’s hard for a coach, any coach, to resist the urge for that Johnny 5-Star. Well Dabo will take that 3-star guy in a heartbeat if he’s ready to commit and he meets all the criteria and he’s a good person with no buyer’s remorse.

Do the study: Those good 3-star and 4-star guys end up just as good as those 5-star guys if you keep them in the program. Part of our culture is we don’t kick people off. We don’t medical them or encourage them to go anywhere. If you go to school and you don’t get in trouble and you represent Clemson the right way, you’ve got a scholarship here for four years with no ifs ands or buts about it. Whereas at other schools, if you’re not going to play there’s always six or seven every signing class that they find places to go. So then all of a sudden you have guys who haven’t even played like Kevin Dodd who are first- or second-rounders who have played one year. Those guys mature most of the time, and in those cases you have a lot of good years without trouble and without problem kids. We’re getting better and better at that.

So even though the structure of the recruiting room is there, it’s totally Dabo’s feel. Because that board is dictated first by the nine coaches, but the recruiting machine people – Jordan Sorrells and myself – have the ability to tell Dabo: “This guy is not a Clemson fit.” If we mark red on questionable character, instantly Dabo goes to that assistant coach and finds out what’s going on. And if we’re not comfortable with it, or we can’t correct that kid’s questionable content, we don’t recruit him.

Before I go to bed every night, I go through Tigerillustrated.com. That’s my job, to go through the message boards. Sometimes I’ll see comments from fans asking why we aren’t recruiting certain people. Well if we aren’t recruiting someone, there’s a reason. That’s the head coach having the confidence in the program and bringing good people in and developing young people and serving their hearts and caring for them. And then all of a sudden you look up three years later and the guy people have forgotten about becomes a second-round draft pick. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? But nobody does it. Because everybody thinks you have to have the 5-star guy. They’ve just got to take somebody no matter what.