Tag: Clemson Athletics

Clemson Football has ‘a lot of really, really good mojo’ going into offseason

New Clemson Athletics Director Graham Neff was a guest Thursday morning on the Packer and Durham show with Mark Packer and Wes Durham on ACC Network. Neff discussed the substantial changes that have taken place on Dabo Swinney’s staff since the 2021 …

New Clemson Athletics Director Graham Neff was a guest Thursday morning on the Packer and Durham show with Mark Packer and Wes Durham on ACC Network.

Neff discussed the substantial changes that have taken place on Dabo Swinney’s staff since the 2021 regular season ended, including the departures of both former defensive coordinator Brent Venables and former offensive coordinator Tony Elliott to become the next head coaches at Oklahoma and Virginia, respectively.

Neff spoke about Swinney’s excitement for the future of the Clemson football program amidst all the turnover on his staff.

“I would tell you, Coach Swinney couldn’t be more fired up, and the energy out of our football building here with the staff changes and certainly losing Coach Venables and Coach Elliott — Tony still being in the league is awesome — but it’s a little bit of a sea change,” Neff said. “But that chapter turned for our football program, and the energy and excitement that Coach Swinney has, and throughout the building with the rest of the staff and those changes that we’ve had — internal and external hires, and then ultimately with the student-athletes — it’s been a fun month for Clemson Football.”

Along with Venables and Elliott, the Tigers also lost former defensive tackles coach Todd Bates, who joined Venables’ staff at Oklahoma as the associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator/run defense.

In addition, Robbie Caldwell retired as Clemson’s offensive line coach and has been replaced by Thomas Austin, with Caldwell transitioning into an off-field role with the program as a director of high school relations.

Wes Goodwin was promoted from senior defensive assistant to defensive coordinator/linebackers coach and added the role of co-defensive coordinator for safeties coach Mickey Conn, while offensively, Clemson promoted Brandon Streeter to offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.

Most recently, Nick Eason was hired from Auburn to replace Bates as the Tigers’ new defensive tackles coach.

Even with all the staff changes, Swinney is optimistic about the direction the Clemson football program is heading coming off a season in which the Tigers (10-3, 6-2 ACC) managed to win 10 games for an 11th straight season following a slow start.

“Now as we turn into ’22 and obviously get into offseason, camp and spring practice and all that, there’s a lot of really, really good mojo out of our football program, let alone the rest of our department,” Neff said.

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Neff on expansion of softball stadium, new women’s sports

Clemson’s new athletic director, Graham Neff, was a guest Thursday morning on the Packer and Durham show on the ACC Network. Speaking about the excitement surrounding the Clemson Softball program right now after the Tigers won the ACC in their first …

Clemson’s new athletic director, Graham Neff, was a guest Thursday morning on the Packer and Durham show on the ACC Network.

Speaking about the excitement surrounding the Clemson Softball program right now after the Tigers won the ACC in their first full season last year, Neff said they are considering expansion of the softball stadium.

“We’ve sold out of softball tickets, you can’t buy them anymore,” he said.
“We’re talking about expansion of the stadium. So, that bar that Coach (John) Rittman, Valerie Cagle and the girls have set, there’s so much pride and excitement with it. As we start two new women’s programs over the next two years, we have that desire for success and certainly investment.”

Neff talked about where things stand with those new women’s programs, with the Tigers adding women’s lacrosse and women’s gymnastics as varsity programs in the next two years.

“The success of the ACC, currently and historically, traditionally, within all of our Olympic sports portfolio, that’s just ingrained in me, and certainly here at Clemson,” Neff said. “So, the ability to add to our sports with women’s lacrosse and gymnastics… We have a women’s lacrosse coach here we hired this past summer, had some commits and some signees, so the matriculation of them this summer and into competing next academic year is exciting, and we need to hire a gymnastics coach. From a, ‘Hey, what are the first couple things to do on the list?’ Looking to hire a new, inaugural gymnastics coach at Clemson here in February, March, April.”

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What is Neff’s first order of business as Clemson’s athletic director?

As far as his career trajectory goes, Graham Neff said the goal was always to run his own collegiate athletic department some day. He insisted, though, he was never in a rush. “Aspirational, but not urgent,” he said. At the ripe age of 38, he’s …

As far as his career trajectory goes, Graham Neff said the goal was always to run his own collegiate athletic department some day. He insisted, though, he was never in a rush.

“Aspirational, but not urgent,” he said.

At the ripe age of 38, he’s reached that goal. While he said he wasn’t told at any point during his first nine years at Clemson – first as an associate athletic director before taking over as deputy athletic director – that he was line to be Dan Radakovich’s successor, the school officially executed its internal succession plan Thursday, officially naming Neff as the 14th athletic director in its history.

“Just really a surreal day for me from a professional standpoint,” Neff said.

Now that he’s got the job, what is his first order of business?

Neff said it involves some of the most pressing topics in collegiate athletics, which include continuing to give student-athletes as safe of an environment as possible for competition amid another surge of COVID-19 cases nationwide. He called that a “Day Zero” priority.

“Right now, we’re in the throes of it, and this is even before January,” Neff said. “We’re continuing to manage COVID and obviously the new (Omicron) variant and how that’s affecting all of college athletics.”

Name, image and likeness and its place in the shifting landscape of college athletics is another hot-button topic that Neff said has to continue to be addressed.

“NIL opportunities and how we work within our states and NCAA guidelines, it’s just such a moving target right now within the industry,” Neff said. “And where there are opportunities to continue to be competitive from a student-athlete standpoint, now we can educate and equip our student athletes in our community and what NIL is and isn’t and how we can support the student-athletes for their opportunity to build their brand.

“That’s just one notion amongst a lot as far as priorities. But that’s so dynamic right now, and we’re at such a critical time from an NCAA standpoint that the focus and prioritization of just that one little topic is certainly high, high on the list.”

Picture courtesy Clemson University.

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Clemson makes the call on next athletic director

It didn’t take long for Clemson to make a final decision on its next athletic director. In a move that’s been expected since Dan Radakovich left for the same post at the University of Miami, Graham Neff has been promoted to serve as Clemson’s …

It didn’t take long for Clemson to make a final decision on its next athletic director.

In a move that’s been expected since Dan Radakovich left for the same post at the University of Miami, Graham Neff has been promoted to serve as Clemson’s athletic director. Neff’s contract in his new role was approved by the Clemson University Board of Trustees Compensation Committee on Thursday.

“Graham is well respected in his field and is considered a rising star in collegiate athletics,” Clemson President Jim Clements said. “He is, in every sense of the word, a five-star.”

Neff’s contract will run through June 30, 2027 with an annual salary of $850,000, which includes $100,000 of deferred compensation. His salary will increase by $50,000 each year beginning in 2023. Neff will also receive a $30,000 signing bonus.

Neff could also make up to $200,000 in annual bonuses, which would be earned based on “athletic success, fundraising success and academic performance,” Clements said.

Neff had spent the last couple of weeks as the school’s acting athletic director after Radakovich, who had been Clemson’s director of athletics since 2012, was officially hired at Miami on Dec. 9, but The Clemson Insider learned before then that Neff was a serious candidate to take over the position on a permanent basis. His former boss seemed to know what was coming earlier this week, delivering a message to Clemson coaches, athletes and fans about Neff during an appearance on the “Packer and Durham” radio show.

“You are going to be in great hands,” Radakovich said.

As Clemson’s deputy athletic director, Neff has been working with many of the Tigers’ coaches and athletic department staffers for the last eight years as Radakovich’s right-hand man. Most of that time has been spent with the football and men’s basketball teams as the supervisor of those sports, which have had plenty of success during Neff’s time at Clemson.

The football team, which will go for its 11th consecutive double-digit win season against Iowa State on Dec. 29 in the Cheez-It Bowl, won a pair of national titles in 2016 and 2018 and made six straight College Football Playoff appearances with six consecutive ACC championships before this season. Meanwhile, the basketball team has made four consecutive postseason appearances, including the last two NCAA Tournaments.

Other notable on-field accomplishments for Clemson during Neff’s tenure include the softball team’s first-ever regional appearance last spring in just the program’s second year of existence and, most recently, a national championship in men’s soccer.

“Dan has prepared Graham well,” football coach Dabo Swinney said. “He’s a special guy.”

Outside of the competitive arena, Neff has had a hand in developing different aspects of the athletic department, including fundraising. He’s helped oversee more than $200 million in capital projects during his tenure, which include facility additions and renovations.

Men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell all but lobbied for Neff to get the job permanently days after Radakovich’s departure.

“I think he’s a rising star in the profession, and hopefully our administration sees that,” Brownell said following the basketball team’s win over Drake on Dec. 11. “I know he’ll continue to do great things for Clemson athletics.”

The 38-year-old Neff is one of the country’s younger athletic directors. A Georgia Tech graduate, Neff worked in senior administrative roles within Middle Tennessee State’s athletic department before arriving at Clemson in 2013. Neff began his time at Clemson at associate athletic director of finance and facilities, and Clements gave him credit for helping increase the athletic department’s revenue from $65 million to $140 million projected for 2022.

“He has a great working relationship with the coaching staff and has been a key part of our athletic success,” Clements said. “He is also well respected among donors and ITPAY members. Clemson athletics, as you all know, is a big-time job, and Graham Neff is well-equipped to lead our program.”

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Are adjustments coming to ACC’s COVID-19 policies?

Adjustments could be coming to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s COVID-19 policies including game rescheduling. That’s when the league’s athletic directors approved a revised policy for football and men’s and women’s basketball among other sports …

Adjustments could be coming to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s COVID-19 policies including game rescheduling.

That’s when the league’s athletic directors approved a revised policy for football and men’s and women’s basketball among other sports regarding testing protocols, mitigation strategies and the forfeiture of games amid the lingering coronavirus pandemic. Former Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, who’s moved on to the University of Miami in the same role, said the conference’s athletic directors are going to meet Wednesday to discuss more potential alterations to the policies given the vaccination status of many of the ACC’s coaches and student-athletes.

“We may need to adjust our medical advisory group information as it relates to getting back to play,” Radakovich said Tuesday during his appearance on “Packer and Durham.” “It’s a very different circumstances today than it was even a year ago. A lot of people are vaccinated. A lot of athletic teams.”

As part of the league’s revised policy, teams that have a vaccination rate of at least 85% are required to test their unvaccinated players just once a week with a minimum of three tests per week required of unvaccinated individuals on teams with a vaccination rate any lower than that. Fully vaccinated individuals aren’t required to participate in surveillance testing.

But if an ACC team can’t play a contest on its originally scheduled date due to an insufficient number of available players because of COVID-related issues, the policy calls for that team to forfeit. In that scenario, the forfeiting team would be assigned a loss and the scheduled opponent a win that would both count in the league standings.

If both teams have COVID-19 issues that prevent them from playing on the originally scheduled date of their contest, each would have to forfeit and take a loss in the league standings, according to the current policy.

Radakovich said the forfeit policy will likely be “another piece” that’s discussed among the athletic directors.

“I think the forfeit policy was put into place back in the early fall to encourage student-athletes to get vaccinated because if you weren’t and your team did’t have the requisite players, your team would forfeit,” he said. “So it was something out there that was another encouragement for student-athletes to get vaccinated. Now, just as we’ve learned during this pandemic period, there’s new information, and there are new variants that are coming out. So we have to adjust this policy.”

The ACC made it through the football season without any of its conference games being affected by COVID-related issues. But with the United States seeing a surge in coronavirus cases recently, particularly those linked to the Omicron variant, the policy is already having an impact on the basketball season.

Multiple men’s basketball teams within the conference, including Florida State, Wake Forest and Boston College, have had games postponed or canceled. Wake Forest and Boston College were scheduled to play each other Wednesday, but that game has been canceled because of coronavirus-related issues within Boston College’s program.

With the forfeit, Boston College drops to 1-1 in ACC play. Wake Forest, assigned the win, moves to 2-0 in the league.

“The variant, while it hits, might not be as severe to those who are vaccinated, but we’ll hear a lot more about that in the next day or so from our medical advisory group and then look forward to making some decisions because (COVID-19) is still here,” Radakovich said. “It’s still prevalent. And we’ve got to be able to do as we’ve done in the last 18 to 20 months and navigate it to allow us to have a safe and competitive athletic season whether it was football in 2020 or 2021 and now basketball and moving into the spring sports.

“There’s a way to get it done. We’ve shown that can happen. We’ll just need to continue to adjust.”

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Why the move from Clemson to Miami? Radakovich explains

Former Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, who was named vice president and athletic director at Miami last week, joined “Out of Bounds” with William Qualkinbush and Kelly Gramlich on WCCP 105.5 FM The Roar on Monday. Radakovich, who earned …

Former Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, who was named vice president and athletic director at Miami last week, joined “Out of Bounds” with William Qualkinbush and Kelly Gramlich on WCCP 105.5 FM The Roar on Monday.

Radakovich, who earned his master’s degree at Miami in 1982 and got his start in administration as Miami’s athletic business manager, was asked why he decided to leave Clemson and why now is the right time to make the move to UM.

“I have one of the diplomas on my wall that says ‘University of Miami Master’s Degree,’ and throughout my entire career, always wanted them to do well,” Radakovich said. “Whomever was the AD there, I kind of kept in touch with, and anything I could do to help. That’s kind of what I was looking at, as it related to talking to some of the folks associated with their search. And one thing led to another, and they said, why don’t you consider this? And then we sat and met, and they were really great people, understanding that they knew where they were as it relates to investment in the program, etcetera.

“So, once they had been able to land Coach (Mario) Cristobal and kind of moved into the next phase of looking at the AD position, I was fortunate enough to come forward with them and reach a deal.”

Radakovich added that he feels Dabo Swinney’s program will still be relevant in the ACC and national college football landscape without him leading Clemson’s athletic department, and his goal is to get the Hurricanes back to that point.

“The ACC and college football in general is better when Miami is good,” Radakovich said. “So, I know that Dabo and his staff are going to continue to create an incredible team here and one that’s going to be not only competitive in the ACC but nationally. So, I think it’s important for the league and nationally that Miami tried to get there. So, the administration and their board and their president are really looking to invest in a way that we’ve invested here at Clemson, to be able to get to a point of being nationally relevant again.

“So, it’s exciting to be able to take what we’ve learned and what we’ve done here and see if we can transform it to another great ACC member.”

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Radakovich has a final message for Clemson fans as he transitions to Miami

Former Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, who was named vice president and athletic director at Miami last week, joined “Out of Bounds” with William Qualkinbush and Kelly Gramlich on WCCP 105.5 FM The Roar on Monday. As the interview wrapped …

Former Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, who was named vice president and athletic director at Miami last week, joined “Out of Bounds” with William Qualkinbush and Kelly Gramlich on WCCP 105.5 FM The Roar on Monday.

As the interview wrapped up, Radakovich was asked if there was anything he wanted to say to Tiger fans or if he had any final thoughts for the Clemson faithful as he transitions to the next chapter of his life and career at Miami.

“Just thank you,” Radakovich said. “Thank you on behalf of my wife, Marcie, my two boys. Grant had the great opportunity to play for Dabo in 2016, so that was certainly a highlight of his career. It’s just been a blessing to be here. We just love this area. Like many folks around the country, we have a house on a lake, and maybe we’ll keep it there and come back again at some point in time to retire. Because this is just a beautiful, beautiful place with great people and folks that love their university, love their Tigers, and that’s something to be incredibly proud of.”

“It’s been the biggest blessing of my life to be able to be here,” Radakovich continued. “I do have that gene that kind of says, ‘OK, let’s go out and see if we can do another challenge,’ and that’s what I’m following right now. But only pleasant and incredible memories of this place, and it’s because of the awesome people.”

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Brownell gives Clemson’s acting athletic director a ringing endorsement

ATLANTA – Clemson men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell wasn’t shy in expressing just how highly he thinks of Clemson’s acting athletic director. In the wake of Dan Radakovich leaving for the same post at the University of Miami after serving as the …

ATLANTA — Clemson men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell wasn’t shy in expressing just how highly he thinks of Clemson’s acting athletic director.

In the wake of Dan Radakovich leaving for the same post at the University of Miami after serving as the Tigers’ director of athletics for nearly a decade, Clemson President Jim Clements has appointed Graham Neff as the athletic director in the interim.

Of course, Neff, who’s been Radakovich’s right-hand man as Clemson’s deputy athletic director, is a strong candidate to eventually land the gig permanently. Count Brownell among those who would be in favor of that happening.

“I think he’s a rising star in the profession, and hopefully our administration sees that,” Brownell said Saturday following Clemson’s overtime win over Drake at State Farm Arena. “I know he’ll continue to do great things for Clemson athletics.”

Despite interest from other Division I athletic programs in recent years, Neff has been working in Clemson’s athletic department since 2013. Radakovich, who’d worked with Neff previously at Georgia Tech, brought him in from Middle Tennessee State, first as the associate athletic director for finance and facilities before Neff moved into his current role.

That also entails being the sports supervisor for football and men’s basketball, so Brownell, who’s been Clemson’s basketball coach since 2010, has worked closely with Neff over the years.

“Obviously I’m ecstatic for Graham and to work with Graham,” Brownell said. “He’s been my sports supervisor for the last nine years. We work well together.”

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Radakovich releases statement after moving on from Clemson

Dan Radakovich, who served as Clemson’s director of athletics for the past nine years, has been named vice president and director of athletics at Miami. After the news was officially announced Thursday, Radakovich released the following statement in …

Dan Radakovich, who served as Clemson’s director of athletics for the past nine years, has been named vice president and director of athletics at Miami.

After the news was officially announced Thursday, Radakovich released the following statement in a post on Twitter, which you can see below:

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Clemson president reacts to Radakovich’s move to Miami

In the wake of Dan Radakovich’s departure for the University of Miami, Clemson President Jim Clements reacted to the news Thursday and revealed who will handle the Tigers’ athletic director duties in the interim. “I thank Dan Radakovich for his …

In the wake of Dan Radakovich’s departure for the University of Miami, Clemson President Jim Clements reacted to the news Thursday and revealed who will handle the Tigers’ athletic director duties in the interim.

“I thank Dan Radakovich for his tremendous contributions to Clemson over nine years as director of athletics, for his leadership and friendship,” Clements said in a statement. “I wish him the very best in his next chapter.

“Under Dan’s leadership as director of athletics, Clemson teams won 15 ACC championships, the football program won two College Football Playoff national championships, and student-athletes have graduated at consistently high rates and posted record GPAs. He also led a transformation of our athletics facilities, including continued improvements to Memorial Stadium, a complete overhaul of Littlejohn Coliseum, practice and operational facilities for football, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, tennis, and the Nieri Family Student-Athlete Enrichment Center.

“We will begin an immediate search for Dan’s replacement. I have asked Deputy Director of Athletics Graham Neff to serve as acting director of athletics. Graham has been with Clemson for eight years as a trusted advisor to Dan, and I am confident in his leadership.”

TCI has learned Neff is also a prime candidate for the athletic director job on a full-time basis.

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