Published Tuesday, August 26, 2008 9:26 AM
Updated Tuesday, August 26, 2008 9:27 AM
His success at Goose Creek has been great – but Reedy is also well known as one of the most respected former college coaches in South Carolina history.
Over a decade after his departure, Baylor University has not returned to a bowl game since Reedy was the Bears’ head coach. While at Baylor, Reedy posted back-to-back seven-win seasons, and captured a share of first place in the Southwest Conference in 1994, the year the Bears played in the Alamo Bowl.
In South Carolina, Reedy was an integral part of Clemson’s success in the 1980s, when he served on the staff of former Tiger coach Danny Ford.
Ford’s Clemson teams dominated the ACC in the 1980s. The Tigers were poised to possibly make another national title run in 1990 and 1991 when Ford was fired at the end of the 1989 season.
As the few remaining days of preseason practice wound down, Reedy reflected on the state of college football in South Carolina, specifically Clemson and USC, where Reedy also was an assistant coach for one year before going to Baylor.
Clemson is a preseason top 10 this year, and is poised to possibly match the success that Ford enjoyed during the school’s greatest decade of the 1980s. According to Reedy, Clemson has the upper hand in the state of South Carolina at the moment.
“Tommy Bowden has been at Clemson for almost 10 years now,” Reedy said from behind his desk at GCHS. “Clemson has that stability. They have a chance to have a top 10 program.”
The fact that Clemson has not made a coaching change in nearly a decade has helped the Tigers on the recruiting trail, Reedy said.
The coach said that every year the state of South Carolina produces 12-15 blue chip college players. In recent years, both schools have done well in keeping more of that instate talent at home at either Clemson or USC, as was the case in the 1980s when Ford and Gamecock Head Coach Joe Morrison were at the helm at both schools.
During many years in the 1980s, Clemson would routinely keep many of the state’s best athletes, and Carolina also won many in-state recruiting battles.
That was not the case in the 1990s, as both schools struggled, Reedy said.
According to Reedy, Clemson’s recruiting edge in recent years has meant the Tigers have been more talented than USC. Yet the fact that Clemson and Carolina’s last three contests have been close speaks well of Spurrier’s coaching ability, he said.
“They have been in a position to beat Clemson all three years,” Reedy said. “And they’ve played with inferior talent all three years.”
Clemson edged USC last year on a last second field goal, 23-21. In 2006, the Gamecocks won at Death Valley by a 31-28 margin, while in 2005 the Tigers edged Carolina 13-9.
Reedy called facilities a huge key for both schools. Clemson has upgraded facilities in recent years, and Carolina has a plan in place to do the same.
“Players want to know where they are going to be eating, where they will be studying,” Reedy said.