Yet, it was only once they got rid of Bowden that they began to actually started to make that leap into the elite, like FSU (who is out of that group at the moment).

I promised earlier today a story about Bowden. When I was at VT, I was on the Clemson sidelines for the 2007 game against them. We basically came out of the gates on fire and the game seemed to be over by halftime. However, Clemson started to get themselves back in the game late.

There was about 6-7 minutes left in the game and I happened to be standing directly behind Tommy Bowden. The gap had closed to about 18 points or so and Clemson had been driving. However, Clemson ended up short of a first down and they had 4th and 1 right about midfield. Immediately, Tommy Bowden starts screaming "PUNT TEAM PUNT TEAM!". Of course, no one around him is paying that any attention and they're getting ready for the 4th down play because a punt essentially means they are conceding the game. After a couple seconds of confusion, Bowden says into headset "what's that?". He looks up at the scoreboard, thinks for a minute... and says "you're right, go for it". Of course, business around us is going on as it was... because punting in that situation would have been insanely idiotic.

FWIW, Clemson converted the 4th down. They went on to score a TD... Luckily, we came right back down the field and clinched the game.