Kevin Steele Remains a Clemson Tiger after Reported Tennessee Offer

Whew!  That was close. 

Losing Kevin Steele to the University of Tennessee would have been a crushing blow to a Clemson defense that is losing some major talent to the NFL. Let’s sit back for a moment and reflect on how damaging that would have been.

Kicking off the 2010 season without the cornerback pair of Crezdon Butler and Chris Chancellor would have been monumental. Clemson has incoming talent at corner, but it’s been a while since that tandem didn’t start a game in the secondary. That, combined with the graduation of Ricky Sapp, leaves any defensive coordinator with some serious work to do.

The 2009 effort, with Steele running the defense, was a massive improvement over the Vic Koenning-led defense of 2008. Koenning's “bend but don’t break” mentality can keep you in a game. The loss to Wake Forest that was Tommy Bowden’s final game as head coach illustrates that point.   

Steele's more-cleverly disguised blitz scheme wins games, however. Look no further than the games against Boston College, Wake Forest, and Florida State. All three were struggles for the Tigers in 2008, and their record in those three was 1-2. A year later, a more opportunistic defense created turnovers galore in those games, and Clemson goes 3-0.

To be certain, there were struggles at times this past year when Steele’s defense was on the field. Georgia Tech and South Carolina come immediately to mind—two teams who could run the ball at less than obvious times.  But TCU has a similar identity and Clemson was able to hold them to their lowest offensive output of the year.

Clemson finished 9-5 in 2009. No doubt there is room for improvement. But given a rookie head coach, a defensive coordinator in his first year with the program, and an offensive coordinator in his first true tour of duty, what Tiger fan won’t take that?

A better mark in 2010 is possible, though not a certainty, with the amount of talent Clemson is losing. A Steele-led defense keeps improvement in play.

Let’s hope Clemson added enough incentive to Steele’s contract to keep him around for a few more years. Perhaps with a bonus clause for shutting down a Paul Johnson-coached team?