The Mag Interview: Clemson coach Oliver Purnell

The Tigers often start hot and fade. Whaddup with that?

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Oliver Purnell rocks the tie as fans behind him "rock the John."

Here's the knock on recent editions of the Clemson Tigers, coached by Oliver Purnell: they start scorching hot and then fade. This past Saturday, they dropped their undefeated record to (still undefeated) Wake Forest. The Tar Heels and Roy Williams (and Tyler!) loom. We caught up with Purnell for a bit to talk shop, wardrobe, and Clemson fandom.

ESPNtheMag: You and the Tigers have made a habit of building big winning streaks in the early part of each recent season. Some fans feel like that promise hasn't been fulfilled in the post-season. Does this year feel different?

Oliver Purnell: Every year feels different. It's a different team. Every year you have different guys and you have to try different ways to get to know them. I train and coach them differently every year to try and max them out every year that I've been here. And each season we've done better. The young men who are returning have more experience, and we've added a recruiting class.

Last year's senior class going out was our first recruiting class. Cliff Hammonds, Sam Perry; those guys were in the first group we brought in. These new guys are now coming in, and two of them are playing a significant role for us. Everyone else on the team has been through the ACC wars already. We played in the finals of the conference tournament last season and lost a close one to North Carolina.

If you build a solid infrastructure, good teams follow. And then post-season success follows that.

Before Carolina lost, the rest of the ACC was almost an afterthought for some basketball pundits. Do you like it better now that there's some light shining on the Tigers, or do you prefer flying under the radar?

It doesn't matter to me, and I don't think our guys focus much on the pundits. We're all basketball fans, and we're entertained by some of the stuff that is said, but in terms of how we view ourselves, it doesn't matter if we're on the radar or off the radar. We've got a good team, and we're confident that we can play with anybody and win games, but we also understand that if we don't work hard and prepare, what can happen in this league. Because it's the best basketball league in America, as far as we're concerned. We want to be great.

The pressure builds with every win, especially in conference season. How do you and the team break the tension during the season?

We really haven't felt that. We set short-term goals: win one game, win one pocket of games, win the first ACC game.

You have week-long gaps between some of your biggest games. Do you like having the extra time to prepare, or would you rather be on the court?

"If you build a solid infrastructure, good teams follow. And then post-season success follows that."

We love to have a week to recharge the batteries a little bit. You never know with coaching. If we win tomorrow, we might feel so good we want to play again the very next day, because we're playing well. But we know that by the ACC tournament, the season will have taken a toll on us, so it's nice to have a week here and there to refresh mentally and physically. I'm knocking on the wood of my desk right now, because we've been pretty healthy so far.

If an opponent says something uncomplimentary or boastful, does it really go up on the bulletin board?

Sure. Anything that we can give to our players in a sportsman-like way that they can use, we'll do it. As a competitor, you're always looking for anything that will motivate you to focus and sharpen that edge. So we'll absolutely use bulletin-board material.

The student section in Littlejohn seems pretty spirited. Have you seen any good signs or heard any memorable chants from the crowd?

We want to establish Littlejohn as one of the toughest places to play in the country. The students just got back for the Alabama game, and having them there is really about energy. When you watch on television, the place shows well. They're into it and it's a fun place to play. We only lost one ACC game there last year—a barn burner to North Carolina in overtime—and part of the reason is our kids and our community really, as we call it, "rocks the John". They're really into it.

Tennessee's Bruce Pearl gets a lot of press for wearing the orange blazer. Do you think you've been overlooked in that department?

Not locally. I've heard a lot about my orange blazer around here, that's for sure.

Any superstitions come out during the long winning streak?

No. As you mentioned, we've had these long winning streaks before. If I were wearing the same tie or something to every game, there wouldn't be much of it left by now.

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