Carolina fans, LSU will honor Paul Dietzel this weekend

LSU always classes it up.

Very cool.

The North Carolina schools were held to a different admission standard than the South Carolina schools. Clemson almost left as well, but they bitched out of course.

Yeah Tommy Moody always says on the radio that leaving the ACC was the worst decision for our athletic department, floating around as an independent for decades seemed to kill us athletically across the board. Of course he continues by saying joining the SEC was the best decision we ever made.

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Will this be before or after the "you suck cock" chant? Just kidding. Pretty cool for LSU to do this while SC is in town.

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Yeah Tommy Moody always says on the radio that leaving the ACC was the worst decision for our athletic department, floating around as an independent for decades seemed to kill us athletically across the board. Of course he continues by saying joining the SEC was the best decision we ever made.

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IMO leaving the ACC was not necessarily a bad thing due to all the unfair restrictions, but then choosing to remain as an independent for nearly 20 yrs was a terrible decision. USC did not have the historical significance, the fanbase and alumni base, and the state overall did not have the talent base (especially with 2 major college programs) to enable it to survive at a very competitive level as a lone wolf in college football.

The administration did not have a wealth of $$ during the 70s and 80s to "keep up with the Jones'" in facility upgrades etc., and not being in a conference left the program without a relevant watermark to monitor to maintain those facilities, and use as a reference to force the school administration to fund such upgrades.

By the time we joined the SEC in '92, we were gravely behind most all SEC programs in so many things.....mostly because we weren't aware of how much improvements those other schools were doing within their programs. We've only now just caught up with the SEC in respectable levels....

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By the time we joined the SEC in '92, we were gravely behind most all SEC programs in so many things.....mostly because we weren't aware of how much improvements those other schools were doing within their programs. We've only now just caught up with the SEC in respectable levels....

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Yeah Spurrier has even said that when he got here he didn't realize how far behind we still were in such things. Good thing too because if he did I'm not sure he'd come here.

But with Spurrier's presence and encouragement along Hyman's (unpopular but effective) fundraising we've finally started establishing ourselves with top of the line facilities.

Ironically, Dietzel was honored by USC earlier this season as well.

Thanks for the post. You're right -- he also does mean a lot to South Carolina.

Classy move.

In one of those twists of fate, Dietzel’s first game at Carolina came against LSU, and he had scheduled it as a sure-win for the Tigers and that surely will be one of the topics discussed tonight on a trip down memory lane.

“In 1959 or ’60, (LSU athletic director) Jim Corbett was making out the 1966 schedule, told me it looked pretty tough and asked me to pick out a team we could beat in the opener,” Dietzel said. “He had a list of six teams, including Carolina and Clemson, and I picked Carolina. Little did I know. . . . .”

The trip to the school he had returned to national prominence came with an assortment of sub-plots, including bomb threats on the USC chartered plane and FBI protection. One Baton Rouge friend baked the coach a German chocolate cake and ran into security challenges before getting the dessert to Dietzel in the team motel.

“At the stadium, I told our players that they would put the tiger in his cage outside our locker room and make him roar at us,” Dietzel said. “I told them, ‘Don’t worry; he can’t get out.’ Also, we weren’t going to let the crowd intimidate us. We wouldn’t come out (on the field) until LSU came out.

“They waited and we waited. An official came in and said, ‘Coach, you’ve got to come out.’ I said, ‘Not until they do.’ Finally, LSU came out and we did. Our guys didn’t know if they were being cheered or booed. But that was quite an experience. I looked across the field and saw the uniforms I had designed. It was weird.”

The Gamecocks found the best way to silence the crowd, proving to be anything but a pushover with a solid performance. Jay Killen’s touchdown late in the first quarter left USC trailing 7-6, and Bobby Bryant’s 77-yard punt return brought the Gamecocks within 21-12 in the third period.

The Gamecocks lost that game, 28-12, and they would have an overall losing football record under Dietzel. But in the grand scheme, the university’s athletics prospered with his presence.

Dietzel Inducted into Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame - Sept 2012