Listening to the growing clamor this spring, one might think Kyle Parker is already toting the starting quarterback torch around campus.
Parker's rifle of a right arm has Clemson Nation daydreaming of 60-yard bombs to Jacoby Ford this fall. Though he has never taken a regular season snap, Parker's skill and improved accuracy had media types asking question after question this spring about the depth chart.
Is Willy Korn No. 2? Is Kyle Parker No.1?
Still, those crowning quarterbacks before azaleas are in full bloom might want to curb their spring-coronation enthusiasm.
To illustrate the folly of spring forecasts one doesn't even have to search far. A hallway in the McFadden Building offers a cautionary tale with a wall-length copy of the Sports Illustrated cover that captured Perry Tuttle's catch against Nebraska in the 1982 Orange Bowl.
If one had stopped following Clemson football after spring practice in 1980 — when Andy Headen looked like a future all-ACC quarterback — and then peered at the magazine cover one would assume Headen had thrown the pass, earned Orange Bowl MVP honors, and delivered Clemson's only national title.
But it was Homer Jordan playing at quarterback Jan. 1, 1982, in Miami.
It was Jordan who tossed the pass to Tuttle; it was Jordan who won the job in the summer of '80, became a three-year starter at quarterback and earned Orange Bowl MVP honors.
But in the spring of 1980, Jordan was a
third-string quarterback, doubling as a defensive back.
Clemson coach Danny Ford wanted to have a starting quarterback decided, even if not announced publicly, and Headen was Ford's guy.
"I always wanted to have a guy going into the fall, especially at quarterback because he is the focus of the football team,"
Ford said. "(Headen) came out of spring and was ahead ... Homer was a very quiet kid we didn't know a lot him."
Headen looked the part.
He was 6-5. He reminded some of former quarterback Steve Fuller. He had a strong arm. He ran like a tailback.
Headen was listed as the team's starting quarterback in the 1980 media guide, with this passage included in his bio: "The number-one quarterback heading into the fall drills ... won the job last spring with consistent performances in the scrimmages and a very good showing in the Orange & White game."
Headen led the White team to a come-from-behind 22-21 win in the spring game.
Six quarterbacks played in the game, but Headen was by far the best. He completed 10 of 18 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
Down 14-2, going into the final quarter, Headen hit Tuttle with 7-yard scoring pass and later struck Jerry Gaillard with a "65-yard bomb"
setting up a 1-yard touchdown pass to Tuttle.
This was the assessment of Jordan in the 1980 media guide: "Saw action in the spring game at both quarterback and defensive back ... more than likely will be in the defensive secondary for the 1980 season. ... (In the spring game) gained 54 yards rushing was two of five passing for 31 yards, while making two tackles as a defensive back."
Despite Headen's performance, Jordan said he never felt like he was a backup.
"You have to act like you are No. 1,"
Jordan said. "I didn't take a whole lot from (the spring) ... it's a mixture of players."
It is that "mixture"
of players Tuttle said often goes overlooked in spring competition.
"Andy Headen was playing with two starting receivers,"
Tuttle said. "And because we (Tuttle and Gaillard) had gotten so much playing time the year before we had really developed."
"The spring game is what it says it is. It is in the spring ... you have five or six months to get ready."
Ford agreed, saying the spring is not always the best evaluation period.
"You never know what you have,"
Ford said. "You might think your offense is really good, but your defense might be really behind."
Jordan's fortunes turned in the summer after he convinced the staff to keep him in the quarterback derby.
Tim Bourret, Clemson's sports information director, recalled a particular August scrimmage two weeks before the opener against Rice.
"Homer ran the option just beautifully,"
Bourret said. "I remember he had 189 yards rushing in that scrimmage and after the scrimmage coach (Ford) said 'Tim, don't put Homer's numbers in the paper,' cause he didn't know what he was going to do after what he witnessed that day."
Jordan, then a sophomore, went on to win the job. He led Clemson to a 6-5 record and retained the role in 1981 when he led Clemson to the No. 1 ranking.
With another quarterback race having begun 29 years later, just what would Jordan tell Korn and Parker to take from the spring, how would he advise Clemson Nation?
Said Jordan: "It's way too early."
