The 2007 Tigers went 9-4, which is a one game improvement over last season’s record. However, like last year and the preceding years, Clemson left a few wins on the field rather than taking the Ws with it.

“I was pretty well pleased,” Tigers head coach Tommy Bowden said Thursday afternoon. “But you’re never satisfied. It always seems you’re one play away from another win.”

Time and time again, Bowden referred to one dropped pass away from winning the Atlantic Division. He also cited special teams as an area that needs to be improved.

Bowden said he’ll likely make some adjustments and tweaks with coaching assignments involving special teams, though he didn’t say what would happen specifically.

The more memorable moments of this season were the Tigers not giving up against Virginia Tech and bouncing back to win four straight and beating South Carolina after tough losses, according to Bowden.

The only news of the day centered around the juniors, particularly those considering leaving Clemson early and declaring for the NFL Draft.

Bowden said he has received all the paper for draft projections from the NFL and that he will meet with each junior and try and convince him to stay. Bowden said not a single player was projected to go in the first round.

However, he wouldn’t say anything else as far as who was projected where. He said he will do so next week when he will meet with the media again to discuss possible transfers and those who may be leaning toward leaving early.

Bowden said the team will go into the spring with nearly every position up for grabs, except that of quarterback.

“Right now, you’re looking for a good, solid guy to be (Cullen Harper’s) backup,” Bowden said.

Also, the paperwork on getting Willy Korn his medical hardship is expected to be completed next week and Bowden said he doesn’t foresee any problems with it being granted by the NCAA.

Bowen also said he expects stiff competition at the running back spot and a placekicker, as well as on the offensive line.

Bowden then added that the big difference between Clemson and programs like Texas, Georgia and the schools in Florida is a bigger recruiting base, which leads to better depth.

Speaking of which, Bowden is confident the group of offensive linemen in 2008 will be better capable of handling the duties of blocking much earlier than this year’s group. Clemson loses four seniors off a line that was inconsistent at best.

“I like our ability to be productive, if not more productive,” he said of the linemen. “Even though we lose some offensive linemen, we’ve got some good guys coming in their place. I think we’ll be able to find five quality guys.”

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