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| Tommy Bowden finds himself in another embarassing situation. |
By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com
It seems that Clemson coach Tommy Bowden has himself in a public relations nightmare. You may remember the story of Clemson tailback Ray Ray McElrathbey.
The reserve back gained notoriety last season after getting custody of his little brother in the wake of his mother’s drug problems and his father’s gambling issues.
Now it seems Bowden has cut McElrathbey from the team because Clemson has an abundance of running backs after signing several during this recruiting period.
"We're pretty good at running back right now," Bowden said recently. As many schools do, Clemson signed 25 players this year which pushed it above the NCAA mandated 85 scholarship limit. That means somebody has to go.
Bowden has been noncommittal so far. However, tailback James Davis has been more than willing to talk.
"He (McElrathbey) said something about how they weren't going to renew his scholarship," said Davis, who has been friends with McElrathbey since their high school days in Atlanta. "It really surprised me. But there's a lot of stuff you can't say. It's something I guess everybody has to learn to live with."
Below is a video from ESPN Gameday last year that tells the story of McElrathbey and his brother.