As he sat down the third baseline prior to [autotag]Clemson[/autotag]’s trip to California on May 25, [autotag]Jack Leggett [/autotag]reflected.
He reflected on how his 2015 team, his final one at Clemson, battled through all the adversity to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time in his 22 years as the Tigers’ skipper. He reflected on all the good memories he had been a part of at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. He reflected on all the players who came through his program and how they all matured and grew as players, students, ballplayers and more importantly as young men.
“I was reflecting on how much I love this place,” [autotag]Leggett[/autotag] said Friday.
Leggett spoke with select members of the media to say thank you to Clemson fans, his wife, his family, the athletic support staff, his current players, his former players, the late Bill Wilhelm, Dwight Rainey, Bill D’Andrea and Terry Don Phillips.
“I’m a little sentimental guy sometimes,” Leggett said.
In the eight days since he was fired by athletic director Dan Radakovich, ending a Hall of Fame career that spanned 22 years at Clemson, Leggett says there is a void in his life right now because he has been so invested at Clemson and in his program.
“There is a little bit of disappointment on how it ended,” he said. “There is a lot of pride in what we have done with a lot of positive feedback. Those emotions are running back and forth. It has been an emotional rollercoaster the last six days. I have been constantly on the phone and have gotten back to all 560 or 570 people. Every single one I have returned with a ‘Thanks’ and ‘I love you too,’ whatever it might be. It was important for me to do that.
“It’s been a void to know, ‘What do you do next?’ Where do you fill that energy gap? Where do you fill that passion gap? That every day work ethic gap, where do you fill that? That is the only question mark in my mind, ‘How do I figure that out?’”
Leggett is starting with a trip out of town. He and his wife, Karen, are headed to anywhere, just to get away and so he can clear his mind. Now 61 years old, Leggett says he still has that fire to coach. He still has that fire to compete, but he isn’t sure what he is going to do when it comes to coaching again.
He did say he has been contacted about some opportunities to continue his coaching career, but he isn’t sure if he will act on any of them at this time. He says he plans to stay in Clemson for the time being and he hopes one day he will be welcomed back because that is the way he has always wanted it to be.
The former Clemson coach said he always envisioned going out at Clemson the same way Coach Wilhelm did, walking down the third base line, tipping his hat to the crowd and just taking it all in.
“I wanted it to be that way,” he said. “It was important for me to make Coach Wilhelm feel special for all he accomplished at Clemson. It was important to make him feel excited about coming back to the game. I went up to the net every time and talked to him. I wanted his family to feel that way because they were invested. And his former players, I respected that there were a lot of great people.
“That was always important to me. That’s how I envisioned this working out when it was all over. I need some recovery time and we will see where it goes. I always want Clemson to be successful. I always want good things for the university. I always want good things for my players on the team right now that are coming back. I want good things to happen. I will never say anything different than that.
“I hope I’m never viewed as an outsider… It might take a little recovery time for a while, but that’s how I would like to see it.”
So Leggett got in his car and he drove out of town. But before he left, he had one statement.
“I’ll be back. I’m not going anywhere,” he said.