CLEMSON — I remember January 18, 1990, very well.

I was a junior in high school, and I got called down to my vice principal’s office. It was a surprise when the school secretary at Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School called my homeroom teacher over the loudspeaker and asked me to come to the office.

“What did I do,” I thought to myself.

It was not the first time I was called to the vice principal’s office. No surprise, I was a little bit of a loudmouth when I was in high school, so I got sent down to the vice principal’s office routinely. Sometimes, Mr. Bagley would catch me in the hallway after a teacher sent me out there because I was talking in class.

It happened a lot.

But this day was different. The school day had just started, so I had not been in school long enough to get into any trouble.

To add some background, Mr. Bagley was “Sack” Bagley. You might have heard his name once or twice on Clemson football and baseball broadcasts. He was Jim Phillips’ spotter during Phillips’ legendary Clemson career, and later he did it for Pete Yanity and Don Munson. He also was Clemson baseball’s official scorer after he retired from school administration.

Mr. Bagley was also the head football coach at Pendleton High School back in the day, leading the Bulldogs to their last state championship. He did that before moving to Bamberg to become an administrator.

Getting back to the story, Mr. Bagley was waiting for me at his office door. I was in a panic, of course. “What am I going to tell my mom? What did I do? How many basketball games will I have to sit out?” All of that was going through my mind as he said, “I got something to tell you.”

What could be so important that I was being pulled out of class. “Are my parents, okay,” I asked.

“They are fine,” he said. “I have to tell you something, and you can tell anyone for the next few hours?”

I leaned up in my seat and gave him a curious look.

“Later this morning, Coach Ford is going to resign,” he said.

I was stunned. I did not say a word.

“I wanted you to hear it from me, so you are not surprised,” he said.

I asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he said. “I am one hundred percent sure.”

We sat there in silence for a few minutes. Not a word from either of us.

Danny Ford, of course, had built a national power at Clemson. The Tigers had just finished their third straight 10-2 season, which concluded with a dominating win over West Virginia and Heisman Finalist Major Harris in the Gator Bowl.

Many projected Clemson as the No. 1 team in the country in the early polls of 1990. However, that changed with Ford’s resignation.

Clemson ultimately hired Ken Hatfield and kept the status quo for a few years, going 10-2 in 1990 and 9-2-1 in 1991 with an ACC Championship. Then things changed.

The Tigers had their first losing season in 15 years in 1992 and after going 8-3 in 1993, Hatfield was fired. Tommy West came in and the program struggled through mediocrity, which included a bad 1998 season in which they went 3-8.

West was forced out and Tommy Bowden came in and made the Clemson respectable, again, but he could not get the Tigers over the hump. For 20 years, Clemson Football wandered in the wilderness.

We all know what happened after that, two national championships, four national championship game appearances in five years, seven College Football Playoff appearances and nine ACC Championships.

Clemson was once again a national power, done by Dabo Swinney, as he built the program through recruiting, development and a culture that was second to none. But like in 1990, Clemson Football is undergoing a change.

Now, not a change in coaching, at least not at the moment. Swinney is still running things, but Clemson is in a state of flux. The game has changed. NIL, transfer portal, revenue sharing, it is now has become a professional game.

Clemson is trying to keep up with “the Jones” but I right now it is a struggle. Like it did in the 1990s, Clemson has had a slow decline. First the Tigers stopped going to the CFP. Then they saw their run of 10-win seasons come to an end, then last year happened. They went 7-6 and were mediocre.

Unfortunately, like in 1990, I did not have Mr. Bagley to warn me.