Brownell Comments on Criticism from Fans
By: Gavin Oliver March 21, 2024

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell met with the media Thursday afternoon ahead of the Tigers’ NCAA Tournament game against New Mexico on Friday.

Among the topics Brownell talked about is fan criticism. He was asked if he feels the fan base appreciates the fact the Tigers have made three NCAA Tournament appearances in the last seven seasons and advanced to the Sweet 16 in one of those seasons.

Brownell commented on how he deals with fans who don’t quite think he does enough.

“I don’t worry about it,” he said. “I hope they do. More importantly, it’s about my administration and the folks that I work for, and my players understanding that we’re doing the best we can to put them in position to be successful and showing folks that this is a winning program and there has been a pretty high level of consistency.

“We’re trying to raise the ceiling, certainly. I know we’ve raised the floor considerably since I got here. But I don’t get too distracted with all of that. I’ve got enough to worry about, day to day just coaching my team and planning for the future.”

This year marks the fourth time under Brownell that the Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Brownell, who’s in his 14th season at Clemson and is the Tigers’ all-time winningest men’s basketball coach, previously took Clemson to the NCAA Tournament in 2011, 2018 and 2021.

Clemson’s most successful NCAA run came in 1980, the first year Clemson was selected. The Tigers won three tournament games under head coach Bill Foster and reached the Elite Eight of the tournament before losing to UCLA. Clemson also made the Sweet 16 in 1990 under Cliff Ellis, 1997 under Rick Barnes and 2018 under Brownell.

Brownell’s sixth-seeded Clemson team is set to take on No. 11 seed New Mexico in Memphis, Tenn. on Friday in the West Regional. The first-round matchup between the Tigers (21-11) and Lobos (26-9) is scheduled to tip off at 3:10 p.m. ET on TruTV.

A limited number of signed footballs from Clemson’s 2022 class are still available.  Get yours while supplies last!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!