After dodging a pink slip time so many times before during his 10-year tenure at Clemson, Tommy Bowden couldn't avoid the ax Monday morning when he and AD Terry Don Phillips agreed it was time Bowden step down as the head coach of the Tigers. Dabo Swinney has been promoted from wide receivers coach to interim head coach.

Bowden posted a 72-45 record at Clemson, but his teams constantly underachieved. For instance, the Tigers have lost 12 games outright as favorites since the start of the 2006 season. Three of those defeats came as double-digit 'chalk.'

Most importantly, Clemson has zero ACC championships since Bowden arrived.

According to TigerIllustrated.com, candidates could include former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, Wake Forest's Jim Grobe and Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. I'll throw another one out there -- Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville.

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I don't know if Tuberville is in trouble at Auburn or not, but his agent wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't gauge potential interest from Clemson (and/or Tennessee). Vandy's Bobby Johnson, who played QB for the Tigers in the 1970s, has also been mentioned as a viable candidate.

Back to Bowden, who appeared to be making a last-gasp effort to keep his job by announcing the benching of quarterback Cullen Harper on Friday, one day after Clemson looked awful in a 12-7 loss at Wake Forest.

The Tigers were the clear-cut favorites to win the ACC going into this season. However, they have looked mediocre from the get-go, as evidenced by a pathetic 0-4 record against the spread.

Alabama embarrassed Clemson 34-10 in the season opener at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Bowden didn't do himself any favors a few days later when he called Nick Saban looking for advice.

After three straight wins over ho-hum opponents (The Citadel, N.C. St. and South Carolina St.), Maryland went into Death Valley and won outright in comeback fashion as a double-digit 'dog for the second time in as many trips. Then came Thursday's debacle in Winston Salem, where it became crystal clear that Clemson's players were no longer buying what Bowden was selling.

That was even more evident this afternoon as the players reacted to Bowden's dismissal. Harper told ESPN.com, "[Bowden] tried to motivate us but guys were off the bandwagon. There were things I disagreed with and that my teammates disagreed with. I didn't appreciate it when he would say some off-the-wall things about me to the media."

Junior running back C.J. Spiller said, "He did all he could to motivate us but guys weren't buying into what he was saying. And he said a lot of the same things over and over again."

Clemson offensive coordinator Rob Spence has also been fired.

Another thing to keep an eye on is Clemson's 2009 recruiting class. According to Rivals.com, the Tigers have seven verbal committments from four-star players and a trio of three-star players.

If South Carolina can beat LSU at home this week and improve to 6-2 going into an open date, perhaps the Gamecocks become a factor with Clemson's five in-state pledges? Maybe FSU gets back in the picure with four-star RB Ben Axon from Bradenton, FL.?

**B.E.'s Bonus Nuggets**

--Bowden is the first coach to go this year, but there are a bunch more to follow. Ty Willingham could be out of a job by this time next week if Washington loses its homecoming game Saturday vs. Oregon St.

--Clemson senior RB James Davis took Bowden's departure hard, getting emotional while facing the media after Monday's practice.

--Bowden finished with a 7-2 record against in-state rival South Carolina, going 2-1 against Steve Spurrier.

--Before Clemson faced Alabama in the season opener, The Birmingham News had this career profile of Swinney.