It happens in every marriage: one day the high-energy honeymoon ends, and the couple finds themselves bickering about whose turn it is to clean the bathroom.

That is sort of the situation Clemson football coach Tommy Bowden and the school’s intensely loyal fans are in as they head into their fourth season together. No one is talking divorce, but any good marriage counselor would tell them that some changes need to be made for the long-term stability of everyone’s sanity.

After three years, Bowden’s 22-14 record is virtually the same as predecessor Tommy West at the same point in his tenure. West was eventually run off after five years for not upholding the school’s proud football standards.

"You’re as confident as you can be coming off a 7-5 season at Clemson, knowing that the average going rate for coaches is four years," Bowden told the Anderson (S.C.) Independent Mail. "I’m going into my fourth."

Things were just fine with Bowden and the fans going into last season. The team was coming off a 9-3 season in 2000 and a visit to the Gator Bowl. Fans were a little troubled that the Tigers were beaten so soundly by Virginia Tech in Jacksonville on New Year’s Day 2001, but there was plenty of reason to feel good about the program, which featured the school’s first legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Woodrow Dantzler, the long-throwing, hard-to-catch double threat.

But something bad happened on the Tigers’ way to a third consecutive three-game improvement, which was last year’s goal, if memory serves correctly. The defense fell apart, Dantzler had no help on offense and the Tigers limped home with a fourth-place tie in the ACC.

Worse yet, Clemson may have beaten five teams with winning overall records, but only Georgia Tech was better than two games over .500, and the Yellow Jackets finished below Clemson in the ACC standings.

Fans clamored for Bowden to fire defensive coordinator Reggie Herring, the lone holdover from West’s staff and a long-time member of the Tiger community, after Clemson finished seventh in the ACC and 71st in the nation in allowing 389.9 yards per game.

Herring made things easier by leaving Clemson for the same job at Mississippi, then abruptly taking a defensive position with the NFL’s expansion Houston Texans.

To take Herring’s place, Bowden hired John Lovett, who had recently been forced to resign at Auburn. Lovett made some changes in coaching responsibilities, taking over the secondary and moving Jack Hines, Bowden’s brother-in-law, over to linebackers, in part because the Tigers have allowed more passing yards in the last two years than at any time in school history.

For the last three years, Woodrow Dantzler wowed college football fans and mystified opposing coaches with his ability to throw and run the football.

This year, Bowden’s offense will look more like the one he used at Tulane. He will turn to red-shirt junior Willie Simmons (6-1, 195), who has waited four years to take over the position.

Simmons, who already has his college degree, has been a fan favorite for years, the way every reserve quarterback is when things aren’t going particularly well. Clemson fans have been waiting for Simmons to take over the offense, even though scoring points wasn’t the fans’ real cause for discontent last year.

With reserve quarterback Matt Schell choosing to graduate before ending his eligibility, red-shirt freshman Charlie Whitehurst (6-4, 195) is the only other veteran scholarship quarterback on campus. He got favorable reviews from the coaches during the spring. The son of former NFL quarterback David Whitehurst performed well during his red-shirt season with the scout team, impressing the coaches with his size and his arm strength.

Bowden addressed his lack of depth at that position on signing day, bringing in two highly regarded quarterback prospects -- Chansi Stuckey (6-0, 170) of Warner Robbins, Ga., and Will Proctor (6-3, 190) of Winter Park, Fla.

When Dantzler finished his eligibility, the Tigers not only lost their best quarterback, but also their best running back. He put together back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and 2,704 of his school-record 8,523 career total offense yards came on the ground.

Bowden is eager to get back to a more traditional ground game, depending on a trio of experienced tailbacks to put up the kind of numbers he expects from a table-setting offensive weapon.

Heading into the season-opener, the coach expects senior Bernard Rembert (6-0, 200) to be the starter. Rembert is coming off the best performance of his career, gaining 178 all-purpose yards against Louisiana Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl, a school record for a postseason game. He scored two touchdowns, one on a 62-yard pass and the other on a 21-yard run.

If Rembert can’t match that kind of productivity, Bowden is willing to turn to red-shirt sophomore Keith Kelly (6-0, 225), who sat out last season after playing sparingly as a freshman in 2000.

Also figuring helping in the backfield is junior fullback Chad Jasmin (5-10, 225). He has a classic fullback’s build, suitable for inside runs and blocking.

Others who will get a chance to carry the ball are red-shirt freshman tailback Tye Hill (5-10, 175) and red-shirt freshman fullback Cliff Harrell (6-1, 260), sophomore fullback Brandon Holmes (5-11, 190) and junior fullback Tyrone Lee (5-11, 230).

Of course, Bowden could dip into his incoming recruiting class and use Duane Coleman (5-10, 185) of Naples, Fla., or Reggie Merriweather (5-9, 195) of North Augusta, S.C., both of whom were prep All-America selections.

During its glory days of the 1980s and '90s, Clemson never strayed far off the ground. One of the things that made Bowden attractive to the school was his wide-open, airborne offense. He unveiled that from the outset, but except for his first year when Brandon Streeter was the starter, Bowden relied on the multi-talented Dantzler to be the superstar of the offense.

That will likely change this year, as Bowden allows his deep stable of wide receivers to mature into the stars they are expected to be.

Bowden was tickled with his top-level receiver recruits last year, even though few believed dual star Roscoe Crosby (6-3, 200) would forego a $1.75 million signing bonus in baseball to play college football and there were questions about the academic qualifications of the others.

In the end, however, Crosby was convinced that he could play both sports and was chosen in the second round of the major league baseball draft by the Kansas City Royals. Had he not been nagged by injuries last year, he could have been one of the nation’s biggest impact players. He finished the season with 27 catches for 487 yards and four touchdowns.

But misfortune struck the receiver again after deciding to return to Clemson. Crosby hurt his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery, ending his chances of playing in 2002.

Another of the recruits, Tymere Zimmerman (6-4, 205), didn’t qualify academically and spent last season playing at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. He re-signed with the Tigers on signing day.

The freshman most people didn’t know about quickly became the star of the bunch. Derrick Hamilton (6-4, 190), a sophomore from Dillon, S.C., was below the radar screen because of his sit-out season, but finished as the Tigers’ leading receiver and the most productive freshman pass catcher in school history with 53 receptions and 684 yards.

Airese Currie (5-11, 175), a high school All-American from Columbia, S.C., led the Tigers in yards per catch with a 17.8-yard average, a freshman record at the school.

There is some experience at the position that will return this year. Junior Kevin Youngblood (6-5, 210) is expected to return at full strength after missing all of last season and most of spring practice because of a broken leg suffered in the preseason last year.

Also listed as a starter is senior Jackie Robinson (6-1, 190), a talented receiver who already has a degree from Clemson and is playing this season as a graduate student. Robinson has been a starter since his sophomore season, but he was limited last year to just eight receptions because of a multitude of injuries.

Also returning is senior J.J. McKelvey (6-4, 210), who was third on the team with 29 receptions and tied for the team lead with four touchdown catches. McKelvey, who caught only three passes as a sophomore, had at least one catch in 10 of the Tigers’ 12 games.

Among the other 10 lettermen who return are red-shirt sophomore Ronnie Thomas (5-11, 190), who sat out last season after playing in eight games in 2000 as a freshman; and a trio of former walk-ons in senior Tony Elliott (6-2, 210), senior Eugene Koon (5-11, 186) and senior Jeff Scott (6-1, 190).

The Tigers are also deep at tight end, where sophomore Ben Hall (6-5, 250) distinguished himself last year as a freshman. Hall’s productivity last year enabled the coaching staff to move highly regarded junior Todd McClinton (6-6, 295), who was considered the top tight end prospect in the nation coming out of high school, to defensive line.

Bowden says the thing he is most worried about going into this season is the offensive line. Well, he should be.

The list of losses here is long on numbers and long on talent. The Tigers lose four starters, none more important than All-America center Kyle Young, who set the school record with 168 knockdown blocks last year. They also lose three-year starter Will Merritt at one guard and second team All-ACC selection T.J. Watkins at the other. Also gone is Akil Smith, a second-team All-ACC selection last year who was kicked off the team in December after his arrest for distributing marijuana.

Those four started a total of 115 games during their careers.

Bowden feels good about his starting tackles, seniors Gary Byrd (6-4, 310) and Derrick Brantley (6-4, 295), because of their experience last year. Byrd is the only returning starter from last year, and Brantley is a junior college transfer who came on strong at the end of the season and was one of the Tigers’ best blockers in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Among the other tackles who could get playing time are senior Nate Gillespie (6-3, 271) and junior William Henry (6-4, 265).

Losing Young is a crucial blow to the offensive line, because he was a coach on the field. He was only the second offensive lineman in history to win three consecutive first-team Academic All-America honors.

The staff experimented in the spring, moving junior Jermyn Chester (6-2, 285) and sophomore Cedric Johnson from guard to center, to go along with junior walk-on Tommy Sharpe (5-11, 240). Chester won the starting job, followed by Sharpe and Johnson.

At the guards, juniors Nick Black (6-5, 292) and Greg Walker (6-5, 310) won starting jobs in the spring. Both were reserves last year, though Walker got more playing time than Black, who played at tackle last year.

College football players are supposed to improve as they get older, and no one has been better at getting better for the Tigers than junior kicker Aaron Hunt (5-11, 215). Hunt took over the job as a freshman two years ago and was decent, making 10-of-16 field-goal attempts.

None of those three-pointers was from longer than 40 yards, however.

Three of last year’s four starters return up front for the Tigers, which is good from an experience point of view. The Tigers were weak up front last year, finishing seventh in the ACC with only 20 sacks.

Bryant McNeal (6-5, 230) had eight of those sacks -- to rank third in the ACC -- three of which came in a late-season game against Duke. For the season, McNeal had 11 tackles for loss and caused four fumbles. He enters his senior season ready to step into his role as one of the league’s top defensive ends.

McNeal’s back up for the second year in a row is junior J.J. Howard (6-3, 220), who moved to defensive end after stints at linebacker and tight end.

Junior Khaleed Vaughn (6-4, 260) returns at the left end spot after a breakout season in which he tied for second on the team with nine tackles for loss. Vaughn has now started 13 consecutive games, and his experience should help the Tigers’ anemic pass rush. His backup, sophomore Maurice Fountain (6-4, 235), was a spring practice standout after seeing reserve duty in every game of his freshman season.

Other options are junior Anthony Williams (5-11, 223) and red-shirt freshmen Charles Bennett (6-4, 225) and Rod Whipple (6-5, 205).

Bowden and his staff looked to improve the team’s depth at defensive end in the off-season, snatching highly regarded recruit Gaines Adams (6-6, 235) away from North Carolina in the final week before signing day. Two other incoming recruits are at that position -- Irvin Brisker (6-7, 265) and Brandon Cannon (6-4, 250).

In the defensive interior, senior tackle Nick Eason (6-4, 290) is the team’s emotional and inspirational leader.

Massive sophomore Donnell Washington (6-6, 320) will step into the tackle position vacated by the departed Jovon Bush. Washington was selected a freshman All-American by The Sporting News last year after collecting 44 tackles, eight tackles for loss and four sacks as a red-shirt reserve.

New linebackers coach Hines will have some veteran players to work with and some new faces he can work in immediately. It will be difficult to replace the leadership and knowledge of departed three-year starter Chad Carson, the three-time Academic All-American who was the only Division I football player chosen as a Rhodes Scholar finalist.

Hines should be able to make the linebackers more productive and consistent than they were last year, with returning starters John Leake (6-1, 225), a junior outside linebacker, and Rodney Thomas (6-0, 222), a senior middle linebacker.

Leake might be the defense’s best playmaker, which he proved in the Humanitarian Bowl when he made a team-high 13 tackles. Overall, he was second to Carson in tackles last year with 134.

The other starting position will be manned by sophomore Eric Sampson (6-3, 200), who got valuable playing time last year as a freshman. He saw plenty of action behind Leake last year and led the team with a 14-tackle performance against Wake Forest when Leake was nursing an injury.

Senior Rodney Feaster (6-0, 215) and sophomore Leroy Hill (6-1, 215) will rotate as the primary linebacker reserves. Red-shirt freshman David Dunham (6-2, 205) will also see some action.

Two incoming recruits might work their way into the lineup relatively quickly. Brandon Jamison (6-2, 215) and Kelvin Morris (6-4, 220) were teammates at Southwest Mississippi Community College.

If the offensive line is Bowden’s primary concern on offense, then the secondary remains his biggest headache on the other side of the ball. The Tigers were simply bad in back last year, allowing 22 touchdown passes and making only 13 interceptions.

One of the first things Lovett did when he was hired as defensive coordinator was take over the secondary from Bowden’s brother-in-law, Hines, who now coaches linebackers.

The Tigers have three cornerbacks with significant experience in senior Brian Mance (5-11, 185), junior Kevin Johnson (6-0, 190) and Toure Francis (5-11, 184). And sophomore Ryan Hemby (5-10, 166) is supposed to be the best cover-corner on the team.

Former wide receiver Terrance Huey (5-7, 165) was moved to corner in the spring after playing wide receiver last year.

Senior free safety Eric Meekins (6-3, 190) started nine games last year and finished fifth on the team with 72 tackles. He stepped into the lineup after teammate Marcus Houskin suffered a career-ending vertebrae injury. Meekins has been a durable member of the secondary, playing in 36 consecutive games without missing any time with an injury.

First-year sophomores Travis Pugh (6-1, 190) and Tavaughn Monts (6-2, 185) are Meekins’ backups.

At strong safety, senior Altroy Bodrick (6-1, 215) is trying to recover from a major knee operation and make the switch from linebacker, where he played his first three years. He was known as one of the fastest players in the front seven, but he won’t know until the fall how his injury will affect that speed.

Coming out of the spring, Bodrick was listed behind sophomore Ronny Delusme (6-1, 191), who played in all 12 games last year, mostly on special teams.

Senior Wynn Kopp (5-9, 172) could play for either team when Clemson plays Georgia in the season-opener. Kopp spent two years punting for his hometown Bulldogs, before deciding to transfer to Clemson. He had a 37.2 yard average on 82 career punts for Georgia.

Bowden may be rebuilding other parts of his team, but one area of the game that won't need much attention is the Tigers' return game. Clemson boasted two of the best return men in college football in Hamilton and Mance.

Hamilton, a receiver by trade, was the Tigers' leading receiver last year, setting school records for a freshman with 53 catches and 684 yards. He made a name for himself as a dangerous kickoff returner, just as he did as a senior at Dillon (S.C.) High School, when he returned eight kickoffs for touchdowns.

Most of Clemson's recruiting coups came late in the process, with the top players announcing their intentions just before or on signing day.

That was fine with the Tigers, who were able to convince more top-caliber players to switch commitments to them instead of losing them.

The Tiger coaching staff lured four of their top players in the final week before signing day, including in-state receiver Kelvin Grant (6-2, 105), Georgia quarterback Stuckey, Georgia offensive lineman Nathan Bennett (6-5, 300), who had previously committed to Mississippi State.

Bowden knows that his fourth season as the leader of Clemson's storied program is critical. He and his revamped staff should have the personnel to improve on last year's wretched defense and enough talented skill players to make up for the loss of Dantzler at the quarterback.

What Bowden and his crew don't have gracious plenty of is fan patience. The coach will have to be more diplomatic in how he handles himself this year if he wants to remain the golden coach those rabid fans all loved when he coached the Tigers to nine wins and a Top 20 ranking two years ago.

This is the point in a coach's career that Clemson fans start expecting championships, something that isn't likely to happen this year.

In Bowden's mind, this is still a transitional season, one in which his first recruits finally start to mature. But his request for patience while he continues to build his program isn't likely to be granted by Tiger fans, who haven't enjoyed a real run for a conference championship in more than a decade.