About Me
Clemson University
Clemson, S.C.
Founded: 1889
Colors: Burnt Orange and Northwestern Purple
Nickname: Tigers
Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Opened in 1942
Grass; 81,473 capacity
First Football Game: 1896
All-time record: 625–426–45
Bowl Record: 15-15
Consensus National Championships: 1 (1981)
Atlantic Coast Conference Championships: 13 (12 outright)
First-Round Draftees: 20
There are two central traditions associated with Clemson football: Howard's Rock and the hill. The latter preceded the former, although now players touch the rock before running down the hill. Described as "the most exciting 25 seconds in college football from a color and pageantry standpoint," the hill entrance began out of necessity. The first 20,000 seats in Memorial Stadium were built and ready for use for the 1942 season. The shortest entry into the stadium was through a gate at the top of the hill behind the east end sone; the team would jog down the hill for warmups, fanfare-free.
The second tradition came about in the mid-1960s. S.C. Jones, an alum from the Class of 1919, made a trip to California, where he stopped at a spot in Death Valley, and picked up a white flint rock. He presented it to coach Frank Howard, and the rock sat in the coach's office for years. One day, while cleaning up his office, Howard asked Gene Willimon, who was executive secretary of the booster organization IPTAY, to "take this rock and throw it over the fence ... do something with it, but get it out of my office." Willimon, knowing the rock had been brought to Clemson by a sincere Tiger fan, Had it mounted on a pedestal and placed at the top of the hill. Soon, Howard bought into the tradition.
On Sept. 24, 1966, the rock was unveiled before Clemson played Virginia. The Tigers were down 18 points with 17 minutes to play--but came back to win 40-35 on a 65-yard pass from Jimmy Addison to Jacky Jackson in the fourth quarter. Team members started rubbing the rock as a pregame ritual on Spet. 23, 1967, when Clemson defeated Wake Forest 23-6. "If you're going to give me 110 percent, you can rub that rock. If you're not, keep your filthy hands off it," Howard said to his players. When he told the story the next day on his television show, the story became part of Clemson legend.
Today, after Clemson's final warm-up, the team returns to its dressing room under the west end zone stands. Ten minutes before kickoff, the team boards two buses, rides around the stadium to the east end zone, and debarks at the top of the hill behind Howard's Rock. A cannon booms, the band strikes up "Tiger Rag," and the team hustles onto the field, led by a tiger's-paw flag.
Consensus All-Americans
1967 - Harry Olszewski, G
1974 - Bennie Cunningham, TE
1979 - Jim Stuckey, DL
1981 - Jeff Davis, LB
1981/1982 - Terry Kinard, DB
1983 - William Perry, DL
1986 - Terrence Flagler, RB
1987 - David Treadwell, PK
1988 - Donnell Woolford, DB
1990 - Stacy Long, OL
1991 - Jeb Flesch, OL
1991 - Levon Kirkland, LB
1993 - Stacy Seegars, G
1997 - Anthony Simmons, LB
2000 - Keith Adams, LB
2004 - Leroy Hill, LB
2005 - Tye Hill, CB
2006 - Gaines Adams, DE
2007 - Barry Richardson, T
2009 SCHEDULE
September 5 - Middle Tennessee W 37-14 (1-0,0-0)
September 10 - @ Georgia Tech L 27-30 (1-1,0-1)
September 19 - Boston College W 25-7 (2-1,1-1)
September 26 - TCU L 10-14 (2-2,1-1)
October 3 - @ Maryland L 21-24 (2-3,1-2)
October 17 - Wake Forest W 38-3 (3-3,2-2)
October 24 - @ Miami W 40-37 (4-3,3-2)
October 31 - Coastal Carolina W 49-3 (5-3,3-2)
November 7 - Florida State
November 14 - @ NC State
November 21 - Virginia
November 2 - @ South Carolina
PROJECTED DEPTH CHART
Offense
WR - 6 Jacoby Ford
WR - 21 Xavier Dye
WR - 87 Terrence Ashe
LT - 61 Chris Hairston
LG - 65 Thomas Austin
C - 62 Mason Cloy
RG - 74 Antoine McClain
RT - 76 Cory Lambert
TE - 86 Michael Palmer
QB - 11 Kyle Parker
TB - 28 CJ Spiller
Defense
DE - 93 Da'Quan Bowers
DT - 99 Jarvis Jenkins
NG - 98 Brandon Thompson
BAN - 7 Ricky Sapp
SLB - 24 Kevin Alexander
MLB - 20 Brandon Maye
WLB - 33 Kavell Conner
CB - 38 Chris Chancellor
CB - 18 Crezdon Butler
CAT - 2 DeAndre McDaniel
FS - 12 Marcus Gilchrist
Special Teams
K - 13 Spencer Benton
P - 96 Dawson Zimmerman
KR - 28 C.J. Spiller
PR - 6 Jacoby Ford
