The Clemson tradition, Part I of V: The foundation

By Marc Hudgens  |   Sunday, July 22, 2007  |  Comments( 13 )

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For all intents and purposes, Clemson's "golden age" was during the Frank Howard years, 1930-1969. For those 39 years (30 of which he was head coach), Howard built on what was started by prior head coaches John Heisman and Jess Neely, laying the very foundation of Clemson football.

Born March 25, 1909, Howard hailed from Barlow Bend, Ala., and played on Wallace Wade's 1930 Crimson Tide National championship team. After the 'Bama years he headed east, going to work for Clemson's Neely as an assistant. But Howard also had many other responsibilities.

"My first title was line coach, but I also coached track, managed ticket sales, recruited players and had charge of equipment. In my spare time I cut grass, lined tennis courts and operated the canteen while the regular man was out to lunch," Howard explained in that deep, old-south drawl he's known for.

He paid his dues and was a solid assistant coach for nine years. During that ninth season, Clemson went 8-1 and earned a trip to the Cotton Bowl, the Tigers' first bowl game ever. Facing Frank Leahy's 11th-ranked Boston College squad, underdog Clemson won 6-3 in what ended up being one of the greatest Cotton Bowls in history. It was also Clemson's first win over a ranked team in its history.

Because of that season's success, Neely's stock went up. Neely bolted for Rice, and Clemson's athletic council hurriedly met to discuss his successor. When one of the council members, Prof. Sam Rhodes, called out Howard's name, Howard, as the cut-up he always was, stood in the back and yelled "I second the nomination!" Upon that, Howard took over as head coach in 1940, and a new era was born.

Eight years later Clemson went undefeated (10-0), including a 24-23 win over Missouri in the 1949 Gator Bowl. Two short years later, Howard led the Tigers to the Orange Bowl, where they defeated Miami 15-14 and ended the season at 9-0-1. Another trip to the Gator Bowl in 1952 against Miami (Miami won, 14-0), then becoming ACC champs in 1956 led to a trip to the '57 Orange Bowl, where the Tigers were downed by Colorado. Then came the 1959 Sugar Bowl, where Clemson held tight with No. 1 LSU but lost in the end, 7-0, giving LSU a National championship. Then, in 1959, the Bluebonnet Bowl invited Clemson to play Texas Christian, where the Tigers redeemed their bowl reputation with an easy victory, 23-7.

Howard was Southern Conference Coach Of The Year in 1948, and the Tigers were the SoCon Champs in 1940 and 1948. But because of the conference's ban on postseason participation, many schools seceded from the conference and formed the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. In the first decade-plus of the ACC's existence, Clemson won the conference title six times. Howard's record over his 30 years as head coach was 165-118-12, which is considered by most today as mediocre. But back then it was a feat, given how far Clemson came since he first took over the program.

Not only was Howard head coach, but he was also the athletic director and fine-tuned IPTAY ("I Pay Ten A Year"), which is Clemson's main athletic fund-raising arm. Under Howard, IPTAY was so strong and well-run that it became the template for many other schools' athletic fundraising organizations.

But in 1969, Howard was on his way out. Official documents say he retired, but according to the autobiography of the late voice of the Tigers, Jim Phillips' "Still Roaring," Howard was forced out. Although the Tigers won three ACC titles in the 1960s, that last year Clemson had a losing record of 4-6 and was barely over the .500 mark during the '60s. While Clemson won many conference games during that period, it was regularly defeated by its non-conference opponents -- teams such as Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Southern Cal. And Tiger fans wanted to see Clemson start beating the bigger teams.

On Dec. 10 of that year, the venerable and charming Howard stepped down. When asked why he was doing so, he cited health reasons, stating "the alumni got sick of me."

Howard remained as A.D. until 1971, then became assistant to the university's vice president and did that until '74, when he fully retired from the university payroll.

Soon after, the playing surface at Clemson's Memorial Stadium was renamed "Frank Howard Field" in his honor. He was inducted into the State of South Carolina Hall of Fame and Clemson Hall of Fame; Helms Athletic Hall of Fame; the State of Alabama Hall of Fame; the Orange Bowl Hall of Honor; the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame; and the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame. He was awarded The Clemson Medallion, the highest honor the university bestows on a living person, and his name hangs in the football stadium's Ring of Honor.

Even after his ousting Howard represented the Tigers well, embodying the classical Clemson spirit and endearing himself to many until his death on Jan. 26, 1996, at the age of 86.

The name Frank Howard is and will always be synonymous with Clemson football. The legacy he left is a raised bar, because, with dignity, he led the always underdog Tigers to conference titles and bowl wins

But what Howard may not have realized at the time of his retirement was that he also set of the stage for the 1970s, a time when the Tigers really started to become a nationally recognized team, taking on and defeating elite opponents.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He ...
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CommentsComments: 13  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
jerry a marullo		05:41 PM
07/23/2007
I bet Frank's spinning in his grave after yet another collapse by the Bowden regime last year.Only 125 days 'til we can that ...
No.2
RTP tiger		07:02 AM
07/24/2007
With his 165-118-12 career record, if Howard had to deal with your type of "fan" he would have been gone very early in his ...
No.3
jerry a marullo		08:05 PM
07/24/2007
watch what? another bowden collapse? why don't you quit looking through the orange glasses for a while and maybe you'll see the ...
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