The Clemson tradition, Part III of V: The apex

By Marc Hudgens  |   Monday, August 06, 2007  |  Comments( 9 )

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Clemson's growing pains of the 1970s were indeed painful, but they paid off big time the next decade.

While everyone else was learning The Hustle and dodging serial killers, Clemson was enduring a rough patch. Fresh off the Frank Howard era, the Tigers underwent four coaching changes, facilities improvements, and even a logo change inside eight years. It wasn't until the late 1970s, specifically '77, when Clemson really began to take off.

The first season of the following decade didn't start off so well. Entering his third season as head coach in 1980, Danny Ford had guided the Tigers to two consecutive bowls. But this season would be a letdown given recent events, with Clemson going 6-5 and failing to earn a bowl bid. Still smarting from the spurn of Charley Pell, who led the Tigers to major success in 1977-78, emotions ran high and many Tiger fans began to seriously question Ford's coaching abilities.

1981 began like most others. Clemson trampled Wofford College, 45-10, and barely scooted by Tulane the following week, 13-5, in New Orleans. However, the third game was vastly different with the Vince Dooley-led, defending national champions, fourth-ranked Georgia, coming to Clemson and starring future Heisman Trophy winner, running back Herschel Walker. Fighting tooth and nail, Clemson slipped by, 13-3, and prevented Walker from scoring a touchdown. The win was particularly impressive given that it was the first time the Tigers started the season at 3-0 since 1960.

The loss to Clemson had both immediate and negative National title implications for Georgia. On the other hand, no one expected this win to have major implications for Clemson.

The Tigers rolled along that season, with one win being an 82-24 blowout of Wake Forest and a hard-fought victory over eighth-ranked North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Clemson entered the Orange Bowl that year ranked first, playing the fourth-rated Nebraska Cornhuskers. Led by quarterback Homer Jordan and a stiff defense that was bolstered by Hall of Fame linebacker Jeff Davis, the Tigers iced their cake that undefeated season by downing the Huskers, 22-15, and becoming the consensus 1981 National champion.

At 33 years old and becoming the youngest head coach to win a National title, Ford had indeed redeemed himself and no Clemson fan dared utter any further skepticism regarding his coaching abilities.

Clemson didn't replicate the undefeated season again during the 1980s, but the Tigers' records were still very good.

Clemson went 9-1-1 in 1982 and '83, with the '82 season including a trip to play Wake Forest in the Mirage Bowl in Tokyo. 1984 witnessed a slight dip; Clemson went 7-4 that year, then 6-6 in '85. Ford and the Tigers roared back in 1986 to amass an 8-2 mark, and it followed that by achieving three 10-win seasons in a row from 1987-89, including Citrus Bowl wins over traditional powers Penn State and Oklahoma.

Throughout the 10-year span the Tigers won five ACC titles and six major bowl appearances. The '80s were a time of constant, jubilant celebration for Clemson's fans, and it was unquestionably the greatest period of the football program.

But the 1980s weren't all fun and games. The year after the National title, the NCAA investigated Clemson for recruiting violations committed by Ford and ex-coach Pell and subsequently hit the football program with two years probation including no bowl appearances during '82-83. Because Pell was already underway in rebuilding Florida at the time (and committing more infractions there as well), Ford was the lone responsible party to take the fall.

Once that wind blew over, another came along. In early 1985, South Carolina investigators determined that three coaches were dispensing prescription drugs to athletes. Then, in 1989, the NCAA began formal investigations into the program to see if major rules violations were committed. If found, the Clemson football program would be hit with the 'death penalty', which basically means a total suspension of football for two years. This by far was the most serious time for Clemson, and Ford was under tremendous pressure.

Ford also had other problems in addition to NCAA violations. In 1985, former Ohio State administrator Max Lennon was named Clemson's president. Upon his arrival, Lennon declared that athletics would be subordinate to academics. Given the football program's immense success, Lennon's hiring spelled doom; it led many to believe that not even the school's president was willing to defend the program.

Between Lennon and the looming death penalty, Ford and Clemson football as a whole were in major trouble. In 1989, rumors swirled that Ford was going to be fired, and they proved to be true. On Jan. 18, 1990, under three weeks after a solid 27-7 Gator Bowl win over the West Virginia Mountaineers, Ford was forced out and, quite possibly, the death penalty may have been averted as a result.

Clemson made quick work on Ford's replacement. On Jan. 22, only four days after Ford's firing, the Tigers named Arkansas' Ken Hatfield as their new head coach. Enraged fans erupted and students marched on the president's home to protest the firing of Ford and hiring of Hatfield. A player boycott was also threatened. However, their outcries fell on deaf ears -- an era was over and a new one was beginning. For Clemson, it wasn't going to be a good one.

Throughout the last decade of the old millennium, a dark cloud hung over the rubble that was once the Clemson football program of the 1980s.

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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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