Clemson Tigers

Football

The Tiger football program has won 59.1% of its games through the 2010 season, placing it 34th on the all-time winning percentage list. Clemson also won two Southern Conference titles before joining the ACC. The program has participated in 33 bowl games over the years, winning 16. The 1981 squad, led by Head Coach Danny Ford, became the first athletic team in school history to win a national championship. Clemson defeated Nebraska 22–15 in the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida to win the 1981 NCAA Football National Championship. Stars of the game included Homer Jordan (QB) and Perry Tuttle (WR). Clemson finished the year 12–0 and ranked #1 in the Associated Press and Coaches polls.

Some of the most notable coaching names in Clemson football history are John Heisman (who also coached at Akron, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Penn, Washington & Jefferson, and Rice; the Heisman Trophy is named after him), Jess Neely, Frank Howard (whom the playing field at Death Valley is named after), and Danny Ford. After Tommy Bowden resigned midseason on October 13, 2008, Dabo Swinney took over as interim head coach.^[7] On December 1, 2008, Swinney was named head coach of the Clemson Tigers football team.^[8]

Before each home game, the team ends pre-game warm ups and proceeds to the locker room. With five minutes to go before game time, three buses leave the street behind the West Endzone carrying the Clemson football players. The buses pull to a stop at the gate in front of The Hill, and the Tigers gather at the top, where each player proceeds to rub "Howard's Rock," which is an imported rock from Death Valley, California that was presented to Frank Howard in 1967. While Tiger Rag is played and a cannon sounds, the Tigers run down the hill onto the field in front of over 83,000 screaming fans. This tradition has been dubbed "The most exciting 25 seconds in college football" by sportscaster Brent Musburger.^[9]

Basketball

The Clemson Men's Basketball team is coached by head coach Brad Brownell, announced April 13, 2010. Accomplishments include:

*vacated by NCAA ^[12]

The Clemson women's basketball team is currently coached by head coach Audra Smith. Accomplishments include:

Baseball

As of 2008, the Tiger baseball team has posted a combined 30 ACC regular season and tournament championships (the most in the conference), 34 NCAA Tournament appearances, 16 NCAA Regional Titles, 4 NCAA Super Regional Titles, and 12 College World Series appearances. Much of the baseball program's success occurred under Bill Wilhelm during his 35 seasons as Clemson's head coach. Monte Lee is the Tigers' current head coach, having replaced Jack Leggett after the conclusion of the 2015 season.

* - recognized ACC championships. ACC tournament has decided conference champion since 1973 (except for 1979 due to academic conflicts)

§ - the ACC does not recognize Division Championships in baseball. Divisions serve the purpose of simplifying conference scheduling during the regular season. Winning percentages in regular season conference play are then used to determine seedings for the Conference Tournament.

Men's Soccer

The men's soccer team was Clemson's second sports program to win a national championship, winning the NCAA Tournament in 1984 and again in 1987.^[13][14] In their 26 appearances in the NCAA tournament, the men's soccer team garnered runner-up finishes in 1979 and 2015, and has appeared in the NCAA Final Four eight times, with the 2015 squad being the most recent team to accomplish that feat.^[15] In addition to their NCAA titles, the men's program has won 16 combined ACC regular season and tournament titles, with the last one coming in the 2014 ACC Tournament. The Tigers have known only four coaches in their history: Dr. I.M. Ibrahim (1967–1994, 388–100–31 career record), Trevor Adair(1995–2008, 50–48–10 record at Clemson), Phil Hindson (Interim coach in 2009, 6-12-1 record) and Mike Noonan. Famous former Tigers include Oguchi Onyewu, Stuart Holden and Paul Stalteri, all three whom are capped for their respective nations.

* - recognized ACC championships. ACC champion decided by tournament since 1987

Women's Soccer

Women's soccer became a varsity sport at Clemson in 1994. The women's soccer team has won the ACC regular season crown twice, and advanced to the NCAA tournament sixteen times. The team has never been able to advance past the Quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. However, the team has been able to reach the Quarterfinals four times. The Tigers have known five coaches in their history Tracey Leone (1994-1998 89-39-4 career record), Ray Leone (1999-2000 33-10-3 career record), Todd Bramble (2001-2007 80-51-17 career record), Hershey Strosberg (2008-2010 14-39-1 career record), and Eddie Radwanski (2011-Current).

Golf

The Tiger golf team have a tradition of being among the best in the ACC and the nation, having won several ACC titles and regularly qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. In 2003, Clemson defeated Oklahoma State to win its first National Championship in golf and the 4th overall for the school.^[16] In addition to that victory, Clemson also won the ACC and NCAA East Regional titles that year, making the Tigers the first program in NCAA history to win its conference, regional, and national championship tournaments in the same year.^[16] Clemson has also won seven regional titles since the NCAA adopted the regional tournament format in 1989. 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover played golf at Clemson.

Other varsity sports

In 2017, Logan Morris represented the US at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Uganda, finishing 45th out 101 runners in the Junior (under 20 ranks).

Jay Berger was a two-time All American in tennis for Clemson, and went on to a pro career in which his highest world ranking was # 7.

* ACC Championship decided by tournament until 2004; regular season finish has determined the ACC champion since 2005 season.

* The Lady Tigers rowing team became the first team other than Virginia to win the ACC Championship since the ACC began sponsoring the women's rowing championship in 2000.

Discontinued varsity sports

^[18]

*Clemson sponsored a women's diving team from 2013–2017.

Wrestling

Wrestling at Clemson University was discontinued in 1995, despite the success of the program, due to financial shortages from Tiger Athletics' funding from the university. The wrestling program began in 1975 winning the ACC title as a team under coach Eddie Griffin in 1991. The Tiger wrestling program produced 8 overall wrestlers with All-American status, two NCAA Champions, and a finish at the NCAA Championships as high as 7th in 1994.^[19] Sammie Henson is a former standout at Clemson, as one of the most accomplished tiger wrestlers with a 1993 and 1994 NCAA Champion titles who eventually earned a 2000 Olympic silver medal and became a 1998 world champion in freestyle wrestling.

NCAA team championships

Clemson University has three NCAA team national championships.^[20]

• Men's (3)
  • Golf (1): 2003
  • Soccer (2): 1984, 1987

Additionally, Clemson has won two football national championships, in 1981 and 2016. The title were awarded by polling agencies in 1981 and the College Football Playoff in 2016, not the NCAA.

• see also:
  • ACC NCAA team championships
  • List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships

Rugby

Clemson Rugby was founded in 1967. Although rugby is a club sport at Clemson, the team receives significant support from the university and from the Clemson Rugby Foundation, which was founded in 2007 by Clemson alumni.^[21] Clemson rugby has been led since 2010 by head coach Justin Hickey,^[22] who has also served as team manager for the U.S. national under-20 team.^[22]

Clemson's best season was 1996, when the team advanced to the national college rugby quarterfinals. Clemson also advanced to the round of 16 of the national playoffs for three consecutive years from 2005-2007. Clemson has played since 2011 in the Atlantic Coast Rugby League against its traditional ACC rivals. Clemson placed second in its conference in the spring 2012 season with a 6-1 conference record, narrowly missing out to Maryland for the conference title and a place in the national college rugby playoffs.^[23] Clemson again finished the spring 2013 season with a 6-1 conference record, and then defeated South Carolina 29-7 in the round of 16 national playoffs, before losing in the quarterfinals to Central Florida 20-24.^[24]