List of Clemson Tigers head football coaches

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney

The Clemson Tigers football program is a college football team that represents Clemson University in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Tigers compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The team has had 25 head coaches since it began play in the 1896 season.[1] Since October 2008, Dabo Swinney has served as Clemson's head coach.[2]

The team has played in over 1,300 games over 129 seasons.[3] [4] In that time, eight coaches have led Clemson to postseason bowl games: Jess Neely, Frank Howard, Charley Pell, Danny Ford, Ken Hatfield, Tommy West, Tommy Bowden, and Swinney.[1] Five coaches have won conference championships with the Tigers: John Heisman won two as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Howard won two as a member of the Southern Conference; and Howard, Pell, Ford, Hatfield, and Swinney won a combined 14 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.[4] In 1981, Ford led the Tigers to the national championship.[5] Swinney has guided the Tigers to six ACC championships and four national title appearances, winning the 2016 and 2018 championships, while losing the 2015 and 2019 championships.

Howard is the all-time leader in games coached (295), seasons coached (30), and second in total wins (165).[1] Heisman has the highest winning percentage, with .833 in his four years at Clemson.[1] Of coaches with more than one season, Hootie Ingram has the lowest winning percentage (.364 in 3 seasons).[1] Of the 25 head coaches who have led the Tigers, Heisman,[6] Jess Neely,[7] Ford, and Howard[8] have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as coaches; Josh Cody was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player.[9]

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
General Overall Conference Postseason[A 1]
No. Order of coaches[A 2] GC Games coached CW Conference wins PW Postseason wins
DC Division championships OW Overall wins CL Conference losses PL Postseason losses
CC Conference championships OL Overall losses CT Conference ties PT Postseason ties
NC National championships OT Overall ties[A 3] C% Conference winning percentage
† Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame O% Overall winning percentage[A 4]

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards[A 5]
No. Name Term(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL DCs CCs NCs Awards
1 Walter Riggs 1896
1899 		9 6 3 0 0.667 3 2 0 0.600 — — — 0 0 —
2 William M. Williams 1897 4 2 2 0 0.500 — — — — — — — — 0 —
3 John Penton 1898 4 3 1 0 0.750 — — — — — — — — 0 —
4 John Heisman† 1900–1903 24 19 3 2 0.833 16 0 2 0.944 — — — 3 0 —
5 Shack Shealy 1904 7 3 3 1 0.500 3 3 1 0.500 — — — 0 0 —
6 Eddie Cochems 1905 6 3 2 1 0.583 3 2 1 0.583 — — — 0 0 —
7 Bob Williams 1906
1909
1913–1915
1926[A 6] 		46 21 19 6 0.522 10 10 5 0.500 0 0 — 0 0 —
8 Frank Shaughnessy 1907 8 4 4 0 0.500 1 3 0 0.250 — — — 0 0 —
9 John N. Stone 1908 7 1 6 0 0.143 0 4 0 .000 — — — 0 0 —
10 Frank Dobson 1910–1912 24 11 12 1 0.479 7 12 1 0.375 — — — 0 0 —
11 Wayne Hart 1916 9 3 6 0 0.333 2 4 0 0.333 0 0 — 0 0 —
12 Edward Donahue 1917–1920 36 21 12 3 0.625 13 10 2 0.560 0 0 — 0 0 —
13 E. J. Stewart 1921–1922 18 6 10 2 0.389 2 9 2 0.231 0 0 — 0 0 —
14 Bud Saunders 1923–1926 28 10 17 1 0.375 2 9 1 0.208 0 0 — 0 0 —
15 Josh Cody†[A 7] 1927–1930 41 29 11 1 0.720 12 9 0 0.571 0 0 — 0 0 —
16 Jess Neely† 1931–1939 85 43 35 7 0.547 18 13 2 0.576 1 0 — 0 0 —
17 Frank Howard† 1940–1969 295 165 118 12 0.580 100 48 5 0.670[A 8] 3 3 — 8 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1958)[13]
ACC Coach of the Year (1966)[13]
18 Hootie Ingram 1970–1972 33 12 21 0 0.364 8 10 0 0.444 0 0 — 0 0 —
19 Red Parker 1973–1976 44 17 25 2 0.409 10 11 1 0.477 0 0 — 0 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1974)[13]
20 Charley Pell 1977–1978 23 18 4 1 0.804 10 1 1 0.875 0 1 — 1 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1977)[13]
ACC Coach of the Year (1978)[13]
21 Danny Ford† 1978–1989[A 9] 129 96 29 4 0.760 56 16 1 0.774 6 2 — 5 1 – 1981 ACC Coach of the Year (1981)[13]
FWAA Coach of the Year (1981)[14]
Woody Hayes Trophy (1981)[15]
AFCA Coach of the Year (1981)[16]
22 Ken Hatfield 1990–1993 46 32 13 1 0.707 19 10 1 0.650 1 1 — 1 0 —
23 Tommy West 1993–1998[A 10] 59 31 28 0 0.525 21 19 0 0.525 1 3 — 0 0 —
24 Tommy Bowden 1999–2008 117 72 45 — 0.615 43 32 — 0.573 3 5 0 0 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1999)[13]
ACC Coach of the Year (2003)[13]
25 Dabo Swinney 2008–present[A 11] 227 180 47 — 0.793 109 24 — 0.820 12 9 10 9 2 — (2016) (2018) Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year (2011)[17]

AP Coach of the Year Award (2015)[18]
Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (2015)
ACC Coach of the Year Award (2015)

Notes

  1. ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[10]
  2. ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[11]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[12]
  5. ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2010 college football season.
  6. ^ Williams replaced Saunders for the final 5 games of the 1926 season.
  7. ^ Cody was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player at Vanderbilt.[9]
  8. ^ Howard had a record of 34–18–3 (0.645) against Southern Conference opponents and 66–30–2 (0.684) against ACC opponents.
  9. ^ Ford replaced Pell for the final game of the 1978 season.
  10. ^ West replaced Hatfield for the final game of the 1993 season.
  11. ^ Swinney replaced Bowden for the final 7 games of the 2008 season.

References

General
  • Bourret, Tim. "2010 Clemson Football Media Guide" (PDF). Clemson University. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e 2010 Media Guide, p. 175
  2. ^ "Clemson's Bowden steps down". Sports Illustrated. October 13, 2008. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  3. ^ "NCAA Statistics – Year By Year History (Clemson)". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  4. ^ a b 2010 Media Guide, pp. 198–199
  5. ^ "1981 National Championship Season" (PDF). Clemson University. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 21, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011. Under Swinney's guidance the tigers have won four ACC championships, and has made three national championship appearances;winning both the 2016 and 2018 national title.
  6. ^ John Heisman at the College Football Hall of Fame
  7. ^ Jess Neely at the College Football Hall of Fame
  8. ^ Frank Howard at the College Football Hall of Fame
  9. ^ a b Josh Cody at the College Football Hall of Fame
  10. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  11. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  12. ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h "ACC Honors Year by Year" (PDF). 2010 ACC Football Information Guide. Atlantic Coast Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  14. ^ "Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award". Football Writers Association of America. Archived from the original on August 8, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  15. ^ "Woody Hayes Trophy". Touchdown Club of Columbus. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  16. ^ "Past National COTY Winners". American Football Coaches Association. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  17. ^ "Clemson University Head Coach Dabo Swinney Named Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year for 2011". Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. December 31, 2011. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  18. ^ "Clemson coach Dabo Swinney named coach of the year". January 14, 2016. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2016.