Sometimes returning to the scene of the crime is not a good thing. But that wasn’t the case for Red Parker on November 22, 2003. Nearly 30 years after making his last appearance in Williams-Brice Stadium as Clemson’s head coach, Parker strolled into the press box and took a seat next to his longtime friend Al Adams.

“I asked him, ‘Who are you sitting with?’ He said, ‘I don’t have anybody.’ So I said, ‘Good you are sitting with us.’ He sat with Tim (Bourret), Sanford (Rogers) and myself that night and we had a great time,” Adams said.

The Tigers had a great time, too. Clemson drilled rival South Carolina 63-17. It was ironic to say the least. The last time Parker was in that stadium, his Tigers were drilled 56-20 in the 1975 meeting. Despite being fired in December of 1976, Parker still loved Clemson and still referred to himself as a Tiger.

“We did score 63 points that night and had a really good time,” Adams said.

The 2003 South Carolina game turned out to be the last Clemson game Parker ever attended. Though he wanted to get down to Clemson from his Arkansas home, he could never get away from his other obligations.

Parker passed away from an extend illness on Monday morning, he was 82 years old.

“Coach Parker was an amazing person,” said Adams, who worked in Clemson’s sports information office as a student when Parker was hired in 1973. “He treated everybody like a part of his family. He was a wonderful human being. He of course had some pretty good football teams and recruited some really good players as he was finishing up.”

Those players were guys like Steve Fuller, Joe and Jeff Bostic, Warren Ratchford, Lester Brown, Jerry Butler, Marvin Sims, Dwight Clark, Jim Stuckey, Randy Scott, Bubba Brown and Willie Jordan, names that are synonymous with Clemson football lore.

That group was recruited from 1974-’76 and they played a big role in Clemson’s resurgence in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

“They had already been through at least two seasons and had already taken their lumps. They were ready to turn some heads and they did,” Adams said. “They were ready to win and when Coach (Charlie) Pell stepped in they did.”

Former Clemson head football coach Red Parker, seen here with the late Jim Phillips (right) at Littlejohn Coliseum, passed away on Monday. He was 82 years old. (Photo courtesy Clemson Athletic Communication Department)

The year after Parker was replaced, the Tigers qualified for their first bowl game in 18 years, and in 1978 they won their first ACC Championship in 11 years, while also finishing 11-1 and No. 6 in the Final Associated Press Poll.

“Those guys really paved the way for the ’77 and ’78 teams and then of course I heard Danny (Ford) say it on many occasions, Coach Parker laid the foundation for the 1981 team,” Adams said. “Coach Parker didn’t always get a lot of credit because we had some rough times, but he was a big reason why all those guys were there.”

Though the 1981 team went onto win the National Championship, Parker’s teams did not have a lot of success. His teams went 17-25-2 overall from 1973-’76. His 1975 team went 2-9 overall, while his 1976 team went 3-6-2.

“We were really close to being a fairly decent football team. We had some crazy things happen and we were pretty close,” Adams said. “We lost some close games and unfortunately it did not work out.”

But Parker’s time at Clemson was not all lost. He changed things. He brought the veer offense to Clemson, which in those days was a wide open attack that had never been seen before. And he was an aggressive recruiter.

“He was pretty unique with his recruiting,” Adams said. “A lot of guys back then wanted to be great coaches and at that time a lot of people thought they could out coach everybody. Well, Coach Parker realized it was a whole lot better to have better players in his dressing room than in the other dressing room.

“He really opened the doors on recruiting. We really got aggressive in recruiting. He did a wonderful job. Coach Parker did a great job getting those kids there and getting them ready. Coach (Charlie) Pell walked into a good situation when he took over.”

The veer became one of the more popular offenses in college football in the 1970s and Parker’s Tigers were out in front with it.

“He was the author of the things we did in the 1970s and ‘80s,” said former Clemson tight end Bennie Cunningham. “He came here during my sophomore year and be brought a new style of football to Clemson. He came in with the veer offense, as it was called in those days, with a triple option.

“It brought a lot of excitement to our games. We were moving the football.”

The Tigers averaged nearly 100 yards more per game, and scored nearly 100 more points in 1973 than they did in 1972, and Cunningham was one of the recipients of Clemson’s wide open offense. He emerged as perhaps the best tight end in the country, hauling in 22 catches for 341 yards and a touchdown.

“I was put into more of an offense that they do today,” said Cunningham, who was a first-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1976 and won two Super Bowls. “I was put into a slot position. We were spreading guys across the field and a lot of my passes came from the wide-slot positions. I think that is what really helped my career.”

In 1973, Parker also introduced the current tradition of the Tigers rubbing Howard’s Rock and running down the Hill. After warm ups and the head coach talks to the team one final time, the Tigers leave the locker room, load the buses, drive around the stadium to the east side and come pouring onto the field. They have done this 271 consecutive times.

It’s a tradition that started in the second home game of the Parker era – October 6, 1973.

“When we first did it, I thought it was bit much to do all of that,” Cunningham joked. “We didn’t know the significance of it at the time. But rubbing that Rock and running down the Hill and seeing all of the fans screaming for you, it’s one of the most exciting things you can ever feel.

“Coach Parker knew that would get the guys excited. He knew that would get the fans going.”

In 1974 Cunningham became a consensus First-Team All-American as he caught 24 passes for 391 yards and scored seven touchdowns. The 1974 season became known as “Excitement Galore, Clemson Football ’74.”

Clemson coincidently went 7-4 that year, winning all six home games, including a 39-21 win over South Carolina.

“He brought a new attitude in and new coaches. There was a lot of excitement,” Cunningham said.

The excitement fizzled out in 1975. Cunningham suffered through an injury riddled senior year and the Tigers stumbled to a 2-9 finish.

In 1976, it was more of the same and Parker was released from his duties that December. But before that happened, he got one last shot to show how much he loved Clemson.

Before playing rival South Carolina in Death Valley, the team warmed up on the soccer field which is now known as Lot 1 on Game Days. They stayed there until it was time to come down the Hill.

On the opening drive, Clemson did not face a single third down and went on to score a touchdown, starting a 28-9 rout of the Gamecocks.

“Coach Parker loved Clemson. Even after he got let go he loved it. He always said he wanted to come down and see his Tigers play,” Adams said. “He never got that chance again after 2003. But he always kept up with the Tigers.”

Before he died on Monday, Parker had been the head coach at Harmony Grove High School in Benton, Ark., the last six years, but he retired this past October citing health reasons.