At the end of the 2010 season, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said the program was going to do everything it could to make this current decade the best ever for Clemson Football.
He held true to his word.
It’s already been noted countless times by this writer and others that this current decade, which began in 2010, has already produced 2 national championships, 3 national championship game appearances, 4 College Football Playoff appearances, 5 ACC Championships, 6 major bowl bids, 8 bowl victories, 8 straight 10-win seasons and 103 total wins.
Whenever the greatest decades in Clemson history are spoken about, the 2010s will always be remembered very fondly.
Another decade that will always be remembered by Tiger fans is the 1980s, which, before this current stretch, was considered the greatest decade in Clemson history. How good was the Clemson Football program in the 1980s? On Monday The Athletic ranked the 1980s Tigers in several of its categories as it celebrates the 150th anniversary of college football this summer.
The Tigers posted an 87-25-4 record in the 1980s, the fifth best mark in the country that decade.
Clemson began its long decade of dominance with its first national championship in 1981. Those Tigers came out of nowhere to post a 12-0 record, which concluded with a win over No. 4 Nebraska in the 1982 Orange Bowl.
In the 1980s, Clemson owned the ACC, winning the league title five times and it would have been six had it not been for the probation year of 1983 when it went 9-1-1 and a perfect 7-0 in the ACC. The Tigers won conference crowns in 1981, ’82, ’86, ’87 and ’88.
Terry Kinard was a First-Team All-American in 1981 and was the Tigers’ first ever unanimous First-Team All-American in 1982.
They also posted 10-win seasons in 1981, ’87, ’88, and ’89 and won nine games in 1982 and ’83 when they were banned from postseason play. Despite the postseason ban from 1982-’84, Clemson still played in six bowl games in the 1980s and posted an extraordinary 5-1 record, including wins over national powers Nebraska, Penn State and Oklahoma.
The Athletic ranked Clemson’s 1981 team the fourth best in the decade and named 2-time All-American safety Terry Kinard on the All-1980s team. Kinard was a First-Team All-American in 1981 and was the Tigers’ first ever unanimous First-Team All-American in 1982.
Kinard is in the College Football Hall of Fame, along with his former teammate and 1981 All-American linebacker Jeff Davis. The two were a part of the 1978 signing class, still the only signing class by an ACC school with two Hall of Famers.
Danny Ford, who is also in the College Football Hall of Fame, is listed as the 10th best head coach in the 1980s. Ford’s teams had a win percentage of .795 in the 1980s and were always known for their strong running game and great defenses.
Ford is still the youngest head football coach in college football history to win a national championship. He was just 33 years old at the time.
Danny Ford’s Clemson teams posted an 87-25-4 record in the 1980s and won 5 ACC titles and the 1981 National Championship.