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Replies: 29
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110%er [3780]
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Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 23, 2024, 5:03 PM
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I was born in 77 so my memories of Clemson football are much different, but I just wanted to know from an emotional standpoint. Do you feel like that the drop off was less substantial after the 81 championship as far as the expectations for Clemson football and what they actually produced versus what happened after we won in 2018.?
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National Champion [7199]
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2015-2019 saw Clemson in 4 out of 5 season in consecutive National Title Games
Dec 23, 2024, 5:04 PM
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but i get it. 1981 could be comparable
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National Champion [7199]
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Brent Venables and Dabo Swinney went 2 - 1 versus Nick Saban, Kirby, Lane, Sark
Dec 23, 2024, 5:06 PM
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basically the top names to grace the game in the past decade
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1st Rounder [643]
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Re: Brent Venables and Dabo Swinney went 2 - 1 versus Nick Saban, Kirby, Lane, Sark
Dec 23, 2024, 7:06 PM
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*2-2
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All-American [557]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 23, 2024, 5:18 PM
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Class of ‘77 here. We had been so bad for so long before Charlie Pell and Danny Ford. We really rose quickly under those two culminating in the ‘81 championship. We were still very competitive after that, just didn’t quite make it back to championship level. Also, there was an internal struggle between the President/administration over control of the program which ended with Ford being fired.
But after the ‘81 championship, Danny Ford and his staff WAS NOT one of the highest paid coaches and staff in the land and given whatever was asked for to keep them at the highest level. IMO it’s a different reward & expectation situation.
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Orange Blooded [2362]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 5:20 PM
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Keep in mind we weren't allowed to go to bowls until what 84? 85?
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Tiger Spirit [9221]
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Records below:
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Dec 23, 2024, 5:46 PM
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1982: 9-1-1
1983: 9-1-1
1984: 7-4 probation starts showing effects
1985: 6-6 loss to MN in bowl. First bowl since ‘81
1986: 8-2-2 climb back starts
1987-1990: 10-2 each year (‘89 Fords last year)
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Commissioner [1234]
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And if Ford had been HC in 1999 Clemson not GT/Colorado would of beeen NC
Dec 24, 2024, 8:51 AM
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5th down Colorado should of never even shared
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Paw Warrior [4798]
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CU Guru [1923]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 5:21 PM
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I can assure you the expectations were there. Coach Ford was playing after the 1981 season for 5 years on probation for offenses during Coach Pell's tenure. He did an exceptional job considering they couldn't be on tv or win conference championships. But have no fear we still expected them to win big.
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Orange Immortal [60384]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 23, 2024, 5:24 PM
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Whoever was old enough back then they remember it, it would be hard to try and forget it. That game has been in my memory for about 43 years, and I remember it pretty well!!!
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Orange Beast [6172]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 5:26 PM
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I was at the game. What great excitement at the end as our band played Celebration and the fans literally did not want to leave the stadium. I expected some more Nattys but they never came under Danny. Unfortunately the administrators did not back him very well and we got put on probation by the NCAA . These factors hurt us in getting back to the National Championship but we still were the king of the hill in the ACC. Getting to the National Championship is not easy. I hope but we may not get back for many years.
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Valley Protector [1403]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 23, 2024, 5:26 PM
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This is not an answer to the question posed, but I would like to have Danny's defense about right now 😊
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Mascot [22]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 23, 2024, 5:43 PM
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My most memorable thing about that game, aside from winning, was an exchange between one of the TV sports commentators and a young female Nebraska fan. Before the game he was in a bar in Nebraska talking to students (I guess). The commentator asked a girl what she thought about the matchup. She laughingly replied that she had never heard of Clemson, and didn't even know where it was.
Well, immediately after the game, they took the broadcast back to the same commentator at the same bar. He suggested to the same girl that she would probably know a little something about Clemson now! Y'all, this was on national TV. The whole thing made so happy that I got drunker than I had ever been, or ever been since...and I owned several bars in Charleston for over thirty years!!!
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Orange Beast [6387]
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Hall of Famer [8339]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 23, 2024, 5:31 PM
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Off topic, but if I remember correctly, it seems like a ton of students marched over to the president's house in protest the night Danny Ford was terminated.
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CU Guru [1923]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 5:41 PM
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Not only students but fans from all over were there. If someone had stepped up as a leader it would have been bad for Clemson. They were beyond angry.
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Clemson Icon [24643]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 24, 2024, 6:52 AM
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J6 level?
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Orange Blooded [2362]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 5:45 PM
[ in reply to Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship ] |
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Off topic, but if I remember correctly, it seems like a ton of students marched over to the president's house in protest the night Danny Ford was terminated.
I was one of them brick in hand. Thankfully I never threw it but we were not happy at all. Vance Hammond was out there with us and I'm sure other players as well he was just so tall it was easy to pick him out
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Rival Killer [3098]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 5:38 PM
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We didn’t have the internet back then, but the expectations were very high for Clemson to do well. We had the same moaning and whining after loosing a game or two, but we could always rely on basketball to take over. Chuckle chuckle
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Top TigerNet [28079]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 5:41 PM
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All of the emotions were the same. The difference was everyone didn’t vent their emotions to the whole world on the internet.
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Commissioner [1246]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 5:45 PM
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Class of '74, and lifetime Clemson fan here. I was at the 81 game and have been to all 4 championship games during our recent run. 50 year season ticket holder.
As others have said, we had had such a long drought before 1978 that winning the Natty in '81 ( 1982 actually) was like way above being on cloud 9. More like cloud 99! We remained very competitive until 1990 and I think our expectations we very high as well. We just weren't quite good enough to win it all.
This recent run is like 5 years of cloud 75, so maybe not that ultimate high, but it lasted 5 years!
So, IMO the expectations we had back then are not much different than what we have now. With all the dramatic changes going on now, we'll just have to see what happens next, but I think fan support and expectations will remain extremely high.
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Valley Legend [12737]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 23, 2024, 5:56 PM
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Id say the drop was worse after 81. In 82 we lost to UGA @ UGA, a game that we were dominating for large portions. Turnovers killed us. After that, it never felt like we would play for the National Championship again and we never did. We were usually good, but never the best.
If you’ve seen the last decade, you’ve seen the best decade in Clemson football history and it’s not a close call. Here’s to hoping for another epic run.
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110%er [3780]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 6:17 PM
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I remember the elation of that game winning kick against LSU the ball game and it was one #### of a ride for basically a decade. We’ll never see that type of run again.
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CU Guru [1923]
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CU Guru [1599]
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Probation played a larger role than I thought at the time.
Dec 23, 2024, 6:38 PM
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In late 90’s I met Jeff Burger, QB for Auburn during Bo Jackson‘s time there, and got to spend good bit of time with him. Of course, I aggravated the sh!t out of him about football and his experiences but he seemed really happy to share.
He said he loved Danny Ford and Clemson. Only reason he didn’t go to Clemson is he wanted to play on tv, which the probation prohibited.
TV was big thing back then because there was no ESPN. Networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) would have maybe 2 games on Saturday mostly the bluebloods and there would be regional games early afternoon on Jefferson Pilot or equivalent across the country.
If tv was such major factor for him, stands to reason there were many others.
Of course, lots of other cool stories but for another time.
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Standout [242]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
Dec 23, 2024, 6:53 PM
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I am a 1979 grad, and was in med school in fall of 81. In my opinion, expectations were high every year after that 81 season. Unfortunately, the NCAA and the ACC thanks to North Carolina, put us on three years probation which obviously hurt us big time since we were not eligible for postseason play. But I can remember, during the 80s, looking at our Schedule before each season, and I realistically felt we had a chance to win every game on our then 11 game schedule. The biggest toss up back then was the Georgia game. But the probation really hurt Clemson football significantly. Losing Danny Ford as our head coach was a tremendous loss to Clemson football. During The month of October 1985, while in my Family medicine residency in Anderson, I did a sports medicine rotation at Clemson. And I was able to see firsthand how the players responded to Danny Ford. The players loved Coach Ford, and he was also very strict. He expected excellence from each one of them and nothing less.
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Commissioner [1213]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 23, 2024, 7:05 PM
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The difference then they played for the school and for the love and respect of each other. Now they play for money and look at me
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Clemson Icon [26874]
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The wandering in the desert after the 81 Championship was certainly
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Dec 24, 2024, 6:38 AM
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more substantial to me than what we face now.
Tommy Bowden gave me hope; Dabo Swinney accomplished something I never expected with the two national titles, something to this day, I find myself almost...almost, I say, in a state of awe and wonder.
Where are we heading? Hellll, your guess would be as good as mine, but at age 77, I remain deeply grateful for those 2016 and 2018 titles. Hence, why I am willing to remain in Dabo Swinney's camp with the realization that there is not one single program...not Bama, Ohio State, Southern Cal, Notre Dame, none at all...that hasn't faced ups and downs in their histories. Let that fact sink in....
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110%er [3693]
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Re: Question for those that remember the 81 championship
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Dec 24, 2024, 8:04 AM
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I was a sophomore in 1981 so the two 9-1-1 seasons were my junior and senior year. The year before we had gone 6-5, having to beat the chickens to have a winning record. We loved how we kept rolling along all through the 81 season and were super excited about it but we weren't entirely sure the Orange Bowl would actually be the championship game until Pitt knocked off Georgia earlier that evening. So we knew how special that one year was and we were still "very very happy and very very proud" with the two 9-win seasons that followed. It helped that we beat SCar all 4 years so we always ended on a positive note.
Fast forward to 2016. I was never the kind of mom to pull my daughter out of school for vacations but I KNEW we HAD to go to Tampa so we picked her up in the sleet and headed to Florida. I kept thinking if it took us another 35 years to get back to the top I would be 89 and maybe not up to the trip.
I have seen two perfect records, but we came out of the 81 season seeing those 9-win seasons as a high level of success, and I still see all our 10-win seasons that way.
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