CLEMSON, S.C. — In 1989, Danny Ford told the Greenville News the Clemson Football program could not get complacent. It had to constantly keep improving its facilities, including Memorial Stadium, if it wanted to keep up with the Jones.
Though Clemson was one of the top 5 winningest programs in the country at the time, the administration did not see things the same way Ford did. Within a year of making his proclamation, Ford was out as the Tigers’ head coach and soon after the Clemson Football program started to slide.
The Tigers slid into mediocrity for the next 20 years. It took a hungry head coach with a vision for the future to get Clemson to change the way it invested in its football program.
Once again, Clemson is back amongst the elite, but this time around Dabo Swinney does not have to convince the university’s administration about staying on top of things the way Ford had to. Luckily for Swinney, he has a university president in Jim Clements and an athletic director in Graham Neff that understand why it is important to invest in the football program.
A fully invested football program at Clemson, helps not only the athletic department as a whole, but the university as well.
Last week, Clemson opened what it calls the CAB—Clemson Athletics Branding Institution—which is located at the Allen Reeves Football Complex. This past August, Clemson opened its new $4.9-million 100 Yards of Wellness space, also located at the Reeves Football Complex. It spans roughly 300 feet in length and has become the central hub of activity for football.
Memorial Stadium also saw an upgrade this past season with a new videoboard—one of the largest in college football—signage, ribbon boards and the new Masters Club, which is located at what used to be the concourse level of the west end zone.
But Clemson is not done yet with Allen Reeves or Memorial Stadium.
“We are going to look at a couple of things,” Neff said.
Neff says they plan to renovate the locker rooms at Reeves, while also doing a few things to the Poe Indoor Practice facility. They are looking at putting in some new turf, as well as new video boards.
“We have not touched a whole lot of the indoor facility in ten years. It is not that it necessarily needed it. We have done graphics and things like that, but the turf and video boards and things like that will be looked at.”
Clemson is currently working on finishing up its new Tiger Walk Experience at Lot 5.
“Tiger Walk is an important thing. It is important to IPTAY, tailgating, the Gameday experience and from a football standpoint too,” Neff said. “The team and recruiting, so the prominence of Tiger Walk is really important.”
As for Memorial Stadium, the bottom level of the west end zone will continue to get some new features. There are plans to update the locker room, a new recruiting area and a new sports medicine area for game days.
There is also one other addition, and it will be totally new to Memorial Stadium.
“There is going to be a new tunnel cut, which is coming out right behind the goal post on the west side of the stadium,” Neff said. “The team is still going to ride the buses and go down the hill but going in and out at halftime and at the end of the game, there will be a new tunnel there.
“That will come into a new locker room in the bottom level of the west end zone.”
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