My Opinion: Best Stadium Entrances
By: Will Vandervort June 30, 2026

CLEMSON — During my 22 years of covering Clemson football I have been to 21 ACC and SEC stadiums, and I am not counting bowl games.

I always get asked which stadium is the best? Who has the best atmosphere? Who has the best entrance? And what stadium is the loudest? All good questions, and all have different answers.

On Sept. 5, I look forward to adding Tiger Stadium on to my list, as Clemson travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU in the Battle of Death Valley, Part 2.

Today I put together a list of the best stadium entrances that I have personally witnessed in college football. I want to say that this list is totally based on my opinion on who has the best entrance.

I broke my list into two parts. Those who try to be unique, and those who are pretty much the same.

I always laugh when someone tries to explain to me why Team X has the best entrance in college football when in most cases, they have only seen one team’s entrance or no more than a handful.

I always respect their opinion, however, most—and at no fault of their own—have a low in-person sample size to measure it by. I, on the other hand, have seen a lot of stadium entrances and have been able to form an objective opinion.

Watching it on television and seeing it in-person are two different kinds of experiences.

Below is my list, starting with those schools that are unique and then followed by the schools that are pretty much doing the same thing.

Unique Stadium Entrances I have seen in person:

  1. Touching Howard’s Rock and Running Down the Hill: Yes, maybe I am a little biased here, but tell me anyone else who makes an entrance into a stadium like the Clemson Tigers do. Prior to kickoff, the Tigers leave the west end zone locker room area and load up on buses behind Memorial Stadium. From there they will take a right turn and travel around the north side of the stadium before taking another right and coming to the top of the east side of the stadium, where a 110-foot hill awaits. They unload the buses and pile up at the top of the hill while Tiger Band plays the “Orange Bowl March” to get into position, as it provides a human tunnel for the Tigers to run through at the bottom. Once Tiger Band is in place, George Bennett’s cannon fires, the band strikes up “Tiger Rag” and the Tigers charge down the hill. Before they charge down the hill, each player will rub Howard’s Rock, which sits on a pedestal at the top of the hill for good luck. Howard’s Rock is said to have mystical powers and only those “who give a 110-percent” can rub Howard’s Rock for good luck. If they do not, Howard’s request is for them to “Keep your filthy hands off of my rock.” The Tigers have been charging down the hill and spilling into Death Valley ever since the stadium opened in 1942. They have rubbed Howard’s Rock for good luck since the start of the 1967 season, and they have boarded the buses and taken two-right turns to get to the hill since 1973. Hall of Fame broadcaster Brent Musburger dubbed it the most “Exciting 25 seconds in all of College Football” prior to the 1985 Georgia game, which he was broadcasting for CBS Sports.
  2. Chief Osceola and Renegade lead the Seminoles into Doak Campbell: The first time I saw Chief Osceola lead Florida State onto the field was prior to the 1989 Clemson-FSU game. I thought the whole tradition was pretty cool. However, I saw it on television. Seeing it in person is an entirely different experience. I first saw it in 2006, and it did not disappoint. Once the Marching Chiefs start The War Chant and Tomahawk Chop, you can feel the excitement beginning to build in the stadium. Chief Osceola and Renegade ride into the stadium at full gallop. He rides to midfield and plants a flaming spear into the turf, signaling the impending arrival of the Seminoles, which sprints out of the tunnel and through a cloud of smoke as The War Chant and Tomahawk Chop continue throughout the stadium.
  3. Auburn’s Eagle Flight: If you have not witnessed the Eagle Flight through Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, you are really missing something cool. Minutes before kickoff a majestic live eagle is released from the upper deck and makes a free flight across the stadium, while close to 90,000 Auburn fans scream out their battle cry, “War Eagle” as the team prepares to battle their opposition on the battlefield. The event will spread goose bumps up and down your body, as it is easily one of the more unique and electric events in college football.
  4. Bevo gets the Longhorns ready to go in Texas: I had the pleasure of covering Clemson’s 2024 College Football Playoff Game at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. It was one of the best atmospheres I have ever experienced covering college football. Bevo, the beloved mascot of the Texas Longhorns–a real life longhorn–is featured regularly throughout the day. One of the most famous live mascots in the country, Bevo, enters the field with the Longhorn Band during pregame festivities to the roars of over 100,000 fans. Bevo is stationed in the right corner of the south end zone. Again, another unique experience that is better to witness in person.
  5. Georgia Tech’s Ramblin’ Wreck: Perhaps one of the best traditions in college football is when Georgia Tech drives its vintage 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe onto Grant Field (Bobby Dodd Stadium) in Atlanta, Ga. Kristin Biard Rattini described what happens on game day better than I ever can in this Georgia Tech Alumni Association article. “With cheerleaders lining its running boards and football players running up behind the Wreck’s rumble seat, the gleaming old gold-and-white 1930 Model A Ford Sport Coupe races forward, leading Georgia Tech’s football team onto Grant Field as it has, without fail, for every home game since its debut in September 1961.” It does not get any better than that.
  6. Play Like A Champion Today: Legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz had a sign painted in 1986 that read, “Play Like A Champion Today” and had it posted above the narrow staircase and doorway leading from the locker room to the North tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium where the Irish run onto the field. On the video board, fans can see their Irish players tapping the sign as a reminder of what their mission is on that Saturday. When the players start to emerge from the locker room and pile up at the tunnel, the 80,000 fans start chanting “Here Come the Irish” just before they run onto the field while the Band of the Fighting Irish plays the school’s fight song, “Notre Dame’s Victory March.”
  7. The Demon Deacon’s Gold and Black Ride. What makes college football great is how traditions get started and how they stick. Wake Forest has not had much success in football. However, in my opinion, they have one of the best entrances that I have personally seen. The Demon Deacon mascot, which first appeared in 1941, led the Deacons onto the field by riding a live ram back in the day. He later emerged with a unicycle to lead the team in the 1960s and in the 1970s he traded those wheels in for his slick black and gold motorcycle, which he still uses today. It is a unique tradition, and it gives Wake Forest a win on the gridiron, something it rarely has accomplished over the years.
  8. Sabre Leads the Wahoos: Like FSU’s tradition with Chief Osceola and Renegade, this is one of the coolest traditions I have personally seen. When the Virginia Cavaliers hit the playing field, they are led by a mounted Cavalier, who rides Sabre and leads the charge from the tunnel, through the band and to the student section. The tradition began in 1947 and continued for the next 27 years until AstroTurf replaced the field at Scott Stadium from 1974-’82. Sabre returned to the field at Virginia in 1989, as she led the Wahoos out of the tunnel for the first time since 1974 at the Citrus Bowl that year. Due to the instant popularity, the Cavalier on horseback returned full-time in 1990 and continues to lead the Virginia football team onto the field at the beginning of all home games.
  9. The Smoke: I give Miami way more credit than the other schools that do this on my list because Miami started using smoke when its players ran onto the field back in the 1950s. That makes Miami pretty unique because back in those days, with the exception of the school’s above, most everyone ran through a sign because that was so original, right?  In an attempt to increase fan interest at the old Orange Bowl, Miami transportation director Bob Nalette came up with the idea of using fire extinguishers to produce the now-famous smoke that Hurricanes run through as they enter the field. In his spare time, Nalette welded the pipe together that even today billows smoke from the top of the Hurricanes’ entrance tunnel. The original set up included flashing lights, two large hurricane flags and a tape of a hurricane being blasted over the loud speaker. The flags and lights are now gone but the smoke and soundtrack remain. That is pretty cool in my eyes.

The following list is of schools that most people think their entrances are cool, but they are just another version of what Miami created in the 1950s. Hype videos highlighting each program played on the video board. Loud music piped in, scores from old movies that are outdated, lame magic tricks, fireworks, stadium-wide pyrotechnics, and flashing strobe lights as the teams come running out of a tunnel. And don’t forget the smoke. I call this the copycat list.

Copycat Entrances I have seen in person:

  1. South Carolina
  2. Virginia Tech
  3. NC State
  4. Maryland
  5. Texas A&M
  6. Georgia
  7. Boston College
  8. Duke
  9. North Carolina
  10. Louisville
  11. Syracuse
  12. Pittsburgh