CLEMSON — Earlier today, I was listening to Clemson Football’s 2 Right Turns Podcast, which is hosted by Clemson Football’s Director of Communications Ross Taylor.
In the latest episode, Taylor has a conversation with the guy he replaced at Clemson, longtime Sports Information Director Tim Bourret, who continues to serve Clemson as an emeritus and works for the Clemson Athletic Network. Bourret has been at Clemson since 1978.
Near the end of their conversation, they talked about the legacy of former Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips, who passed last month.
Bourret threw out the nugget that Clemson is the only school in the country to have the school’s all-time winningest coach in football and men’s basketball coaching at the same time. What some of you might not know is that Phillips hired both of them, as well as women’s head soccer coach Eddie Radwanski, who is the all-time winningest head coach for that program.
Phillips also hired men’s head soccer coach Mike Noonan, who has won two national championships and three ACC Championships during his tenure at Clemson. He is that program’s second all-time winningest coach.
That is when the conversation got me thinking, which coaches have had the most sustained success at Clemson, regardless of sport.
I.M. Ibrahim, Swinney and Noonan are the only coaches in the athletic department’s history to win multiple national championships. They also won a lot of conference championships.
Ibrahim won 11 men’s soccer ACC Championships, including a record eight straight from 1972-’79. Swinney has won nine league titles, including a program record six straight from 2015-’20, while Noonan has three ACC titles.
Technically, Ibrahim owns the record for most official ACC Championships by a Clemson coach, but the overall record goes to Bill Wilhelm. From 1958 until he retired in 1993, Wilhelm led the Clemson baseball program to a remarkable 26 ACC titles, including 19 regular season championships.
He also led the Tigers to six appearances in the College World Series and to 1,161 total wins. Wilhelm’s teams won nearly 71 percent of their games in his 36 years as the Clemson coach, an amazing feat.
It is amazing to think about the longevity and success a lot of Clemson’s coaches have had through the years in any sport. Frank Howard, Danny Ford, Swinney, Brownell, Ibrahim, Noonan, Radwanski, Larry Penley (won a national championship and 10 ACC Championships in men’s golf), Jim Davis (two ACC Championships in women’s basketball), Andy Johnston (5 ACC championships in women’s tennis), Nancy Harris (4 ACC Championships, 2 NCAA Final Fours in women’s tennis), Chuck Kriese (10 ACC Championships in men’s tennis) and Bob Pollock (21 ACC Championships in men’s track and field).
Penley was in charge of the Clemson men’s golf program for 38 years, while Kriese was in charge of the men’s tennis program for 33 and Harris was in charge of the women’s program for 23 years, after Johnston was there for 15.
Besides Wilhelm’s run, Clemson baseball also had Jack Leggett’s 22-year run, where he led the Tigers to six CWS, nine Super Regionals and five ACC Championships. Leggett won 955 games during his Clemson career, as the Tigers advanced to 21 NCAA Tournaments in his 22 years.
Howard was the head coach of the football program for 30 years before retiring after the 1969 season. He won 165 games and eight conference championships during his time, while guiding the Tigers to six bowl appearances.
Swinney is entering his 18th season as football’s head coach and it’s well documented what he has done. Ford was at Clemson for 11 years and won 96 games, a national championship and five ACC titles, while Tommy Bowden was the head coach for 10 years and won 72 games during his time in Tigertown.
Ibrahim led the men’s soccer program for 28 years and won two national titles, while Noonan is now entering his 17th season in charge of the program. Radwanski is entering his 17th season as well on the women’s side.
Brownell is entering his 18th season in men’s basketball and has taken the men’s program to level it has never seen before, while Davis led the women’s program for 18 years from 1987-2005.
In his 20 years from 1988-2008, Pollock established department wide Clemson coaching records for ACC Championships (21), ACC Coach of the Year selections (19) and NCAA Regional Coach of the Year selections (16 times).
Pollack coached the men’s indoor track team to 11 top 20 finishes and the men’s outdoor program to 10 top 20 seasons. Seven of the indoor track national finishes were top 10 finishes.
When looking at Clemson’s coaching success, it is pretty impressive the number of coaches that have mapped out legendary careers in their sport at a school that has been small for the majority of its history.
There definitely is something in these hills.