Clemson Football: 10 Best Defensive Players – Of the 80’s

A great era in Clemson Football was led by stingy Defense. Let’s count down the 10 Best Defensive Players of the 1980’s.

I love compiling lists. Lists seem to highlight things of importance, wouldn’t you agree? The things we absolutely need at the grocery store, goes on a list.

The meeting we must attend during a hectic work week, goes on a list. I have “to do” lists that I write for myself. Without lists I’m as lost as a puppy in a snowstorm.

I’m a believer in lists and today I wanted to revisit a special time in Clemson Football. The 80’s.

The 1980’s will be forever remembered as an era that brought change to the world. Music, fashion, technology, medical advances.

The 1980’s also began the era of branding. Nike, Coca-Cola, IBM and many more companies really pushed its brand into peoples minds.

Clemson Football also became a brand for the first time in the 80’s. The National Championship win over a bigger brand, Nebraska, catapulted the Clemson brand into the national spotlight.

One of the contributing factors for the Tigers success in the 80’s was it’s defensive prowess. The Clemson brand that we spoke of was built on hard hitting, relentless, attacking defenses.

Teams that played Clemson in the 80’s knew that they were in for 60 minutes of punishment. There were some very special ‘youngsters’ as Coach Ford would have described them, that played for Clemson during that brand building era.

Here are, in my opinion, the 10 best defensive players for the Tigers, in the decade of the 80’s.

Next: Begin Slideshow