Clemson Football: Orange Britches
By Ben Greeson
The Clemson football uniform has significance under Coach Swinney.
It’s the offseason. Not a lot of information is pouring out of Tiger town right now. That’s kind of a good thing in a way. This time of year, the most news you get is discipline or injury related.
Let’s hope we read none of those stories in the coming weeks. I know they have high school camps going on, and hopefully some major talent will be committing to the Tigers in the next few days. So, to pass the time, I want to raise a heated question. Something as fiercely debated as religion and politics.
Clemson’s uniforms.
There has been some shakeups in the uniforms in the past. Most Tiger fans know that Danny Ford introduced the Orange Britches, which at one time, when they were worn, it was an almost sacred event.
I remember being younger, sitting in the North Stands in Death Valley and waiting with near electric anticipation to see if the Tigers would emerge on the top of The Hill with Orange Britches or not.
Of the many Clemson football traditions, the Orange Britches is one of my favorites.
In the days of Banks McFadden, and legendary head coach Frank Howard, the Clemson football uniform looked much different than it does today.
We didn’t even have the Tiger Paw yet, so mostly, just an orange block letter “C” was used on the helmet and before that, it was just a plain navy blue helmet and before that it was leather. The uniforms were mostly plain. Navy jerseys were highlighted with orange numbers, and that was it. Nothing fancy.
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Today, your team’s uniform is used as a recruiting tool.
You have either established a tradition with your uniforms, like Bama and Penn State or you go on the polar opposite side of the spectrum and you do crazy color combos like Oregon and Baylor or Maryland.
It seems like these teams try to see how many different combinations they can create within their color scheme. Clemson had gotten away from the tradition set forth back in the 60’s, when the Bowden era was on going. They tinkered with different uniform combos. Thankfully, they never messed with the helmet. As you can see, I’m sort of a traditionalist.
The Tiger Paw logo was introduced at a press conference on July 21, 1970. It was created by John Antonio and developed by Helen Weaver of Henderson Advertising in Greenville, SC, from a mold of a Tiger sent to the agency by the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
The telltale hook at the bottom of the paw is a sign that this is the official licensed trademark for the university.
"“If you’ve ever wondered why the Clemson Tiger Paw has a small fishhook-shaped indention on the base, well, that’s a scar from a wound the tiger — whose paw was used to make the cast — had received.”"
Clemson has donned the orange helmet with the white paw ever since.
The uniforms have taken a few different twists. Head coach Tommy Bowden started letting the senior players vote on what uniform combo to wear before each game. The Tigers came out in all purple a few times.
Not my personal favorite, but to each his own. Orange jerseys with purple pants and vice versa was all the rave in the 04′-07′ years. Again not my favorite. Then Coach Swinney took over after the well
documented ousting of Bowden.
Coach Swinney, an Alabama alumni, who obviously has a grasp of uniform tradition brought back the conventional “rules of the Clemson football uniform”. Unspoken rules as they may be, but the uniform has meaning again.
It’s just one of the many improvements that Coach Swinney has brought to Clemson. You know who is on the field the minute you see the Tiger uniform now.
Orange jersey and white pants are the designated home uniform.
White jerseys and white pants are what you wear for business trips on the road. The only exception is on Military Apprecation Day, when the team wears all purple to honor those who have served in the military and those who have received the purple heart.
I can deal with it for that one special game a year.
The Orange Britches, they are special and they are now treated as such. You only get to wear Orange Britches when you’re playing in a championship game. Whether it’s the Atlantic Division championship, the state championship against that school in Columbia, the ACC Championship game in Charlotte or a major bowl or National Championship game.
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There is no guess work anymore.
My personal favorite is all orange. It now means you’re playing for a championship. It’s history, it’s tradition. It’s one of the many things that now define the Clemson brand. What’s your favorite combo? Leave your favorite combo in the comments section below.