Clemson football: The pageantry of Tiger Town should return in 2021

While Clemson football had one of the largest crowds in the nation last season, anyone who was in attendance will tell you that being in Death Valley with 18,000 other individuals versus a packed 81,500 crowd were too different worlds.

It was noticeable in the stands and it was noticeable on television, as well.

Clemson football fans did their best to create a homefield atmosphere- and they certainly did so- but the empty spaces around the stadium and the recorded crowd noise playing over the stadium speakers could be noticed by people who weren’t even in attendance. It was the same problem with stadiums all across the country.

As we look forward to the 2021 season, however, there is a glimmer: A seeming light at the end of the tunnel.

Clemson has moved forward with the plan of having 100 percent capacity for its home games this season. Athletic Director Dan Radakovich told Packer & Durham earlier this week that the Tigers have currently had about 57,000 season tickets purchased and they only have about 59,000 total season ticket spots available.

"“We are looking at full capacity. We are looking for tailgating. We are looking for all the things that make a Saturday in Clemson, South Carolina a special football Saturday,” Radakovich said via The Clemson Insider. “We are looking forward to doing that again. This is a testament to our fans. We had so many people that stayed with us from a donation perspective (during the pandemic).”"

The pageantry of Clemson football is set to return in a big way

If you’ve held out hoping for the return of normalcy in College Football, it seems you won’t have to wait much longer.

Last season, there was a decided difference in how things were conducted. We didn’t have the big tailgating parties pregame or postgame.

We didn’t have the normal floats of Bowman Field on Homecoming.

We didn’t get to see orange-clad armies overtake downtown Clemson and flood in-and-out of shops, restaurants and bars both before and after the games at the same rate we had seen in the past.

Gameday traditions were changed and while it was certainly better than nothing, there’s no doubt that Clemson football fans missed the normal sights, sounds and experiences of a game day (and weekend) in Tiger Town.

All we have to say is this: The pageantry is about to return.