Clemson Football: Dabo Swinney can tie Frank Howard for all-time wins this weekend

Clemson Football is 3-2 on the season, which means Dabo Swinney currently has 164 career wins.
Clemson legend Frank Howard finished his career with 165 wins. That means that Swinney can tie Howard if the Tigers defeat Wake Forest this weekend in Death Valley.

Times certainly are different between each coach’s eras. When Howard coached, most teams played 9-10 games a season. During Swinney’s tenure, the Tigers have averaged just above 13 games a season.

Nonetheless, Swinney is approaching a career mark that it took Howard nearly twice as long to achieve.

While Clemson Nation hoped that Swinney could tie the mark against Florida State a couple of weeks ago, it does work out that Swinney will have a chance to earn win No. 165 in Death Valley on Homecoming weekend.

Hopefully, he won’t have to wait until he returns to Death Valley to break the record. After a bye week, the Tigers will travel to Miami, and then follow it with a game at NC State before they return to Clemson to face Notre Dame.

Clemson Football under Frank Howard didn’t have an easy schedule most seasons

There is one record of Howard’s that will take a couple more years for Swinney to break. Howard won a school-record 72 games on the road at the opponent’s home stadium. Howard’s teams only played 38% of their games in Clemson. Playing on the road was a common occurrence as the athletic department had to pay the bills.

Additionally, the Atlantic Coast Conference had a rule limiting scholarships for only players who scored above 800 on the SAT, which also made things difficult for Howard, who played several teams from the SEC each season.

Howard has already been immortalized with his name in Death Valley and Howard’s Rock on a pedestal at the top of the hill. It stands to reason that one day Swinney’s name will join his in the stadium.

Clemson Football kicks off at 3:30 PM on Saturday. The game will be carried on the ACC Network.