Frank Howard (American Football Coach) - Coaching Career

Coaching Career

Howard stepped onto the rolling hills of Clemson in 1931 fresh from the varsity football ranks at Alabama where he was a first stringer on Wallace Wade's 1930 team that drubbed Washington State 24–0 in the 1931 Rose Bowl Howard was known as the "Little Giant' of the Tide's "Herd of Red Elephants."

The bald veteran came to his first coaching post under Jess Neely as a line tutor. "At least that was my title," Howard recalls. "Actually, I also coached track, was ticket manager, recruited players and had charge of football equipment. In my spare time I cut grass, lined tennis courts and operated the canteen while the regular man was out to lunch:' Howard was not only track coach from 1931–39, but served as baseball coach in 1943 and his 12–3 record that year is still among the best percentages for a season in Clemson history.

Howard held the line coaching post until Neely went to Rice University as head coach in 1940. When the Clemson Athletic Council met to name a successor to Neely, Prof. Sam Rhodes, a council member, nominated Howard to be the new head coach. Howard, standing in the back of the room listening to the discussion, said; "I second the nomination." He got the job and never left. When he retired as head coach following the 1969 season, he was the nation's dean of coaches, having been a head football coach at a major institution longer than anyone else in the United States. When he retired, he was one of five active coaches with 150 or more victories.

While line coach in 1939, the Tigers' record (8–1) was good enough to merit a trip to Dallas where Clemson met undefeated Boston College under Frank Leahy in the 1940 Cotton Bowl Classic. The 1948 mark of 10–0 carried Clemson to the 1949 Gator Bowl and two years later, a 9–0–1 record sent the Tigers to Miami's Orange Bowl (1950). The Country Gentlemen were champions on their first three bowl ventures. Boston College fell 6–3, Missouri was nipped in the Gator, 24–23 (Howard said this is the best football game he ever witnessed), and Miami felt the Tiger claws, 15–14. The total point spread in these three bowl wins was five points.

The Gator Bowl beckoned the Tigers again in January 1952, and by being conference champions in 1956, Clemson played in the '57 Orange Bowl classic again. Miami downed Clemson 14–0 in the second Gator Bowl trip, and Colorado led Clemson 20–0, then trailed 21–20 before finally defeating the Tigers 27–21 in the second Orange Bowl. The Tigers then played in the 1959 Sugar Bowl and held the #1-ranked LSU Tigers to a standstill before losing 7–0, leading to an LSU National Championship.

The invitation to play in the first Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston in December 1959 was the eighth bowl that Howard had been a part of either as a player, assistant coach or head coach. It was the seventh bowl trip for a Clemson team and the sixth in 12 years. Howard said that Clemson's 23–7 triumph over seventh ranked Texas Christian in the Bluebonnet Bowl was the best performance he had ever witnessed by a Clemson team. Clemson was the first school to play in two bowls in the same calendar year.

The Tigers' victory over TCU was their fourth success in seven post-season appearances. In all seven Clemson was the established underdog.

Howard served on the coaching staff of the Blue-Gray game in Montgomery, Alabama in 1941, 1952, 1959, and 1966; was on the East staff of the annual East-West game in San Francisco in December 1960, and again in December 1962; and was named coach of the South squad in Miami's 196l and 1969 North-South game. He coached in the 1970 Hula Bowl, which was his ninth postseason all-star game. While still in active coaching Howard served as one of the rules committee members for A period of three years.

A Single Wing expert for 22 seasons (including nine as a line coach), Howard changed to the T-formation and its many variations in 1953. Still another major change in the offense was installed in 1965 with the "I" and pro-type set. In his 13 seasons as head coach using the single wing, Clemson won 69, lost 47 and tied 7. In 12 years of "T" teams, the Tigers won 71, lost 47 and tied 4. While using the "I" in his last five years of coaching, Clemson recorded a 25–24–1 record.

The year 1958 was a red letter one for Howard. During halftime of the Spring Game, Howard, his staff and secretaries were given an appreciation day. Howard received a 1958 car while other staff members were presented gifts. That summer Howard and three members of his staff were given a trip to Europe by the Department of Defense to conduct clinics for the Armed Forces in Germany.

Then came the football season and the Tigers presented Howard an 8–2 season, which led to the Sugar Bowl invitation. One of these 1958 wins was the l00th of Howard's coaching career. That came against Jim Tatum of North Carolina, a coach Howard had never beaten. And, the Tigers had to come from behind three times to win, 26–21.

Howard was named Southern Conference Coach-of-the-Year in 1948. In 1959 he was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach-of-the-Year and was accorded the honor again in 1966. His teams won ACC championships six times (1956–58–59–65–66–67) in the first 15 years of the conference. The Tigers were co-champions in 1965. He guided Clemson to the Southern Conference crown in 1940 and 1948.

In his 30 years of coaching, Howard won 165, lost 118 and tied 12. That victory total is still among the top 40 coaches in the history of the game.

In addition to heading up the Clemson football program Howard also had the job of directing Clemson's entire athletic program, and at the same time raising all the required scholarship funds. The athletic department was always on a sound financial footing under the guidance of Howard.