# List of Clemson Tigers head football coaches

The Clemson Tigers football program is a college football team that represents Clemson University in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Tigers compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The team has had 25 head coaches since it began play in the 1896 season. Since October 2008, Dabo Swinney has served as Clemson's head coach.
The team has played in over 1,300 games over 129 seasons. In that time, eight coaches have led Clemson to postseason bowl games: Jess Neely, Frank Howard, Charley Pell, Danny Ford, Ken Hatfield, Tommy West, Tommy Bowden, and Swinney. Five coaches have won conference championships with the Tigers: John Heisman won two as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Howard won two as a member of the Southern Conference; and Howard, Pell, Ford, Hatfield, and Swinney won a combined 14 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 1981, Ford led the Tigers to the national championship. Swinney has guided the Tigers to six ACC championships and four national title appearances, winning the 2016 and 2018 championships, while losing the 2015 and 2019 championships.
Howard is the all-time leader in games coached (295), seasons coached (30), and second in total wins (165). Heisman has the highest winning percentage, with .833 in his four years at Clemson. Of coaches with more than one season, Hootie Ingram has the lowest winning percentage (.364 in 3 seasons). Of the 25 head coaches who have led the Tigers, Heisman, Jess Neely, Ford, and Howard have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as coaches; Josh Cody was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player.

## Key

Key to symbols in coaches list :
| General | General | Overall | Overall | Conference | Conference | Postseason | Postseason |
| No. | Order of coaches | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties | C% | Conference winning percentage | | |
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage | | | | |

## Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards :
| No. | Name | Term(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | DCs | CCs | NCs | Awards |
| 1 | Walter Riggs | 1896 1899 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0.667 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2 | William M. Williams | 1897 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 3 | John Penton | 1898 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.750 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — |
| 4 | John Heisman$^†$ | 1900–1903 | 24 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0.833 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0.944 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | — |
| 5 | Shack Shealy | 1904 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.500 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.500 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | Eddie Cochems | 1905 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.583 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.583 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Bob Williams | 1906 1909 1913–1915 1926 | 46 | 21 | 19 | 6 | 0.522 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 8 | Frank Shaughnessy | 1907 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.500 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 | John N. Stone | 1908 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0.143 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 | Frank Dobson | 1910–1912 | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 0.479 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 0.375 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Wayne Hart | 1916 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0.333 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.333 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 | Edward Donahue | 1917–1920 | 36 | 21 | 12 | 3 | 0.625 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0.560 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 13 | E. J. Stewart | 1921–1922 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 0.389 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 0.231 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 | Bud Saunders | 1923–1926 | 28 | 10 | 17 | 1 | 0.375 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0.208 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 15 | Josh Cody$^†$ | 1927–1930 | 41 | 29 | 11 | 1 | 0.720 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0.571 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 16 | Jess Neely$^†$ | 1931–1939 | 85 | 43 | 35 | 7 | 0.547 | 18 | 13 | 2 | 0.576 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 17 | Frank Howard$^†$ | 1940–1969 | 295 | 165 | 118 | 12 | 0.580 | 100 | 48 | 5 | 0.670 | 3 | 3 | — | 8 | 0 | ACC Coach of the Year (1958) ACC Coach of the Year (1966) |
| 18 | Hootie Ingram | 1970–1972 | 33 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 0.364 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0.444 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Red Parker | 1973–1976 | 44 | 17 | 25 | 2 | 0.409 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 0.477 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ACC Coach of the Year (1974) |
| 20 | Charley Pell | 1977–1978 | 23 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0.804 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0.875 | 0 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | ACC Coach of the Year (1977) ACC Coach of the Year (1978) |
| 21 | Danny Ford$^†$ | 1978–1989 | 129 | 96 | 29 | 4 | 0.760 | 56 | 16 | 1 | 0.774 | 6 | 2 | — | 5 | 1 – 1981 | ACC Coach of the Year (1981) FWAA Coach of the Year (1981) Woody Hayes Trophy (1981) AFCA Coach of the Year (1981) |
| 22 | Ken Hatfield | 1990–1993 | 46 | 32 | 13 | 1 | 0.707 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 0.650 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 23 | Tommy West | 1993–1998 | 59 | 31 | 28 | 0 | 0.525 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 0.525 | 1 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 24 | Tommy Bowden | 1999–2008 | 117 | 72 | 45 | — | 0.615 | 43 | 32 | — | 0.573 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ACC Coach of the Year (1999) ACC Coach of the Year (2003) |
| 25 | Dabo Swinney | 2008–present | 227 | 180 | 47 | — | 0.793 | 109 | 24 | — | 0.820 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 2 — (2016) (2018) | Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year (2011) AP Coach of the Year Award (2015) Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (2015) ACC Coach of the Year Award (2015) |