Tiger Paw Changed Course of Clemson Football

Happy Birthday to the Clemson Tiger Paw.

Clemson’s signature tiger paw is one of the more recognizable logos in collegiate athletics. It was on this day in 1970, the Clemson Tiger Paw was introduced to its alumni and fans as the new logo for Clemson University.

If you do the math, then you know the Clemson Tiger Paw is 54 years old. That is 54 years the tiger paw has been a part of Clemson University and in particular the football program.

The tiger paw debut on the Clemson football helmet on September 12, 1970, as the Tigers shut out The Citadel 24-0 at Memorial Stadium.

Few realize it or think about it, for that matter, but the tiger paw was the beginning of Clemson’s transition into becoming a national power in college football. Since its debut on the helmet in 1970, Clemson has amassed a 436-208-8 overall record. That is a 67.5-win percentage.

Since the tiger paw was put on the Clemson helmet, the Tigers have won 16 ACC Championships, three national championships, played in 39 bowl games, won 21 of those bowl games, won nine division championships, played in six College Football Playoffs, in four national championship games and two BCS games.

In the last 53 years, 30 times Clemson finished ranked in the final polls and on 15 of those occasions they finished ranked inside the top 10, including seven top 5 rankings.

Prior to the tiger paw, Clemson never finished ranked inside the top 10 and won 11 conference championships in the first 74 years of the program’s existence.

In the first 74 seasons of Clemson football (1896-1969), the Tigers posted a 362-267-45 overall record, which computes to a 60.4-win percentage. The program did produce seven bowl appearances in a time when bowl invitations were rare and hard to come by.

From 1936-’69, the Tigers finished in the final national rankings seven times. The 1936 season is significant because it is the first year the NCAA recognized the Associated Press Poll, as it’s official rankings for college football.

Though he did not have much success as a head coach, the credit for the tiger paw has to go to Hootie Ingram. The football coach thought Clemson needed to find a way to distinguish itself from the other schools that used a Tiger as its mascot.

From there, former Clemson University President R.C. Edwards went to work and got his friend and Clemson alumnus Jim Henderson involved. Henderson had his own advertising agency in Greenville, S.C., and they came up with the idea of the tiger paw thanks to some constructive criticism from President Edwards.

It did not take long for the tiger paw to take off. It took over the Upstate of South Carolina and soon college and high school teams from across the country, who used a feline mascot were copying Clemson’s idea. Clemson eventually copyrighted the Clemson Tiger Paw, but it was until after the Tigers won the 1981 National Championship.

Clemson waited so long to copyright its iconic paw because it wanted it to get as much exposure as possible, at least that is the theory.

Maybe that is true. One thing is for sure, though, the Tiger Paw changed the course of Clemson Football.