The last practice before they went to Tampa, Florida to play Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, the Clemson Tigers practiced on Frank Howard Field at Clemson Memorial Stadium.
After he huddled the team together following practice and gave them one final speech, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney pointed to the 1981 National Championship sign located on the stadium’s ring of honor on the south stands.
“I told them, ‘Boys, that 1981 team has been awfully lonely up there on that stadium for a long time, and this is the team that is going to join them,’” Swinney said during Clemson’s Championship Celebration on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.