ORLANDO, Fla. — Before there was Florida State, and well before Virginia Tech joined the Atlantic Coast Conference, there was only one football program in the ACC. That program was Clemson.
In the late 1950s through the 1960s, Frank Howard and his Tigers owned the ACC, winning six conference championships during a 14-year period. In a 15-year stretch from 1977-’91, no one in the league won more games or championships than Clemson as the program again won six ACC titles.
But soon after Danny Ford and Clemson parted ways after the 1990 season, Florida State joined the conference in 1992 and for the first time the Tigers played second-fiddle in the ACC.