Hayes, Switzer and Holtz All Fall to Tigers


To the best of our knowledge here at dixie fried sports, only one team has retired 3 Hall of Fame coaches. That distinction goes to the Clemson University. Woody Hayes, Barry Switzer, and Lou Holtz all coached their last games against the Tigers. While this may not qualify as an "honor", it is a noteworthy fact. 3 national championship coaches over 3 decades with 3 different teams saw their final games on the sidelines as losses to Clemson.

The most famous coach was Woody Hayes, whose Ohio State Buckeyes had won the 1968 national championship and had been in contention for several more. Hayes' incident, known infamously as "the punch", took place in the Gator Bowl following the 1977 season. Trailing 17-15 in the waning minutes, the Buckeyes were on the move. When Charlie Bauman intercepted an Ohio State pass and ran to the OSU sideline, Coach Hayes lost his famous temper and punched Bauman in the chest. While Bauman took the high road and never made a big issue of the situation, Hayes was done. The latest in a career of rants, rages, and on camera incidents, the punch took place in front of a national television audience. Oddly, Keith Jackson, calling the game for ABC made no comment on the incident; perhaps he was just too shocked. At any rate, Ohio State could not afford the embarrasment and rightly forced Hayes to resign shortly after the Gator Bowl.

The 1988 Tigers, led by Coach Danny Ford and quarterback Rodney Williams, defeated Oklahoma 13-6 in the Florida Citrus Bowl following their third consecutive ACC championship. This game, Switzer's last as a college football coach, was not a blowout nor full of violence. It was an intensely physical game, and Clemson's ball control offense wore down the Sooners' aggressive defense. Switzer would resign the following March due to rampant NCAA violations within the football program. Even though he had won 3 national championships with Oklahoma, Switzer was not courted by any other programs and was basically out of action until he became head coach of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys in 1994.

In 2004, Lou Holtz's South Carolina Gamecocks traveled to Death Valley to take on Clemson in the regular season finale. Holtz had publicly stated two days before that the season would be his last; any trip to a postseason bowl would be his final game. Holtz was not destined for a bowl, though, as pregame tensions led to a pushing match between players as Clemson practiced its pregame tradition of running down the hill. A very physical game ensued, and in the 3rd quarter the situation degenerated into an allout brawl. As fallout, both schools declined bowl invititations, and Lou Holtz' s coaching career was over with a 29-7 defeat.

Clemson has a proud tradition with a national title and famous coaches, but it is ironic the role they played in the end of 3 nationally prominent coaches.

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