A decade of greatness

Head coach Dabo Swinney can vividly recall the looks he received when he said Clemson was on the cusp of the winningest decade in program history following a 2010 campaign in which the Tigers finished 6-7.

Head coach Dabo Swinney can vividly recall the looks he received when he said Clemson was on the cusp of the winningest decade in program history following a 2010 campaign in which the Tigers finished 6-7. 

In 2017, that vision became a reality with two seasons to spare when Clemson collected its 88th win of the decade in the ACC Championship Game against Miami (Fla.) to surpass the Tigers of the 1980s (87) for most wins in any decade in school history.

With a rivalry win against South Carolina to close the 2018 regular season, Clemson reached triple digits in wins in a decade for the first time in program history. Included below are the schools that have accomplished that feat.

100 WINS BY DECADE (AS OF JAN. 1)

Including a 15-0 record last season, Clemson has a 103-22 record in the decade of the 2010s. That computes to an 82.4 winning percentage, the best for any decade in school history and the first time Clemson has won more than 80 percent in a single decade.

In the 1980s, Clemson had a 76.7 winning percentage (87-25-4), the nation’s fifth-best winning percentage. Clemson did not have a losing season in any year in the 1980s under head coach Danny Ford, who coached every game in that decade. Dabo Swinney has coached every game in the decade of the 2010s and has eight winning seasons and one losing season (6-7 in 2010).

CLEMSON’S WINNINGEST DECADES

At 15-0 in 2018, Clemson became the first team in the modern era to record 15 wins in a season. The last major college football team to finish 15-0 was Penn in 1897. Clemson would be the seventh team in major college football history to win 15 games in a season and the first since the 19th century.

Clemson’s 1981 National Championship team was the first ACC team to win 12 games in a season. Florida State accomplished the feat five times between 1993 and 2014, including a streak of three seasons with at least 12 wins from 2012-14. They won a then-record 14 games (14-0) in 2013, a mark tied by Clemson in 2015, 2016 and 2018.