‘Disjointed’: Why a new Clemson football gameday routine is drawing criticism

Dozens of Clemson football fans and former university band members are voicing their frustrations this week about a change to the team’s pregame ceremonies.

They say the change has led to a “completely disjointed” process leading into Clemson’s traditional hill run and is taking energy away from one of the most unique traditions in college football.

As of Wednesday, though, it’s unclear whether the pushback will lead to any changes for Saturday’s homecoming game against Stanford or future home games this year.

During Clemson’s first two home games of 2024 football season at Memorial Stadium, the school has switched up the pregame ritual leading into the team running down The Hill in the east end zone, which was once famously described by commentator Brent Musburger as the “most exciting 25 seconds in college football.”

As recently as the 2023 season, Clemson’s Tiger Band would tee up the team’s run down the hill by playing a roughly 52-second tune known as the Orange Bowl March, or “Sock It To ’Em,” while marching and slowly creating a pathway for the team.

Immediately after that song ended, a cannon near the bottom of The Hill would fire a blank — signaling it was time for Clemson football’s team to run down, with coach Dabo Swinney going first and the band serenading them with “Tiger Rag,” the school’s fight song, as they ran from the east end zone to midfield to their bench.

But Clemson has altered that pregame timeline for the 2024 season. The band still plays its Orange Bowl March, but it does so after playing the school’s alma mater, roughly seven minutes before the hill run, instead of directly before the hill run at Death Valley.

The end result, according to various fans and one-time band members, is a more drawn-out team entrance that fizzles out.

Instead of having Tiger Band play music directly before the hill run, Clemson is now playing a short hype video (featuring Frank Howard’s quote that “if you’re not going to give 110%, keep your filthy hands off my rock”) immediately before the run.

The band still plays “Tiger Rag” as Clemson runs onto the field, but the entire process has changed significantly. Here’s how it’s looked looked over the past two games:

• The band plays the alma mater

• The band plays the Orange Bowl March and forms a path

• Clemson plays a newly recorded hype video featuring former Tigers defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on its video board as the team exits the home locker room, loads into buses and starts driving around the corner of the stadium

• Clemson plays Queen’s “We Will Rock You” as the team rounds the corner, unloads and emerges in front of The Hill and Howard’s Rock, with Swinney at the front

• Clemson plays a second, roughly 25-second hype video focused on Howard’s Rock

• The cannon goes off, and the team runs down The Hill with “Tiger Rag” playing

One fan wrote on social media that breaking up the band’s “Sock It To ’Em” and “Tiger Rag” songs was equivalent to your offense going on an impressive 2-minute scoring drive — then calling an unnecessary timeout at the 5-yard line.

“Don’t stop the momentum!” they wrote on Facebook.

Reached by The State on Wednesday, a Clemson athletic department spokesman declined to comment on the pushback. The spokesman also declined to comment on any possible changes to the pregame routine for the Stanford game or future games.

‘Taking away the flow’

Michael Short, a 2014 Clemson graduate who played tenor saxophone in Tiger Band in 2011-12, told The State that one of his favorite parts of being part of the band was playing the Orange Bowl March and Tiger Rag on football game days.

“I don’t like the new setup at all because I believe it takes the energy out of everything,” he said Wednesday.

Dozens of Clemson fans and former Tiger Band members have voiced similar frustrations over the past two weeks, especially after the changes were highlighted in a column on The Clemson Insider website following Clemson’s most recent home game, a 59-35 win over NC State on Sept. 21.

One consistent critique: While playing the Orange Bowl March directly before Clemson’s hill run offered an easy avenue for fans to participate, clap along and build momentum right before the cannon went off and “Tiger Rag” started playing, the current order has felt more anticlimactic.

Previously, playing those two songs back-to-back offered fans a natural way to follow along with the process — and a hint at when to be loud.

Now, fans still clap along to the Orange Bowl March song. But once the band forms a pathway, it stops playing for about five minutes for the hype video, the “We Will Rock You” entrance and a second hype video focused on Howard’s Rock.

Swinney has raved about the energy of the crowds at Clemson’s first two home games, but fans said the new pregame process has been dimming the energy in Death Valley during what should be one of its loudest moments.

“The best thing about it is the building of the tension,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “They threw it out the window.”

Another added: “I get what they were going for, it just didn’t work. It creates such an awkward pause. Time to change it back.”

Other opinions on the current pregame routine on social media included:

• “Completely disjointed”

• “Taking away the flow”

• “Doesn’t flow or feel right at all”

Feedback on the routine was not exclusively negative. And it’s worth noting Clemson’s pregame routine for the Sept. 7 home opener against App State, which kicked off at 8 p.m., had a different pacing for far more serious reasons.

Clemson opted to send the two players on the roster who wear No. 14 jerseys, quarterback Trent Pearman and safety Rob Billings, down The Hill first as a pair before the rest of the team ran down. It was a tribute to former Tigers receiver Diondre Overton, who died at age 26 the previous night in a shooting.

But following the NC State game, the change in routine has been overwhelmingly unpopular among former members of Tiger Band and the Clemson fan base.

The Clemson athletic department regularly seeks feedback from fans and, specific to football, sends out an identical email requesting fan feedback after each game.

Clemson also regularly tweaks parts of football gamedays each year and evaluates and adjusts throughout the season in what it says is an attempt to create the best atmosphere and gameday experience possible.

No. 17 Clemson (2-1, 1-0 ACC) has sold out its first two games and had capacity crowds of 81,500 on hand for wins against App State and NC State and is anticipating another sellout against Stanford on homecoming weekend (7 p.m. Saturday, ESPN).

After that, the Tigers’ next home game is Oct. 19 vs. Virginia.