Qualla: Memorial Stadium (Clemson)

Memorial Stadium (Clemson): Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jsimps8174, CC BY-SA 3.0. The outgoing head coach told his successor not to build it. Jess Neely, leaving Clemson for Rice University after the 1939 season, gave Frank Howard one piece of parting advice: don't let them talk you into building a big stadium. Put about 10,000 seats behind the YMCA. That's all you'll ever need. Howard ignored him. Construction began in 1941 with a $150,000 bond issue and a $125,000 budget, and the first 20,500-seat stadium that opened on September 19, 1942 has expanded ever since into the largest venue in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The cemetery that gave the place half its nickname is still up on the hill, though the upper decks now block the view.

Image: Jsimps8174 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Memorial Stadium (Clemson): Six Dollars and Twenty-Five Cents a Seat

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Daderot, CC0. The original stadium was built for the cost of a small house. The South Carolina General Assembly ratified the bond issue on April 3, 1941. Governor Burnet R. Maybank signed off, and construction began in a valley in the western part of campus that Howard's staff had chosen again...

Image: Daderot | CC0

Memorial Stadium (Clemson): Why It's Called Death Valley

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit blahedo, CC BY-SA 2.5. The nickname has two origins. The first is the location: the western valley where the stadium was built was already called Death Valley by Clemson students in the 1940s, partly because of the cemetery on the hill above it. That cemetery still exists, though the upper decks added ...

Image: blahedo | CC BY-SA 2.5

Memorial Stadium (Clemson): Howard's Rock

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Greenstrat, Public domain. Samuel Columbus Jones, Clemson class of 1919, brought Howard a rock from Death Valley, California in the early 1960s as a souvenir. He told Howard, Here's a rock from Death Valley to Death Valley. Howard used it as a doorstop in his office for several years. In September 1966, cl...

Image: Greenstrat | Public domain

Memorial Stadium (Clemson): The Most Exciting 25 Seconds

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit hager.angie, CC BY 2.0. Running Down the Hill started accidentally. The football locker rooms were originally in Fike Field House, up the hill northeast of the stadium. Players ran down the hill from the locker rooms to the field as a matter of routine, and they did it fast enough to feel intimidating. ...

Image: hager.angie | CC BY 2.0

Memorial Stadium (Clemson): Loud Nights and Famous Games

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fuzzy510, CC BY-SA 3.0. The stadium set a college football decibel record at 133 in 2007 during a game against Boston College. That record fell in 2023 when Tennessee-Georgia hit 137 decibels at Neyland Stadium, but at the time it stood as the loudest stadium in college football. The biggest crowd ever ...

Image: Fuzzy510 | CC BY-SA 3.0