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In December of 1998, Clemson hired Tulane head coach Tommy Bowden to replace Tommy West, who learned weeks earlier he would not be retained after serving as the Tigers' head coach for five years.

Bowden would take over the Tigers following a 3-8 season, the program's worst since 1976, the final year of the Red Parker era.

To belabor the obvious, Clemson's football program has come a long way since 1999, with a new head coach ushered in following the 2008 season, a new president, multiple athletics directors and turnover on the school's Board of Trustees occurring over the last two decades.