Tommy Bowden

When you look at Tommy Bowden's resume, the first thing that comes to mind is consistency. Bowden has completed eight seasons as a Division I head coach and all eight of his teams have been bowl eligible at the conclusion of the season.

Bowden has also shown consistency in terms of improvement over the course of seasons. Each of the last two seasons his teams have won five of its last six games. The 2003 team won its last four, including two over top 10 teams Florida State and Tennessee to finish the year ranked in the top 25 of both polls.

There has also been consistency in terms of success against Clemson's in-state rival, South Carolina. The Tigers have won five of the six meetings with the Gamecocks since Bowden became the head coach in 1999 and the .833 winning percentage is the best of any Clemson head coach in history given a minimum of five games played. He has an average victory margin of 13.7 points per game in the state rivalry game, all against future Hall of Fame Coach Lou Holtz.

Through eight seasons as a Division I head coach, Bowden has a 62-33 record, a .653 winning percentage that ranks among the top 15 winningest active coaches. In conference games Bowden has never had a sub-.500 record and his overall conference record stands at 39-21 for a .650 winning percentage. Through six years at Clemson he has a 44-29 mark and five bowl appearances.

Twice, Bowden has been named ACC Coach of the Year (1999 and 2003), joining Frank Howard, Charley Pell and Danny Ford as the only two time recipients of that award in Clemson history.

Consistency in his approach is one reason Clemson went from a 1-4 start to bowl eligibility in 2004. It marked the first time since 1963 that a Clemson team had overcome such a deficit to finish with a winning season.