1896

Coach Randolph R. T. V. Bowman becomes the first coach to lead an intercollegiate game played on campus when he directs the Tigers in a baseball match with Furman - the beginning of Clemson athletics!

A gathering of thirty cadets in one of the barracks discusses organizing a football association and how to acquire a coach. The Clemson College Football Association is founded with the following officers: President Frank Thompkins, Secretary and Treasurer Charlie Gentry, Manager T. R. Vogel, and Temporary Captain R. G. Hamilton. A committee of three is appointed to consult with Professor Walter Merritt Riggs as to the management of a football team and to ask his assistance as coach. Twenty of the original thirty will form the first Clemson gridiron squad.

The Clemson football team practices for the first time, using a 50 yard by 200 yard field believed to have been between Tillman Hall and the Trustee House.

Clemson plays its first football game. In a match against Furman in Greenville, the Tigers win, 14-6. Charlie Gentry scores Clemson's first touchdown.