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An era at Clemson University ended June 30, 1974, when Frank Howard officially retired from the payroll. But instead of crawling back in his shell as some do at this stage, Howard sluffed off the retirement bit and still came to his office regularly in the Jevy Athletic Center answering a pretty good stack of mail which arrived daily, or accepting another speaking engagement or lining up some advertisers for the Kickoff Publishing Company.
Howard retired from coaching December 10, 1969, after 39 years on the Clemson coaching staff, 30 of which were as head coach. He was also athletic director during this time and he kept this position until February 4, 1971, when he was named assistant to the vice president at the university, the post he held when the mandatory retirement age of 65 rolled around.
Shortly after his retirement the Clemson Board of Trustees named the playing surface of Memorial Stadium as "Frank Howard Field" in honor of his long service to the university. It was only the third time that a building or installation had been named by the trustees for a living person. Over the years, Howard has been inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame and the Clemson Hall of Fame (charter member in both), as well as the Helms Athletic Hall of Fame and the State of Alabama Hall of Fame. On December 5, 1989 he joined an elite group in the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame. The ceremonies took place in the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. He joined former Clemson mentors John Heisman and Jess Neely in the membership.
Howard was also honored in December, 1981, when he was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Honor along with former Alabama coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant, and Tommy McDonald, a former Oklahoma star. In the summer of 1990 he was inducted into the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame.
Howard stepped onto the rolling hills of Clemson in 1931 fresh from the varsity football ranks at the University of Alabama where he was a first stringer on Wallace Wade's 1930 team that drubbed Washington |
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