Re: 121 Seasons Ago - Clemson Football Finished 3-3-1 in 1904 - Clemson Football Forum

CBProf®

Tiger Titan [47740]

TigerPulse: 100%

Posts: 1860

Joined: 2017

121 Seasons Ago - Clemson Football Finished 3-3-1 in 1904

May 1, 2025, 12:02 AM

In 1904, the wild ride that was Coach John Heisman had just ended. Things seemed to be not quite so crazy around Clemson Football!

Head Coach Shack Shealy replaced John Heisman for his one and only season as Clemson HC. FWIW: He is probably the only Clemson Head Coach with an exact .500 winning percentage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack_Shealy

Overview:

According to Wikipedia:

“The 1904 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson Agricultural College—now known as Clemson University—during the 1904 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. Under first-year head coach Shack Shealy, the team posted a 3–3–1 record. Joe Holland was the team captain.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1904_Clemson_Tigers_football_team

Of note:

According to ClemsonTigers.com:

“Sept. 30, 1904 – Clemson began practice under new Head Coach Shack Shealy, who was at one time a great football player. He played varsity ball six years, four at Clemson and two at Iowa State. He is still the only Clemson graduate to serve as head coach of the Tiger football team.”

https://clemsontigers.com/clemson-football-historical-timeline/

Regarding Shack Shealy:
Wikipedia adds that he “is the only Clemson graduate to be head football coach of his alma mater. A member of Clemson's first football team in 1896, Shealy served as team captain in 1898.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack_Shealy

Clemson Head coach Shack Shealy:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack_Shealy)

Regarding Team Captain Joe Holland:
Wikipedia adds that he “was a college football and baseball player as well as baseball coach. He coached at his alma mater Clemson College in 1910, leading the Clemson Tigers baseball team to a 10–11 record. Holland was an All-Southern fullback for the football team in 1904, selected such by former Clemson coach John Heisman, during a year in which he was a sophomore captain. He missed both extra points against Georgia. Holland also played 7 seasons of minor league baseball, including 69 games for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1911.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Holland_(baseball)

Clemson Team Captain Joe Holland:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Holland_(baseball))

Results:

October 8 at Alabama (Birmingham) W 18–0
October 15 Auburn L 0–5
October 22 Georgia W 10–0
October 27 vs. Sewanee (Columbia) L 5–11
November 5 at Georgia Tech T 11–11
November 12 at Tennessee W 6–0
November 24 at North Carolina A&M* L 0–18

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1904_Clemson_Tigers_football_team

Interesting that all three wins were shutouts (of course, two of the losses were shutouts as well)!

Off the field:

The Clemson Class of 1904: The Class of Insurrection!!

According to localhistorymatters.org the senior class of 1904 had an interesting (to say the least) adventure during their time at Clemson:

“One of Clemson College’s first large-scale insurrections occurred as a result of the punishment of Cadet Edward Allison Thornwell. According to Jerome V. Reel, author of The High Seminary: History of Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina chemistry professor R. N. Brackett “charged E. A. Thornwell with taking a test tube from the chemistry laboratory to his laboratory bench without permission, an issue of academic dishonesty.”

Subsequently, Thornwell was suspended from school by President Henry Simms Hartzog; as a result, the sophomore class countered fiercely. According to Reel, “student petitions noted that the practice engaged in by Thornwell had gone unpunished in the past, and that, wrong though Thornwell’s action was, the punishment far exceeded the alleged offense.”

The faculty, including President Hartzog, declined even to consider the petition and on April 29th, 1902 sixty-nine of the seventy-four sophomores left campus.

Standing in firm opposition against President Hartzog, members of the sophomore class, now plagued by a dishonorable discharge from Clemson College, took their plea to the Board of Trustees. The Board found in favor of Cadet E. A. Thornwell and decided to reinstate him, and the sixty-nine cadets who had left campus in protest of what they believed was an unjust treatment of a fellow cadet. According to Michael F. Kohl, author of A Youthful Administrator: Henry Simms Hartzog, following the decision of the Clemson College Board of Trustees to reinstate E. A. Thornwell and sixty-nine other sophomore cadets, President Hartzog tendered his official resignation.”

Cadet Edward Allison Thornwel as a senior in 1904:

https://localhistorymatters.org/exhibits/show/rebellion-and-insurrection--ho/the-heroics-of-the-class-of-19

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

Clemson: Academic Excellence! Athletic Excellence!

Hill Watch...121 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...121 days!!!

SPOT THAT FOOTBALL!!!***

ALL IN!!!!!!!!!

Yessir***

Re: Yessir***

In the cloud

Re: Yessir***

Re: Yessir***

Re: Yessir***

Re: Hill Watch...121 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...121 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...121 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...121 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...121 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...121 days!!!

121 Seasons Ago - Clemson Football Finished 3-3-1 in 1904