Note: The following appears in the Furman football gameday program.
The history of the Clemson vs. Furman series dates to the first game in Tiger history on Oct. 31, 1896. Given that fact and the relative geography (schools separated by 28 miles), it only makes sense that there have been a few coaches who have ties to both schools.
Two of those coaches are Bob Smith and Robbie Caldwell. While it happened about 35 years apart, I was truly blessed to work with both of them.
Smith and Caldwell are both Furman graduates. Smith was from the class of 1934 and Caldwell was from the class of 1977. Both are in the Furman Hall of Fame, as Smith was inducted in 1982 and Caldwell was inducted in 2019. Smith is in the Clemson Hall of Fame as well and is the only person who can claim that Hall of Fame double.
Smith was a three-sport star at Furman, as he was a standout in football, basketball and baseball. During his senior year, he was the captain of the football and basketball teams, and he was a two-time all-state performer in both sports.
Smith went into coaching right after graduation and became Furman’s head basketball coach in 1935, a position he held for seven years. After World War II, he served as Furman’s head football coach in 1946 and 1947.
In 1950, Frank Howard convinced Smith to come to Clemson to serve as line coach. He stayed on Howard’s staff for 20 years until the legend retired after the 1969 season.
During the 1950s, Clemson had the 15th-highest winning percentage in the nation, won three conference titles, went to five bowl games and finished in the final top 25 of at least one poll six times. The Tigers won three more ACC titles in the 1960s.
From 1952-57, Smith served as Clemson’s head baseball coach. In 1954, he led Clemson to its first ACC title in any sport, and he became the first Tiger coach to be named ACC Coach-of-the-Year.
When Howard retired after the 1969 season, Smith went into athletic administration and made huge contributions to the infrastructure of the department by supervising the development of Jervey Meadows.
Smith retired in Clemson with his wife, Catherine, the first female mayor of Clemson, and his daughter, Sandy, who served Clemson students for many years at Redfern Health Center. Smith died on Sept. 5, 1994, just two days after a Clemson vs. Furman football game.
While Smith helped Clemson to the 15th-highest winning percentage in the 1950s, Caldwell helped the Tigers to the third-highest winning percentage in the…