Note: The following appears in the North Carolina football gameday program.
A look to the roster and starting lineup of Clemson’s 1981 national championship team shows that student-athletes who came to Tigertown from the state of North Carolina had a major impact on the program.
When we examine the hometowns of the 86 players who were on the roster for the 1982 Orange Bowl game against Nebraska, the victory that gave the program its first national championship, no less than 17 players from the Tar Heel State were listed. Only South Carolina (27) and Georgia (19) had more representatives. Players from 12 different states were listed. Florida and Ohio were next with four players apiece.
When we look at the predominant starting lineup for the 1981 season, we see that six players from the Tar Heel State are listed. The 1981 Tigers had six starters from North Carolina, six from Georgia and six from South Carolina. There were two from Ohio and one each from Arizona and Florida.
A look to the final statistics from that season reveals that many of the leaders in various categories were from North Carolina. Jeff Davis (Greensboro) was the top tackler and Perry Tuttle (Winston-Salem) was the top receiver. Running backs Chuck McSwain (Caroleen), Jeff McCall (Fayetteville), Kevin Mack (Kings Mountain) and Brendan Crite (Brevard) were second, fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, on the team in rushing. They combined for 1,523 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns that season.
Clemson had five All-Americans on the 1981 team, the most ever in a season at the time (the 2017 team passed that number with eight), and two of them, Davis and Tuttle, were from the state of North Carolina. Davis had 175 tackles that year from his linebacker position to lead the team, still the second-highest total in Tiger history. He was named ACC Player-of-the-Year.
Tuttle had 52 receptions for 883 yards and eight touchdowns. The second-most receptions by a Tiger that year was a total of 19 (Jerry Gaillard), and the second-most receiving yards was a total of 345 (Frank Magwood).
The six starters from North Carolina on that 1981 team included four on defense. The list featured middle guard William Devane (Jacksonville), defensive end Andy Headen (Liberty), Davis (Greensboro) and linebacker Danny Triplett (Boone). They were major reasons Clemson allowed only 8.8 points per game that year. No Tiger defense has achieved that mark since.
While a few players from North Carolina came to Clemson to play…