Dabo Swinney can tie Frank Howard's Clemson wins record vs. Wake Forest: What to know

CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney could make history at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. If the Tigers (3-2, 1-2 ACC) beat Wake Forest (3-1, 0-1), Swinney would tie the program record for career wins by a head coach.

Swinney's record would improve to 165-41 with a win Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ACCN), bringing him even with Clemson legend Frank Howard. Swinney could break Howard's record with another win against Miami in Week 8.

Howard's program record for wins has stood for almost 54 years.

Frank Howard's history and record at Clemson

Howard spent 30 years as Clemson's coach from 1940-69. In his three decades with the Tigers, the Alabama alumnus posted an all-time record of 165-118-12. He led Clemson to six ACC championships and, in the 1940s, a pair of Southern Conference titles.

Howard retired from coaching in 1969 but remained Clemson's athletic director until 1971. He then took on the role of assistant to the vice president until 1974. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989, joining fellow Clemson coaches John Heisman and Jess Neely. Howard died Jan. 28, 1996, at the age of 86.

Howard's legacy is physically present at Clemson games today. The field at Memorial Stadium was officially named Frank Howard Field in 1974. "Howard's Rock" is an integral part of Clemson's game day tradition of running down the hill. The rock came from Death Valley in California and was given to Howard by a friend. It was first placed on a pedestal at the top of the hill in the east end zone on Sept. 24, 1966. The team began the tradition of rubbing the rock for good luck before their first game of the 1967 season.

Dabo Swinney's record as Clemson coach

Swinney came to Clemson in 2002, when he joined Tommy Bowden's staff as wide receivers coach. When Bowden resigned six games into the 2008 season, Swinney was named interim head coach. He was officially named head coach at the end of that season.

Now in his 15th full season leading Clemson, Swinney owns multiple program records. He has the most career home wins (93), conference wins (107), bowl wins (11) and wins against top-25 opponents (40) and top-10 opponents (20).

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"It's certainly a blessing to be able to be a part of something like that," Swinney said of approaching the record earlier this month. "It's not really something you set out to do, but you just put your head down and go to work every day, and it's definitely a blessing to be a part of it. But credit to a lot of great players, a lot of great coaches and a lot of support staff."

Christina Long covers the Clemson Tigers for the Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. You can follow her on Twitter @christinalong00 or email her at clong@greenvillenews.com.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dabo Swinney can tie Frank Howard's Clemson wins record vs Wake Forest