CLEMSON — Hootie Ingram, who was Clemson’s head football coach from 1970-72, died Monday morning in Tuscaloosa, AL, it was reported WVUA. com.com He is ninety years old.
Ingram was hired as Clemson’s head coach on December 17, 1969, after spending three years as Arkansas’ running backs coach under Frank Broyles. Ingram compiled a 12-21 record as Clemson’s head coach before moving on to various administrative roles at the conference and collegiate levels.
Ingram’s tenure coincided with two of Clemson’s most famous traditions. Before his first season in 1970, he called a meeting with Clemson administrators with the goal of revitalizing Clemson’s image. Last July, Clemson unveiled the permanent Tiger Paw logo, which first appeared on Tigers’ helmets during the fall.
In the final game of his season, Ingram revived Clemson’s tradition of running on the hill, which had been dormant for years after the league was formed on the west side of Clemson. Clemson won that game by a score of 7-6 against South Carolina in the cold rain when Jimmy Williamson nailed a 2-point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter.
A native of Tuscaloosa, Ingram graduated from Alabama in 1955. He was an All-American linebacker for the Crimson Tide. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame in 1999.
Ingram later served as athletic director at Florida State from 1981 to 1989 and at Alabama from 1989 to 1995.
One of the duties of Ingram as Alabama’s athletic director was recruiting wide receivers and head coach Gene Stallings, who coached Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and the 1992 Crimson Tide to the national championship. Stallings gave Swinney his first coaching opportunity as a graduate assistant in 1993..
