One of the best things Dabo Swinney ever did was closet Clemson’s orange pants for nearly two seasons. (Thread) 
Clemson first wore their famous “orange britches” under Danny Ford in a 1980 game against #14 South Carolina. The Tigers upset the Gamecocks that day, likely saving Ford’s job, and propelling Clemson to a national championship run the next season.
Coach Ford brought out the orange pants 17 more times, but only on special occasions and when the Tigers had earned them, famously denying the request to wear them against Georgia in 1983. Clemson would go 16-2 in orange pants under Ford, winning 5 ACC titles and a national title
The orange pants started to lose their magic after Ford. From 1990-1998, under Ken Hatfield and then Tommy West, Clemson wore orange pants 24 times, managing only a 16-8 record and a single ACC title. The Tigers’ uniform identity would continue to disappear under Tommy Bowden.
Between 1999 and mid-2008, the Bowden-led Tigers wore orange pants 46 times in 117 games, going 27-19. The pants were no longer saved for big games, but were worn most road games and any other occasion. Clemson wore traditional white/white road uniforms only 10 times under Bowden
While Dabo Swinney is known as a uniform traditionalist, some may forget that in his first 3.5 seasons, Dabo mixed uniforms around as much as Bowden had. In his first 47 games, the Tigers only wore white pants 19 times, and wore orange pants 23 times. That was about to change.
The 2012 Orange Bowl was Clemson’s first ever BCS Bowl appearance, and it was not one to remember. The Tigers, wearing solid orange uniforms, would be humiliated 70-33, a low-point for a program that had celebrated its first ACC Championship in 20 years just weeks earlier.
Changes were needed and they would come. After some staff changes, uniforms were next. By the time of the 2012 Orange Bowl, the Tigers had worn 8 different uniform combinations under Dabo, tied for Tommy Bowden for the most ever by any Clemson coach. That was about to change.
Over the next 23 games in 2012-2013, Clemson wore only two uniform combinations, orange over white or white over white. The message was clear. Dabo was making a return to traditional Clemson uniforms and the Tigers would have to earn the right to wear the orange britches again.
At the end of the 2013 season, Clemson was back in the same BCS Bowl where they had last worn the orange pants, facing a 12-1 Ohio State team that had been a few plays away from playing in the national championship. 25 games later, it was time to bring back the orange britches.
Clemson came out in pregame warm-ups in the traditional white over white uniforms. However, when the team got back into the locker room, Dabo had a surprise. Orange pants were waiting in the lockers. The Tigers had earned them back.
Dabo told the Tigers to “put on the orange britches and some magic,” and that’s what they did. Almost two years to the date of the humiliation on the same field, Clemson, in their orange pants, upset the Buckeyes and became the first team from South Carolina to win a BCS Bowl.
In the 78 games since the 2014 Orange Bowl, Clemson has only worn orange pants 23 times, compared to the 23 in Dabo’s first 47 games. The orange pants are now saved for “trophy games:” Atlantic, Palmetto, ACC, Bowl, or National Championships.
Dabo has brought the magic back to Clemson’s orange pants and its football program. From 2008-2011, the Tigers went 12-11 in orange pants, winning only 5 trophies before a return to tradition. Since then, the Tigers have gone 20-4 in orange pants, taking home 20 trophies.
In 1980, Danny Ford created one of Clemson's best traditions in the orange britches. Since then, they've been worn them 135 times (yes, I counted every game). Dabo Swinney, the all-time leader at Clemson in wins with orange pants, has helped them find their magic again.
