In 1970, fourteen women became Tiger Band’s first female musicians.

Before the 1980s, band formations were drawn by hand, taking 40 to 60 hours to plan and plot over 200 individual moves for an eight-minute half-time show.

“Sock it to ‘Em” was introduced by James Copenhaver. It eventually became a tradition of Tiger Band’s, as an introduction to Tiger Rag by 1973. The signature Tiger Band introduction to “Sock it to ‘Em” is the contribution of former Director, John Butler.

Dr. Copenhaver was also responsible for the changeover from a military color guard to the flag line that we are familiar with today. Flag Corps members once carried the ACC school flags on the field.

In 1976 Dr. Copenhaver was named Director of Bands and the University of South Carolina. He remains there today, but secretly admits that his "blood still runs a little bit of orange".

CUTBA (Clemson University Tiger Band Association) was formed in 1977 by former Tiger Band members: Jeff Tisdale ’65, Larry Sloan ’66, Tony Stapleton ’76, and Keith Snelgrove ‘76.

The uniform design consisting of the “pith” helmet was introduced in 1978 by Dr. Cook.

DIRECTORS

Bruce F. Cook 1966 - 1967, 1970, 1973 - 1981

James K. Copenhaver 1971 - 1972
(served as interim director while Dr. Cook completed graduate work at Texas)