When Brad Brownell took over at Clemson in 2010, after successful head coaching stints at UNC Wilmington and Wright State, his Atlantic Coast Conference colleagues included Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, UNC’s Roy Williams, Maryland’s Gary Williams, Virginia’s Tony Bennett and Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton.

Now each of those living legends has retired, the ACC has grown from 12 to 18 schools, and Brownell is the league’s elder statesman. His 16-year tenure with the Tigers is twice as long as that of the next guy on the list, embattled eighth-year Pitt coach Jeff Capel.

“Clemson is a special place,” Brownell said. “I sent my two daughters to Clemson. We’re all-in. We love it. It’s because of what Clemson stands for — excellence. You see it across the entire university.”

The professional part of Brownell’s journey in Tiger Town has been a fascinating mix of highs and lows.

On the one hand, his teams made the NCAA Tournament only five times in his first 15 seasons, and significant swaths of Clemson fans have called for his dismissal countless times. That was especially true about a decade ago, when — after making the Big Dance in Brownell’s first season — the Tigers fell short of that ultimate platform six years in a row and played in the second-tier NIT only twice.

On the other hand, Brownell is by far the winningest coach in Clemson history (316 victories and counting), and you could make a pretty good argument that — through those obvious growing pains — he’s gradually become the Tigers’ all-time best coach, too.

If you made a list of the half-dozen greatest teams in Clemson history, Brownell would be responsible for at least two of them.

His 2018 squad went 25-10, finished third in the ACC, advanced to the Sweet 16, and landed at #20 in the postseason polls. His 2024 group went 24-12, competed in the Elite Eight and earned a #14 final ranking, the second-highest in program history. Last year, the Tigers finished 27-7 and a stellar 18-2 in the ACC (second to only 19-1 Duke), although they lost in the NCAA Tournament’s first round.

Especially at a program that has gone 0-for-73 at the ACC Tournament, has only one ACC regular-season championship (under coach Cliff Ellis in 1990) in 73 attempts, and has played in only one other Elite Eight (under coach Bill Foster in 1980), Brownell’s success looms particularly large, relatively speaking.

Most recently, when the Tigers produced a first-team All-ACC player in three consecutive years — that was another all-time program first — the accomplishment underlined Brownell’s coaching and player-development skills, which opposing coaches have raved about for decades. Even in this transfer-happy era, Hunter Tyson (2023), PJ Hall (2024) and Chase Hunter (2025) were all four- or five-year guys Brownell had signed from the high school ranks.

While this year’s Clemson squad does have four high school signees in its 10-man rotation, led by senior point guard Dillon Hunter (Chase’s brother), it definitely lacks the star power of those more recent Brownell teams, especially after the season-ending knee injury to starting forward Carter Welling.

The Tigers join Duke and Virginia as the ACC’s best defensive units, but they often struggle offensively, a major liability that contributed heavily to their four-game losing streak in February.