Center grad enjoys title with Clemson

Dan Radakovich, the Clemson athletic director, stood at a lectern and scanned a sea of orange. An estimated 65,000 were packed into Memorial Stadium — college football’s “Death Valley” — on Saturday, the day declared “Clemson Tigers National Football Champions Day” in South Carolina.

“What a time to be a Tiger!” Radakovich boomed, and the fans sounded their agreement.

It has been a week and a half since Clemson upset top-ranked Alabama, 35-31, with a madcap comeback in the national championship game in Tampa, Fla. Life has hardly slowed since for Radakovich, an Aliquippa native, but gravity and gratitude have started to sink in.

“It was incredibly exciting,” Radakovich said last week, pausing parade prep for a phone call. “It was exciting because it had been 35 years since Clemson had won a national championship in the sport of football. There’s been an awful lot of people who have invested many years in our program, have been at our side in good and bad times. To see the elation and excitement on their faces and in their voices — as an athletic administrator those are some real positives.”

For Radakovich, 58, the Tigers’ roller-coaster ride felt personal in a couple ways. Radakovich, a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, could see as well as anyone that the Tigers’ shot at redemption had them on a crash course for a rematch with the Crimson Tide. Alabama’s 45-40 win Jan. 11, 2016, was Clemson’s only bowl loss since Radakovich arrived in 2012.

But this one hit even closer to home. Radakovich’s son, Grant, transferred to Clemson last summer after graduating in three years from Mercer, which reinstated its football team in 2013 after a 72year hiatus. Grant spent previous summers working out at Clemson, so the players and coaches there knew him well. Head coach Dabo Swinney had a spot for an extra tight end.

“As a father and understanding what student-athletes and teams go through in order to be successful, it was really gratifying to see his journey here for one year,” Radakovich said. “Incredibly thankful to coach Swinney and his staff for allowing him to be a part of that. It’s a memory of a lifetime.”

Radakovich’s father worked at Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation and still lives in Aliquippa. His sister, LuAnn Thompson, is in Oakdale. And if his name sounds especially familiar, perhaps you’ve heard of his second cousin by the same name, Dan Radakovich, a former Steelers assistant coach who was one of the architects of the great 1970s “Steel Curtain” defenses.

“Same tree, different branch,” Radakovich said, laughing, as he explained the family connection.

After graduating from Center High School, Radakovich played football and majored in finance at IUP. He earned a master’s in business administration at Miami, where he started his career as an athletic administrator by serving as business manager in the athletic department.

Radakovich spent time at Long Beach State, South Carolina, America and LSU before landing at Georgia Tech in 2006, his first major job as athletic director. He spent six years there before Clemson called. In November, Radakovich signed a contract extension to keep him there through June 2022.

The workload keeps Radakovich from visiting his hometown very often, and his professional life has not yet landed him in Pittsburgh, but he said he still keeps in touch with high school and college friends. They are happy to give Pittsburgh a little credit for Clemson’s championship.

“Pittsburgh is a special place,” Radakovich said. “It’s a wonderful city filled with great people, and they have a real passion for winning. When people ask me about folks from Pittsburgh, I say they have great passion, they enjoy competition, and they really enjoy winning.”