In recent reports by The State, the ACC made the decision to bench both the Clemson Tiger Band and the Miami Band of the Hour for the championship game. However, this decision received a great amount of backlash and enraged marching bands and band-fans nationwide. Rivals or not, marching bands are a family that ultimately support one another through thick and thin, and this became apparent within this past week with the revelation of the new policy.

The original performance policy

Clemson Athletic Director Dan Radakovich worked toward creating a change, after the news had been released that Clemson’s band would march a six-minute pregame show and Miami would march a six-minute halftime show. While it may seem as though this is not that much of a “benching,” it cuts the typical halftime show in half. Additionally, a pregame performance and a halftime performance are very different from one another.

Tigernet touched on this in an interview conducted between Collegemarching.com and Director of Clemson Tiger Band Mark Spede:

“I think it’s inherently unfair to both bands,” said Spede. “Pre-game and halftime serve two very different roles; pre-game has more pageantry and functions as a sort of “pep-rally’ to fire up the crowd. Halftime is more oriented towards entertaining the crowd; both are very important. To exclude one band from either portion of the game minimizes the role of both.”

According to CollegeMarching.com, multiple sources reported that the ACC made the decision to bench the two bands at a conference in October behind closed doors.

The NCAA changed rules to start counting down the twenty minute clock immediately at the end of the second quarter, which gives less time for sponsorship recognition and athletic warmups. Traditionally, the halftime clock would not start running until everybody was off the field, giving marching bands plenty of time to enter within the twenty-minute gap; however, now that the clock runs immediately, this gives less time to marching bands, sponsored activities, and warmups.

Given the initial proposal, fans of football would have to sit through approximately fourteen minutes of sponsor-related activities throughout halftime. However, less than twenty-four hours after the article “ACC Benches Bands at Champisonship Game“ was published, a decision was made on Tuesday evening to reverse the call.

The revised halftime policy

The ACC notified both the Clemson Tiger Band and the Miami Band of the Hour that they agreed to reverse the new policy for the Championship game. Both bands will perform a joint National Anthem and will be given five minutes to perform at halftime per band, allotting a total of ten minutes for the bands to perform.

This created a much more reasonable policy, splitting halftime evenly between performances from the marching bands, and leaving the remaining ten minutes to still go toward sponsored activities and allowing for the athletes to have their respective warmup time.

Additionally, allowing for both bands to perform in both pregame and halftime periods helps create a more even distribution in terms of performance type as well, whereas before, only one band would be performing in each segment. While the details for pregame are still being worked out, the bands are thrilled to have received such a great amount of support from marching bands near and far.

Pushes against marching bands nationwide

This is not the first time that marching bands have been pushed off the field. There is an overall lack of respect for marching bands, both in college and high school environments. It is common to find kickers practicing their kicks towards the end of the show, or even seeing an entire football team charge the field during a halftime show.

Sometimes we see this in professional football games as well, with halftime shows being interrupted, even if they are put on by programs ouside of marching bands. When taking into consideration a game day for football, people often overlook what makes up the experience as a whole. It isn’t just the football game on the field, but the concessions, the cheerleaders, the dancers, the music, the atmosphere of the fans, and the marching band.

Bandhead.org highlighted the history of marching bands. The marching band originated with traveling musicians that came together at festivals and other events, primarily in Europe. However, they then became a more structured organizations within armies, serving as a basis for military bands. As the emphasis on creating a movement for troops weakened, these types of bands were then used for more ceremonial purposes.

The first modern halftime show was put on by the University of Illinois Marching Illini in 1907 at a game against the University of Chicago. In 1907, the first non-military formations were made on the field as well. Paul Spotts Emrick created the “Block P.” Spotts, Director of the Purdue All-American Marching Band, was moved by a flock of birds that he saw flying in a “V” formation, and realized that he could create a similar affect by having the band replicate it by performing in various formations.

Fight songs wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for marching bands – at least not in the same way that they do today. This was another innovation that was introduced with the incorporation of marching bands into the football tradition. Many university fight songs are arranged to be played by a marching band and are performed by the band at athletic events of all kinds.

All in all, marching bands play a crucial role in football, both in the stands and on the field. Game days are a spectacle, and many of the characteristics that make it a spectacle have to do with what happens outside of the game itself.