The stadium was constructed against the wishes of outgoing Clemson head coach Jess Neely. Just before leaving for Rice University after the 1939 season, he told his line coach and successor, Frank Howard, "Don't ever let them talk you into building a big stadium. Put about 10,000 seats behind the YMCA. That's all you'll ever need." Despite this, Clemson officials decided it was time to build a stadium to replace old Riggs Field. They chose to build in the valley in the western part of campus. On April 3, 1941, the South Carolina General Assembly ratified an act authorizing a $150,000 bond issue for the new stadium, and the bill went to Governor Burnet R. Maybank for signature. The original 20,500-seat stadium—the lower half of the current facility's south grandstand—was constructed for $125,000 or $6.25 a seat. The stadium was designed by Carl Lee of Charlotte, North Carolina (Clemson '08) and Professor H. E. Glenn of the engineering faculty. On September 19, 1942, Memorial Stadium was opened with a 32–13 victory over Presbyterian College. Much of the early construction of the stadium was done by scholarship athletes. In fact, the first staking out of the stadium was done by A. N. Cameron and Hugh Webb, two members of the football team.

In 1958, 18,000 sideline seats were added and in 1960, 5,658 west end zone seats were added in response to increasing attendance. The original cedar wood seating was replaced in 1972 by aluminum seats. As attendance continued to skyrocket, the sideline seats were double-decked. The south upper deck (Top Deck South) was added in 1978 and the north upper deck (Top Deck North) in 1983. This put the total capacity over 80,000, which made it one of the largest on-campus stadiums in the United States. The most recent expansion started in 2004 and continued through 2009. The first phase of the "WestZone" project closed in the west end zone of Death Valley, added new luxury box and club seating, and completely renovated the locker rooms. The second phase, which was completed prior to the 2009 football season, brought all football offices and team meeting rooms to the WestZone from the McFadden Building and also added dedicated football training and strength conditioning facilities. The stadium's maximum capacity is 81,500, but it can accommodate crowds of over 86,000 with standing room. The largest crowd in school history was in 1999, when 86,092 watched the Tigers lose to Florida State.

On January 14, 2011, Clemson announced a new $50 million athletic building plan. Facility improvements for football will include building an indoor practice facility and finishing the WestZone project. The indoor practice facility, which will be located where the current practice fields are, will feature a regulation-size artificial turf football field, a coach's tower and video platforms. The building will have large garage-style doors, which can be raised to create an open-air space. The estimated cost of the project is $10 million. “The indoor practice facility will be a highly significant addition for Clemson, not only for football but also for other sports to use,” Phillips said. The $15.3 million WestZone project will feature the oculus, which is the main entrance to the WestZone, a four-level museum and an expansion of the northwest concourse. Construction on the northwest concourse expansion started in April and was completed by the start of the 2011 season.

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