Inside Palmetto Bowl: Swinney, Beamer’s Friendship Meets Fierce Rivalry

The Clemson Tigers head coach might have a friend commanding a top rival, but there will be a battle on the gridiron this Saturday

Clemson's rivalry with South Carolina pits two good friends against each other | Anderson Independent Mail-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers first faced the South Carolina Gamecocks back in 1896, with the Gamecocks winning 12-6. Since then, the two programs have built one of the sport’s fiercest rivalries, now known as the Palmetto Bowl.

While there’s no love lost between the two teams, especially after the chippy ending to last season’s game, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer have still managed to form a bond through the unique fraternity of head coaches that run college football.

Swinney explained that during his first ACC coaches meeting in 2009, he was dropped into an intimidating room surrounded by coaching legends like Bobby Bowden, Paul Johnson, and Shane’s father, Frank, who was Virginia Tech’s head coach at the time.

Although Swinney was 40 years old and entering his first full season as a head coach, he said the elder Beamer was incredibly welcoming toward him.

“Shane's a friend. [His father] Frank was incredibly kind to me. I learned a lot and have a lot of respect for him. I’ve always loved the Beamer family, they are just good people.”

Frank passed the torch to Shane, who was named South Carolina’s head coach in 2021.

Now in his fifth season coaching the Gamecocks, Beamer explained that his strong relationship with Swinney won’t have any impact on the game's competitive aspect.

"We want to beat each other's brains out on Saturday, there's no question about it," Beamer said. "It's a highly competitive game ... it's a fierce rivalry. I have a great appreciation to be part of this rivalry and a great respect for who we're competing against across the fiel,d too."

Swinney’s outlook was similar, saying he doesn’t need to dislike the opposing team’s coach for his players to bring the intensity needed to compete.

“If you are in this business long enough, sooner or later you have to coach against your friends,” Swinney said. “This is a relationship business. I love his family. It doesn’t make me want to beat him any less, but I don’t have to hate their coach.”

The two coaches get along quite well, but their respective teams had a notable altercation after last year’s game.

When South Carolina pulled off the win against Clemson last year, a postgame scuffle ensued when several Gamecocks tried to plant a flag at Memorial Stadium.

According to Swinney, both teams have agreed to leave the flag-planting in the past.

"I don’t think it leads to anything good," Swinney said on Nov. 25 during his weekly news conference. "Win the game, celebrate, all that stuff. But the extracurricular stuff on people’s fields, we need to be better. On both sides."

Klubnik’s final regular-season game with Clemson will take place against South Carolina on Saturday at noon ET, broadcast live on the SEC Network.