Why Shane Beamer said respect for Dabo Swinney doesn't mean South Carolina-Clemson rivalry isn't fierce
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
COLUMBIA — It’s rivalry week but neither South Carolina nor Clemson are giving each other bulletin board material.
“You guys know how I feel about Dabo (Swinney) and the respect I have for him as a coach as a person, he’s a friend, and I think a lot of them,” coach Shane Beamer said of Clemson and the Tigers coach on Nov. 25.
The Gamecocks (4-7) host the Tigers (6-5) on Nov. 29 (noon ET, SEC Network), their final game of the season after failing to make a bowl game in 2025.
Last year South Carolina beat Clemson 17-14 by way of a 20-yard touchdown run by quarterback LaNorris Sellers with 1:18 left in the game. That play haunts Clemson and Cade Klubnik, who threw an interception on an attempt to steal the game back.
But since then Sellers and Klubnik have only grown closer.
“He’s a heck of a player,” Klubnik said, explaining they a few spent days together this spring at a charity event near Charleston, South Carolina. “He’s a great guy, has such a heart for people … it’s hard to talk bad about that guy … I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him.”
The stakes aren’t as high as last year’s game, which had College Football Playoff implications for both teams. But even when things went well for South Carolina, Beamer’s respect for Clemson was apparent.
The first thing Beamer said to media after last year’s win was that he told Swinney “nobody deserved to lose that game,” and mentioned Swinney’s wife, Kathleen, came over to congratulate Beamer’s wife, Emily. Beamer even added he wanted Clemson to get a spot in the ACC championship game.
With most of the trash talk coming online between fan bases, the program’s vocal respect towards one another means motivation is more internal than external.
“We want to beat each other’s brains out on Saturday there’s no question about it,” Beamer said. “It’s highly, highly, highly competitive game … it’s a fierce, fierce, fierce, fierce rivalry, but I know from my standpoint, a great appreciation to be part of this rivalry and a great respect for who we’re competing against across the field too.”
Shane Beamer has never beaten Clemson in Columbia
Beamer is aiming for his first victory against Clemson in Williams-Brice Stadium. Since 2013 no coach has beaten Clemson in Columbia. Steve Spurrier was the last South Carolina coach to do it.
Since Beamer has taken over, the winner of the Palmetto Bowl has always been the visiting team.
“I tend to look at it as I’m undefeated in noon games and I haven’t won at night, is how I try to look at,” Beamer said. “So I’m hoping it’s a noon thing and not a home or away thing.”
In his first season, the Tigers clobbered the Gamecocks 31-0, which Beamer said he tries to forget.
“It’s random, it’s rare, you don’t really see a rivalry game where the away team has won however many straight years that it’s been,” Beamer said. “I think it’s more than anything, just playing well, and for whatever reason, we have not played well in our stadium, and they have played better than us and coached better than us in our stadium.”
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Shane Beamer, South Carolina respect Clemson but rivalry is fierce
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos