clemsondavey

“I have respect for their program, but South Carolina is not Clemson,” he said. “There are a lot of differences. This is a place that has won a national title, 17 conference championships and two division titles. Heck, we have won more bowl games than they have even been to. I think our program has 100 plus more wins than South Carolina. That is reality. This is the best era in 115 years of South Carolina football is right now and they have done a great job. “Coach Spurrier has been there for seven years, but after five years I think he had 35 wins and got a new contract and all that kind of stuff. After five years at Clemson, if I have only got 35 wins there is going to be a new coach here and you know what there should be because there is a different standard. He is exactly right – they ain’t Alabama, they ain’t LSU and they certainly are not Clemson. That is why Carolina is in Chapel Hill, USC is in California and the university in this state always has been and always will be Clemson. It’s right here in Clemson, SC. You can print that. Tweet that.”

I guess I would have to say I agree with him. He is right. They are not Clemson and they aren’t ever going to be Clemson, to be honest with you.” Swinney wasn’t done. “No three-game winning streak is going to change that,” he said. “It’s not the first they have won three in a row and it will not be the last time. It might be 50 more years but it will probably happen again. But I have gone out of my way to be complimentary to them and complimentary to coach Spurrier. I got a lot of respect for coach Spurrier, but I am going to defend my program . I’m going to defend my players and my coaches. I am going to defend Clemson University because I believe in it. I think he is exactly right - they are not Clemson and never will be. You are looking at the best era in the history of South Carolina football right now. They just had their second 10-win season. They won a championship in 1969 and the 2010 SEC East. And this rivalry – there is a lot of rivalries out there but this is more of a domination and that’s a fact. My kids’ grandkids won’t live long enough to see this really become a rivalry.” He went on to say that Clemson has a different standard than South Carolina.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says he agrees with South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier in that the University of South Carolina isn’t Clemson. Several news agencies have reported that the South Carolina head coach was asked about the status of his program following the Gamecocks’ 34-13 win over Clemson, and he said, "We ain't LSU or Alabama but we ain't Clemson either." Swinney was asked to comment following the Tigers’ Thursday practice for the ACC Championship, and it was easy to tell that Swinney took offense to Spurrier’s remarks. “I heard that. That kind of thing gets back to you,” Swinney said. “I don’t know if he said it or not, but I guess he did because there hasn’t been a rebuttal. If he said that, I am disappointed because I was taught to win or lose with class. That is kind of a childish thing to put out there, to be honest with you. I think our program here speaks for itself.

Same with us and USC/Carolina. Actually, this past Thursday, Clemson's head coach, Dabo Swinney, started a little bit of a ruckus when he went on a rant in his post-practice interview. The quick synopsis of the whole story: USC's radio play-by-play guy said in a radio show "We (USC) aren't LSU and aren't Alabama, but we sure aren't Clemson." A Clemson reporter asked Dabo what he thought about that quote...and he attributed it to Steve Spurrier. Dabo went on a rant about how Spurrier and USC are classless and proceeded to trash the USC program and school (ironic isn't it?). He then quoted the USC-Clemson record (which HEAVILY favors Clemson...although Dabo is 1-3 in the rivalry) and finished off with "USC is in California and Carolina is in Chapel Hill." Spurrier got word of it and made no comment. He said he respected Clemson. Dabo got word of Spurrier's response and backtracked his statement but said that it's Spurrier's fault that he didn't tell him that he didn't say that. Wow! I didn't know Dabo was that type of coach. He always seemed such a nice guy. Learn something new everyday. I didn't either. I respected him a whole lot up until that point. I loved that one and "You can't spell 'Citrus' without 'UT'" as well as FSU=Free Shoes University. TVGuide.com says 9ET. BTW...interesting that you posted ET. Is that the norm?