Dabo Swinney didn’t hesitate during his press conference Tuesday when asked about the most interesting interactions he’s had in all his years being a part of the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry.

“Probably Steve Spurrier,” the Tigers’ head coach quickly said. “That’d probably be my most interesting interactions.”

Swinney and Spurrier go way back, all the way back to the 1990s when they crossed paths while Spurrier was the head coach at Florida during Swinney’s playing career at Alabama and then his time on the Crimson Tide’s coaching staff.

“I obviously knew Coach Spurrier, my playing days at Alabama, and then coaching all those years at Alabama,” Swinney said. “I guess the last time I saw Coach Spurrier (when Swinney was at Alabama) was 1999, we beat them in the SEC Championship. He won’t like being reminded or me mentioning that. But we did, beat them twice that year actually. We beat them in ‘The Swamp’ in overtime… and then we handed it to them pretty good in the SEC Championship game that year in ‘99. And then we got fired the next year, so I didn’t see him for a while.”

After being fired at Bama with all of former head coach Mike DuBose’s staff, Swinney of course joined Clemson’s staff in 2003 as the wide receivers coach under Tommy Bowden. It wasn’t long after that when Spurrier was hired as South Carolina’s head coach in 2005, three years before Swinney was named Clemson’s interim head coach in 2008 prior to getting the full-time job in 2009.

“I come to Clemson and I’m just kind of minding my own business, doing my job, and then you look up and here he comes to South Carolina, and then I become the head coach,” Swinney said. “So, I would definitely have to say my most interesting interactions came with the Ol’ Ball Coach, who is a great friend and a guy I really, really got a lot of respect for.”

Swinney will see Spurrier again in a couple of weeks at the College Football Hall of Fame ceremonies, and Swinney recalled a funny interaction they had after Spurrier invited Swinney as a guest to his College Football Hall of Fame Induction dinner in 2017.

“That was interesting. That was really interesting,” Swinney said. “And not only did he invite me, he like singled me out – he might’ve had a cocktail or two – but he singled me out from the stage. Because there was Duke people there, a bunch of Gators, and then obviously a bunch of Gamecocks. So, that was an interesting evening, but I had fun.”

So, what did Spurrier say that evening when he singled Swinney out?

“He just made a point to call me out in the crowd and recognize me,” Swinney said. “I’m trying to just lay low, and he put me on blast, cracked a joke or two, certainly mentioned the wins that he had (vs. Clemson at South Carolina). He left out the losses, but he mentioned all those five good wins they had.”

“But he was great. He was really great,” Swinney added. “But all my probably unique interactions came through him.”

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