Beamer Takes Jab at Swinney
By: Gavin Oliver May 7, 2026

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer says he got a few FaceTime calls Saturday night from Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and a mutual friend from the George Strait concert at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.

Swinney apparently wanted to give Beamer a glimpse of the environment. Of course, Swinney and Beamer have known each other for years and have a strong relationship despite the on-field rivalry between their programs.

“I got a FaceTime from Dabo Saturday night from the George Strait concert,” Beamer said, via WACH FOX sports reporter Claire Foley. “He was with a mutual friend, so I looked at my phone – I didn’t have it on me, because we were with recruits – and I had about three missed FaceTime calls from him and my friend.”

At first, Beamer thought something might’ve been wrong, but when he realized what was going on, he took a little jab at his longtime friend Swinney when he finally replied in a text message.

“I was thinking, like, ‘What’s wrong?’” Beamer said.

“Then I finally texted back, ‘Sorry I missed you, I’m busy recruiting. Hope y’all are enjoying George Strait.’”

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney meet at midfield during pregame on November 29, 2025 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. (Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider)

Strait’s record-breaking concert at Memorial Stadium drew 90,037 fans. He served as the headliner for Clemson’s new “Death Valley Nights” concert series and was joined by Wyatt Flores and Cody Johnson, who set the stage for Strait’s two-hour set. Saturday’s crowd surpassed that of the 86,092 fans who watched Clemson take on Florida State in October 1999.

It was the first major concert in Death Valley since Strait’s Country Music Festival was held in the venue on March 28, 1999, and marked his largest show ever outside the state of Texas.

Beamer’s South Carolina team will play at Death Valley again this fall when the Tigers and Gamecocks collide on Nov. 28. The Gamecocks will to avenge last season’s 28-14 loss to the Tigers in Columbia.

South Carolina earned victories in its last two trips to Clemson by a combined four points, but the Tigers hold a 19-12-1 all-time edge at Death Valley amid their 74-44-4 all-time advantage in the series. The Tigers have won nine of the last 11 games in the series and outscored the Gamecocks by an average margin of 18.3 points per game in that span.