Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he was in the middle of a postgame fracas after South Carolina planted its flag at midfield following a 17-14 win in Death Valley on Saturday, describing it as “dangerous” and vowing to “make sure that doesn’t happen anymore.”
That was one of several postgame melees across the country following road team victories in rivalry games, including Michigan at Ohio State — where pepper spray was deployed to defuse the situation — NC State at North Carolina and Florida at Florida State.
On Sunday, Swinney called the incidents “a bad look for college football.”
Because Clemson welcomes fans onto the field after every game in a tradition known as “Gathering at the Paw,” there were more than coaches and players involved in the postgame scene Saturday – adding to Swinney’s concern.
“I was dead in the middle of it and lucky to get out alive,” Swinney said during a Zoom call previewing its ACC championship game matchup against SMU. “It was scary, and it was dangerous, and we’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen anymore.”