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Why Syracuse coach Fran Brown called Dabo Swinney on FaceTime after Orange shocked Miami
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- Why Syracuse coach Fran Brown called Dabo Swinney on FaceTime after Orange shocked Miami
CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney was pleasantly surprised when he returned home Saturday.
The No. 17 Tigers (9-3) lost 17-14 to in-state rival No. 12 South Carolina in their regular-season finale at Memorial Stadium. Despite the loss, Clemson made the ACC championship game because Syracuse defeated Miami hours later.
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Swinney wasn't too optimistic when Miami led 21-0 in the second quarter while he was at Memorial Stadium dealing with postgame duties. He turned the game on when he returned home and saw Syracuse lead 35-28 in the third quarter.
"I was like, 'Wow.' Then all of a sudden, when the game was over, my phone starts blowing up," Swinney said Sunday.
Many of Swinney's friends, players and colleagues reached out after Syracuse completed the upset and helped Clemson clinch an ACC championship berth. Then, he received a surprise FaceTime call from Syracuse coach Fran Brown.
"That was wild. Put that in my memoir one day. That was a first," Swinney said. "He was hilarious on the FaceTime call. … I can't really repeat what he said. It was kind of colorful but hilarious"
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Swinney didn't know Brown shouted him out at the end of Brown's postgame interview with ESPN either, until people sent him the clip. Swinney added Brown was excited for the Tigers making it to their 10th ACC title game in program history .
MORE: How Clemson football's Cade Klubnik failed to deliver late-game heroics vs South Carolina
Swinney said Clemson dealt with a range of emotions Saturday after suffering an upset defeat to South Carolina, then finding out the Tigers could win their ninth ACC title since 2010 and make their seventh CFP.
Clemson faces No. 7 SMU (11-1) in the ACC championship on Dec. 7 (8 p.m. ET, ABC) in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium. The winner of the ACC title game will get an automatic bid and a possible first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
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Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Who called Dabo Swinney after Syracuse beat Miami
