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Dabo Swinney explains rejecting ESPN, ACC request to move Clemson-South Carolina game to Black Friday
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- Dabo Swinney explains rejecting ESPN, ACC request to move Clemson-South Carolina game to Black Friday
CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney was not in favor of moving the school's home game against South Carolina to Black Friday this season.
Swinney said Tuesday athletic director Graham Neff asked him about ESPN and the ACC's request to move the rivalry game from Saturday, Nov. 30, to Friday, Nov. 29, and the 16-year Tigers coach said he rejected it.
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"I'm happy to go do it in Columbia if that's what they want to do, but I was against it because I don't think it's what's best for Clemson ," Swinney said. "Sometimes we forget to do what's best for Clemson, and I don't think it's what's best for this town."
Swinney said he was in opposition because of the impact it would have on the Clemson community. He said businesses generate revenue on Saturday gamedays, and the date change would be terrible for students to come back to campus a day after Thanksgiving.
Swinney added Thanksgiving weekend is usually a big recruiting weekend, and moving the game would be a hassle for high school recruits and families. He said if the game happened on a normal week, conversations regarding the game could have been different.
"I'm thankful (Graham) supported that, and I'm glad it is where it is," Swinney said. "... These Saturdays in the valley are special."
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In an email dated May 7, 2024, from ACC senior associate football commissioner Michael Strickland to Neff, Strickland said Clemson "refused" to move its home game vs. South Carolina to the day after Thanksgiving despite ESPN and the ACC mutually requesting it, according to Pickens County, South Carolina, court documents.
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The email stated the ACC secured "concessions" from ESPN to make the move to Black Friday "more agreeable" for Clemson. Yet, the university refused.
Those concessions included: a noon ET start time on Nov. 23 vs. The Citadel , a confirmed primetime game on Nov. 29 vs. the Gamecocks , an agreement to switch the scheduled 2027 Labor Day Monday conference game vs. NC State to a Clemson home game, a limit of two road ACC games in 2024 played in primetime and an agreement that South Carolina would host a future Black Friday game vs. Clemson.
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Clemson and the ACC have been engaged in litigation in South Carolina and North Carolina against each other since March. The legal battle started after Clemson filed their initial complaint against the ACC in Pickens County over the conference's grant of rights deal and withdrawal penalty on March 19. The ACC responded a day later with its countersuit in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
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: Dabo Swinney rejected ESPN, ACC request to move Clemson-South Carolina
