Shane Beamer weighs in on flag-planting fallout from South Carolina-Clemson game
Clemson allows its fans to go onto the Memorial Stadium field following games. That can lead to a busy scene even when the opponent isn’t the in-state rival. When South Carolina beats the Tigers on their home field, Gamecock fans storm the field to celebrate.
And when that happens, the postgame scene on Clemson’s field can become even more chaotic.
All that escalated Saturday after South Carolina’s 17-14 win when a handful of players went to plant the Gamecocks’ flag at midfield to celebrate the win.
The flag planting sparked a heated exchange in an already-crowded area, with players from both teams pushing, shoving and exchanging words for several minutes before stadium officials intervened. Though no punches were thrown and no one was injured, videos of the incident circulated on social media, capturing tense interactions between players and fans.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney called the whole scene “dangerous,” and it came on a weekend in college football where scuffles or bigger fights broke out between players in a handful of other high-profile rivalry games.
Swinney called Shane Beamer at the beginning of the week to discuss the incident and how to prevent something like it from happening in the future, South Carolina’s coach told reporters Wednesday.
“It’s not what either one of us want, and not anything that either one of us encourage. It’s dangerous,” Beamer said. “Win the football game, go celebrate.”
Beamer said he didn’t see the flag planting incident when it happened.
“I had a hard enough time trying to find my family, much less figuring out what the players were doing, because it’s chaotic down there,” he said. “You’ve got Clemson fans running up to you, Gamecock fans running up to you. So, that part’s a tough situation.”
Beamer emphasized that it was not discussed before the game what USC would do on Clemson’s field if the Gamecocks won.
“We never once said that,” he said. “I’ve never said that as a coach.”
Swinney, speaking on Sunday, emphasized that flag planting “just shouldn’t happen” and pledged to ensure Clemson players refrain from the gesture moving forward.
Clemson and South Carolina will meet again in 2025 in Columbia for their yearly rivalry game. Beamer said he will discuss postgame protocol with his team when the game rolls around next year.
NCAA rules say head coaches are responsible for their players’ behavior before, during and after the game.
The South Carolina-Clemson rivalry has a recent history with flag planting. USC players celebrated their 2022 win at Memorial Stadium with a midfield flag plant, prompting Clemson linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. to return the favor at Williams-Brice Stadium in 2023.
Swinney acknowledged both USC’s and Clemson’s role in the cycle and said such acts have no place in college football. Both teams should celebrate in a more sportsmanlike way and move on, he said.
This past weekend, flag-planting attempts led to fights in several rivalry games, including Michigan-Ohio State and UNC-N.C. State, with the Wolverines and Buckeyes incident ending with police intervention and the use of pepper spray.
“After the game, I saw all the things that went on across college football last Saturday,” Beamer said. “It was a black eye on the sport in a lot of ways with some of the stuff that happened postgame.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 11:55 AM.
