Dabo Swinney recalls call from Steve Spurrier after 2014 Georgia game

Spurrier and head coach Dabo Swinney are good friends.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Aug 27 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – When Steve Spurrier calls and leaves a voicemail, you save the voicemail and you add it to the Steve Spurrier voicemail file on your phone.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked after Thursday night’s practice about the Tigers’ games against Georgia back in 2013 and 2014. Clemson prevailed in the 2013 game at home, 38-35, behind five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) from quarterback Tajh Boyd.

In the 2014 game, the score was tied 21-21 at the half and Georgia scored the only points in the third quarter on a field goal to take a 24-21 lead into the fourth quarter. However, Georgia scored three touchdowns in the fourth to run away with the 45-21 victory. Todd Gurley ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.

The Gamecocks, led by Spurrier, were beaten 52-28 at home by Texas A&M on a Thursday night that season as the Aggies and quarterback Kenny Hill scored 45 points through the first three quarters. That prompted Spurrier to call Swinney.

“Coach Spurrier called me after the game. They had gotten beat by like 50 by Texas A&M on a Thursday night,” Swinney said. “Our game was pretty competitive and then in the fourth quarter, they just smashed us, ran all over us. We weren't very good. I guess he was calling to console me. We just didn’t have a good day.”

Swinney said he checked his phone after the game and saw he had missed a call from Spurrier.

“He said, ‘I don’t know why we schedule these games, you know? We play East Carolina and y’all go play Furman or somebody, and everybody is happy. You get a win. And then we go play these games,’” Swinney said, doing his best Spurrier impression. “And he was like, ‘We were pretty much terrible. Got our butts kicked for four quarters. Looks like y’all just got yours kicked for one quarter, but hey, you know, we’ll bounce back and go get ‘em next week.’ And I just laughed. But it made me feel better. We got our tails handed to us down there in the second half."

Gurley, Nick Chubb, and Sony Michel combined for 301 rushing yards (the Bulldogs rushed for 328) as the Bulldogs ran off tackle all night with success. The Tigers got an early touchdown from quarterback Deshaun Watson, but the night belonged to Georgia and its three-headed monster at running back.

“All of them guys were pretty good,” Swinney said of those backs. “You look back a few years later, and you go, well, you know I guess they were all right. You don’t put your head down too bad, but we got better and better that year as it went on. We had bookends with Georgia and Oklahoma, and we won in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Deshaun got hurt. We got better, had the No. 1 defense in the country and were dominant."

Swinney said all of Spurrier’s calls go in a special file.

“I just put it in my Spurrier voicemail file,” Swinney said. “If Steve Spurrier calls, you usually want to keep those.”

He was asked if he had a file for former Gamecock head coach Will Muschamp, now on the Georgia staff, and he laughed and said no.