In 1981, Clemson’s and NC State’s athletic departments agreed to call their annual battle on the gridiron, the Textile Bowl. They called it the Textile Bowl due to Clemson and NC State having two of the largest university-level textile schools in the world, and from the textile industry’s historic importance in the economic development of South Carolina and North Carolina.
But these days, the rivalry is known more for the antics that have been brought about by the school’s two head football coaches. The bad blood between Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and NC State’s Dave Doeren is so bad, neither will speak to the other in an elevator ride, as witnessed by North Carolina sports reporter Bridget Condon this past July at the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte.
Just rode the elevator with Dave Doeren and Dabo Swinney. None of us spoke. It was adventurous.
— Bridget Condon (@BridgetCondon_) July 21, 2021
How did this all begin? When did the two coaches start tolling one another? When did the bad blood start?
The heart of the story can be traced back to 2015, when former NC State running backs coach Des Kitchings shoved former Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson in the back after Watson ran into him while running out of bounds in the Tigers’ 56-41 victory in Raleigh.
Fast forward to 2016, Clemson running back Wayne Gallman was knocked out of the Tigers’ 24-17 overtime win early with a concussion following a hit by NC State’s Dravious Wright. However, during Doeren’s Coach’s Show the next day, it was learned knocking Gallman out of the game was part of the game plan. Or at least that’s the way it came across.
When asked on the show if the Wolfpack did the things they needed to do to win the game, Doeren said, “Yeah we did, you know, I mean we knocked their tailback out of the game. We had two goal line stands, four takeaways, didn’t give up explosive plays.”
As expected, Swinney was not happy when he heard what Doeren said. He subsequently called Doeren and asked that he explain himself.
In 2017, the game had a little bit of everything from NC State’s Bradley Chubb stealing Kelly Bryant’s hand towels to Doeren accusing Swinney and Clemson of cheating after a laptop was seen on the Clemson sideline following the Tigers’ 38-31 victory. In his postgame press conference, Doeren demanded the ACC investigate the situation.
The game had a little bit of everything from NC State’s Bradley Chubb stealing Kelly Bryant’s hand towels to Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren accusing Dabo Swinney and Clemson of cheating after a laptop was seen on the Clemson sideline.
Then Clemson Sports Information Director Tim Bourret immediately addressed the situation and explained the computer was being used by a member of Clemson’s social media team and was not used by anyone in the Clemson Football Program.
The following Tuesday, Swinney joked they were in need of towels, and they were trying to order them for delivery, playing off the Chubb-Bryant incidents.
“I want to launch an investigation, too,” Swinney said jokingly. “What do they do with those towels? Is it a towel wall of fame?”
However, Swinney was still not pleased with the allegations of cheating, and he was not joking when he said, “It is kind of a challenge to our integrity.”
He went on to say, “I think the investigation needs to be managing his side, not worrying about ours,” as he referred to Kitchings shoving Watson in the back during the 2015 game.
During the fourth quarter of the Tigers’ 41-7 victory in 2018, Swinney admitted to intentionally trolling Doeren when his offensive coaches but up a cartoon picture of a laptop on their play cards.
“That was the ultimate troll, wasn’t it?" – Dabo Swinney on Clemson using a laptop play card against NC State 😂 pic.twitter.com/W7C7j74xxA
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 21, 2018
“That was a couple of our offensive coaches. I think it was (Tyler) Grisham and Jeff (Scott),” Swinney said. “They came to me earlier in the week and asked me what I thought about it. I said, ‘I will tell you what. You go ahead and make them up, but you are going to have to earn it. If the game goes like we want it to go then we will pull them out and I will let you use them in the fourth quarter.’ So, we had a lot of fun. It was a little subtle.”
In 2019, the fun continued. After Clemson scored its final touchdown in a 55-10 victory in Raleigh, Swinney allowed linebacker James Skalski to kick the PAT. Doeren was not pleased. He thought Swinney was trolling him again, so the postgame handshake was reported as being a little “frosty” by a Clemson reporter.
What is going to happen in this latest addition of the Troll Bowl on Saturday? Who knows, but there will probably be something.
Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!
