Plenty of people who grew up in South Carolina or attended one of the state’s two largest universities have their allegiances when it comes to the Palmetto Bowl. But even one Clemson assistant who did neither still feels a certain type of way about the annual matchup between Clemson and South Carolina.
“This game means a lot to the people in this state,” co-defensive coordinator Mickey Conn said. “For me, I take that personal.”
That’s because even before Conn arrived at Clemson in 2016 initially as an off-fielder staffer for Dabo Swinney, he was all too familiar with what it meant to be a part of a heated rivalry. A Georgia native, Conn played at the University of Alabama, where he was a teammate of Swinney’s in the early 1990s.
Conn played in multiple Iron Bowls against the Crimson Tide’s archrival, Auburn. He still vividly remembers Alabama’s win over the Tigers in 1993, one in which the Tide needed a late fourth-down stop on the road to preserve victory after blowing a 21-point lead.
Even years before getting personally involved in that rivalry, Conn said it was an emotional one for him.
“I can remember being a part of the rivalry you’re talking about and crying as a little kid when we didn’t win,” Conn said.
Conn said he knows the feelings Clemson’s program as well as its supporters have in regards to the significance of the Palmetto Bowl are similar. With the same dynamics at play in South Carolina as in Alabama, Conn said he didn’t need to coach at Clemson for the last seven years to figure that out.
“When there’s not a professional team in your state, it’s a serious thing,” Conn said. “That’s how it was with the other rivalry, and that’s how it is with this rivalry. This means everything.”
Conn and the rest of the Tigers will try to stay on the winning side of it when the teams renew their rivalry Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Clemson is looking for its eighth straight win in the series.
“At the end of the day, I want the Clemson fans happy and excited,” Conn said. “We as a defensive staff are going to put everything we can into it to make them happy.”
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