COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's no secret that South Carolina head basketball coach Frank Martin and Brad Brownell from Clemson are very good friends who chat quite a bit even during the season.
You can put Shane Beamer and Dabo Swinney in that category of friends who just happen to be the head coaches at schools who will go head-to-head for bragging rights.
Swinney even went so far this week to tell the story of how Shane's son Hunter has worn the Tiger colors in the past and even had Shane send Dabo video of Hunter's flag football game where he wore Trevor Lawrence's jersey.
It's a safe bet that Hunter will not be wearing orange when the Tigers and Gamecocks square off, but that just goes to show just how deep the friendship goes between the two head coaches of the state's two Power 5 programs.
But friendship will be put on the back-burner once the teams hit the field at Williams-Brice Stadium. Swinney will try to lead the Tigers to their seventh consecutive win in the series, while Beamer will try to make his mark in his inaugural season by pulling off the upset against a team currently ranked 23rd in the College Football Playoff Rankings.