CLEMSON -- A year ago, a search firm representing South Carolina called Tony Elliott.
The Gamecocks had just fired Will Muschamp, who never really figured out how to field a consistently competent offense in Columbia. Athletics director Ray Tanner was looking for an offensive-minded coach, and Elliott checked that box in pulling the levers for Clemson's prolific offense over six seasons.
It was a short conversation. Not because Elliott doesn't aspire to be a head coach or doesn't think the South Carolina job is a good one, but because of the side of this rivalry he picked long ago and the side he says he'll remain on forever.
"The search firm called and I said there's no way," Elliott told Tigerillustrated.com yesterday. "There's no way possible I could do that."
"No disrespect to South Carolina. But with all my relationships, I just didn't think that was the right thing."
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The Gamecocks ended up hiring Shane Beamer from Oklahoma and he has surpassed expectations in his first season.
At Clemson, if it's late November it must mean a reprise of the yearly ritual of wondering how much longer Dabo Swinney will go without experiencing major turnover on his staff.
The head coach himself brought up that topic last night on his radio call-in show when a fan jokingly asked if he could work for the future Hall of Fame coach.
Swinney said there might be some openings soon, given how crazy the 2021-22 coaching carousel promises to be with tumult already occurring and surely much more to come.
