CHARLOTTE -- The role reversal at work during this year’s ACC Kickoff event wasn’t particularly subtle.
Jimbo Fisher took the podium as the hunter. His Florida State program will open the season chasing their first conference title since 2014 after winning three straight before this short two-year drought. It will also be chasing the defending national champions.
The questions that used to follow Clemson at this event are now served up to FSU. It’s the Seminoles that now have to hear the term “getting over the hump.” Fisher and his players don’t want anything to do with the role of underdog, though, even if they’ve had it thrust upon them.
“They’re on top,” said Florida State defensive back Derwin James, who Clemson attempted to recruit as a wide receiver. “We’re chasing them. We want to be where they’re at now. They’re the champs. Clemson is growing into being our rival. It’s growing.”
The changing of roles is part of what drives a rivalry that has become among college football’s best. Does Clemson-FSU have the history of Ohio State-Michigan? Nope. Does it have the deep-seated disdain that comes with Alabama-Auburn? Not yet.
But according to Fisher, the stakes are enough to put it in the conversation. What was not so long ago a budding regional rivalry has officially kicked down the door on the national scene. This is a series in transition, and the disdain between the combatants is on the rise.
“The outcome of that game, for the last seven years, is whoever has won it has played for the ACC title and won it six out of seven years,” Fisher said. “They’ve played for three national championships and won two. It’s certainly one of the most important games in college football across the board. It’s become a real rivalry because of the implications.”
The weight of specific rivalries, of course, is subjective. The Seminoles’ game with Miami every year has the history but has lacked the competitiveness in recent years. But while Fisher and his players say the stakes have pushed the Clemson rivalry forward in recent years, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney insists – maybe a touch naively – that he sees no change in the series.
To him, the last few years have been business as usual.
“Maybe you’ll have to find somebody that was there before me, but this is my 15th year and this will be the 15th dog fight,” Swinney said. “Every single game with them is challenging. We’ve won our fair share, but we haven’t won many down there. It’s a great rivalry.”
The series’ spot in the rivalry pecking order, however, is another issue. On that front, Swinney sees change and doesn’t mind pointing it out.
“You’re talking about two teams that have won the national championship in the last few years,” he said. “I mean, we’ve played for three of them. It’s that big.”
The players on both sides take a more direct approach than their respective coaches. By nature, they’re not as measured. How important is the game to them? Well, they see no need to mince words.
This is an escalating conflict.
“That game is going to be a war,” James said. “It’s going to be all-out war.”
