Johnson has been on both sides of this rivalry

Johnson

COLUMBIA — Ellis Johnson knows what it's like to be on both sides of a rivalry in this state.

His first high school coaching job was at Gaffney, from 1976-78. Then he headed down Interstate 85 to Spartanburg High.

His mistake in all that? Johnson continued to live in Gaffney after jumping ships.

"Yeah, I did," he said, "for three months."

So maybe Johnson's prepared for this week? Maybe? Eh, probably not.

South Carolina's first-year defensive coordinator was a defensive coach at Clemson from 1994-96.

"It's a little different," said Johnson, who's from the Midlands town of Winnsboro.

How different?

Well, after the 2005 season at Mississippi State, Johnson stopped by Clemson on the way home to pick the Tigers coaching staff's brains about South Carolina. (Johnson's Bulldogs were opening the 2006 season with the Gamecocks.)

"It's kind of ironic," Johnson said. "I was trying to skunk the Gamecocks. Now I'm trying to beat the Tigers with the Gamecocks. That happens all the time in coaching."

Johnson kept insisting that, that these chance meetings are part of the coaching game.

But this meeting seems to transcend the winds of the business. A big reason: Dabo Swinney is the head coach, for now anyway, of the Tigers.

Swinney was a walk-on receiver at Alabama from 1990-92, where he played for Tommy Bowden. And Johnson was a defensive coach for that team, including the '92 national champs.

Johnson remembered Swinney, from just outside Birmingham, Ala., as an overachiever who displayed some of the energy he has since he took over this year for Bowden.

"We had better players, better scholarship receivers," Johnson said, "but he played his way on the field. He was definitely a good football player."

Johnson said the midseason coaching switch surprised him. Terry Don Phillips' decision to go with Swinney did not.

"Sometimes the athletic director wants to make that call, to go with someone energetic and with good leadership," he said.

So, it is a strange situation for Johnson, in a way. He backs off that "this-just-happens-in-coaching" talk for a second.

A win or loss Saturday could — could, mind you — make a difference in whether Swinney is retained. In a way, Johnson's efforts could send Swinney into unemployment.

"We coach against people we're close to every other week," Johnson said. "Everybody understands that. You try to go after people and beat them as bad as you can beat them, but, frankly, I don't enjoy it. Other people may enjoy it."

It's at that point that Johnson, former coach of The Citadel, catches himself. He remembers he's got a job to do.

"I'm trying to feed my family and make a living and not buy into all the flags flying in the windows and all that. It's different for coaches," Johnson said. "Sometimes I think fans get caught up in it a little too much. But I'm not a fan; I'm a coach, a mercenary. We hit these situations a lot.

"Six years down the road we could be coaching together. Who knows. Coaching is that way."

So perhaps it's a bit odd, or at least interesting, that Johnson is now on both sides of this rivalry.

After all, he did grow up in a Clemson family (his dad was a Clemson grad). And the first college football game he went to was at Williams-Brice with the Cub Scouts.

"It's a little weird," senior defensive back Stoney Woodson said. "He was their coach, but now he's our coach. He'll have us ready."

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.charleston.net/blogs/gamecocks.