The Clemson Tigers celebrated a Gator Bowl victory on Friday to end 2023 on a high note. It was an up-and-down year at Clemson this season, but Dabo Swinney and the Tigers ended it on a high note.
A Gatorade bath was then in order for the head coach Swinney following his team’s win. While ESPN’s Taylor Tannebaum interviewed him following the victory, the Tigers dumped a bath of orange Gatorade on their coach. Unfortunately for Tannebaum, she became collateral damage from the bath.
Following the bath, the head coach Swinney voiced his apologies to the reporter Tannebaum.
“I’m sorry. Hope that’s not real leather,” Swinney told Tannebaum.
And after apologizing for the Gatorade bath that presumably splashed onto Tannenbaum, Dabo Swinney told ESPN's sideline reporter that he hoped her jacket wasn't "real leather." pic.twitter.com/mAUkXIXV5w
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 29, 2023
Obviously, reporters face this risk anytime they interview a coach after a big win. Gatorade baths are as much a part of football as the X’s and O’s. So Tannebaum likely felt prepared going into this moment, which may explain the easy shrugging off of it.
Fortunately for Tannebaum, she didn’t suffer a worse fate. ESPN’s Molly McGrath learned the hard way about what can happen when you’re interviewing a coach while they get Gatorade poured on them. McGrath interviewed Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm following a big Cardinals win over the Miami (FL) Hurricanes. But McGrath became the “victim” of a massive Gatorade bath. But McGrath, like Tannebaum, just took it all in stride.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022