Former South Carolina football rival throws Clemson Tigers under the bus

South Carolina football fans hate the Clemson Tigers, so it doesn't hurt any Gamecocks' feelings when they hear less-than-positive things about their bitter rival.

This week, in an interview on the Behind the Facemask podcast with host Alex Okafor (a former Texas Longhorns player who now hosts a Texas podcast), former Clemson defensive back Andrew Mukuba talked about his decision to leave the Tigers and join Steve Sarkisian's Texas program. He had a couple of not-so-flattering things to say about his time in the Upstate of South Carolina.

"During my time there at Clemson, I felt like I wasn't really like getting better...I wasn't being pushed enough to where I could reach my potential, my peak. I felt like the program wasn't where it needed to be for me and the whole team to be successful...It was only right for me to transfer."

Mukuba did say that his relationship with former Clemson defensive coordinator (and current Oklahoma head coach) Brent Venables was strong and that, initially, choosing the Tigers was one of the best decisions he ever made. Things changed for him, though, after his first season there. Venables left Clemson for Oklahoma following Mukuba's freshman season in 2021, one that he believes was his best year.

Now, Mukuba is in Austin as a Texas Longhorn, bringing him back to the city he called home after his family moved to the United States from Zimbabwe when he was a child.

The Longhorns do not play the Gamecocks this fall, so it is likely that Mukuba's time playing against the South Carolina football team is over. However, his former defensive coordinator will match up with USC again as the Oklahoma Sooners will host the South Carolina Gamecocks this October as part of a brutal 4-game stretch for Carolina in which Shane Beamer's squad has road contests against Alabama and Oklahoma sandwiched between ranked home games against Ole Miss and Texas A&M.