ACC announces new field storming policy. Here’s how it affects Clemson games
The Atlantic Coast Conference has adopted a new “sportsmanship” policy regarding postgame field stormings intended to improve safety for fans, teams and officials.
Although this policy does not end Clemson’s popular Gathering at the Paw tradition at football games, it will change the tradition’s timing by providing a window for the visiting team and other personnel to safely exit the field before fans enter the field.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips announced the policy change Tuesday during his annual address to media at the ACC Kickoff football media event in Charlotte.
Schools must submit security measures to a third party for review, and there is an escalating fine policy for schools that don’t comply, Phillips said. The rule specifically applies to football games and men’s/women’s basketball games, he said.
Clemson athletics said in a statement that it supported the ACC’s new policy, which provides an “important framework for all institutions to evaluate and enhance their safety procedures.” The school urged its fans to comply with the rule.
“Clemson is in the process of finalizing our updated protocol in accordance with this policy,” a spokesman told The State. “Our approach acknowledges the significance of Gathering at the Paw on Frank Howard Field at Memorial Stadium, and we intend to allow for its continuation once visiting teams and personnel have safely exited the field. We ask our fans for their cooperation in this matter beginning this fall.”
The Clemson University Board of Trustees also went into executive session at its meeting last week to discuss the looming change with athletic director Graham Neff.
“I think it’s an important step for the league,” Phillips said.
ACC explains new field storming policy
Phillips said each ACC school must create a security plan and have it approved by a third-party evaluator. Field and court stormings are not banned, Phillips clarified, but the league’s focus is on “protecting” visiting teams from fans in those situations.
There have been a number of high-profile ACC field/court storming incidents in recent years, including after Clemson men’s basketball upset No. 2 Duke at Littlejohn Coliseum in February. Duke coach Jon Scheyer called for change after that game.
Duke was also on the wrong side of a court storm in a loss at Wake Forest in 2024, which resulted in forward Kyle Filipowski colliding with a fan.
The fine structure, per Phillips, is $50,000 for a first offense, $100,000 for a second offense and $200,000 for a third offense. The timeline for those offenses reset every two athletic years. Fine money will go to the ACC’s postgraduate scholarship fund (the SEC also uses field/court storming fines to fund scholarships).
Phillips said the ACC had already been privately considering such measures.
“It’s time,” Phillips said. “We’re seeing more and more of that happen. ... We’re seeing it more and more in basketball. It seems to happen a lot to Duke and North Carolina. We have to protect those student-athletes across all of our 18 programs.”
Explaining Clemson’s Gathering at the Paw tradition
Court stormings in basketball are usually predictable. A ranked ACC team (often UNC or Duke, as Philips noted) plays a road game in front of a big crowd. The home team, an underdog, scores an upset win. Fans rush the court. Pandemonium ensues.
Policies for those situations, in smaller arenas, are manageable.
Clemson football games are a little different. Any fan at the stadium can access the field at Memorial Stadium postgame in what’s known as Gathering at the Paw.
Clemson formalized the Gathering at the Paw in 2003, but the tradition dates back decades to Memorial Stadium’s opening in 1942.
Frank Howard, Clemson’s coach from 1940 to 1969, encouraged the practice as a way for fans to engage with players. It’s stuck ever since.
The tradition has existed for decades, only going on pause during the 2020 season and the majority of 2021 due to COVID-19. But it isn’t without its flaws.
For one: Since fans rush the field immediately after the clock hits 0:00, Clemson fans can quickly come face to face with opposing players and coaches. Since anyone can access the field, opposing fans can also find themselves in close quarters with Clemson players after an upset win like, say, South Carolina’s in November 2024.
After the Gamecocks upset the Tigers at Memorial Stadium last fall, there were multiple confrontations between USC fans and Clemson players and a dicy, crowded postgame moment when USC players tried to plant their flag at midfield.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and South Carolina coach Shane Beamer both said the situation was unsafe in the days following their 2024 rivalry game.
In recent years, Clemson fans have also stormed the field prematurely during home games (2023 vs. UNC, 2024 vs. The Citadel) and caused confusion and delays.
Whatever Clemson’s finalized protocol for football games is, the school could get an early test of how much fans are willing to comply with it. Clemson hosts LSU in a massive Week 1 game on Saturday, Aug. 30 (7:30 p.m., ABC).
The ACC-SEC matchup is expected to be a preseason top 10 matchup and is one of Clemson’s biggest home games in years. In other words: if Clemson wins, a large portion of the 81,500 fans on site are going to want to get on the field and celebrate — quickly. Now they’ll be expected to practice some patience beforehand.
This story was originally published July 22, 2025 at 9:33 AM with the headline "ACC announces new field storming policy. Here’s how it affects Clemson games."
