Dabo Swinney releases 14-minute video addressing recent controversy; Paul Finebaum says it ‘falls way short’
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The Clemson Tigers, and particularly head coach Dabo Swinney, have been making a lot of controversial headlines in the past few days.
First, it was revealed that a Clemson assistant had used the N-word in practice a few years ago. SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said Swinney’s response to that incident left a lot to be desired.
Then there was the matter of Swinney’s “Football Matters” shirt that he was spotted in over the weekend, leading to criticism that he was tone-deaf as to the major issues sweeping the nation currently. The National Football Foundation announced it was changing that slogan on Monday.
Those criticisms of Swinney led to him issuing a 14-minute statement on Monday. But, Finebaum and many others still don’t think it was enough.
On SportsCenter on Monday evening, Finebaum said Swinney’s statement fell way short of what he was expecting (via 247Sports):
“I am baffled by his equivocating, by him trying to explain away something that has been in the public domain for over a week,” Finebaum said. “It fell way short of what I was looking for and what most reasonable people were looking for. I interviewed a coach earlier today, who last Tuesday night went to a Black Lives Matter gathering. He didn’t mention it until today. And what we get from Dabo Swinney is almost 14 minutes of explanation, of trying to justify. I don’t really think that’s what we need right now. We’re talking about a coach in Danny Pearman who Dabo played for at Alabama; there’s a close relationship there. I just really didn’t buy the story … none of us were there, but if that’s the best he can do after seven days, it falls way short.”
“What I think he should’ve done is address this a couple of days ago when it needed to be addressed. I would also like to hear from (Pearman) … why can’t he come out front and deal with it? That’s what we’re talking about right now in this country: the reality of the situation. To me, Dabo Swinney is not only a leader but he’s one of the two or three best-known college football coaches in America. People look up to him. He just sounded like a little kid who threw a baseball through somebody’s window and then tried to explain that it really wasn’t him, it was someone else. And that’s not what you look for from leaders.”
You can view Swinney’s full 14-minute statement here.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
