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Dabo Swinney upset racial slur allegations vs. Clemson became a big postgame topic

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
Clemson is 25-2 since the start of 2015. (Getty)
Clemson is 25-2 since the start of 2015. (Getty)

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney doesn’t like how allegations of racial slurs became a postgame topic following his team’s blowout win over South Carolina on Saturday.

Multiple South Carolina players alleged that racial slurs were used during the game. Defensive lineman Bryson Allen-Williams told The State he didn’t remember the number of the Clemson player who allegedly used a slur and DL Dante Sawyer and wide receiver Terry Googer also made social media accusations that offensive language was used by unidentified Clemson player(s).

Swinney said Sunday the allegations were “absolutely false” after he asked members of his team. Tuesday, he blamed some in the media for the topic overshadowing Clemson’s success in the game.

No. It is what it is. It’s a shame that there was such a diversion to take away from what happened on the field. I give young people some grace. They’ll say some things from time to time. My problem is the media people. I don’t give them much grace. They don’t give me none either. I’m not necessarily talking about the people in this room. I’m talking about — there’s just no credibility anymore. It’s like you don’t confirm anything anymore. It’s headlines. Shoot first, ask questions later. That’s the mentality that we have now in the media. It’s a shame. Because you’re attacking people’s character. But there will be no retraction or apology if you have the power of the pen. Back in the day, you had relationships and people would ask you. It’s like now the guy is in the bathroom and in the third stall, he says something, something is overheard and it’s headlines. There is zero accountability.

Instead of the headline being 23-1 in the last two years, instead of the headline being the seniors winning their 46th game and instead of the headline being the largest margin of victory ever against an SEC team and one of the most dominant performances ever, the headline is what someone said? Give me a break. Again, I’ll give grace to young people. But for the adults who will take anything and go and write and spin it and headline it the way they want it to get people to click on it? Man, that’s sad. Those people should be fired. They should be fired. People with a microphone can say what they want to say.

While certain aspects of Swinney’s argument are certainly valid — especially as people’s ability to differentiate between what’s real and what isn’t is examined following the November elections — it seems a bit misguided in this case given the direct quotes from members of South Carolina’s team.

It’s different if the allegations were based on hearsay or unnamed sources. But by being quoted by a major media outlet and going on social media, players went directly on the record with their allegations.

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And Swinney was given the opportunity to refute the allegations and took it Sunday night. Though just because Swinney said it isn’t true — based on what his players told him — doesn’t make the allegations untrue. And vice versa. It’s virtually impossible to verify either of the claims without all-encompassing field-level video and audio from the game.

But the existence of the claims themselves are noteworthy. Especially in South Carolina, the state that removed the Confederate flag from the grounds of the state capitol following the shooting of nine black churchgoers by a white male in June 2015. Juror selection in Dylann Roof’s trial is currently underway.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!