By Will Vandervort.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney told the media in his weekly teleconference on Sunday that if the play made by Robert Smith on Thursday night against Wake Forest is going to be eliminate in football then it’s time to take the pads off and put the flags on.

In trying to dislodge the ball from Wake Forest’s Cam Serigne, Smith hit the tight end in the chest area and moments after the play an official ruled he had targeted Serigne with the crown of his helmet.

Replays during the ESPN broadcast clearly show Smith hitting Serigne in the chest with his shoulder and his helmet is to the side. However, replay officials decided the ruling on the field stood because there was not sufficient evidence on video replay to overturn the ruling on the field.

A 15-yard penalty was marked off on the play and Smith was ejected from the game. Because of his ejection the Tigers’ senior safety will be forced to sit out the first half of the Georgia Tech game this coming Saturday in Atlanta.

“At the end of the day this is a violent, physical, contact-sport,” Swinney said. “In my opinion, if we are going to eliminate the play Robert Smith made, then we all just need to put flags on and take the pads off.

“That is just how I feel about it as a guy that has played the game and coached the game for a long time.”

Swinney, who played wide receiver at Alabama and coached on the offensive side of the football during his career as an assistant coach, said it’s time to start taking up for the defense some.

“At some point, you have to protect the defensive player,” he said. “You have offensive guys that trade helmet-to-helmet contact all the time. I watched college football yesterday and I watched it extensively. I saw a lot of plays in my opinion that were by the letter of the rule that should have been called that weren’t called. The one that was reversed did not make any sense to me.

“That just speaks to the subjectivity that we deal with in regards to this rule. I think when they put it in, we all know what they were trying to eliminate from the game. The obvious cheap shot, that’s what everybody wants out of the game. You want to protect the defenseless player. You want to protect the guy who is making the hit and not allow those launching and leading with the crown of the helmet type of plays. But in no way form or fashion do I think the intent of the rule was meant from what I saw extensively with what Robert Smith did.”

At the request of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the National Coordinator of Officials reviewed the play on Friday. Rogers Redding said in a statement to The Clemson Insider Friday night that he agreed with the call on the field and with the replay official’s decision. He even said the replay official could have confirmed the call on the field if he wanted to.

From what Swinney said, he is not in agreement with Redding’s opinion.

“My frustration with the whole things is – Robert Smith’s play, to me, was about as good of a football play you are ever going to see,” the Clemson head coach said. “It was a good football play by a good football player.

“The intent of the rule was to take out leading with the crown of the helmet. Hitting people above the neck – defensive players, quarterbacks, kickers and punters and guys’ backsides away from the plays. You know those types of things, really trying to protect players on both sides from a targeting standpoint. It is dangerous. That is the intent of the rule.”

Swinney made a point not to blame the officials on the field because in his words, “they are put in a bad situation.”

“First of all it is a matter of opinion or subjectivity as far as what the call is and I think it is very difficult for our refs. I really do,” he said. “Everybody wants to have great player safety. That is the bottom line. And the rule is when in doubt you call it and you go from there.

“I don’t think at all, the intent of the rule was meant to eliminate the play that Robert Smith made. That is my opinion. And I think I’m pretty qualified to have an opinion, 25 years and longer in this game.

“We spend a lot of time talking about this as coaches,” he continued. “I mean a lot of time. Again, at some point, you have to stand up for the defensive guys. I thought Robert did exactly what he needed to do. The only thing maybe he could have done (better), was wrapped up. He was trying to lead with his shoulder. That is what we coach. Keep your head up and out of it. It is a bang-bang play.”

And it’s a bang-bang play that the officials got wrong in Swinney’s opinion and it’s going to cost Clemson twice.

“We will move forward, but we have a great player that is going to have to miss a half of football, one of our best players because of it,” Swinney said. “That is the opinion of the people in charge and we have to live with that.

“I’m just talking about the intent of the rule, I just don’t agree from that standpoint and I think as coaches we are going to have to go back and look at it and really discuss. If we don’t, in my opinion, the game of football is not going to be the same. This is a game that is meant to be a full-speed, contact sport and that is something in the off-season that we really, really need to look at.”