Swinney ‘disappointed’ in Smith’s comments

FLORENCE, S.C. — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says he was disappointed with the comments assistant men’s basketball coach Steve Smith made about his football program, which came out during last week’ federal trial of convicted felon Christian Dawkins in New York.

In the proceeding, a video was played of a wiretap recording that included Smith talking to Dawkins and to an undercover FBI agent. The recording was from a conversation taken in July of 2017 about the recruitment of former Duke star Zion Williamson.

In the video Smith is caught saying, “That is why football is so successful, is if you do it and use resources at Clemson, like you can really keep everything tight.”

Swinney said he was disappointed when he saw Smith’s comments, which appeared on Twitter from national sportswriters who were covering the trial.

“I know how we run our program,” he said prior to Thursday’s Prowl & Growl Event at the Florence Center in Florence. “I am very proud of how we run our program. We have always been a program committed to doing things the right way, and always will be.”

Swinney still has not received an apology from Smith.

“He has not, but Brad (Brownell) certainly did, and I appreciated that,” Swinney said.

After news of Smith’s comments broke, Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich said last Friday the comments were “unfortunate” and the athletic department was going to do its “due diligence” to get behind the meaning of them as they began a formal review of the men’s basketball program.

“I was disappointed,” Radakovich said at the time. “I think college athletics is college athletics. There are a lot of schools around the country that are dealing with some of this right now.

“My big thing is if we are going to deal with it, we are going to deal with it in an upfront transparent way and we are going to make the best decision for Clemson. That is what we are looking to do.”

Smith and the rest of Clemson’s assistant coaches were expected to have their contracts renewed at last week’s board of trustees meeting, but Clemson removed those items from the agenda because they felt like it was not appropriate to approve those at that time. The contracts for Clemson’s assistant men’s basketball coaches officially expired this past Tuesday.

Radakovich met with Smith and his legal representation on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the comments and what Clemson learned about them and Smith in its own internal investigation. He also wanted to hear Smith’s side of the story.

Smith was taken off the road from recruiting last week and was required to work from his office in Clemson.

Smith just wrapped up his seventh season at Clemson.