Swinney sees no reason for Clemson to travel back to FSU
By: Alex Dodd November 22, 2020

Fourth-ranked Clemson traveled to Tallahassee, Fla. on Friday, prepared to play and met the standards set forth by the Atlantic Coast Conference to play Florida State.

But both team’s medical advisors failed to reach an agreement needed to compete at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney expressed his extreme displeasure with the postponement on Sunday’s weekly media teleconference. He asserted that in his mind the game was forfeited, and it would take a lot for the Tigers to take another trip to the panhandle this season.

“In my opinion, they need to come to Clemson or pay for all expenses,” Swinney said. “Other than that, there is no reason for us to play them. We were there, we were ready, and we met the standards. From my perspective that’s in the rear-view mirror.”

Swinney doubled down on the statement later in the call when asked if he plans on taking another trip to Florida State on December 12 to make up the game. The Clemson coach referred further questions on the matter to athletic director Dan Radakovich.

“That’s a question for Dan, I said what I said so you can ask Dan that,” Swinney said. “It’s an awful lot of money. I think we were there, we were ready and we met the standards to play period.”

Expenses for the trip exceeded $300,000 according to Radakovich due to extra busses and an extra plane needed to accommodate social distancing guidelines for players and team personnel implemented by the ACC. Clemson uses nine busses to transport the team on the road compared to six in a normal year.

The conference also outlined a standard for more players to travel in the case of positive tests that came back on Saturdays.

In Swinney’s mind, the game was not a postponement but a forfeit and a waste of resources.

“I think they cancelled the game and in my opinion they forfeited the game,” he said. “There was no reason to cancel the game per the standards set to play. That’s 300,000 just gone out the window.”

After a tumultuous weekend Clemson hosts Pittsburgh in its final home game of the season at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.