Dabo unloads on FSU for not playing game against Clemson: ‘COVID was just an excuse’
Florida State officials made the decision Saturday morning to not play the scheduled football game against Clemson after a Tigers offensive lineman tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
Dabo Swinney believes the decision was not made for safety reasons.
“This game was not canceled because of COVID,” Clemson’s head coach said during his Sunday teleconference. “COVID was just an excuse to cancel the game.”
Swinney, speaking publicly for the first time since the game was postponed, made it clear that he did not like the way the situation was handled.
Asked to clarify his statement that COVID-19 wasn’t the reason the game was halted, Swinney said: “I can’t answer that. I just know the standard to play was met. So I can’t answer that. I just know they called the game.”
No. 4 Clemson (7-1) was a 35.5-point favorite over Florida State (2-6), which is in its first season under coach Mike Norvell.
Norvell, speaking to ESPN on Saturday, said he told FSU administrators that the Seminoles were ready to play the game Saturday. On Monday he told reporters that Norvell on Monday said that COVID concerns were “absolutely” why the game was postponed.
Swinney said Clemson has no plans to go back to Tallahassee for a makeup game in December unless FSU pays for the travel. The trip cost the school more than $300,000, he said.
“To me, the Florida State administration forfeited the game,” Swinney said. “If they wanna play Clemson, in my opinion, they need to come to Clemson, or they need to pay for all expenses. Other than that, there’s no reason for us to play them. We were there. We were ready. And we met the standards.”
ACC players, staff and coaches are tested three times each week. Florida State’s concern was reportedly that the Clemson player practiced all week with mild coronavirus symptoms. The player tested negative during the week, before testing positive when the ACC administered a third-party test on Friday.
That player traveled to Tallahassee with the Tigers. He was isolated with arrangements made for him to return separately to Clemson when the game was postponed, school athletic director Dan Radakovich told The State.
Clemson has had other situations come up during the season where a player has tested positive on Friday after practicing during the week, Swinney said Sunday, but the games the next day were not canceled or postponed.
Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence practiced with mild symptoms on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to Clemson’s game against Boston College on Oct. 31 before finding out that Thursday that he had tested positive.
Lawrence missed the game against BC and Clemson’s top 5 showdown against Notre Dame on Nov. 7.
“Our players and our staff, we have have sacrificed all year long. We’ve demonstrated incredible commitment. And we’ve done everything that’s been asked. Each week there is an enormous amount of preparation that goes into getting ready to play,” Swinney said. “So I’m incredibly disappointed that we did not play, and I’m disappointed in the decision to not play.”
Several members of the staff, including some equipment managers, trainers and members of Clemson’s social media team, were already at Doak Campbell Stadium preparing for the noon kickoff Saturday when the decision was made that the game would not be played.
“They, Florida State and their medical group, decided that this was, given where they are, a risk to continue to play the game, because this person may have infected others — that it could infect them during the game,” Radakovich told The State on Saturday outside the team hotel in Tallahassee. “Although we have not seen in any competition up to this point any infections being able to be pointed to competition.”
Clemson offered alternatives to play the game later in the weekend, including an additional round of testing, according to Radakovich. FSU declined the offer.
Next Clemson game
Who: Clemson (7-1, 6-1 ACC) vs. Pitt (5-4, 4-4)
Where: Memorial Stadium, Clemson
When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 7:08 PM.
