Breaking down Dabo Swinney’s heated comments about Florida State postponement
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney had a lot to say Sunday evening about his team’s game against Florida State being postponed about three hours before kickoff Saturday.
The comments were Swinney’s first public remarks since Saturday morning when FSU decided not to play the game after a Clemson player tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
Here are the main points Swinney made during his fiery remarks:
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Swinney: “That’s why we test on Fridays before the game, because a guy can be negative Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. He can be negative all week and, as we all know, can be positive on Friday. So that’s why we test on Friday. And it is also why we as a league voted to expand the travel roster from 72 to 80 in expectation that there would be positives on Fridays, so that you could take more guys to be available.
No one ever had an illusion that there wouldn’t be a positive on a Friday. So again, that’s why the roster was expanded. And any time a guy is positive — whether it be a Monday test, a Wednesday test, a Friday test, whatever —any time a guy is positive, that person has been practicing and playing prior to being positive.”
Connolly reaction: This is an important point from Swinney. Whether a player tests positive on Monday, Wednesday or Friday, they’ve either played in a game or practiced immediately before testing positive. It is also perfectly reasonable to expect that mild symptoms, which is what the player displayed, were not COVID-19 related. The flu and allergies can have very similar symptoms as COVID.
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Swinney: “This game was not canceled because of COVID. COVID was just an excuse to cancel the game.”
Connolly reaction: This is the only real issue I had with what Swinney said, and it is the comment that he took the most heat for on social media from fans and media. USA Today columnist Dan Wolken called Swinney’s comment “gross.” It also led to several of his fair points being overlooked. This is a big accusation for Swinney to make, especially without proof. When asked to clarify why the decision was made if it wasn’t made for COVID, 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.”
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Swinney: “We do these tests all week, and a guy can test negative all week and on Friday be positive. That’s why we expanded the rosters. It’s not like anybody didn’t anticipate this. We went from 72 to 80 knowing — and that’s why we wear masks and shields, that’s why we have nine buses, that’s why we do that, all within the standard and the protocols that were set forth by the league. ... We set up a Ringling Brothers tent, took up an entire parking lot [at the team hotel] to do what we have to do to meet the standards.”
Connolly reaction: This seems to be one of the things Swinney was most upset about. I went to the team hotel in Tallahassee Saturday morning and saw the huge tent Clemson had in the parking lot. It was very reminiscent of a large circus tent. It was done so players could remain socially distanced during meetings and meals on the trip, because there wasn’t space inside to hold meetings and keep everyone six feet apart. Clemson had nine buses to travel around on in Tallahassee so that players could be socially distanced on the buses. Face masks and shields were worn on the plane to guard against spread. A lot of measures were put in place for the entire year so Clemson could travel on Friday, and if a player tested positive he would be isolated without others being infected.
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Swinney on if there have been examples of COVID-19 being transmitted during the game: “I have seen no example of that. Zero. Zero. If that was their worry, they shouldn’t even play the season. Like I said, we test on Friday, guys. So if you can be negative on Thursday and test positive on Friday, you can be negative on Friday and be positive in the game on Saturday and not know it. We all know that. We all know that. The standard to play was met.”
Reaction: I also asked Dan Radakovich on Saturday if there had been any examples of spread taking place during games. His response: “We have not seen in any competition up to this point any infections being able to be pointed to competition.” The New York Times also recently posted a story stating that the NFL has prevented coronavirus on the field. If that is indeed the case, then the likelihood of a Florida State player being infected in the game seems very minimal.
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Connolly final thoughts: Per ACC rules, FSU is allowed to choose to not play the game if it does not feel like it is safe. With that said, it seems very unlikely that playing the game was unsafe. If there is not evidence of transmission during the game and several measures were taken to stay socially distanced and keep the player isolated, the likelihood of an FSU player getting the virus from Clemson seems next to none. If the very small chance of a player getting the virus from playing Clemson during the game is enough to postpone the game, Florida State probably shouldn’t be playing this season during a pandemic to begin with.
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 11:12 AM.
