Clemson’s Swinney defends his discipline policies

There’s a perception that athletes are becoming self-entitled, drug-addled monsters, quick with their fists with little evidence of remorse.

Much of the concern stems from unsavory incidents involving professional players, but college athletes have been competing for time on SportsCenter, YouTube and Arrest Nation, a database that daily chronicles sports arrests.

When the ACC convenes its annual preseason football kickoff on Sunday in Pinehurst, N.C., the questions will rain on Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher with Dabo Swinney mopping the runoff.

Just this month, Fisher suspended running back Dalvin Cook and dismissed freshman quarterback De’Andre Johnson following incidents in which they are accused of striking young women. Both incidents took place in or near bars.

In the wake of the mess left by quarterback Jameis Winston, those were additional negatives for a program and school excoriated by media for leniency in dealing with football players, but Fisher reacted more swiftly than he had in the past.

At last year’s ACC Kickoff, Fisher defended himself and the school for the number of players who seemed to skate, including Winston. Fisher claimed that discipline was generally handled privately, as any parent would with a child.

Fisher, Swinney and most coaches are probably similar in their philosophies. Publicly, Swinney seems decisive.

“I don’t have any concern about the culture of our program at all, because if guys get in trouble they’re going to be dealt with. Either (that, or) they’re not going to be here,” Swinney said this week.

“There is no utopia. It’s the discipline and the consequences that determine the consequences of your program.

“If there are people out there that think there is a program anywhere in the country with 80 to 100-plus young people that isn’t going to deal with poor behavior or bad decision-making from time to time, that place doesn’t exist. That’s a unicorn. That’s just not reality,” he said.

“We’re not immune to anything here. You know why? Because there are people involved. We’re just a reflection of society.”

Clemson and FSU aren’t the only ACC schools with at least one incident since last season. In the most recent, Virginia Tech running back Shai McKenzie was sentenced for consensual sex with a minor. Pitt receiver Ty Boyd was charged with DUI and careless driving.

Oh, and Cook was cited this week for animal cruelty.

Three years ago, Swinney faced a tough situation when star receiver Sammy Watkins was charged with drug possession.

First consideration was whether Watkins should be retained. He had been an exemplary citizen and teammate, so Swinney challenged him to earn his way back. Included was a two-game suspension that might have been more strident had Watkins not demonstrated sincere remorse.

This offseason, Swinney confronted three players – defensive end Ebenezer Ogundeko, kicker Ammon Lakip and offensive tackle Isaiah Battle – who tested the limits.

Ogundeko was charged with financial fraud in the use of a credit card. He was dismissed from the team and transferred.

Battle left the program and entered the NFL after a citation for possession of marijuana, essentially a third strike in a career that included at least two suspensions including one for punching an opposing player during a game.

Lakip was charged with possession of 0.4 grams of cocaine and was dismissed. He could rejoin the team this season. Likely he’ll be faced with a situation similar to Watkins’.

The target of public criticsm for that decision, Swinney defended it Wednesday.

“I know from time to time somebody’s going to challenge the culture of your program, and you have to reinforce those things,” he said. “Every situation is dealt with on an individual basis.

“You try to help people. I don’t think you just kick people off teams. You discipline people. You have to hold people accountable.”

He implied Lakip’s circumstances were different from Ogundeko’s or Battle’s.

“Ammon’s never given us a minute’s problem,” he said. “Guy does what he’s supposed to do, but boy what a bad mistake. He embarrassed us, he embarrassed himself.

“But I’m not going to throw him away because he made this one mistake. He’s going to be dealt with, and there are going to be some pretty severe consequences for him. If he handles his business, he’ll have a chance to learn and grow from it.”

Swinney likened it to family troubles, which he knew all too well as a younger man.

“You can have a great family of five with a bunch of good people and there are bad decisions there,” he said.

“My children, when they screw up I don’t care how mad I can get at them, their last names are still Swinney. It’s a birth right. They were born into it. I can’t kick them out of the house. Though you may want to, what are you going to do? They’re still your child.

“Playing here at Clemson, that’s not a birth right. That’s a privilege. Every now and then, you get some guys that forfeit that privilege either because they think they’re bigger than the program or the consequences. The discipline is just not working.”

A player’s relative value to the team is not a consideration, he insisted. Though he did not say as much, Watkins might be a prime example.

“It could be a starter or a fifth-team walk-on. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. I really don’t,” he said. “Our guys know that. There’s nobody that’s entitled. There’s nobody that’s bigger than the program – coach or player or administrator. There’s nobody that’s bigger than Clemson or the team.”

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 3:58 PM.