Dabo Swinney reacts to ‘disappointing’ arrests of Clemson football players
Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney didn’t mince words as he talked about two of his players being arrested in separate incidents on campus earlier this month.
“Two incredibly disappointing situations,” he said Wednesday.
Leading into 2024 spring practice, Clemson defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart was arrested Feb. 6 on a weapons charge and traffic charge, and wide receiver Noble Johnson was arrested Feb. 19 and charged with reckless driving after his involvement in a car accident that sent three individuals involved to the hospital.
As of Wednesday, Capehart was back with the team and available for spring practice because he had both of his charges dismissed after going through a pre-trial intervention program and being cleared by the Clemson athletic department.
Johnson, Swinney said, will not practice this spring due to injuries he suffered during the aforementioned car accident that happened Feb. 14. A police report said he was going 71 mph in a 35 mph zone before hitting a car that had failed to yield while making a left turn. Swinney said both players will face internal discipline.
“Two good kids and two learning opportunities for both of them,” Swinney said. “How those things are all handled, it’s all driven through the processes and procedures that are in place from a university standpoint.”
“Really, you kind of remove yourself from that stuff, honestly, just like you do from a guy getting hurt. Just remove yourself and let the doctors and trainers manage that, it’s no different when you have a situation like we had.”
Capehart, 21, was initially stopped by university police the night of Feb. 6 for allegedly spinning his car’s tires and accelerating to a “high rate of speed” in a 25 mph zone on campus.
During a traffic stop conducted in the parking lot of Clemson’s tennis facility at 188 Old Greenville Highway, police reported that they found a 9 mm rifle, which Capehart said did not belong to him, in the trunk of his car during a consensual search.
Police also found “several empty liquor/beer containers and, in the back seat, a yellow plastic baggy containing four live 9 mm rounds,” according to the report.
Per Clemson athletic department policy, Capehart was not “participating in team activities while awaiting completion of all legal and university processes.” He rejoined the team late last week after participating in a pre-trial intervention (PTI) program reserved for first-time offenders that led to his felony weapons charge and traffic charge being dropped.
Capehart emerged late last season as a key rotational player and could be in line for a starting role as a redshirt senior.
“Cape made a mistake, and he’s a great kid,” Swinney said. “And he’ll learn from that. And we’ll handle it within the team. Same thing with Noble.”
Johnson, 18, was arrested Feb. 19 after being involved in an early-morning car accident that resulted in all three people involved (Johnson and two non-students in the second car) being transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital due to injury.
The accident happened roughly a mile from Clemson’s football facilities.
A team spokesperson clarified that Johnson’s lack of spring practice participation is exclusively because of injury; he is not suspended from the team as a result of the incident and would be practicing if he was healthy.
“With both of them, Noble especially, very fortunate that it wasn’t worse than it was,” Swinney said. “And so it’s an opportunity to teach, an opportunity for guys to learn. Again, nobody’s immune to young people doing dumb things from time to time. It’s how you respond to those things. It’s how you teach and how you grow from it. And we’ll use it as such.”
This story was originally published February 29, 2024 at 8:32 AM.
