Records reveal new details on why Clemson gymnastics coach Amy Smith was fired
Former Clemson gymnastics coach Amy Smith was fired with cause in April after the school said she violated three separate sections of her employment contract, new records show.
In documents obtained by The State via public records request on Monday, Clemson contended that Smith violated clauses in her contract regarding “safe and responsible treatment” of athletes, including “physical and/or emotional abuse of student athletes,” and “personal conduct.”
Clemson fired Smith following multiple reviews of the gymnastics program’s “culture and environment” under Smith during the 2025, according to emails.
The university conducted an initial mid-season review of the program after receiving “an increased number of messages” from athletes in late fall 2024 and early spring 2025. That review included Smith meeting with athletic director Graham Neff and gymnastics sports administrator Stephanie Ellison-Johnson.
Later in the season, multiple Clemson gymnasts and parents of Clemson gymnasts requested meetings with administrators to discuss the state of the program (those meetings were held in March and April) and the university received a hotline complaint of “possible emotional/mental abuse within the gymnastics team.”
After collecting end-of-season surveys, Clemson administrators met with the gymnastics team on April 11 so athletes had an opportunity to “speak directly with Graham Neff directly to voice their concerns,” emails showed.
Neff and other Clemson administrators also met with university counsel to review survey results on April 9 and had a meeting with Smith on April 11, per records. Smith’s firing was formally announced to the team and via press release on April 18.
Neff, the Clemson athletic director, received a number of positive emails from Clemson gymnastics parents after telling them the news. One parent, whose named was redacted, alleged Smith had engaged in “verbal and mental abuse.”
“You may not know but what this university has done will change the course of gymnastics,” the parent wrote to Neff on April 18. “You may not see the results right away but it has and will make a statement in the gymnastics community that abuse in any form is not and will not be tolerated.”
The parent continued: “We thank you and your staff for hearing our girls and taking their experience seriously. No one ever wants anyone to lose a job but we also have hopes and expectations that people will do their jobs and do it without using any type of verbal and mental abuse.”
Smith, according to a fall 2023 published report, faced allegations of player mistreatment at previous coaching stops. She was never publicly disciplined by previous employers, and Clemson had publicly backed Smith after those allegations (during her time at UNC and Utah State) surfaced in the Washington Post.
According to a copy of Smith’s notice of separation, Clemson formally fired its former gymnastics coach for cause on April 21, 2025.
Smith was the program’s first-ever coach. Clemson announced it was adding gymnastics in 2021, and the program completed its inaugural season under Smith in 2024. She was named the ACC’s Coach of the Year that season.
Smith did not respond to requests for comment through her social media pages.
What Amy Smith’s termination letter said
Although the letter from Clemson senior associate athletic director Kyle Young does not offer specific details for why Smith was fired, the university cited three separate clauses in a section of Smith’s employment contract (signed in 2022) in making the decision to terminate her. The three clauses included in Clemson’s reasoning were:
- A clause that says Smith, in her role as gymnastics coach, was required to engage in “safe and responsible treatment” of athletes on the team and avoid “any act or omission,” including but not limited to physical and/or emotional abuse of athletes, that created “an unreasonable risk of harm.” The clause also says Smith had to “comply” with any and all university requirements regarding “medical clearance for participation” and defer to sports medicine personnel.
- A clause that says Smith could not commit any act that would bring “disgrace or embarrassment” to the university or herself; any act that would “shock, insult or offend” the community; any act that “manifests contempt or disregard for diversity, public morals and decency”; or any act that violates university requirements surrounding “personal conduct.”
- A clause that says Smith could not have “any other act or omission” that would bring “serious discredit” to her program or the university or would be “likely to cause prospective student-athletes to elect not to attend” Clemson.
Clemson, in the notice of separation, said the school found that Smith violated those three sections of her contract.
“The specific reasons supporting the termination decision have been discussed with you prior to issuing this notice,” Young, the senior associate AD, wrote to Smith.
Clemson’s replacements for Amy Smith
Clemson had not previously disclosed whether or not Smith was fired without cause (a separation without a specific fault or violation that would require the university to pay her buyout), or with cause (a more serious termination where possible misconduct or an alleged breach of contract occurred).
Neff had also previously declined to comment on the university’s decision to fire Smith on April 18 outside of a brief press release the day of the news. Having fired Smith with cause, Clemson does not owe her a buyout.
Smith made $165,000 in base salary in 2024-25, per her contract.
Clemson and Neff had previously backed Smith publicly in November 2023 after a Washington Post article detailed allegations against her from former gymnasts at UNC, where she was an assistant from 2012-17, and Utah State, where she was head coach from 2017-22. The allegations against Smith from four former gymnasts included fostering “a culture of disordered eating” and verbally berating players.
Clemson hired Cal’s Justin Howell and Elisabeth Crandall-Howell, a husband-and-wife coaching duo, as the new co-head coaches of its gymnastics team in May.
The Howells were the 2025 ACC Co-Head Coaches of the Year and have led the Golden Bears to 12 straight NCAA tournaments (including an NCAA runner-up finish in 2024) and seven top 10 final rankings since 2016 (including three in a row).
The Howells will make $225,000 apiece as Clemson’s co-head coaches for a total base head coaching salary of $450,000 in 2025-26 (a significant jump from Smith’s).
This story was originally published June 30, 2025 at 4:17 PM.
