Swinney: No rift in Clemson camp

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Oct 13 18:46:35 GMT-04:00 2009

CLEMSON – The alleged scrap between Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and offensive coordinator Billy Napier has been, if not laid to rest, at least explained in better detail.

Swinney invited members of the Tiger band to watch last Wednesday’s practice, and the internet rumor mill was rife with various versions of a heated altercation between the two coaches. On Tuesday at his weekly press conference, Swinney explained that what was seen was simply an example of a head coach trying to motivate his team.

"It was one of those days where nobody was in a good humor,” Swinney said. “And there was nothing to be happy about it. But there’s nothing further from the truth {as far as a fight]. That's why you shouldn't listen to the internet. I've had people call me and talk about some fight on our practice field. I probably picked a bad day to invite people to practice. Sometimes there comes a time where you need to motivate or challenge your coaches. We lost a ballgame up there at Maryland.

“I’m not real happy about it. Last Wednesday, it's an open date, and people want to write about me and Billy. What about me and {Danny] Pearman and [Andre] Powell? I got a piece of them, too. There are things that happen on the practice field. It's football. I've got all the respect in the world for all my coaches. They've done a great job. One of the things I like about Billy is that he's got some fire in him. “

Napier said that the hoopla over the incident caught him completely by surprise.

“I heard that too, and I also heard that I didn't go to the press conference after the Maryland game,” Napier said. “A lot of things, when you've got a situation where you lose a couple of tight games and you've got a little of that looking for answers, and you've got people at practice who maybe aren't used to being at a college football practice, it's probably a little surprising, some of the things they see.”

Napier said that what happened was simply business as usual for a college football team.

“It was no big deal,” Napier said. “It's a competitive sport. It's an intense sport. We've got to do our job as coaches, and that's to motivate our players. Coach Swinney obviously has to do his job as a head coach and motivate not only the players, but the staff. It was a very intense open date. Very typical of some that we've had around here in the preseason and in spring practice. You've got to do some things to catch their attention as players.

“I think it's really helped our guys, and they've fed off the intensity. And we've had better practices the last couple of days. I didn't think it was that big a deal. Obviously when you've got the band at practice, rumors are going to fly. Just a normal, intense practice with intense, competitive guys. Hopefully we'll have more like that."

Offensive lineman Thomas Austin made a statement to the media earlier that Swinney was going to the chew out the offense on one day last week, and then follow that up with a chewing out of the defense, and Swinney chuckled when he heard about the comment.

“I don't know if chew out is the right word,” Swinney said. “Encourage. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew the sense of urgency that we needed to work with. It's not okay for us to lose ballgames. Let's get better. Let's be accountable. That was the mentality. That's my job to make sure we have the right kind of environment.”