Clemson coach Dabo Swinney apologized Sunday for an insensitive joke he made following the team’s Saturday loss to Miami. After the game this weekend, a reporter asked Swinney if the team has ever employed sports psychologists to help players during a slump like this and Swinney just laughed before making the comment.
“We got him. He’s probably on suicide watch right now,” Swinney said Saturday.
The Tigers are uncharacteristically 4–3 to start the year and lost to the Hurricanes in double overtime—prompting the question regarding the mental health of his players. Swinney expressed regret over his comment the next day.
“That was such a poor attempt at humor on my part, and just a really bad choice of words in a bad moment and certainly not something I should say, and I absolutely apologize for that,” Swinney said, according to The Post and Courier. “We are very deliberate in what we do around here in prioritizing mental health for our [athletes]. [I] apologize for [the joke], for sure.”
Swinney was met with a fair amount of criticism for the comment online and will look to move on from it on Saturday when Clemson (4–3) takes on NC State (4–3).
