Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney was the subject of a complaint earlier this month from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The complaint essentially alleges that Swinney and his staff are pushing Christianity on players and recruits.
"What we have observed in the records is that the football coaching staff is doing a number of things to promote Christianity to their student-athletes," said foundation staff attorney Patrick Elliott.
Many of Swinney's fellow coaches attend Bible studies twice weekly, and there is a voluntary chapel held for players before each game. Swinney has never tried to hide the fact that he's proud of his faith, and he issued a statement Wednesday morning in response to the FFRF's complaint (via Clemson Athletic Communications):
Over the past week or two, there has been a lot of discussion of my faith. We have three rules in our program that everybody must follow: (1) players must go to class, (2) they must give a good effort and (3) they must be good citizens. It is as simple as that.
I have recruited and coached players of many different faiths. Players of any faith or no faith at all are welcome in our program. All we require in the recruitment of any player is that he must be a great player at his position, meet the academic requirements, and have good character.
Recruiting is very personal. Recruits and their families want – and deserve – to know who you are as a person, not just what kind of coach you are. I try to be a good example to others, and I work hard to live my life according to my faith. I am proud of the great success we have had in developing good players and good men at Clemson. We win at the highest level and we graduate players who excel on the field and in life because of their time in Death Valley. I want to thank Clemson University and all the people who have reached out to offer their support and encouragement over the past few weeks.
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