Clemson criticized for hosting football game in SC after hurricane. Dabo reacts

Clemson University has faced local and national criticism for its decision to hold a football game following Hurricane Helene’s impact on Upstate South Carolina.

What does the most important person in the football program think about that?

Asked directly about the criticism Clemson is facing for hosting Stanford on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium roughly 36 hours after the storm made its way through the region, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said it wasn’t his decision but emphasized Tuesday that he has faith in the leadership above him.

“You can call President (Jim) Clements,” Swinney said during his weekly news conference when asked what he’d say to people criticizing the school’s decision. “I mean, I trust our leadership here. Honestly, it’s one of those decisions as a leader that you make and you’re gonna get criticism either way. I think at the end of the day, it’s one of those things where you can’t please everybody.”

After Hurricane Helene (at that point a tropical storm) touched down in South Carolina on Friday morning, causing widespread property damage and thousands of power outages in the Clemson area, the university announced last Friday around noon that its Saturday night game against Stanford would go on as planned.

The university said in a statement that the decision to host its homecoming game at Memorial Stadium — which Clemson won, 40-14, to move to 3-1 this season — “came after a detailed evaluation of the impacts of the storm, with a primary focus on the ability to safely host our opponents and fans on campus.”

“City of Clemson and Clemson University officials, as well as first responders across the state have worked tirelessly in their recovery efforts thus far,” Clemson said at the time. “We look forward to aiding in the community efforts for recovery.”

Still, the university faced criticism from local residents, local officials and voices across sports media nationally for its decision — which, critics said, put a crunch on resources such as gas and ice and first responders/emergency personnel.

“Football runs the university,” local author Allison Wells, a Clemson alum who lives a mile from campus and has not had power since last Friday, told The State.

The mayor of Central, South Carolina (which is about 15 minutes from Clemson) told the Post & Courier the university’s decision to “imperil thousands of people in its community for the sake of thousands of visitors to its football stadium” was “unconscionable,” with Clemson’s city manager adding: “ “I don’t think they looked beyond the borders (of campus) to see how we were doing over here.”

Clemson mayor Robert Halfacre told The State he didn’t love “that we had tens of thousands of people descending on our city as we were trying to assess and repair the damage from the storm” but he understands Clemson’s decision was a complex one and he’s focused on helping the city recover in coming weeks.

The university’s decision (announced on Sunday) to cancel classes and keep campus closed on Monday added to that frustration. Clemson opened campus in full and resumed classes Tuesday.

The university also opened up multiple on-campus locations, including basketball’s Littlejohn Coliseum, on Sunday for “community members and city residents in need of respite” and offered free access to air conditioning, power and WiFi.

Swinney said during his weekly Sunday night teleconference that the notion of postponing or canceling the Clemson-Stanford game “never” came up in the conversations he had with university officials.

“Maybe it came up with the administration, but nobody ever brought anything to me,” Swinney said. “My job’s to get the team ready, so that’s what we focused on.”

Clemson football radio announcer Don Munson addressed the controversy unprompted in the opening minutes of Swinney’s weekly Monday night radio show and said he hoped the game was a “good distraction” for fans who needed one. Announced attendance was 80,295, just shy of a sellout (81,500).

“I know there’s been a little bit of controversy about why Clemson would play or why they would not play,” Munson said. “I understand all that. But you know what? I say congratulations to our university, congratulations to our athletic department, congratulations to the city of Clemson and all the people that go into (a game).”

Swinney on Tuesday indicated he was aware of the criticism Clemson was facing for its decision but said he was not involved in the final call to play the game as planned.

He expressed confidence in Clements, the university’s president, and Tigers athletic director Graham Neff for making what he described as a tough decision as leaders.

“Whatever decision you make, you (the media) are probably gonna ask the same question,” Swinney said. “So I think as a leader, you have to just do what you think is best. But I don’t make those decisions. I just get the team ready to play. We’ve got great leadership in Jim Clements and Graham Neff. So, that’s it. Go call them.”

Next Clemson football game

• Who: No. 15 Clemson (3-1, 2-0 ACC) at Florida State (1-4, 1-3 ACC)

• When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5

• Where: Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.

• TV: ESPN

• Line: Clemson by 14 points