http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...a-bulldogs

Unlike some schools we take discipline serious at Clemson. Crawford and Beasley are returning starters and both Anthony and Peters were in contention to start at their positions going into spring practice.

Who do you play week 2? Should've suspended them then.

(03-05-2014 12:35 AM)Marge Schott Wrote:  Who do you play week 2? Should've suspended them then.

Then the message gets muddled that winning is more important than doing the right thing.

Dabo said it best

http://www.tigernet.com/story/football/S...-Dye-12525

Quote:Swinney then said that he won’t sacrifice his principles for the sake of winning.

"I'd rather lose every game and get fired trying to do it the right way than to win while trying to cut corners,” he said. "You've got 120 guys and from time to time you're going to have to deal with some discipline. These four guys can come babysit my kids tonight. I love all of these guys. They're good people."

I don't see it as a big deal. As long as they receive a punishment that is proportionate to their offense/violation.

Suspend them for SC State instead of UGA and you set the precedent that winning is more important than discipline. Perhaps if more teams were to adopt the attitude that Dabo has we wouldn't have season long investigations tarnishing team accomplishments.

It's kind of the whole "NCAA violations only hurt current players, not the players and coaches who committed the violations" argument. The other 100 kids on the team are punished for the actions of a few. If you suspend them for two cupcake OOC teams, they miss 17% of the regular season as opposed to just 8% and it doesn't harm the innocent in the process.

Again, as long as they receive a punishment in proportion to their offense, it's not an issue of whether winning is more important than discipline.

http://www.tigernet.com/story/football/D...Play-12588

Quote:Swinney ambled over to the media Monday evening inside the indoor practice facility, and one of the first questions he was asked centered around any discipline issues he might have had with players over spring break, a typical question following spring break, summer break and the break before the bowl game.

Swinney announced that he didn’t have a discipline issue, but did have a focus issue with wide receiver Germone Hopper. Swinney said that Hopper wasn’t suspended, and the talented redshirt sophomore wasn’t academically ineligible. However, the grades were enough of a concern that Swinney wants Hopper to take the time he would have spent on the football field this spring – the ten remaining practices and all of the film work – and spend it in Vickery Hall catching up on his studies.

Dabo don’t play.

Quote:In today’s win-at-all-costs society, it’s refreshing to see someone -whose job depends on those wins – have the wins take a backseat to building up the character of the young men in his charge, making sure that they receive the tough love they need as young men that will make them better husbands and fathers down the road.

Not everybody agrees with this kind of discipline – there are well-known head coaches who will do everything in their power to make sure that their great players are eligible for the big game, suspending them for a game somewhere down the road or for a practice or two, effectively enabling bad behavior down the road. The message is clear – you are a star athlete, you can do what you want.

Even fans get caught up in that kind of thinking, fans who will ground their teenager for being late for curfew, who will take away car privileges for a tiny white lie. Those same “good parents” will scream when a star player is suspended for a big game. After Swinney announced the four suspensions for the Georgia game, I had more than one person I respect as a parent ask me why Swinney couldn’t wait and suspend them a week later against South Carolina St., when it would hurt the team the least. Heck, we’ve seen that kind of “coaching” in this state before, and it wouldn’t hurt now, would it? Coach, it’s Georgia!!! Can’t we look away this time? Just this one time?

Nope, can’t look away. It sends the wrong message. It says that winning trumps all else. That kind of “discipline” is nothing more than a show for the fans, administrators and media.

Quote:Swinney reiterated Monday night that he loves Hopper, that he is a good kid who just needs to focus on his priorities right now. He has also said that the four who are suspended for the opener “didn’t rob a bank” but just need to know that there are limits. In the news recently, we saw where four college players actually did defraud a bank of funds. The ball – so to speak – is now in their coach’s court.

I ran into one of Clemson’s four suspended players recently, and he smiled and admitted he made a dumb mistake (No, I didn’t ask) and he said “we did something dumb.” He then said it makes him want to work harder than ever and play the final 11 games of the season with a purpose. He said the hardest thing is knowing he let his teammates down.

Message received, coach.

Nobody cares what some Clemson writer says on the matter. And nobody would be offended if these players were suspended 3 games instead of 1 (or whatever it is).