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We have seen the words Black Lives Matter and various social justice messages all throughout the sports world in 2020. Some teams early on in this college football season have pushed social justice reforms as well with either decals on helmets or patches on jerseys. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, however, isn’t a fan of going that route in an effort to get a message across.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Swinney stated that “black lives more than matter,” but as a traditionalist, he doesn’t like the idea of messages on jerseys and helmets.
“It’s not that I’m not for the messages, but I’m a very traditional guy,” Swinney said according to ESPN. “I came from Alabama. It’s not anything to do with the messages, I’ve always just not messed with uniforms. But that’s all changed this year.”
He also explained that he has encouraged his teams to develop ways to show support for social justice reforms, including the idea of doing something with the uniforms, but explained that his one rule is that everyone in the locker room must agree with the idea and messaging.
Swinney was also asked on Tuesday to clarify his stance on Black Lives Matter the movement and the organization. He differentiated between the two and explained he isn’t on board with the political organizations.
“I’m on board with a lot of the messages, but I’m not on board with political organizations,” Swinney said. “That’s a different question. I’m apolitical. To me, that’s divisive. I’ve voted Democrat, Republican, independent, I’ve written in people when I didn’t like anyone running. I’m apolitical when it comes to organizations. I don’t support organizations, I support common-sense causes.”
Swinney and the Tigers play host to Virginia on Saturday.