Dabo Swinney disputes Terry Kinard's claim he mistreated former Clemson star's son at Gator Bowl practice
As a Clemson football standout who helped lead the Tigers to their first national championship in 1981, Terry Kinard typically kept his talking confined to the field.
That all changed on Tuesday.
Kinard took Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney to task on his Facebook page over perceived mistreatment of his son, Jaden.
Jaden Kinard is a redshirt freshman safety from Sumter who recently completed his second season with the Tigers after joining the team as a walk-on in the summer of 2022.
Kinard wrote that the poor treatment of his son occurred during a recent practice for the Dec. 29 Gator Bowl.
“He (Swinney) made Jaden’s last two practices the worst experience of the entirety of the time he was there,” Kinard’s Facebook post read. “He purposely belittled Jaden, insulted him and called him names.
“This two day public onslaught went far beyond anything resembling any kind of appropriate coach to athlete exchange. Coaches can use tough tactics when trying to get the best out of a player. This was definitely not that! It became obviously personal and it was obviously overkill.”
Swinney refuted that claim Wednesday, saying he “chewed out” several players following “accountability runs” scheduled by longtime strength and conditioning coach Joey Batson.
“A couple of teams had to run, but one team in particular had to run several over-and-backs and there were about five or six guys that got their butts chewed out – and they earned it,” Swinney said following his signing day press conference.
“That’s really it, other than football at this level is not for everybody, and the commitment, the discipline, the accountability, the mental toughness, again, it’s hard at this level. That’s really all there is to say.”
The post on Terry Kinard’s Facebook page, which had drawn more than 600 responses by Wednesday afternoon, ended with a declaration that “because of how Jaden was treated…The Kinard Family are no longer loyal Clemson Football Fan!!!”
A standout defensive back, the elder Kinard played at Clemson from 1979 to 1982 and became the first unanimous All-America in program history in 1982. He still holds the school record with 17 career interceptions.
A first-round selection by the New York Giants in the 1983 NFL Draft, he played seven seasons with the Giants and one with the Oilers before retiring in 1990.
Jaden Kinard came to Clemson in 2022 and redshirted that season. He saw action in three games this season, contributing one special teams tackle.
“Our son Jaden had already decided to transfer from Clemson University to go elsewhere to continue his education and hopefully get other opportunities to play football at the college level,” Kinard’s Facebook post read. “His one last goal at Clemson as part of the football team was to finish out the season, which would culminate with the bowl game.”
Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ScottKeepfer
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dabo Swinney disputes Terry Kinard claim he mistreated son at Clemson
