Clemson assistant coach apologizes for using racist slur

CLEMSON, S.C. — A day after Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spoke about racial injustice, a 2017 incident in which a longtime member of Swinney’s coaching staff used the n-word at a practice came to light.

Danny Pearman, the Tigers’ assistant head coach, tight ends coach and special teams coordinator, issued an apology Tuesday night after details that first emerged on social media were confirmed by news reports. Pearman, 55, used the slur while speaking with tight end D.J. Greenlee, who played for Clemson from 2013-17.

“I made a grave mistake,” Pearman’s statement said. “I repeated a racial slur I overheard when trying to stop the word from being used on the practice field. What I overheard, I had no right to repeat.

“While I did not direct the term at any player, I know there is no excuse for me using the language in any circumstance. I never should have repeated the phrase. It was wrong when I said it and it is wrong today. … I sincerely apologize to D.J., his family, our team and our staff.”

Pearman said he was reprimanded by Swinney at the time after Greenlee went to the head coach.

The State in Columbia, S.C., first identified the player involved in the incident as Greenlee and the coach as Pearman. Greenlee told the newspaper he had used the word with fellow tight end Milan Richard while describing a play after Pearman talked to him about missing a block. He said Pearman then walked over and repeated what Greenlee said, “(n-word) this, (n-word) that.”

Former Clemson tight end D.J. Greenlee grew up in Clemson, where his dad is an assistant strength and conditioning coach. (Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)

Kanyon Tuttle, a former Clemson walk-on, surfaced the incident Tuesday on Twitter. The son of former Clemson wide receiver Perry Tuttle, Kanyon Tuttle pushed back on remarks Swinney had made Monday. Swinney referenced his faith and the power of change in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Tuttle said Swinney “allowed a coach to call a player the n-word during practice with no repercussions. Not even a team apology.” Tuttle also wrote that when Clemson students conducted a sit-in at Sikes Hall in 2016 to demand more diversity on campus, “You suggested us players try to stay out of it to limit distractions.” He concluded his tweet by telling Swinney, “Stop protecting your brand, take a stand.”

Cap, you allowed a coach to call a player the N-word during practice with no repercussions. Not even a team apology. When we had the sit-in in front of sikes you suggested us players try to stay out of it to limit distractions. Stop protecting your brand, take a stand https://t.co/7gznXmyniI

— Tut (@_kinggtutt) June 2, 2020

Former Clemson offensive lineman Zach Giella appeared to corroborate Tuttle’s account in a since-deleted tweet. Giella wrote, “I remember that shit like it was yesterday.”

Tuttle’s post was retweeted more than 10,000 times and had more than 25,000 likes.

“Don’t think I don’t respect Coach Swinney, he is not a terrible person by any means,” Tuttle followed up in another tweet. “But he needs to do better than this. All the black athletes that helped you get where you are, you can do better to show them you really have their best interest at heart.”

Pearman said he apologized to Greenlee at the conclusion of the practice, then met with Swinney to discuss the incident after Greenlee “appropriately raised his concern” with his head coach. Greenlee’s father, Larry, has been an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Clemson for more than 20 years.

“(Swinney) reiterated that my language was unacceptable,” Pearman said. “I later apologized again, as well as expressed my sincere regret to our position group the following day.

“I love the young men who choose to come to our university, and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt them.”

One former Clemson player, who spoke to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said the incident did not happen in front of the whole team. He guessed 20 players might have witnessed it and then word of what happened made its way to most of the others. He believed Swinney should have addressed the entire team about the situation when it happened, but he holds no resentment toward Pearman. He also addressed Tuttle’s sit-in comment.

“Players were allowed to go,” he said. “I went to it.”

Another former player, Stanton Seckinger, played tight end under Pearman from 2011-15. He was no longer with the program when the incident occurred, but he recalled an hour-long meeting Swinney once held about the n-word. Seckinger said Swinney told players he did not want to hear it used in any capacity — including casually — on his practice field.

“I remember him saying, ‘I respect y’all too much to hear you call each other that,’” Seckinger said.

Pearman was hired at Clemson in December 2008 shortly after Swinney’s interim tag was removed. He and Swinney were assistants together at Alabama from 1993-97 when Swinney was a graduate assistant and wide receivers and tight ends coach.

Pearman, who played tight end at Clemson in 1986 and 1987, spent eight years at Alabama before spending the next eight at Virginia Tech under Frank Beamer. He coached at North Carolina in 2006, Duke in 2007 and Maryland in 2008 before returning to Clemson.

In February, Clemson extended Pearman’s contract through 2022, and he received a $40,000 a year raise to up his annual salary to $545,000.

(Top photo of former Clemson defender Isaiah Simmons and assistant head coach Danny Pearman: Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network)