The predicted other shoe dropped today as men’s basketball assistant Steve Smith had his contract non-renewed following his exposure on FBI wiretaps discussing payments in the recruitment of Zion Williamson. Most Clemson fans were upset by Coach Smith’s allusions to the football program, ambiguous as they were, because messing with the football program will make you persona non grata in a hurry. Most assistant coaches work on year to year contracts, so the timing of this made it easier to let Smith go without the possible issues of settling a termination.
This, in my opinion, is a real blow to the program even if no sanctions or anything else arise from whatever went down with Coach Smith on the recruiting trail.