Clemson athletic director backs gymnastics coach after accusations of toxic culture

Clemson athletics is standing behind its gymnastics coach after a Washington Post article earlier this week detailed former gymnasts’ allegations against her at previous institutions, including fostering “a culture of disordered eating” and verbally berating players.

Clemson athletic director Graham Neff said Tuesday the university took a “thorough” look into coach Amy Smith’s background before hiring her as its first gymnastics coach in April 2022 and, after being “in dialogue with (Smith) prior to her hire and certainly since then” regarding the allegations, he and the Clemson athletic department remain comfortable with her hire.

“Couldn’t be more excited for her support of her programs and student-athletes and our support administratively for those resources and expectations,” Neff said Tuesday. “Excited to kick off Clemson gymnastics here in a couple months.”

Speaking at a previously scheduled news conference, Neff addressed a Nov. 20 Washington Post article that, as part of a broader look at issues in college gymnastics, detailed allegations against Smith from four former gymnasts who competed under her at the University of North Carolina, where she was an assistant coach from 2014-17, and Utah State, where she was head coach from 2017-22.

Here’s a summary of the allegations against Smith:

▪ At UNC, former gymnast Raine Gordon said Smith, then an assistant head coach, “pitted gymnasts against one another,” “made her feel ashamed of her body” and once said “Gordon’s leg was bruised after a fall because it was ‘fat.’”

▪ Gordon said Smith and UNC’s head coach at the time made her sign a contract that “threatened her scholarship if she didn’t lose weight every week.”

▪ Gordon said Smith “singled her out” from the start of her 2016 freshman year at UNC, berated her for mistakes and compared her negatively with her teammates

▪ At Utah State, former gymnast Morgan Gill said Smith held her to “impossible standards,” such as “requiring her to perform her routines for two weeks without a single fall.” “I was told every day I wasn’t good enough,” Gill told the paper.

▪ Gill said Smith yelled at her for “playing games” when she had to step out of practice conditioning sessions to use an inhaler prescribed to her by a Utah State doctor to combat anxiety and chest pain.

▪ Another former Utah State gymnast, Tori Loomis, said she felt “targeted” by Smith starting as a freshman and the coach frequently told her she was “out of shape,” including when she was injured.

▪ At one point, Loomis said, she asked a group of upperclassmen gymnasts how to “make Smith treat her better” and they told her Smith “would love you if you were anorexic.” Loomis said she developed a “severe eating disorder” as a result of Smith fostering “a culture of disordered eating on the team.”

▪ A third USU gymnast, Glory Yoakum, said in a 2021 social media post that Smith “degraded” her, called her a “weak link” who “didn’t want to work” and threatened to pull Yoakum’s scholarship.

The Washington Post also cited attrition within Smith’s program at Utah State after Smith became coach in 2017. Ten gymnasts left the team in 2019, which was almost half the roster, according to the newspaper’s research, and seven left in 2021.

According to the story, “Three gymnasts told The Post they left Utah State’s program in part because of Smith’s coaching, and a fourth said so publicly. Others did not respond to requests for comment.”

An athletic department spokesperson told the newspaper that Utah State never conducted an investigation of Smith, who was reviewed annually and “in good standing at the end of her employment.”

Clemson response to Washington Post story

Neff said that Clemson worked with the Washington Post during the story process and provided the newspaper a statement that it did not run in full, adding that he “couldn’t be more excited for Amy and her embarking on now officially starting our Clemson gymnastics” program.

A Clemson athletic department spokesperson provided that statement, as well as a statement given to the Post from Smith, to The State on Tuesday.

“As we do with all searches, Clemson did an extensive amount of research into Coach Smith’s background, including checking references from previous employers as well as third-party evaluators,” the statement from Clemson athletics read. “During this process, Clemson was not made aware of formal or informal investigations of Coach Smith from her previous institutions.”

“We take student-athlete treatment seriously and have confidence in Amy’s commitment to her student-athletes, as we’ve seen firsthand during her time at Clemson. We have invested significant resources into the support systems around our student-athletes, including anonymous reporting platforms, nutrition, sports performance, sports medicine, and mental health, to help address concerns should they arise. It is our charge, in collaboration with the staff, to create an environment at Clemson where our student-athletes feel supported physically, mentally and emotionally.”

In a statement that did not address specific allegations, Smith said: “The outpouring of support from the Clemson community has been incredible, and I have received a great deal of support from current and former student-athletes since becoming a Tiger. I am beyond thrilled about the culture we are building here at Clemson. Student-Athlete wellbeing is incredibly important, and I am confident in our ability to provide those resources at Clemson.”

Smith was one of Neff’s first coaching hires as Clemson athletic director after he replaced former athletic director Dan Radakovich in December 2021. In an April 2022 new release announcing her hiring, Smith thanked Neff, Clemson president Jim Clements, executive senior associate athletic director Stephanie Ellison-Johnson and “everyone who was part of the interview process here at Clemson.”

Neff said that ahead of hiring Smith, Clemson conducted “thorough” research into her and her background, but that was “no different” than how the school researches coaching hires in all 21 of its varsity sports.

“Nothing unique, so to speak, for her … but very thorough in the background and the support since,” Neff said. “So, excited about Amy and her support of our student-athletes, six of which transferred from Utah State with her here to Clemson. Just a lot of excitement, energy around that program at all levels.”

A Clemson spokesperson declined to comment further, including on the specifics of how the university vetted the allegations against Smith made on social media by Gordon and two other USU athletes after Clemson announced her as its coach.

Smith, according to a copy of her contract obtained by The State, is making $160,000 in base salary this year as part of a five-year, $825,00 agreement signed in 2022.

Why is Clemson adding gymnastics?

Clemson added women’s lacrosse and gymnastics teams to its sports offerings two years ago, marking the end of a messy saga in which the school initially decided to cut its men’s track and field and cross country programs in November 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic under former AD Radakovich (now at Miami).

The athletic department walked that decision back five months later in April 2021 amid public backlash and, following the reinstatement of the men’s programs, was legally required under Title IX legislation to add roughly 50 more “participation opportunities” for women at Clemson.

Clemson announced in June 2021 it would add women’s lacrosse and gymnastics programs to address that deficit and, as planned, will now be in full Title IX compliance during the 2023-24 athletic year as the gymnastics team debuts.

Recent start-up programs at Clemson have found immediate success. The softball team, led by All-American Valerie Cagle, has become a postseason lock since starting in 2020 and has reached consecutive NCAA Tournament Super Regionals. The women’s lacrosse team went 12-6 and 4-6 in the ACC in its inaugural 2023 season.

The school has also made a big investment in those sports and is in the process of finalizing a $37.5 million standalone lakefront facility to serve the women’s lacrosse, gymnastic and rowing teams. Clemson’s board of trustees approved the facility in February 2022 and the school broke ground in December 2022.

The gymnastics portion of the facility, according to a Clemson release, will include a practice gym, offices, locker room, lounge and a training room and will be fully operational and open by the time the gymnastics program starts competing.

Smith, in that release, said “there are not words to describe the level of excitement in getting to finally break ground on this project. … We cannot wait to get started in this world-class facility and give the Clemson family another thing to take pride in.”

Neff said Tuesday that Clemson has sold 2,500 season tickets for its gymnastics team, which ranked top five in the country despite the program not yet competing.

The gymnastics team will hold meets at Littlejohn Coliseum (home of the school’s men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams) and has an exhibition on Dec. 8 and its season opener at home on Jan. 12 against William & Mary.

“Clemson gymnastics will be really, really special, and our community couldn’t be more excited about that launch,” Neff said.