Dabo Swinney calls for change to how NCAA handles failed drug tests
The college football world learned Monday that Clemson may be without start DT Dexter Lawrence after he tested positive for a banned substance (ostarine).
Clemson coaches and administrators’ reaction to the news has been surprise as Lawrence was one of three players to test positive. The trio is made up of players in different position groups from different recruiting classes.
The result of the “B sample” will ultimately determine whether Lawrence and others are ruled to have taken the substance or if the first test was a false positive. If the “B sample” tests positive, the players would be suspended for 365 days (as was the case with Will Grier in 2015-16).
The suspension, beyond the College Football Playoff, is unlikely to impact Lawrence, a junior and potential first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. But the process of how the NCAA handles failed tests has Clemson coach Dabo Swinney calling for change.
“My big thing I think there should be a common-sense committee, to be honest with you,” Swinney said, per USA Today. “I think a common sense committee would easily look at this situation [differently].
“I don’t think that’s part of the process, I don’t think that committee exists. I think that’s more of a set process and it is what it is. We’re all at the mercy of that process.”
Clemson is expect to learn the results of the “B sample” test by Thursday evening.