Clemson Assistant Who Called Player a Racial Slur Reveals Himself in Apologetic Statement

The Clemson Tigers are a juggernaut college football program, and it takes a whole hell of a lot to drag them down. This week, unfortunately, they became ensnared in a bit of a scandal after former player Kenyon Tuttle suggested on Twitter that a member of the coaching staff had used a racist term in reference to a teammate.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that the player in question was tight end DJ Greenlee. Hours later, we learned the identity of the Clemson coach who uttered the objectionable word: special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Danny Pearman.

"It was just a heated argument during practice, basically," Greenlee told South Carolina newspaper The State. "Me and the coach got into it and I was speaking with one of my teammates. He heard me use the n-word, basically, and basically tried to correct me by saying the n-word back."

So, is it settled? Greenlee and Pearman are of one mind that the coach was repeating back something that he heard the player say to someone else. That 100% does not make his word choice okay -- not by a long shot, no sir -- though Greenlee did say that he eventually did accept an apology from Pearman.

This was clearly a heated situation. The hope is that, with the passing of time, tensions can resolve themselves through mutual understanding. With the world being where it is right now, that's all we can hope for.