South Carolina football chaplain Adrian Despres won't return for an 18th season with the football team.
The team parted ways with the chaplain because, according to a spokesperson to The State, new coach Will Muschamp prefers "multiple voices available to assist with the spiritual development of the student-athletes."
Muschamp explained his decision at a Rotary Club meeting earlier this year. Via The State:
“There’s no question being a Christian is very important to me,” Muschamp told the group. “That’s not something I push on our players. It’s something I make readily available for our players. We don’t have a team pastor. We have a group of people who will come talk to our players at different times. When you narrow things down with one person and they get sideways with a player or two or three or there’s a portion of the team, I think it creates a little bit of an issue.”
Despres returned for what turned out to be his final season with the team after he had heart surgery for two blockages in an artery. He had been the team's chaplain under coaches Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier and interim coach Shawn Elliott, who replaced Spurrier after he retired during the 2015 season.
Per 24/7, the decision regarding Despres' employment was made in December.
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The Freedom from Religion Foundation wrote a complaint letter to USC before the 2015 season began with a request for the elimination of the chaplain position. The organization said Despres “preaches creationism, distorts his debating experience, proselytizes public university students and is paid by” USC, a public university. The organization had previously complained to Clemson about the close relationship the football team had with Christianity.
After the complaint in the spring of 2014, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney issued a statement saying all faiths were welcome at Clemson.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
