CLEMSON | Kirby Smart created headlines recently when he revealed an alleged recruiting tactic by a coach or coaches outside the SEC.

"You wouldn't believe what some coaches outside our conference tell kids," Smart told Paul Finebaum. "They'll sell to a kid that it's better to not go to the SEC because it's too tough. It's too competitive, too physical. You might get banged up, you might not have the career there you'd have somewhere else.

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"That's not the way the NFL kids are looking at it and that's not the way the coaches are looking at it. They want to take kids that compete at the highest level. That play in those big-time matchups. And that's what the kids want. They want to play in the biggest games in the biggest places. So for a coach in another conference to sell that it might be a little bit easier path to come over here and go this way, it just speaks volumes. You want kids to see through that."

Finebaum created another news cycle by saying he thought Smart was talking about Dabo Swinney.