Dabo Swinney made a change at quarterback earlier this week, and as a result, the quarterback who led Clemson to an ACC championship and the College Football Playoff last season will continue his career elsewhere. While senior signal caller Kelly Bryant had started every game this season for the Tigers, he was part of a rotation with highly-touted true freshman Trevor Lawrence.
Both quarterbacks played well to one extent or another, but Bryant’s edge with his legs — he has 106 more rushing yards and two more touchdowns — wasn’t enough to keep Lawrence at bay. It was announced that Lawrence will be the starter moving forward, but according to co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, “He’s gotta prove it in practice and prove it in the next game, and when Kelly gets his opportunities, he’ll have his chance to compete.”
This opportunity will not pop up, though, as Bryant announced his decision to transfer on Wednesday morning via The Greenville News.
“I feel like it’s what’s best for me and my future,” Bryant said. “I was just going to control what I could control and try to make the most of my opportunity, but at the end of the day, I just don’t feel like I’ve gotten a fair shot.”
He went on to discuss the meeting he had with Swinney about his demotion, saying that he hadn’t felt like he did anything to lose the Tigers’ starting job before going on to proclaim “I’ve never been a distraction. I’ve never been in trouble with anything. To me, it was kind of a slap in the face.”
Bryant was the signal caller for the Tigers last season and was given the unenviable task of being the guy who replaced Deshaun Watson. While he didn’t set the world on fire, he did an admirable job for Clemson, completing 65.8 percent of his throws for 2,802 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He chipped in another 665 yards and 11 scores on the ground, and navigated the team to a 12-1 record, an ACC title, and the No. 1 overall seed in the Playoff, where the Tigers went on to lose to Alabama.
The quarterback room became a little more crowded with the addition of Lawrence, the top recruit in the class of 2018. The Tigers rotated the two this season, with Lawrence showing off his golden arm when he would take the field — he completed 65 percent of his passes for 600 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Bryant, meanwhile, had slightly better accuracy numbers (66.7 percent) while throwing for fewer yards (461) and touchdowns (two).
Bryant can play immediately next season following the NCAA’s revised redshirt rules, which gives players the opportunity to appear in four games and still be eligible to receive a redshirt. Now, he has the opportunity to use that to his advantage, redshirt this season, and give another team the opportunity to throw someone with a 16-2 career record under center in 2019.
