What Dabo said about Kelly Bryant’s decision to transfer

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spoke about Kelly Bryant’s decision to transfer on the ACC teleconference Wednesday morning. Here is what he said:

On Bryant’s decision

“Obviously saddened and disappointed that he’s chosen to leave the team, but I really have absolutely nothing bad that I can say about Kelly Bryant. He’s one of the best young people that I’ve ever been around. And even though I don’t think this is a great decision I certainly respect it. It doesn’t change anything I feel for Kelly. I love him, care about him. I wish him nothing but the best. I’m sad that he has made this decision. All I can say is another program, wherever he decides to go, is going to get a quality quarterback and a very quality young man.

“We appreciate everything that Kelly gave to this program while he was here. He’s a graduate and one of the best young people you could ever be around. It’s disappointing, but that’s where we are and something he decided he felt like was best for him. So you have to respect that. As far as the decision, as the coach sometimes you have to make the tough decisions that are in the best interest of the team, and this is one of those decisions. I would make it all over again, because I believe that it’s what’s right for our team. I feel like Kelly would’ve continued to help us win and play a lot, but that’s not what he wanted to do.

“I certainly could’ve started him this week, which would’ve limited his options, but that’s not how we operate here. That’s not who we are. So at the end of the day it is what it is. I love Kelly. I wish him all the best. I appreciate everything he’s done for this university, this team. I respect his decisions and wish him all the best. As far as us and our team we’ll take what we’ve got and get back to work and see if we can play our best game against Syracuse. So that’s where we are.”

On Bryant expressing that he did not get a fair shot

“He’s totally entitled to his opinion, but absolutely I think we’ve given him a fair shot. I’ve always tried to be as open and honest and transparent as possible with Kelly throughout the process, as we are with all of our players.

“He won the job after Deshaun Watson. And he beat out the No. 1 quarterback in the country to do that in Hunter Johnson, and another highly recruited quarterback in Zerrick Cooper. They’ve both gone on to play elsewhere. He won the job, and he was the starter for us all of last year and did a great job. And then he came out of camp and was slightly ahead. And so he continued to start these first four games. But like I said, I definitely feel like he’s been given a fair shot. I don’t think there’s any question about that. But at the end of the day this is not middle school. There’s tough decisions that have to be made at this level and you’ve got to do what’s best for the team.

“I’ve had many, many players that have beaten out veterans over the years. Nuk Hopkins when he came here in ’09, he was the best receiver and he beat out several veterans. Sammy Watkins, he beat out seniors as a true freshman. Dexter Lawrence. ... We had a bunch of veteran d-tackles when Dexter Lawrence got here and he won the job. He was the best player. Christian Wilkins, the day he got here was just the best player, and we had several veterans on the team. Deshaun Watson, a couple games in he wins the job. He’s the best player. My job is to do what’s best for our program. I have to be responsible to everybody on this team. Mitch Hyatt, he comes in here and he wins the starting left tackle job as a true freshman, and there was a lot of veterans on the team. So it just kinda comes with the territory. And again, it’s unfortunate but he’s entitled to his opinion and how he feels and you just have to respect that.

“When you’re in a leadership role sometimes you have to make very tough decisions. There’s always gonna be people that are going to criticize the decision because maybe it didn’t go the way they wanted it to go or whatever. And that just comes with the territory.

At the end of the day you can’t worry about that stuff. You’ve got to make decisions based on what you think’s right and what your convictions are, and you keep moving forward. But there’s no question he had a very fair shot here. I’ve been honest and open and as transparent as possible. But he’s entitled to feel however he wants to feel. And nothing changes how I feel about him. I think he’s one of the best young people I’ve ever been around. It’s impossible for me to say anything bad about him and I hope nobody else does either. Just wish him well, support him, and even though we may not like his decision or whatever we’ve gotta move on. That’s just the way we are.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 11:50 AM.