Breaking: Kelly Bryant will transfer
Monday's news of Trevor Lawrence moving to the top of the depth chart didn't come as a surprise to anyone who has had a chance to watch the true freshman play. In fact, when we received the email announcing Lawrence as the starter, we were in the process of releasing a detailed data-driven analysis of the situation.
Then early Tuesday morning, we heard that Bryant missed practice on Monday. That was confirmed several hours later during his weekly press conference when Dabo Swinney announced that Bryant was given the day off after an "emotional" meeting following his demotion.
Swinney essentially confirmed what we wrote stating that the move to Lawrence was strictly about the "data."
Last night we confirmed that Bryant missed a second consecutive practice which raised eyebrows from everyone we spoke with about the situation. As we began to dig further into the situation, it started to look more and more like Bryant's time at Clemson was coming to a close.
We looked further into the situation yesterday after receiving several tips.
Today, ClemsonSportsTalk.com can confirm that Kelly Bryant will seek a transfer from Clemson and has left the program. Bryant was 16-2 as a starter at Clemson and never lost a regular season game that he started and finished.
Bryant told The Greenville News, “I feel like it's what's best for me and my future. 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.”
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 said.
Last season Bryant led the Tigers to the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 seed less than 10 months ago. During his four year career at Clemson, the senior from Calhoun Falls was a part of three consecutive CFB Playoff teams including being a member of the 2016 National Championship team.
Bryant finishes his career at Clemson with 311-470 for 3338 yards with 16 TDs and 10 interceptions.
We will have more on exactly what we heard and have on why and how it all went down after Dabo Swinney's ACC Teleconference this morning.