Moving on, getting over it: Clemson turns attention to the future

Just a few weeks ago, Kelly Bryant walked off Kyle Field to the roar of Clemson fans in attendance of Clemson’s 28-26 road win over Texas A&M.

The redshirt senior was an instrumental part of Clemson's victory that September day. The second-ranked Tigers would have fallen if it weren’t for his second-half performance.

Just before leaving the field, Bryant was with his surrounding teammates singing the Clemson alma mater. There was pure joy in that particular moment.

He was smiling.

That’s the lasting image Bryant should have been remembered by during his time at Clemson - his smile. Unfortunately, how Bryant has handled the last 72 hours will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of people in upstate South Carolina.

Bryant may have felt like the decision to go with Trevor Lawrence as starting quarterback this week was a “slap in the face” from Dabo Swinney and the coaching staff. But his comments to The Greenville News on Wednesday morning leaves a bit of a black eye on what had been a strong Clemson legacy.

A legacy that includes a 16-2 record as a starter, Most Valuable Player of the ACC championship, and the main reason Clemson reached the College Football Playoff for the third consecutive year. Heck, even holding the Clemson record for most wins over top 25 teams as a starter with six.

But to say Bryant didn’t have a “fair shot” is not accurate. This is the same player who beat out the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country a year ago in Hunter Johnson and over Zerrick Cooper. He kept the job and played well enough to keep the job one year later with an even better quarterback in Trevor Lawrence nipping at his heels.

Bryant and Lawrence’s stats were almost identical - until Georgia Tech where it was clear as day that the backup was more productive than the starter in that particular game. Swinney had always been open, honest, and transparent with the weekly competition.

And if he was going to continue to be fair - even with the accolades Bryant has collected - he had to go with the better player for the week.

In our eyes, Bryant had three options for how he could have responded once quarterback’s coach Brandon Streeter and Swinney delivered the news.

On the one hand, he could have kept his head down and kept competing. After all, co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott told us Monday morning that there was no indication that the plan would be any different this week than in weeks past.

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Lawrence would have been the first man out, followed by Bryant after a certain number of series. Who knows? Lawrence could have struggled, and Bryant could have come in, led Clemson to victory, and we’re right back to square one.

But Bryant didn’t want to pursue that option. He had already waited his turn behind Deshaun Watson for three years and was tired of waiting. It’s worth noting that there are not many players in Clemson history who have been in Bryant’s shoes of being sandwiched between the best player in school history and the second coming of that player.

We’re sure Bryant finally wants to be the guy. After proving he could win, he must feel he can contribute almost anywhere else in the country as QB1.

On the other hand, Bryant had the opportunity to redshirt due to the new rule, regain a year of eligibility, and leave after this season but remain with the team. He’s been a bonafide leader of Clemson’s locker room, and like Swinney said Wednesday night, Clemson isn’t a better team without him.

Swinney understood Bryant’s decision to leave the team. He wanted the quarterback he loves to do what he felt was best for him. But we can’t help but mention that Swinney brought up how Cole Stoudt felt when Watson took the job from him.

There were tears and it was emotional, but Stoudt kept plugging along and ended up being the MVP of the Russell Athletic Bowl when the team needed him most.

But Bryant decided to go with the third option - leaving the program completely and immediately. After getting the day off Monday, the quarterback came back and met with Swinney to talk about things.

He went to position meetings, followed by team meetings. Then, when Clemson went out to practice, the man in a No. 2 purple jersey was nowhere to be found.

Bryant had walked out of Clemson’s indoor facility for the final time. Perhaps sitting in meetings and realizing he was going back to being the backup again was too much for him - or not enough.

After practice, Swinney got to his phone and saw a text message from Bryant telling the head coach his decision. He thanked him for his opportunity and apologized. That was that.

Swinney said Wednesday morning, “this isn’t middle school” and he had to make the tough decision. But this has all the makings of a middle school breakup.

So what do you do after a breakup? You move on. You get over it.

It’s time for Clemson to swiftly shift its attention from what has to be a distraction to an undefeated Syracuse team. The Trevor Lawrence era of Clemson football has begun after the fourth quarterback transfer since January.

Swinney has gone from having a stockpile of quarterbacks at his helm to asking the media if we had any eligibility left. It’s wild.

“That’s the world we live in,” Swinney said. “Welcome to 2018.”

And that’s the territory Clemson has set up for itself. But this is almost uncharted territory as Clemson only has one more quarterback recruited on scholarship behind Lawrence in Chase Brice.

Then there’s Ben Batson, who is coming back to practice this week after an injury. Finally, there’s Hunter Renfrow who of course could play quarterback if it ever came to that.

Swinney didn’t say if there has been a player that has rallied the troops this week in the locker room. He tries to distance himself from the conversations that go on in there. The head coach only met with the seniors on Monday.

One could only hope a Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell, or a Renfrow corralled the team together this week in Bryant’s absence and got them focused for the task at hand. That’s all Clemson can do now - move forward with Lawrence as the man behind center.

But Bryant has to move on, too.

There’s a team out there who is about to get a very solid quarterback and will make a team better. But the way Bryant left things at Clemson was not a good look and felt like a bad breakup. Quite frankly, he may want to keep any more comments to himself moving forward.

But Clemson fans should do exactly what Swinney has done: wish Bryant nothing but the best and do it with class.

Swinney made a decision that he felt was best for the team. Bryant made a decision that he felt was best for himself. It’s best we leave it at that.

There’s a bible verse, Proverbs 16:9, that says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

There’s little doubt that Bryant’s next step will be forward in the right direction. His Clemson legacy should not be defined by how he left things, but by what he was best known for - his smile.

But it’s time to move on. Onto Syracuse.