Though Trevor Lawrence undeniably catapulted the Clemson Tigers into the champions that they were last season, the freshman quarterback began the season as a backup.
For the first four games, Kelly Bryant was the starter at quarterback for Clemson, leading the Tigers to a 4-0 start despite some shaky performances. He just won’t be getting a championship ring.
Bryant transferred to Missouri shortly after being demoted to the backup role, and at the time, head coach Dabo Swinney wasn’t too pleased with Bryant. It turns out that he still doesn’t think that the quarterback responsible for 27 percent of the team’s wins deserves a ring.
Swinney explained his reasoning via ESPN:
“He wasn’t on the team. You’ve gotta be on the team to get a ring. I love Kelly and appreciate what he did for us, but he decided to move on.”
That seems a bit harsh.
While Bryant likely wouldn’t take any credit for the 2018 title, he was still a part of the team. He started games. He was there for the offseason program. You can’t tell the Clemson championship story without Bryant being a part of the journey.
Bryant threw nine passes in 2016 and received a ring for that Clemson championship as a member of the team.
Swinney could have easily avoided this situation by giving Bryant a ring for his part on a championship team and wishing him the best at Mizzou.
He just decided to go a different route.
