UPDATED: Aug. 30, 2017 at 12:30 p.m.
As Deshaun Watson held the 2017 national championship trophy, Kelly Bryant stood at the back of the podium, basking in the orange and purple confetti. Bryant, Clemson’s third-string quarterback, glanced over at Watson, visioning himself in 2018, holding his own trophy.
“I feel like I could be on that podium,” Bryant said. “I’m not going to sell myself short.”
Watson graduated in three years as the most decorated Tiger in history. Now, Clemson’s signal caller is a junior who has not yet appeared in a single-score game. Bryant leads a program searching for its second consecutive title, yet he has completed only 13 career passes for 75 yards and has made just 12 appearances in two years. No. 5 Clemson, which travels to the Carrier Dome for a date with Syracuse on Oct. 13, is the only team in the Associated Press Top 10 replacing its quarterback.
There was once a time when no one thought Bryant would be a Power 5 quarterback. Bryant stared at Abbeville (South Carolina) High School, where he became the first freshman quarterback to start in school history, said head coach Jamie Nickles. He was a threat on the ground, not in the air. College coaches offered him a scholarship, though not as a quarterback. His first two schools, South Carolina and Clemson, offered him as “an athlete.”
But Bryant wanted to play quarterback. The then-sophomore looked to coach Ramon Robinson, a former professional quarterback.
“When he threw the ball,” Robinson said, “it didn’t look normal. I had to start at ground zero.”
“My footwork was terrible,” Bryant said. “I’d never done a five-step drop. I’m not in shape. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
At the time, Bryant struggled to do basic passing drills and he could only throw it about 30 yards. In March 2013, Bryant was named MVP at a football camp. Afterward, Robinson spoke with then-Clemson assistant coach and recruiter Chad Morris. Bryant still had a Clemson offer only as an athlete. Robinson asked Morris for a few more months of training and promised when Morris would see Bryant next, that athlete tag would turn into a scholarship to play quarterback.
That July, Bryant made a decision that changed the course of his career. He transferred from run-heavy Abbeville to Wren High School, about 50 miles away, with its spread offense under head coach Jeff Tate.
“There was no way no anyone was going to offer him as a quarterback at Abbeville,” Robinson said. “During his two years I think he only threw the ball 62 times.”
That changed under Tate, who thrust Bryant in as the captain of a high-volume passing offense. In two years there, Bryant totaled for 6,235 yards.
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After Bryant’s junior year, his father, Russ, pulled up to the gate outside Memorial Stadium on the final day of a high school camp at Clemson. As Bryant headed for the car, Morris noticed Bryant’s Clemson orange cleats, strikingly similar to the school’s. Morris thought they belonged to the team, so he called Bryant back. Russ explained he bought them for his son. He could wear them in two years, because the Tigers offered him as a quarterback, not an athlete.
Clemson wanted him as a quarterback. After a quick conversation, Bryant and Russ climbed into their Buick LeSabre. Bryant was ecstatic.
As the pair drove home, listening to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” Bryant belted, “I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life.”
When he arrived at Clemson, Bryant was the third-string quarterback, behind Watson and Nick Schuessler. While Bryant barely saw the field, Watson was twice named quarterback of the year. In January, he led Clemson to its second-ever national championship.
“All my life,” Bryant said, “I’ve been used to being the guy. I had to take a back seat.”
In two years, Bryant has not attempted more than five passes in a game. Once as a freshman, with Clemson ahead 45-0 against Miami, Bryant entered the game in the fourth quarter. Russ and his wife, Deborah, didn’t expect their son to be in yet. Deborah was driving home from the grocery store, expecting to be home in time.
After completing his first collegiate pass, Bryant dropped back on the next play and then tucked and ran. He split a gap at the line of scrimmage and shot between a linebacker and two safeties. Bryant outraced everyone for a 59-yard touchdown.
It was the only game Deborah and Russ missed. Russ was on the way home from work when Deborah called. Immediately he slammed down on the gas to catch the rest of the game.
“I was like Jeff Gordon,” Russ said. “The tires were smoking.”
Bryant added another rushing score to finish the game with 69 yards on the ground and his first two collegiate touchdowns.
Two years later, Bryant beat out Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson for the starting spot. After the championship, Schuessler graduated and Watson left for the NFL.
Bryant succeeds the program’s greatest player. After he was named the starter headed into camp, there was no celebration in the Bryant household. He went to the gym to work out.
“There are a lot of people who have played quarterback at Clemson,” Tate said. “And they’ve all followed someone.”
Banner photo courtesy of Clemson Athletics
CLARIFICATION: In a previous version of this post, the number of yards totaled by Kelly Bryant during his two years at Wren High School was unclear. Bryant totaled 6,235 yards while at Wren.
Published on August 30, 2017 at 12:45 am
Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu
