Swinney responds to Bryant transferring, 'slap in the face' comment

by Tony Crumpton - Assoc. Editor - Wed Sep 26 19:07:43 GMT-04:00 2018

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney spoke with the media Wednesday night and the major topic obviously was the transfer news of senior quarterback Kelly Bryant.

“Everyone’s here to talk about what we’ve already talked about," Swinney said. "I don’t know what else we can add other than to move on, he’s a great man and we support him, even though we don’t necessarily agree with him. We got to move forward, we aren’t a better team without him. It’s like a season-ending injury, just have to move on.”

Swinney said that he has to worry about the players that will compete on Saturday against an undefeated Syracuse squad.

“We’ve got what we got and we’re excited about being back on the field. We’re going to move on and it’s going to be about this team and the guys that are here.”

Bryant will transfer using a new redshirt rule by the NCAA that was implemented this year for players that play four or fewer games in a season.

"It’s 2018 we have new rules, and if he thinks that’s best for him then you have to accept it and move on."

Swinney was asked about the controversial 'slap in the face' comments by Bryant.

“No, I don’t think he’s worried about how it was handled," Swinney said. "He is entitled to his feelings. I’m not going to tell him how he should or shouldn't feel. He's entitled to feel however he wants to feel.”

Swinney sat down with Bryant for a face-to-face chat on Monday and tried to convince him to stay at Clemson.

"When we first met on Monday we talked about the situation and I tried to encourage him to move forward and go back to work, but he was emotional," he said. "He was not in a good place, he was disappointed, so we talked about all of the options."

Swinney has nothing but love for Bryant as he tries to continue his football career at another school.

"It’s very difficult when you really love somebody, you would love to see it work out a certain way but things don’t always work out the way you want it."

Chase Brice is now the backup quarterback, followed by Ben Batson, and Hunter Renfrow is now the emergency signal-caller.