Who is Kelly Bryant? The new Clemson QB, explained by his high school coach

The Clemson Tigers don’t have National Championship legend Deshaun Watson any more, but they have another talented signal caller who’s attempting to make his own name for himself. Kelly Bryant will take on No. 14 Louisville Saturday night in the biggest stage he’s seen yet.

The junior’s had an impressive couple of outings as a starter already. During Clemson’s opener against Kent State, he put up 313 total yards and two scores, including this breezy bomb:

In a much bigger game, against Auburn, he put up 240 yards and rushed for two touchdowns, including this bruising run to cap an 88-yard drive.

In 2016, Clemson used Bryant in practice to simulate Louisville quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, according to Jeff Tate, Bryant’s former high school coach, in an interview with SB Nation.

A year later, Clemson defensive end Austin Bryant drew comparisons of Jackson and Bryant:

“(Lamar is) a special talent,” Bryant said. “He’s got a different gear. He’s strong, he’s fast. So it’s going to present us a great challenge, but I believe that we face that same thing in Kelly Bryant every day in practice. It should be just like putting practice on a game day atmosphere.”

Fellow defensive end Clelin Ferrell wasn’t quite as brash.

“Both of them are great athletes. Kelly, that’s the best look at what you’re going to get. Kelly don’t run as much as Lamar does, but you see that same type of athletic ability with Kelly. That makes it a lot easier for us to see guys like that on our (practice) field,” Bryant said. “We don’t get overwhelmed by anything that we see in our competition. Even though we respect everybody we play we don’t get overwhelmed because we feel like we have the best here and we go against it every day.”

Football is in the former Calhoun Falls, S.C., three-star recruit’s DNA — his cousin is Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant — and his high school career began in Abbeville High School, where he led the Panthers to a state championship in 2011 and a state championship berth in 2012. In the summer of 2013, he transferred to Wren High School, so that he could run a spread offense.

Tate, his coach at Wren, says the biggest thing Bryant had to get used to was reading defensive fronts, but the talent was always there.

“In his first game, I think about the third time he carried it, he went about 75 yards for a touchdown, and we really didn’t block anybody,” Tate says. “And I looked at one of our assistant coaches, and he looked at me and said, ‘Oh, he’s one of those?’

“I believe he is.”

During Bryant’s junior season at his new school, he threw for 2,800 yards and 28 touchdowns along with 1,200 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground. As a senior, he set school records, throwing for 3,579 yards and 41 touchdowns with 720 yards and 14 touchdowns rushing.

“We had one Division I receiver, who’s playing at Furman, so the other guys were really good high school football players, but he didn’t have an exceptional player who would have 1,200 to 1,400 yards himself,” Tate says. “So he was just one of those guys that understood that he had a role, and he knew how he was supposed to do it.”

Tate describes Bryant having several “popcorn droppers,” or moments “when people jump up and popcorn goes everywhere.”

“It’s magic,” Tate says. “There’s a lot of different things that people would say when they saw him play, because you’d never seen it before. You’d think ‘How does he do that? What an athlete,’ because he would make a throw and you’d go, ‘Oh my goodness, what the, woah.’ And then he would scramble, and you’d think he’s down and he’d pop out, and he’d be gone. He could fly; he’s a 6’4 kid who runs like he’s a 5’10 kid.”

His former head coach says Bryant leads through his actions, defined by humility.

“I think he was just a great example for everybody on how you’re supposed to work, how you’re supposed to act,” Tate says. “His teammates at Clemson will tell you, they love him to death because he’s a humble young man, and he’s a hard worker, and he understands you have to play the game with confidence, and you have to play it with respect.”

During his senior season at Wren, he developed a special bond with Tanner Duniho, a student with Down syndrome. The Independent Mail has a nice piece on their friendship:

It seemed normal to Kelly to hang out with Tanner, telling jokes and coming up with a secret handshake. Kelly grew up in Abbeville with a cousin with special needs, and the two of them would play basketball and bike together, Kelly said.

For Paula Duniho, Tanner’s friendship with Kelly is special.

“People look at Tanner and think, they might not understand what a sincere friendship means,” she said.

Though Tanner sometimes struggles with his speech, Kelly has no problem understanding him. Kelly helped Tanner feel part of something bigger than himself, Paula Duniho said. He helped Tanner feel cool.

“Kelly saw past his disability, and saw Tanner,” Paula Duniho said.

“He just was really too good to be true,” Tate says. “He was just one of those [where] you go, ‘Really?’ I’ve coached for many years, and I’ve been fortunate to coach really great players, and really great people, and he had to be all of it tied up in one.”

When the Tigers were recruiting him, Bryant knew he might have to wait for his opportunity.

”[Watson] said just go out there and ball,” he said as a freshman. “You know, don’t think too much about the situations. Just let everything take care of itself. I learned that the game can slow down for you if you relax, enjoy the moment, and have fun.”

During his two years behind Watson, Clemson fans still got glimpses of Bryant’s athleticism:

“The coaches were straight up front with me,” he said as a junior. “They told me how the depth chart was and how I would fit coming in. They were just being 100 percent honest with me, and that’s what I always love about people.”

As Clemson played Louisville during Week 3, Watson tweeted some high praise for Bryant.

Tate adds that being able to learn from the two-time Heisman finalist and first-rounder has served Bryant well:

“He got to sit behind, and go to practice with, and prepare with one of the best that’s played college football. I think that was one of those situations where he made the most of it because he observed him on how he handled things, and some of the things that he did and some of the things that he’d say. They have a good relationship. They’re good friends; they knew each other before either one of them got to Clemson. I think it was beneficial for him to play there while Deshaun was there as well, and I think he’ll tell you that. “

He also believes having Bryant helped push Watson to succeed.

“Kelly’s not one of those that’s just going to sit back and let you take it from him. He’s not just going to give it to you. If you get it, you’re going to earn it.”

“Talking to him before the [Auburn] game the other day, I said ‘Look, just go be KB,’ and he said, ‘Oh, yes sir, that’s all I can be.’ I hope that people will understand that he’s a special young man who is going to help Clemson win a lot of football games.”