There are a few things a quarterback competing for a starting job in the fall may not want to do in the spring. It seems as though Clemson’s Chad Kelly chose to ignore all of those things. Clemson removed Kelly from the roster after an eventful weekend and a pattern of bad behavior.
“I have dismissed Chad Kelly for conduct detrimental to our program,” said head coach Dabo Swinney in a released statement. “He has had a pattern of behavior that is not consistent with the values of our program. I hope he will mature and grow from this and become the man and player I know he can be. I wish him nothing but the best in the future academically and athletically.”
To get a sense of how this came to be, look no further than this past weekend’s various reports. It starts with a report saying Kelly had to be escorted off the field by Clemson police. Kelly’s tempers had flared with assistant coaches during Saturday’s spring game, in which he was benched and reportedly spent a good amount of time venting his frustrations at the expense of the coaching staff. Kelly’s spring game came to end following two drives ending with interceptions. Swinney commented on Kelly’s sideline behavior after the game.
“You’re not going to have guys crossing a line with the coaches just because they’re frustrated with whatever,” Swinney said according to The Post and Courier. “He got frustrated and reacted the way your leader can’t react. It’s just that simple.”
This should leave the job in Cole Stoudt‘s hands from here on out. Stoudt had a better spring game and he was the primary back-up to Tajh Boyd at the end of last season.