Just the facts

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For months, Dabo Swinney has publicly wondered why people are so dang interested in a quarterback competition.

He has said it's no different than competition at any other position. Just last night, he noted that the media didn't flock to practice asking about Sean Pollard after Cade Stewart started over Pollard at right guard against Texas A&M.

Quarterback is treated differently because it is different. How many times have you heard a coach say "My right guard is 27-2 as a starter?" How often have you heard a coach say he gave his demoted defensive tackle a day off from practice to cope with it? How many times has a coach appeared genuinely distraught over a depth-chart shakeup at receiver?

ALSO READ: Not a good look for Kelly Bryant | Bryant's painful departure from Clemson | Where will Kelly Bryant land? | The impact on recruiting | What we are hearing on new backup QB Chase Brice

Swinney's take on this is not a big deal. Coaches talk to their team through the media all the time, and our guess is that's the basis for his "it's no different than any other position" position.

On matters that are a big deal relating to recent developments at quarterback, from this corner Swinney has handled it flawlessly. Which is to say that, in the course of making a difficult but justified decision to promote Trevor Lawrence, he has done everything possible to honor the feelings, the point of view, the reputation and the legacy of the player he demoted.

It is important to put ourselves in the shoes of Kelly Bryant, yes.

If you can think of a quarterback in college football history who faced a more difficult and daunting situation, succeeding a player the caliber of Deshaun Watson and preceding a player the caliber of Lawrence, please let us know. Bryant rightly viewed this as his team after the 12 wins and the CFP appearance. So being replaced, albeit not necessarily permanently, had to be extremely disappointing. That's understandable.

But it's also important to put ourselves in the shoes of the head coach.

We've seen no evidence to lead us to believe Swinney isn't being truthful when he says he adores Kelly Bryant. So imagine what it's like, after Bryant missed Monday's practice, being the head coach and seeing Bryant in Tuesday meetings and hoping he's going to decide to stick around.

Imagine what it's like to walk out to the practice fields later and see no sign of Bryant. To then send some staffers in search of him, just to make sure everything is OK.

The last thing you told Bryant was: "Hey, take your time. But I need to know something by 10:50 on Wednesday morning because that's when I'll be on a media teleconference and I have to say something."

(The last thing many coaches would have told him: "If your ass isn't at practice on Tuesday, you can pack your damn bags.")

Imagine getting back to your office after practice, picking up your phone and seeing a text from Bryant saying he's gone and thanks for everything.

Now imagine Bryant, who didn't deem it necessary to go face-to-face with his head coach to break the news to him, yet going face-to-face with a reporter to break the news to the world. And on top of that, announcing it by saying he wasn't treated fairly and felt like it was a slap in the face.

The emotions from these gut punches are still fresh when you make your appearance on the ACC teleconference. Yet you're as gracious as humanly possible as you answer the questions.

"Nothing changes how I feel about him," you say. "I think he’s one of the best young people I’ve ever been around. It’s impossible for me to say anything bad about him. And I hope nobody else does either. Just wish him well. Support him even though you might not like his decision, and we’ve got to move on."

By the time Wednesday evening rolls around, no one on the outside has moved on. The extraordinary masses of media who gather around you after practice aren't there to ask you anything about the upcoming opponent that embarrassed you a year ago.

Like most coaches you absolutely despise even the smallest of distractions. This has become a monstrous distraction, to the point that you probably feel like telling the reporters no more questions on this topic. You could always instruct Ross Taylor, your sports information director, to tell the media "Syracuse questions only, please." This is the way things are done at a lot of other places. And you could probably get away with doing it in this case.

And then you proceed to spend the next 18 minutes answering questions on the topic and nothing about Syracuse.

You are no longer trying to keep Bryant from making what you think is a poor decision. It's done and he's gone. At this point you could maybe express some displeasure at how Bryant handled it. You could maybe even just hint at some anger.

But you don't do it. You continue to give nothing but love to the kid, because that's how you feel about him. He's still your guy even if he's no longer The Guy at quarterback. Even if he's no longer in your locker room or on your practice fields.

This is how Swinney has always rolled. This needs to be emphasized in light of some of the garbage being spewed by a few former players on social media.

We've been around him since 2004, and even when he was a receivers coach he was relentlessly building up his players. Lavishing them with praise that in some cases might not have been deserved.

From then to now, if you ask him about a third-string bust he's probably going to tell you that the guy is this close to breaking out.

Even he has gone on record saying it's on the coaches when they miss on a prospect, that it's not the player's fault. It's all on them.

The former walk-on always has a soft spot not just for the stars who have made him a very rich man, but also for the obscure guys who are busting it and will probably never do much of note.

Swinney's elaborate touting of his players is something people like to joke about in some instances. But in this instance, it is a boldface confirmation that the man loves his players and almost always gives them the benefit of the doubt.

And now some of his former players are going after him for a decision that is 100-percent defensible.

Shameful.

There have been some slaps in the face over the past few days, no doubt. Except they're not coming from the head coach.

He's had their backs a lot more lately than they've had his.

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