The Tigers entered their spring game down one quarterback after
Deshaun Watson injured his collarbone five days earlier, and fellow signal caller
Chad Kelly might have simplified the QB battle for the coaching staff down the stretch -- just not in a good way.
Kelly got himself benched for the second half after questioning a punting decision on fourth down in the second quarter.
http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/69190/acc-spring-games-recap
That is a very sanitized version of the events with Chad Kelly. The one below is from the local paper this weekend.
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140412/PC20/140419727
Kelly finished the first quarter with a flurry (a 32-yard lob to Daniel Rodriguez and a 14-yard dart to Demarre Kitt), but followed with an ill-advised forced throw into double coverage, getting intercepted on the goal line by Adrian Baker.
On his next possession, Kelly again challenged two defenders, and Garry Peters picked him off. Later in the half, the Orange squad faced a 4th-and-3 in White territory, play-caller Jeff Scott opted to punt, and Kelly was irate.
He let the coaches hear it at halftime. The coaches' response was to bench Kelly for the entire second half, which he spent fuming on the sideline - even sniping into the fourth quarter at nearby coaches.
"You're not going to have guys crossing a line with the coaches just because they're frustrated with whatever," Swinney said. "He got frustrated and reacted the way your leader can't react. It's just that simple."
Kelly's final statline was 10-for-18 for 113 yards and two interceptions; while the quarterbacks couldn't be tackled, thus stunting his scrambling ability, his lasting impression was the pouting as much as the picks.
"Chad Kelly is an awfully talented young man. Made a couple impulse decisions today that were kind of out of character for him," Swinney said.
"The biggest thing is he got frustrated.
Maturity, leadership, that's a huge part of that position. Those are two things he's got to continue to work on. It's a lot more than just the skills."
