Spring Football Game – Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Dabo Swinney

On Chad Kelly Injury“It looks like a torn ACL. We will see the MRI results to make sure. It was tough. We had a purple jersey on him, but he got hurt making a cut and the leg gave way. I am very disappointed and I know Chad is. Travis Blanks (involved in the play) did nothing wrong.

“Chad was so fired up to play in this game and compete. He had a great start (6-7 passing on first drive, plus 14 yards rushing and touchdown pass to Charone Peake) on the first drive. He is going to work hard and come back. It is in his DNA. I heard Jim Kelly (Chad’s uncle) speak recently and he was told his arm was through because of injury. But he came back and ended in the Hall of Fame.

“He will overcome it and come back. He could help us late this coming season. Look what Adrian Peterson did for the Minnesota Vikings this year after suffering a torn ACL.”

On Other Quarterbacks“Cole Stoudt was outstanding the entire game. He was competitive and showed enthusiasm. He hit some big throws and that was good to see. I also thought the other quarterbacks played well. Nick Schuessler and Donny McElveen did not get a lot of reps in the spring, but they were prepared and showed it today.”

On Other Injured Players“I don’t believe Kalon Davis and Sam Cooper have severe injuries, but we will get a report on them. They were both knee injuries as well. That was a bad run there early in the game (all three knee injuries took place within the first 20 plays of the game.)”

Overall“Overall I am satisfied with how we finished the spring. We had two physical scrimmages offense vs. defense, then divided the team today in a split squad today. When you do that you will have some thin spots. The defense dominated the scrimmage on Monday. I know we are going to be much improved on defense. I have seen that this spring.

“Vic Beasley and Grady Jarrett have been disruptive all spring. Beasley is a hard guy to block and Grady was our co-MVP on defense last year with Tig Willard. I expect them to have very good seasons.”

Holding Boyd Out tToday“We decided this week we wanted to see what Chad Kelly and Cole Stoudt could do so we held Tajh Boyd out of the last three scrimmages situations with the exception of a few plays. We know what Tajh Boyd can do.

“We wanted to see Kelly and Stoudt compete and they did.”