QB Chad Kelly Commits to Clemson

Chad Kelly (6'3 205, 4.6 40), nephew of Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly, finally announced what we'd been expecting for the last few weeks and committed to Clemson today at a press conference at his school. Kelly turned down offers from Alabama and FSU among others. He's rated the #8 QB at his dual-threat position by Rivals and #29 by Scout, and carries the 3-star rating of both services, if that matters to you.

Lots of people are going to go bonkers over this commitment, and perhaps deservedly so, but I have my misgivings. Physically he is a fit for our system, and his coaching on footwork has been quite good. He throws well on the run and the system he played in HS translates well to our own. His arm strength is not the greatest, certainly not when compared to Voytik, but otherwise his mechanics are pretty sound and he throws a nice enough ball. He has a bit of a tendency to take it himself too much, but I'm not alarmed with that....pretty standard for a HS QB that can run this good.

My problem is more off-the-field. Chad has played on 3 teams because he's quit, for reasons I do not know. They may be understandable reasons, or his family had to move, I do not know for sure. I believe at one time he played in Pennsylvania and then later in Buffalo NY. If Saban called to personally offer him, it may be a non-starter issue. His competition in Buffalo NY was nowhere near what you see even in upstate SC. He blew off FSU coaches because he wanted to be the one and only signee in any class for a school. When it was apparent to him they wanted to sign 2, he said goodbye. All that I can say is that I get a "prima donna" vibe here and I never like that.


Kelly will be the only take at QB this cycle, giving us a total of 5 on scholarship.

Kelly passed for 2159 yards (137/249, 24 TDs, 8 INTs) and ran for 1057 (15 TDs) as junior.