Even when he was a little boy playing for the local recreation department, Kelly Bryant was dancing before his football games.

“I always have to dance,” Clemson’s junior quarterback said. “That’s just calms me down. It relaxes me as well and allows me to have fun.”

Bryant is having a lot of fun these days. The Calhoun Falls, S.C., native has second-ranked Clemson undefeated through the first five weeks of the season and his happy-go-lucky persona is one reason why.

Like his predecessor, Deshaun Watson, Bryant does not seem to let the moment get to him. He stays calm and has fun even when 66,000 fans are rooting against him like he experienced last Saturday night in Blacksburg, Va.

“It is just something that I have been doing all of my life,” Bryant said. “It is just the best way for me. I just try not to focus too much on one thing. I try not to let anything get to me or put too much pressure on myself.

“That’s what my parents have always told me. Just continue to be you. Continue to smile through the good and the bad and just try not to let anything change you or change the person that you are. It’s just who I have been since I was a little kid running around with a smile on my face, just a happy demeanor.”

Bryant’s happy demeanor and confidence is something the Clemson coaches have always noticed. They felt it could be an asset when the Tigers traveled to Louisville and Virginia Tech for big conference games on the road. However, they still did not know how he was going to respond under the pressure.

He passed with flying colors. Bryant’s calm demeanor is why he rallied the Tigers back to beat Auburn after a slow start. Bryant’s demeanor is why Clemson crushed the Cardinals in Papa John’s Stadium when it was supposed to be Lamar Jackson’s time to shine. Bryant’s demeanor is why the Tigers cruised to an easy win over Virginia Tech when everyone thought he might struggle against Bud Foster’s defensive schemes and coverages.

“It did not take me by surprise. We just have not seen it. So you did not know,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “That is one thing we always say, ‘until those guys get under the lights, you don’t know how those guys are going to respond.’

“He has always had a calm, collective, quiet demeanor about himself. He is loose enough to keep the other guys loose around him, but he is also focused enough. To see him perform in two big venues on the road with a lot of adversity with the way that he has responded is a testament to who he is. I think it goes back to how he has been brought up, where he comes from and just the character of the young man.”

But it just isn’t how calm and relaxed Bryant is, but it also goes back to how he prepares for a game. Working with Watson the last two years taught him how to prepare for an opponent and why it is so important. That influence has been seen all season, especially on the opening drive against Virginia Tech last Saturday night.

Foster, who has played zone much of the year, brought pressure on Bryant on that opening series which led to a Clemson field goal. The first time he did it, Bryant made the right read and hit Ray-Ray McCloud with a 27-yard pass. Three plays later, on another third-down play, he found Hunter Renfrow for a 16-yard gain to the three-yard line.

On third-and-goal from the six, he again made the right read and threw a perfect pass in the back of the end zone to Deon Cain. However, the Hokie defender made a better play and broke the ball up. But the decision by Bryant was a good one.

After he saw Bryant was carving his defense up and was making the right throws, Foster dialed back on the pressure and played zone for much of the night.

“That is one of the things he benefited from the most being around Deshaun. How do you prepare as a quarterback, and just like Deshaun you see him go above and beyond what you ask him to do,” Elliott said. “He is in here on his own. He already has his notes together. When he is in between classes you always see him. Whenever he has spare time, he is in here preparing.

“That gives him that confidence and that calm demeanor. The same way as coaches, we should be calm and have a good feeling because we prepare.”

It gives Bryant’s teammates a good feeling, too.

“Kelly is a leader and we love him back there,” Clemson right tackle Sean Pollard said. “The O-line loves him. He is goofy. That is the best way I can describe Kelly. He loves being calm, and the lights are not too big for him. He definitely embraces the studying process so he knows what he is going into. He is not going to be overwhelmed once he gets into the game.

“The best way I can describe Kelly, and he is my boy and we are both history majors and we both have similar personalities, but he is just a goofball and it is awesome blocking for him.”

Bryant just tries to be the same guy no matter the situation. No matter if they are down 6-0 late in the second quarter to Auburn or if they are up 26 points on the road at Louisville.

“Everybody is going to be looking at me and seeing how my body language is so I try to stay as consistent and as true to me as I can be,” he said. “A lot of guys rally around that so that is how I am going to be.

“I’m always smiling and I will say some funny stuff here or there when we are on the sideline, just to the offensive line.”

And he might even break out into a little dance too.

—Photo Credit: Lee Luther Jr.-USA TODAY Sports