Kelly Bryant says he does not have to prove anything to anyone if he wants to be Clemson’s starting quarterback in the fall. The Tigers’ junior quarterback, who is in an intense battle with Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson to be the defending national champions’ next quarterback, says all he has to do is be the best Kelly Bryant he can be.

“I just have to keep it simple and just be me,” Bryant told The Clemson Insider in an exclusive interview from the Anderson County Touchdown Club on Wednesday. “I don’t have to be someone else. I don’t have to go out and try to prove myself that I have to be good. I just have to be Kelly Bryant. I just have to be consistent. That is pretty much it.”

Bryant was in Anderson on Wednesday as the Anderson County Touchdown Club honored Clemson’s 2016 National Championship. The junior was joined by other Anderson area Clemson players Ben Boulware and Kendall Joseph, as well as guest speaker, Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

Bryant of course won a Western AAA Championship at Wren High School back in his high school days. Wren is located in Anderson County.

“It was very special getting to come back,” Bryant said. “Being back to where I was when I was in high school and getting to sit in one of those chairs and looking back how time has passed, it is just an honor. Seeing the guys get their awards and hearing Ben and Coach V speak. It was a very special night and I was glad I got to be here.”

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback just wrapped up spring practice at Clemson, where he came out of the spring workouts as the Tigers’ No. 1 quarterback for the time being.

“I feel confident,” he said. “I feel like my confidence level is there. I’m just getting back to playing football.  I’m just having fun with it and reacting. That is something I felt good about afterward and taking from it and being a more consistent player. That is pretty much where I am at.”

Bryant said his plan this summer is to put a heavy emphasis on watching film and studying himself. He said he is going to go back and watch every practice and every rep so he can try to get a better sense of what he needs to do better and what he is good at as well.

“Why did I do it well? Why I did it bad? What I can learn from it? Take it and apply it to the season,” he said.

As for the Clemson offense as a whole, Bryant says they still have a ways to go before fall camp starts.

“It is just consistency on offense and being able to coordinate chemistry and leadership,” he said. “So that is one thing we take from the spring. Going into the summer and just attacking it, those are two of the main things and building that chemistry as we go.”

The Tigers will begin summer workouts in a few weeks and will start fall camp in August.