Dabo Swinney addresses Bryan Bresee availability with sister, Ella, battling cancer

After Clemson’s Week 2 game against Furman, Bryan Bresee returned home to be with his family as his sister, Ella, battles brain cancer. With Week 3 just a few days away, Dabo Swinney made one thing clear: football should take a back seat.

Clemson was preparing to honor Ella at the game against Furman, but she couldn’t make it due to a setback in her treatment. Still, the Tigers gave her the game ball afterward and Bresee headed back to Washington, D.C. to be with her.

As for his status for Clemson’s game against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 17, Swinney reiterated Bresee will return whenever he’s ready. His family is more important at the moment.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“I don’t know and really don’t care,” Swinney said of when he thinks Bresee will come back. “As I said yesterday, there’s a lot more important things than football. He needs to focus on what he’s doing and [if] he’s ready to be back and ready to play, hey, we’ll be here. But right now, he’s right where he needs to be.”

As for how Ella is doing following the setback, Swinney said she’s facing quite a battle.

“I think she’s just really fighting for life every second of every minute,” he said.

Ella Bresee awarded game ball after Clemson defeated Furman

After Clemson’s Week 2 win — a 35-12 victory over Furman — Swinney said Ella missed the game because she had to be airlifted back to Washington, D.C. The whole team wore “Ella Strong” shirts to honor her.

“I’m proud of our team for how they’ve come alongside Bryan and his family – the Bresee family,” Swinney said after the game. “That’s what Ella Strong is all about today, something that we wanted to do as a team. Unfortunately, Ella wasn’t able to be here today. She was here all week, and she got a chance to speak to the team on Wednesday. But she had a real setback. They had to get her to the emergency room yesterday. They actually airlifted her back to DC today.”