That definitely justifies Bryant quitting the team. That's a really important detail that the writer should have explained. However, quitting the team doesn't mean that he had to immediately drop out of school (I assume that's what happened, correct me if I'm mistaken). He could have continued his graduate school classes through the end of the semester, and then transferred after the season ended. Had he stayed enrolled as a student through the end of the season, I think he'd be deserving of a ring and I suspect that he would have received one.

The answer to the caveat in your last question is that no, the 4-game redshirt rule is not retroactive. It's really surpising to me that Bryant didn't redshirt during either his freshman or sophomore year when DeShawn Watson was the starter. To me, that's where Dabo is open to significant criticism. There was no need to put Bryant in for mop-up duty in those blowouts. It was a disservice to Bryant and put his own team at a disadvantage.

Contrasting this to Brian Kelly's treatment of Brandon Wimbush, you may recall that he used Wimbush for mop-up duty during 2015 after Malik Zaire went down, but in 2016 Kelly intentionally kept Wimbush out of those games in order to preserve his 5th year option. Had BK treated Wimbush the same way that Dabo treated Bryant, then it's likely that Wimbush would have left the team after he lost the starting position and Jurkovec would have been the starter for the FSU game. BK's preservation of Wimbush's 5th year option during 2016 wound up being in the best interests of both Wimbush and the ND team, so I think he deserves credit for that.

and I doubt Swinney cares very much whether or not Bryant stayed a student at Clemson - he's punishing him for leaving the team. If players that only participate on the practice squad get a ring why shouldn't a player that actually started games (and guided Clemson to a playoff berth the year prior) get a ring?

This is a vindictive measure for a player that helped the team. It's also asking a lot to tell a player at a football-centric school to hang around and take classes after quitting the team. I imagine the social implications would be significant.

Finally, Swinney's comments about paying athletes and "entitlement" are enough for me.

some precedent for a player who quit a team mid-season and dropped out of school to receive an award postseason. Is that a thing? If a high school football player drops out of school in the middle of the season, would the coach bring him back to campus for the postseason banquet and give him a championship ring? You tell me.

You're probably right that it may not have been practical for Bryant to attend classes after quitting the team, due to his notoriety. But if a lower level player tapped out mid-season (perhaps to focus on his studies, or just couldn't handle the physical toll) but still remained a member of the student body then I would consider him to be eligible for postseason awards such as a championship ring. That's just my own opinion about where I would draw the line, I probably shouldn't have speculated about what Dabo would do in that situation.

They accepted their role to help the team win a championship. Kelly has the swag from the years he played, including a 2016 championship ring. He doesn't have the swag from the year he quit. I don't see the controversy. I certainly wouldn't expect to get a ring in those circumstances.