By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made no bones about it when speaking with the media on Tuesday –Cole Stoudt will be the Tigers’ No. 2 quarterback heading into spring practice, which begins on March 6.

“Cole right now is clearly our No. 2 guy,” Swinney said. “But I think it is going to be an interesting battle. Cole Stoudt is going to be a heck of a player. He has performed well for us and has helped us win games. He is the only other guy with any experience.”

The battle Swinney speaks off will be with redshirt freshman Chad Kelly, who currently sits as the No. 3 guy on the Clemson roster at quarterback. Kelly, the nephew of Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, was rated as the No. 4 quarterback prospect in the nation and No. 1 overall in the state of New York coming out of high school.

In high school, the All-American passed for 3,050 yards and 27 touchdowns his senior year, while also rushing for 991 yards and 14 more touchdowns. This past fall, Kelly really made a push for the No. 2 job in camp by outperforming Stoudt at times.

“Chad Kelly is coming off a redshirt year and was a guy that turned some heads in fall camp,” Swinney said. “I don’t think there is any question that is going to be a fun competition. That’s the way it should be. When you recruit well and you recruit at a high level, you should have good players at every position. That is the way it is supposed to be. I’m excited about it.”

Here is a closer look at Clemson’s depth chart at the quarterback position heading into the spring

Tajh Boyd, 6-1, 225, Sr.: Boyd is coming off a remarkable junior season in which he became the first Clemson quarterback in history to be named a First Team All-American. He also earned ACC Player of the Year honors and has a chance to be the first player since Florida State’s Charlie Ward to be named ACC Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Ward did it in 1992 and ’93. In 2012, Boyd broke the ACC record for touchdown responsibility (46) in a season and broke his own mark for touchdown passes (36). He threw for a school record 3,896 yards in 2012, while completing 67.2 percent of his passes.

“Tajh is clearly our starter and has earned that, but he has to come out there and work hard,” Swinney said. “When you come out there and see (Stoudt and Kelly) working hard and competing, it will make him better. They are all competitive. I think it is a good situation.”

Cole Stoudt, 6-5, 205, Jr.: Stoudt, who will wear the No. 18 this year, is coming off a season in which he played in eight games. In those eight games, all in mop-up duty, he completed 27 of 39 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Stoudt, who is the son of former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Cliff Stoudt, threw only one interception in his 39 pass attempts. He also ran the football 10 times for 55 yards and had two runs over 10 yards. In 2011, he came in for an injured Boyd in the Boston College game and led Clemson to a 36-14 win, including two scoring drives after Boyd went out with the game still in doubt.

“Cole is really kind of just a quiet guy,” Swinney said. “He does not really get the credit he deserves. He has been a critical part of our success the last couple of years. Every day, we have the confidence in knowing we have a guy like him ready to go in there for Tajh if needed.”

Chad Kelly, 6-2, 210, Fr.: Kelly really made a name for himself in fall camp as he impressed both Swinney and offensive coordinator Chad Morris. He seriously pushed Stoudt for the No. 2 job and he will get a serious look at being the No. 2 guy when spring practice begins. Though Boyd is clearly the No. 1 quarterback on the team and in the ACC for that matter, Kelly believes he could be the starter and he is confident enough in his ability to take over as the backup. Kelly pushing both Stoudt and Boyd for playing time will only make the quarterback position at Clemson that much stronger.

“Chad will be a redshirt freshman and Cole is going to be a junior and I don’t have any doubt those two are going to compete their tails off this spring in trying to win that second team spot and hopefully compete with Tajh,” Swinney said.

Donny McElveen, 6-2, 205, Sr.: With Tony McNeal declaring a medical hardship and Morgan Roberts transferring to Yale, Clemson lost some depth at quarterback so this will be an important spring for McElveen to be ready to go should something happen to one or two of the quarterbacks in front of him next fall. If you don’t think it is important, ask Maryland why the fourth string quarterback should be ready to go.

“As far as somebody separating (No. 2 and No. 3) this spring, I don’t know if that will happen,” Swinney said. “I’m sure by the time we get ready to crank it up and play the (Georgia) Bulldogs we will know who is going in as the number two guy and who is number three. Hopefully, this time next year we will have an opportunity to play more than one guy a little bit more often.”