CLEMSON — Clemson backup quarterback Chris Vizzina is still an unknown commodity at this point.

While he is now going into his third season with the Tigers, the redshirt sophomore hasn’t had much of an opportunity to display the progress he’s made since arriving on campus.

Vizzina did turn in a solid performance in the spring game, completing 7-of-8, but it’s a fairly small sample size in a glorified exhibition.

However, just because he has yet to really display his progress in front of the fan base, Dabo Swinney insists he and the rest of the coaching staff have seen it, and the head coach says the goal for next season is for him to keep progressing at the same pace.

“Just keep building, taking that next step,” Swinney said during Clemson’s annual media outing from the Smart Family Media Center on Tuesday. “We’ve seen it, y’all have not seen a lot of him.”

With Cade Klubnik in front of him on the depth chart, the staff has had the luxury to bring Vizzina along slowly.

“He came in here his freshman year and just sat. Very few reps,” Swinney said. “But that was our whole pitch to him in the recruiting process. He was 17 years old. That was our whole pitch. We are going to sit you a year.”

After redshirting that first year, Vizzina took over the role as the backup to Klubnik last season, meaning he was able to log a ton of reps in practice. The deeper the Tigers got into the season, the more action he saw in practice. Trying to manufacture game-like situations, Vizzina was given far more reps in two-minute situations, and that’s when signs of development were really seen.

“I thought he did a great job of just growing throughout the season,” Swinney said. “And in bowl prep, I really saw a nice jump in him even more. And he built on it this spring. He is progressing and I think he has a really good football player. He is big, he is strong, he is accurate, He can make all the throws. He really understands.”

Now, Swinney is looking for Vizzina to take that final step. Not only is he one play away from being the starter, but this is Klubnik’s final season, meaning the quarterback job will be wide open next year. The hope is that he can slide in and lead the offense once Klubnik’s career wraps up.

“The next thing for him is… hopefully, he gets more opportunity to play this year,” Swinney said. “Whether it is us manufacturing it, or we have some situations where we can get him in the game some. The next step is to just grow that confidence even more than where he was to where he feels like he can go compete to be the guy come January. Or prepare every day as the starter. You never know, he might have to go win a game for us. That has to be his mindset and that is what I challenged this summer. To prepare every day to be the starter.”