Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said in late January that he is the one who made the decision not to sign a transfer quarterback this offseason, and that rising redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina earned the “pole position” to be the Tigers’ QB1 when spring practice starts.
Now, spring practice is here. On Wednesday, Clemson began the first of 15 spring practices which will conclude at the end of March.
So, what does Swinney want to see from Vizzina this spring as he competes to be the Tigers’ starting signal caller this fall? Swinney was asked that question when he met with the media Wednesday afternoon prior to the Tigers’ first practice of spring ball.
“I want to see him take it and run with it,” Swinney said. “As I said, he’s got the pole position, so I want to see him show up every day, not get too high, not get too low, and just show up every single day and prove it. Just bring that edge every day. Obviously you want to see leadership at that position. I think he’s a natural. He’s got a lot of great relationships with guys on this team. He’s not a guy that just showed up here. He’s been working toward this.”
Before enrolling at Clemson in January 2023, Vizzina was ranked among the nation’s top prospects in the 2023 recruiting class. The high four-star had more than 30 offers, including from some of the best football programs in the country.
Heading into 2026 after his first three years at Clemson from 2023-25, Vizzina has completed 61 percent of his passes for 596 yards and four touchdowns with one interception in 238 career offensive snaps across 14 games (one start), while also rushing for 109 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries.
Though Vizzina is entering his fourth year with the Tigers, it will be his first in new offensive coordinator Chad Morris’s system.
“I really just want to see him take command of the offense,” Swinney said of Vizzina. “It’s been very familiar for me, obviously. It’s been very, very familiar to me, but it’s a little different for him with Chad being in here now.
“But it’s been fun. It’s been fun watching all those guys prepare. But again, [I want to see Vizzina] show up every day. Prove it, earn it. Great leadership, great command of what he’s doing, and handle the good times and the tough times, because they’ll both happen in practice.”
This past season, Vizzina appeared in five games, completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 406 yards and four touchdowns with one interception, while also rushing for 41 yards on 25 carries. He made his first career start vs. SMU at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 18, as Cade Klubnik missed the contest after suffering a sprained ankle in the Tigers’ game at Boston College one week earlier. In the 35-24 loss to SMU, Vizzina completed 29-of-42 passes for 317 yards with three touchdowns for a pass efficiency rating of 156.0. He did not throw an interception, though he fumbled twice and lost one of them.
Along with Vizzina, other quarterbacks on Clemson’s 2026 roster include Chris Denson, who will be a redshirt freshman this coming season, and former walk-on Trent Pearman, who will be a redshirt senior. Clemson also signed a pair of quarterbacks in its 2026 recruiting class – four-star Tait Reynolds and three-star Brock Bradley.
Swinney likes the talent in Clemson’s quarterback room.
“It’s a really good room,” he said. “We’ve got five guys that I believe can play quarterback at this level. We have five, and we ain’t always had that. … This room, it’s going to be really competitive. These are all very confident guys that have similar skill sets in some ways, and very different in some ways.”
