CLEMSON — Christopher Vizzina was not mad, but he was direct when he spoke with the media following Monday’s practice, Clemson’s eighth of the spring season so far.

Vizzina was asked if had a chip on his shoulder considering those outside the program do not think he is the right guy for the job and it isn’t just his loyalty to the program. There are some that tie his loyalty to Clemson as to why they can’t buy into him being the Tigers’ starting quarterback.

They think if he was good enough to start somewhere else, he would have left by now. Vizzina has heard the comments and it does put a chip on his shoulder, a little bit.

“I sat behind a pretty good quarterback for the last couple of years,” he said, a great leader and someone I look up to. I love Clemson. I do not want people to think, ‘He stayed behind him because he didn’t think he was ready.’

“I just love Clemson. I am a Clemson man. This is where I want to be. If I did not want to be here, I would not be here. I would not buy into the process and commit to what Coach (Dabo) Swinney prepared for me when I first got here. I knew this was a possibility.”

Vizzina knew when he signed at Clemson, because of Cade Klubnik and his loyalty to Clemson, that there was a strong possibility he was going to have to wait his turn.

And he did.

“When I signed to come here, I knew it could be three years before I got my shot,” he said. “I had a plan, but it did not go that way. That is life. I can except that fact because I signed up for that.”

Clemson will practice again on Wednesday before taking off for Spring Break. They will resume spring workouts on March 22.