CLEMSON — When a head coach starts making decisions based on what the fan base is saying, it usually does not end well for that head coach.

So, no one was surprised when Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney went against the Clemson faithful’s wishes and stayed with the five quarterbacks, including first-year guys Tait Reynolds and Brock Bradley, he has on his roster.

The Tigers did not go to the portal for a veteran quarterback. Nope, instead they opened the competition up in the spring and leaned on a fourth-year player in Christopher Vizzina, who has one start and has thrown 105 passes in his career.

“We believe in him,” Swinney said. “We understand the magnitude of a decision like that and the criticism that’ll come if we suck. So, we get it, but we believe in him and everybody in the building believes in him. This kid can play.”

Vizzina came out of spring practices in pole position to be Clemson’s top quarterback.

“He’s a high-level player. He stayed at Clemson. He could have left, but he stayed here,” Swinney said. “It ain’t like Cade Klubnik was a slouch. This kid is in the pros and going to have a great pro career. But CV did everything that he needed to do to earn that opportunity.”

And Reyolds has done everything he can to this point to be Clemson’s No. 2 quarterback going into fall camp, which begins Aug. 6.

“Tait wins that spot. So now we came out of spring with clarity for the team and now those guys can go compete,” Swinney said. “I think it’s a really good and healthy situation. Those guys are competitive.

“CV’s become a great leader. I love watching him find his voice.”

Swinney says when they get onto the practice fields during that first week of August, the competition is all that is going to matter. It’s about identifying who is the best quarterback.

How does Swinney balance giving Vizzina confidence, so that he’s not looking over his shoulder after every bad play or every interception?

“It’s no different with any position in my opinion,” he said. “We got competition at every position and as soon as you allow guys to feel like they’re entitled to go play, then you’re probably not going to win.

“So yeah, if you’re a proven starter like Will Heldt coming back, well, guess what? If he starts against LSU, not because he was a good player last year, it’s gonna be because he he’s done it in camp. All right? And my message to those guys behind him is go beat him out. Don’t bow down to that guy. Go make him better. Quarterback is no different than that to me.”