With the upcoming Pinstripe Bowl set to be the final collegiate game for senior Cade Klubnik, Clemson will have to settle on a new starting quarterback in 2026.
One candidate to replace Klubnik, of course, is Christopher Vizzina, who will be a redshirt junior next season.
Earlier this month, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney discussed Vizzina, when Swinney was asked if he anticipates the Tigers taking a quarterback from the transfer portal to compete in 2026.
Clemson signed a pair of quarterbacks in its 2026 recruiting class – three-stars Tait Reynolds and Brock Bradley – to go with Chris Denson, who will be a redshirt freshman next year, and Vizzina.
“We just signed two to come compete, and we got Denson here to compete,” Swinney said. “And we got [Vizzina], who’s really only played one true game from a start standpoint, who’s here to compete. We only offered two quarterbacks in his class – him and Arch Manning. That was the only two we offered, and we beat a lot of people to get [Vizzina]. And this kid’s done his part, and he’s been waiting his time, and now’s his time.
“Now, he’s gotta win the job. Obviously he’s kind of where you start, but you’ve got to win it. Same thing with Denson. Denson didn’t come here just to stand on the sideline. He came here to compete. So, let’s go compete.”
On Wednesday, Clemson offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Garrett Riley met with the media ahead of the Pinstripe Bowl vs. Penn State at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on Dec. 27 (noon, ABC).
Riley was asked how he would evaluate Vizzina this year, and if he has done what the Tigers were looking for to create confidence that he can be “the guy” at QB next season.
“The thing that I look at, just being his position coach and being the coordinator, is like, hey, this guy, does he have the intangibles that you want? Is he improving with the reps that we’re getting? Do you see those flashes? Do you see that consistently getting better? And I think he’s done a good job with that,” Riley said.
Vizzina has appeared in five games this season, 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.
Vizzina made his first career start vs. SMU at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 18, as 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.
Vizzina became the first Clemson quarterback to throw three or more touchdown passes in his starting debut since Deshaun Watson’s six-touchdown performance in his first career start against North Carolina in 2014, and Vizzina’s 317 passing yards were the fifth-most by a Clemson quarterback making his starting debut since 1953.
“And I think again, just going back to his real experience of true game experience against SMU, he’s going to draw a lot of off that moving forward for him individually,” Riley added.
“But we’ll certainly evaluate everything as our season finishes here pretty soon. Some of that’s already begun, as you would imagine. But I think [Vizzina has] done a good job of consistently improving and maturing and just doing all the things that you would anticipate that a quarterback’s going to do as he goes through a program, especially a program like Clemson.”
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.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder entered the 2025 season having completed 19-of-34 passes for 190 yards and having rushed 13 times for 68 yards and a touchdown over 94 career snaps in nine games from 2023-24.