CLEMSON – Just 15 months ago, a 17-year-old Chris Denson moved from Plant City, Fla., to Clemson, joining head coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers ahead of the 2025 season. 

At the time, the quarterback was mere weeks from finishing his high school football career, in which he led his team to a 9-3 record and a regional semifinal appearance. Less than 10 months later, while many of his peers were still adjusting to college life, Denson got his first action at Memorial Stadium, leading Clemson on a touchdown drive against Furman on Nov. 22.

“He is unbelievably explosive,” head coach Dabo Swinney said of the freshman after the game. “He’s still developing as a quarterback. There’s still some growth there that’s got to happen. But we’re seeing lots of improvement in practice physically, and just developmentally, as far as throwing the ball.”

Though Denson did not get into either of Clemson’s last two games after his 4-for-4 passing performance against the Paladins, he took Swinney’s charge for development into the offseason.

“It’s just going back to what I knew that I needed to work on from last season and just hitting that in the offseason, or the little time that we got after the bowl game, and still continuing to do that,” Denson said after spring practice on Monday.

In high school, along with 55 passing touchdowns as a two-year starter, Denson added 1,940 rushing yards with 16 touchdowns on the ground. The former three-star recruit was labeled by ESPN as one of the top-30 dual-threat quarterbacks in his class after accumulating five games with 100 rushing yards or more for the Plant City Raiders.

As a true freshman, Swinney saw Denson’s skills as a runner, and used him in ‘live’ reps in practice to mimic several different mobile quarterbacks Clemson’s defense was preparing for. In particular, Denson played the role of former Georgia Tech signal-caller Haynes King.

“(Denson’s) going to be critical this week,” Swinney said ahead of the matchup. “He can run like Haynes.”

Though running appears to be a natural skill for Denson, ahead of the 2026 season, he has focused his energy on improving another crucial area– his passing ability. 

“I feel like I need to improve as a passer,” Denson said. “But I mean I’m stacking day by day, I’m getting there.”

To help with these goals, the now-18-year-old has worked extensively with former Clemson signal-caller Tajh Boyd, who was named Clemson’s quarterbacks coach at the conclusion of the 2025 season. In three years as the Tigers’ starter from 2011-13, Boyd notched school career marks in passing yards, completions, and touchdowns.

Over a decade after his Clemson career came to a close, Boyd played a big role in getting Denson ready to play as a freshman.

“Tajh was a big help,” Denson said of his freshman year. “Also, (former Clemson quarterback) Cole Stoudt was right there. Everybody was really helping me to get where I wanted to be. I mean, this is a place where everybody is kind of trying to push everybody, and I told them what I wanted and they’re helping me get there. But yeah, Tajh is a big help. He just knew what I needed to work on and we hit that on the head.”

Along with growing as a passer, another goal Denson had for himself in the offseason was to put on weight, after entering Clemson as the lightest quarterback on the roster. Since his arrival on campus, Denson has gained upwards of 10 pounds.

“I’m close to 200 now,” he said. “Last year I was about 190. So I want to thank the nutrition staff for that. I want to be around 205 and I feel like that’s a pretty easy goal for me.”

With three-year Tigers starter Cade Klubnik preparing for the 2026 NFL Draft, Denson has a chance to compete for the starting job, along with redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina, former walk-on Trent Pearman, and a freshman duo in Tait Reynolds and Brock Bradley.

While Swinney said that Vizzina has the “pole position,” as the most tenured quarterback on campus, the competition has been fierce through the first few weeks of practice.

“They’ve all been impressive. They’ve all made mistakes,” Swinney said of the room. “There’s not anything that’s happened in five days that makes me think anything different than I said in the very beginning. Really talented room, very competitive.”

For Denson, the goal is clear.

“All those guys in the room, we’re all fighting for that starting job,” he said. “I mean, myself, CV, Brock, Tate, Trent, that’s what we’re here for. You know what I mean? And I feel like at the end of the day, it’s going to make all of us better, no matter who runs out there first.”

The quarterbacks will have their first chance to show their improvements to Clemson fans on March 28, when the team hosts its annual Orange and White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium.