Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced Tuesday that Christopher Vizzina will be the starting quarterback for Saturday’s season opener at No. 11 LSU.

“CV will start for us this week,” Swinney said. “He’s earned that.”

Swinney went in-depth on the decision to go with Vizzina as the Week 1 starter.

Vizzina, a senior, previously served as the longtime backup to the now-departed Cade Klubnik, who spent the last three seasons as Clemson’s starting QB. Vizzina has been battling for the starting job throughout the spring and fall camp against highly regarded true freshman Tait Reynolds, who enrolled early in January.

Vizzina has maintained what Swinney calls the “pole position” when it comes to the Tigers’ quarterback race. Swinney noted that Reynolds pushed hard for the job and closed the gap, but Vizzina ultimately separated himself thanks to his consistency.

“CV has been incredibly steady,” Swinney said. “Really has done a lot of great things and has performed well and has kept the job. He had the pole position, and then Tait kind of closed the gap, and then CV kind of separated again.”

Swinney added that Vizzina is “just a little ahead. He’s not a mile ahead, but he’s ahead.”

Swinney also admitted there was a point during the competition when he thought Reynolds might win the job, but then the freshman endured a couple of “disastrous” practice days, while Vizzina stayed steady.

“Practice matters,” Swinney said. “There was a time where I really thought Tait had a chance to take the job, and then he had a couple disastrous days and just looked like a freshman. But to CV’s credit, CV has just been incredibly steady. He’s just been very, very steady. He’s just put his head down and gone to work, and he came out ahead, to this point.”

As for Swinney’s conversations with the two quarterbacks when he named a starter, Swinney met with them together, along with offensive coordinator Chad Morris and quarterbacks coach Tajh Boyd.

“We all met together, with Chad and with Tajh,” Swinney said. “I don’t think it was a big shock to anybody. It wasn’t a shock to our team, either. It’s kind of where we are. Players kind of know where everything is and where everybody’s at in practice. But also, it’s not to where you can just say, hey, you’re the starter for 12 games. I can’t say that. I don’t have a crystal ball.

“All I know is CV has earned the right to be the starter for this game [at LSU]. That’s all I know. That’s all we’ve got to go on, because all we’ve had is 25 practices. By Friday, we’ll have had 25 practices, and a spring practice and a bunch of summer workouts and things like that. So, that’s what the decision is made on, and we’ll go from there.”

Swinney says Vizzina does not have a “lifetime contract” as the starter and has only been named the starter for Week 1 so far.

“CV has won the job, but I can’t give him a lifetime contract,” Swinney said. “He’s gotta go do it. People say, ‘What do you need to see?’ Well, you go win some games. Go play well. This isn’t complicated. That’s just where you are.”

Swinney was asked what it will take for Vizzina to retain the starting job throughout the season.

The answer, first and foremost, is simple.

“Win. Win. Win,” Swinney said. “Be productive. Take care of the ball. Be a good decision-maker. Do the routine stuff well. Manage the game. He doesn’t have to be a superhero, we just need him to do his job within the system. I think that’s the main thing. So, you’ve gotta produce.”

Clemson and LSU are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC) at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

Heading into 2026 after his first three years at Clemson, 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, while also rushing for 109 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries.

Last 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 (and only start thus far) 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 and no interceptions for a pass efficiency rating of 156.0.

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.