Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has a big decision coming up in the next month as he still needs to decide who will be the starting quarterback of the team.
Returning junior quarterback Christopher Vizzina is the frontrunner to replace Cade Klubnik after he left for the NFL. A surprise has occurred with true freshman Tait Reynolds finding himself still in the running for the job.
While it still remains that Vizzina is in the lead, Clemson is not going to make a final decision until right before their Week 1 showdown against the LSU Tigers. The bigger question is why Swinney didn’t go with another option in the transfer portal to make the competition less close than it has become.
Dabo Swinney Opens Up About Decision to Stay Out of Transfer Portal
GettyHead coach Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers reacts before the 2024 ACC Football Championship at Bank of America Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
During ACC Media Day, Swinney spoke with reporters and discussed the quarterback competition between Vizzina and Reynolds. Swinney made it clear why he wanted to go with either an internal choice or a freshman they recruited over the transfer portal at quarterback.
“We all know the magnitude of these decisions. We’re not stupid,” Swinney said via ESPN’s David Hale. “But that’s why we didn’t go get the big shiny object out of the portal. We believe in (Vizzina). But we also believe in Tait. He’s a high-level dude, now. He’s special.”
Vizzina has seen limited action in the last two seasons with the Tigers as Klubnik’s backup. He saw the field more last year, completing 63.4% of his passes for 406 yards and 4 touchdowns to 1 interception, adding 41 rushing yards to the year.
According to 247Sports, Reynolds was a three-star recruit and the 31st-ranked quarterback in his class during high school. He picked Clemson over Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, and BYU. In fact, he was originally committed to Arizona State to play baseball before backing out and considering his football options.
Clemson Must Make a Tough Call at Quarterback Before Critical LSU Matchup
GettyClemson Tigers head football coach Dabo Swinney
Picking Vizzina would be the safer choice since he is more experienced at playing at the highest level of football. Despite some changes on the offensive coaching staff, there is still some familiarity with some of the coaches and weapons on offense for him.
There is encouragement to hear that Reynolds is progressing more quickly than expected if he is pushing for the starting job. Sitting on the bench, though, feels like the more logical choice, and potentially play him later in the season if things go south again for Clemson.
This Tigers team feels different from the ones in the past two seasons since they had a better recruiting class and were able to get some key pieces back on the roster. The hope is that they were able to be more efficient on offense, so whoever the starting quarterback is won’t have to sweat it out and can start fast.
The new starter will be tested early on with the showdown at LSU at the top of their schedule in 2026.
Dabo Swinney Didn’t Hold Back on Clemson QB Competition