Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Outlines Goals For Christopher Vizzina During Spring Football

Longtime backup quarterback Christopher Vizzina has a chance to earn himself the starting spot for the Clemson Tigers, and head coach Dabo Swinney wants him to take advantage.

As the spring practice season opened on Wednesday, Swinney was able to speak to the media for the first time during the period. Perhaps one of the most important things about this time is the quarterback room development, and that starts with the longest-tenured player in the room.

Vizzina spent three seasons behind three-year starter Cade Klubnik, redshirting in 2023 to have two years of eligibility to be Clemson’s starting signal-caller for an extra season. However, Swinney was quick to say that there will be plenty of competition not only in his room, but at every position.

“This room, it’s going to be really competitive,” Swinney said on Wednesday. “Like, these are all very confident guys with similar skillsets in some ways and very different in some ways.”

With Vizzina specifically, Swinney says that he begins the spring “in pole position”, meaning it’s his to lose. Because of this, the Clemson head coach hopes that he makes the most of his opportunity.

“I want to see him, you know, take it and run with it,” he said. “He’s, as I said, got the pole position, so I want to see him show up every day, not get too high, not get too low, and just show up every single day and prove it, just bring that edge every day.”

The Birmingham, Alabama, native has a small sample size with only one start, but he made the most of his opportunity back in October against SMU. He finished with 317 yards and three touchdowns while completing 69% of his passes, including some impressive deep balls that showcased his arm.

It’s not just the mechanics that Swinney is thinking about; it’s how he goes about the offense and the team as a whole.

“Obviously, you want to see leadership at that position,” he said. “I think he’s a natural. He’s got a lot of great relationships with guys on this team. I mean, he’s not a guy that just showed up here, he’s been working towards this, but really just want to see him take command of the offense.”

Live reps were also brought up, which would have allowed Clemson defenders to hit the quarterbacks to get a better sense of how they would react. Swinney said that the Tigers did this last season with freshman Chris Denson, due to his running ability as it being part of his game.

The Clemson head coach said that it wasn’t out of the cards, though something that the Tigers’ coaching staff would approach cautiously, but it would be important for the other part of Vizzina’s game.

“It’s a big part of CV’s game,” Swinney said. “I mean, like CV can move. He can run, he’s physical, he’s a big-ole dude, man.”

The Tigers’ quarterback battle is on, beginning on Wednesday and Vizzina doesn’t have the starting job set in stone yet, with players like Denson and the freshman duo of Brock Bradley and Tait Reynolds looking to make a statement. He does bring the most experience, however, and that is beyond valuable in Clemson’s situation during this offseason.

However, Swinney will challenge him every step of the way.

“It’s been fun watching all those guys prepare,” he said, “but again, show up every day, prove it, earn it, great leadership, great command of what he’s doing and handle the good times and the tough times, because they’ll both happen in practice.”