Clemson OC Chad Morris Updates Quarterback Competition Ahead of Spring Game

As the spring practice sessions come to an end, there seems to be an edge being given for the Clemson Tigers’ starting quarterback battle.

Offensive coordinator Chad Morris spoke to the media on Wednesday evening, providing updates at all positions ahead of Clemson’s spring game on Saturday afternoon. One of the most important positions that was mentioned was quarterback, and there was plenty to unpack.

Morris said that the battle was “great competition”, and entering the spring game, it looks like redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina, the signal caller in “pole position” at the beginning of the spring, will still be the frontrunner to be the quarterback.

“CV, he’s our top guy, and he’s gotten the reps there and has really progressed,” he said on Wednesday, “and I’ve been really pleased with the way he’s proceeded and grew this spring.”

There are candidates behind Vizzina, though, including an early riser in his young career. When the media had the opportunity to watch practice on Monday afternoon, freshman Tait Reynolds was the starting quarterback for the second shift, while Vizzina was on the first.

Morris has brought some unpredictability to different drills, allowing this to happen, meaning everybody has to be ready.

“Tait’s gotten several reps with the twos and we’ve rotated those around as well with all our guys,” he said, “but that was his day and like I said, he’s done a really good job of growing.”

Not to mention redshirt freshman Chris Denson, either, who Morris said has grown over the multiple practices.

The implementation of a fast offense filled with tempo is a process, to say the least. Morris used the metaphor of “drinking water from a fire hose” in interviews of weeks past, throwing so much at his quarterbacks and needing time for the information to register. However, the offensive coordinator said that “it’s gotten better” since the first day of spring practice.

Their work is not done, though, and in Morris’s opinion, it could be just beginning, simply due to the group still learning how their new coach wants to run things.

“I think more than anything, watching those guys, I think they’ve understood my expectations, the way I want to look out there,” he said. “I think, early on, there was a bit of uncertainty of ‘What was Coach Morris’s expectations? How does Coach Morris coach?’”

Morris doesn’t want them to settle in, either. He wants to keep his quarterbacks on their toes, and it seems like he’s doing that in its entirety. The 57-year-old doesn’t seem like he will be stopping anytime soon.

“So, drinking through the fire hose, have they mastered it? No, they haven’t mastered it, but have they gotten better? Yeah, they have, but I want to keep them uncomfortable too,” he said.

Morris will get a better look at his quarterbacks this weekend inside Memorial Stadium, but his perspective looks like he won’t have a definitive answer until the summer sessions are over. Perhaps competition will rise even more, which is what the new offensive coordinator wanted all along.

“There’s still competition,” he said. “You know, no one signed a lifetime contract, and so we want that. We want competition at every position all across the board. So, you know, there are no days off when it comes to this.”