How Christopher Vizzina Developed Into Clemson’s Next Potential Starting Quarterback

Despite the Clemson Tigers losing their three-year starting quarterback after the 2025 season in Cade Klubnik, the open quarterback battle during this offseason seems to have had a frontrunner throughout the early process.

The next man up, currently in pole position, is redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina, and after three years of waiting, he’s ready to take the opportunity.

Vizzina spoke to the media on Monday evening, speaking about how the opportunity has him “really excited about it.” It’s from a process that he’s believed in from the start.

“I sat behind a pretty good quarterback for the past couple years, a great leader and somebody who I look up to,” he said, “and I love Clemson, and I don’t want people to think ‘Well, he stayed behind him because he didn’t think he was ready.’”

It’s the love that he has for the school, having him commit as the No. 8 quarterback in the Class of 2023, according to Rivals.

“I just love Clemson,” Vizzina said. “I’m a Clemson man. This is where I want to be. If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t buy into the process and commit to what Coach Swinney had prepared for me when I first got here.”

Vizzina also wouldn’t change anything about this process he’s experienced, saying “that’s life” and has shaped him into the player that will look to take the field as the starter beginning in September.

“I mean, three years, that’s a lot of reps, some game experience last year to prove what I can do,” he said. “But, I look back at it now, and I don’t know if I would change anything about it.

When he arrived at the program as a mid-year enrollee, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound signal-caller had the physical tools, but didn’t feel like ‘I knew as much’ as the others joining the room. Plenty of coaches around him gave him the mental tips, like former offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, quarterbacks coach Tajh Boyd or even now, with new offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

Including the only start that he’s seen in his career, a 317-yard, three-touchdown performance against SMU, Vizzina believes he has the preparation, and the people around him, to be a quality quarterback for the Tigers in his first season as the expected starter.

“Just a lot of reps, and I feel like now that I can use all that experience and apply it to every day, so I’m excited about that,” he said.

A topic of interest for Clemson early this offseason was if the Tigers were going to take a quarterback through the transfer portal. Head coach Dabo Swinney touched on it in his media availability, and Vizzina gave his take this week when asked about.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen at that time,” Vizzina recalled, “but I believe that we didn’t need to get one because I believe in myself and the rest of the team and the development we had over the past year.”

Because of his love for the school, as well as the competition it would have brought, the redshirt junior said that he would have stayed if this scenario had occurred. Seeing the development in the group over 2025, he thinks the program has everything it needs around him.

Now that the portal period is over, for the most part, Vizzina will take the love he has for the school and pour it into his offense over the next several months, looking to take advantage of the starting opportunity.

“I mean, if they brought someone in, I was still going to stay because I care about Clemson,” Vizzina said. “That’s another thing that we were talking about, like I just want to compete, and I want to be the quarterback for Clemson University.”