Clemson has its starting quarterback.
After shying away from an answer on his radio show Monday night, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has named senior Christopher Vizzina the starter for Saturday night’s season opener at LSU
“He’s earned that,” Swinney said. “CV has won the job, but I can’t give him a lifetime contract. He’s got to go do it.”
Vizzina has waited patiently for three seasons behind Kade Klubnik, starting just one game. That was a 317-yard, three touchdown performance against SMU a season ago.
Tait Reynolds is the young name to watch. The 6-foot-2 freshman was a four-star recruit in the 2026 class and was a threat to sign a professional baseball contract out of high school.
As LSU prepares, they’ll have to consider both options and an offensive coordinator Chad Morris who hasn’t called a college offense since 2020. Kiffin and LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker have limited film and will have to explore the memory bank for preparation.
“I remember (Vizzina) from high school, actually watched him work out,” Kiffin said. “Really talented, really throws well on the move. That’s a really good combination. Us having to figure out what are they going to do because you don’t know. Coach hasn’t called for a little bit of time, and so we’re not sure exactly what they’ll look like, and that’s always scary. But, this will be about us practicing really well and then playing really well in a really exciting environment.”
The environment figures to be tough for either the inexperienced Vizzina or a true freshman in Reynolds. They don’t differ drastically in style and feature similar measurables. Swinney said it was likely Reynolds would play.
“I’ve got to give Tait a ton of credit, just being a true freshman walking in here, he is really super talented,” Swinney said. “But you can’t just be talented. He isn’t going away…I’m not going to guarantee that he’s going to play, but I would say it’s probably likely.”
Morris’s offense won’t drastically change no matter the signal caller.
“They can all run the Clemson offense,” Swinney said. “Whoever’s out there has got to run the offense.”
