Tuesday was a significant day for the future of Clemson’s football program in more ways than one.
When it came to addressing the most important position on the field during the 2023 recruiting cycle, the Tigers started in the same place as many of their Power Five counterparts: Arch Manning. Clemson spent months trying to woo the grandson of the patriarch of football’s first family, Archie Manning, and the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit, who camped at Clemson over the summer and returned to campus on his own dime in late October for an unofficial visit.
But once it was clear Clemson was falling behind the likes of Georgia, Texas and Alabama in the Manning sweepstakes, Dabo Swinney and his staff quickly pivoted to another talented quarterback in the South. Clemson made Briarwood Christian (Alabama) School four-star signal caller Christopher Vizzina its top target at the position by offering him a scholarship in late November, and that move paid off Tuesday with a commitment from the 6-foot-4, 207-pounder.
Assuming Vizzina follows through with his commitment and signs with the Tigers in December as expected, he will be Clemson’s fifth scholarship quarterback for the 2023 season and another viable competitor in a position room that will already include D.J. Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik, a couple of former five-star signees. Of course, that’s assuming every quarterback on the roster sticks around that long, which is far from a guarantee.
Worst case, Vizzina, who chose the Tigers over offers from Auburn, Georgia, Notre Dame and Ohio State among others, will help create the kind of depth Clemson will likely need at the position heading into that season (the Tigers already know they’re losing graduate transfer quarterback Hunter Johnson after the upcoming season). But given the name, image and likeness (NIL) climate that’s rapidly heating up in college athletics, the impact of Vizzina’s commitment goes beyond the field.
While third parties who are arranging NIL deals for athletes nationwide aren’t supposed to use them as recruiting enticements, it would be naive to think that’s not happening behind the scenes. Former top recruit Quinn Ewers, who has since transferred to Texas, had an NIL deal north of $1 million waiting on him once he arrived on Ohio State’s campus last year after initially signing with the Buckeyes. At Tennessee, in what’s believed to be the largest NIL deal so far for an amateur athlete, The Athletic reported in mid-March that another five-star recruit in the 2023 class has already signed an $8 million deal with the school’s NIL collective (while it hasn’t been confirmed he is the recruit referenced in the report, California quarterback Nico Iamaleava committed to the Vols shortly thereafter).
Perhaps Vizzina has an NIL deal awaiting him once he arrives on campus. He could also cash in on his share of NIL opportunities once he’s an established commodity at Clemson the way Uiagalelei has and the way Klubnik almost certainly will, particularly if he takes over as the Tigers’ starter at some point this fall.
Compared to many other Power Five schools, though, Clemson is behind in the NIL game even if the Tigers are officially playing it now. A collective that’s raised more than $5 million for current Clemson athletes in exchange for charity work was announced last week. That’s also when the school unveiled its education-based NIL program, including the construction of the Clemson Athletics Branding institute, the first on-campus facility of its kind that will help serve as a launchpad for athletes’ NIL opportunities.
While more NIL-related fundraising campaigns among third parties are coming, Clemson still can’t provide the same amount of money for its athletes as some of its primary competitors when those schools’ collectives are paying out millions to one athlete alone. Which makes Tuesday all the more important for Swinney’s program.
Regardless of what Vizzina does or doesn’t have lined up at this point, it didn’t take a front-end deal that broke the bank to land a commitment from the nation’s No. 52 overall prospect, according to the 247Sports Composite. It goes to show that Clemson’s winning culture as well as its next-level development are still appealing selling points for some of the nation’s top recruits.
With the dollar mightier than ever in college sports, that bodes well for the Tigers’ ability to continue recruiting at a high level while trying to catch up with NIL.
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