BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Clemson Insider’s Tour of Champions traveled on Wednesday to Briarwood Christian School, home to big-time Clemson quarterback target Christopher Vizzina.
Prior to speaking with the big-time quarterback prospect in the class of 2023, we spoke with his head coach at Briarwood, Matthew Forester.
There are few people better suited to speak about Vizzina, his recruitment, and his development than Forester. He went into depth and shared some unbeknownst details in his conversation with TCI about Vizzina, his recruitment and who he is as a person on and off the field.
“It’s been a whole lot of fun,” Forester said regarding Vizzina’s recruitment taking off. “He’s been a great kid and he’s fun to work with. I got him in ninth grade and he’s as humble now as he was in ninth grade. To see all this blow up around him, it’s been neat, but it’s also to see him stay grounded and have the kids give him a hard time and mess with him. It’s just been a fun process because he’s doing it the right way.”
Towards the end of June 2021 when he first spoke with Vizzina, he had received offers from Power 5 programs like Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Kentucky, Michigan State and Mississippi State, to name a few. Since then, his recruitment has skyrocketed and the 247Sports Composite rankings has him tabbed as the No. 8 quarterback in the 2023 class.
A lot of people who aren’t familiar with Vizzina’s background might not know that he’s been the starter at Briarwood since he was a freshman. He’s put in a lot of hours. He’s done all the hard work. It took some time for him to get the recognition that he so clearly deserves, but it’s clearly started to pay off.
Vizzina started off as a wide receiver in junior high. Once he came to Forester in his freshman year, that summer they moved him to quarterback. Then, two games into his freshman campaign he became the starter and led Briarwood to an 11-1 record and a semifinals appearance in the Alabama 5A state playoffs.
“He does a really great job, but he’s just so raw and so young because he didn’t grow up playing the position,” Forester said. “And so, he’s done fabulous. He’s worked hard. COVID hurt him because he couldn’t go out and couldn’t train. Really, this past year was the first time for 12 months in a whole year that he’s worked being a quarterback and been able to work at his craft and there was a huge jump between his sophomore and junior year.”
Clemson was one of the first schools that started to show interest in Vizzina, but it’s because the Tigers were interested in his left tackle at the time. Since then, Trent Howard, who’ve we jokingly referred to as Vizzina’s “bodyguard” in the past, has gone on to join Dabo Swinney’s program and serves as a crucial depth piece for Clemson offensive line.
Forester recalls back in 2020 during the shutdown where he was at home and former Clemson defensive tackles coach and recruiting coordinator Todd Bates called. Bates asked Forester to tell him about his quarterback.
“So even at the end of his freshman year, Clemson was interested in him and we were having discussions,” he said,” and that’s done nothing but continue. It’s been a long relationship that Clemson has shown interest in him and that is one of the unique things that they were interested in, even after his freshman year.
“I think what Clemson does is an amazing job recruiting,” Forester added. “They follow the rules incredibly well, which I think is a commendation to them, but then they’re very personable and very intentional and they do it a lot. They have a great relationship with Christopher and they’ve developed a great relationship with me. It’s just their style of recruiting is excellent and first-class.”
Swinney and Brandon Streeter have made their rounds to Briarwood. They are expressing their commitment to prioritizing Vizzina, but obviously, cannot speak to him while they’re on his campus due to NCAA recruiting rules. Of course, Forester is permitted to speak with both Clemson’s head coach and offensive coordinator and was able to detail some of those conversations.
“They want to know a lot about Christopher, not so much as a player, but who he is as a person, so we end up having a lot of talks about him, and then we just talk about the culture at Briarwood and things about Briarwood,” Forester said. “They’re one of those schools that has a great understanding, not only of who he is as a player but definitely who he is as a person and then even where he’s coming from. I think they’re gonna have an amazing understanding of who he is as a person, which I think only helps them when it goes to playing for them.”
Speaking of that, Forester was able to give us a better look at who Vizzina is as a person. We know who he is as a football player, but oftentimes what gets lost is they’re just kids at the end of the day.
“What I enjoy most is the type of leader he is,” he said of Vizzina. “He was a 14-year-old freshman starting for us and we had 19-year-olds, Trent Howard, they were seniors and they just absolutely loved him. What I’ve always been worried about is what happens with guys his own age? He’s always been with the upperclassmen and the fact that his classmates, his guys he grew up with, love and appreciate him and it’s going to be a great year coming into his senior year.
“I think that’s what speaks volumes is how his peers feel about him after he’s had all this early success and they truly do think the world of him and they’re excited.”
What sticks out to Forester about who Vizzina is as a player?
“I think his competitive spirit and the desire to win and that I need to do what I can to win,” Forester said. “Whether it’s running the ball…Whether it’s sitting in the pocket, taking the big hits. I mean, all those little things, making the right reads, not just being greedy and only looking at one receiver, being able to read the whole field, diagnose the coverage, make the right reads. Those are the things you look for and then the ability that he does have to run is special and unique. You put that all together with a kid, who works out with two offensive linemen and a (fullback)…he’s a hard-nosed, gritty kid and so it’s exciting to see how it translates out here on the field where he’s physically dominant at times.”
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