Coach recaps Clemson’s 5-star QB commit’s walk-off win, previews Friday night matchup

Ahead of Christopher Vizzina’s third game of his senior campaign, The Clemson Insider caught up with his head coach at Briarwood Christian (Alabama) School, Matthews Forester. Forester recapped Briarwood’s 23-21 win over Spain Park, in which Vizzina …

Ahead of Christopher Vizzina’s third game of his senior campaign, The Clemson Insider caught up with his head coach at Briarwood Christian (Alabama) School, Matthews Forester.

Forester recapped Briarwood’s 23-21 win over Spain Park, in which Vizzina totaled 358 yards from scrimmage with three total touchdowns (two running, one passing). He went 22-of-32 passing for 260 yards while adding another 98 yards on the ground.

“He played excellent. He played really good. He played really smart,” Forester said. “And then ultimately under pressure, he was calm, cool and collected. You feel good leaving that game, knowing that the guy you’re counting on — your quarterback — could handle the pressure, enjoy the pressure and played really well. He made all the right reads. He had time to make the reads — part of it is credit to his offensive line, what a great job they did…Our offensive line gave him time and when he has time, he can make the throws. He made some pretty special throws on Friday, but he also made all the right reads.”

With 58 seconds left, down by four, Vizzina walked up to the offensive huddle and said to Briarwood’s offensive coordinator, Bobby Kerley, “Let’s go.”

“Christopher does a great job of controlling the safeties with his eyes and then he hits our comeback routes that are on the sidelines,” Forester said. “We pretty much marched down the field, knowing that we’ve got time — 58 seconds, 60-yards away. We feel comfortable. He does a great job of using the sidelines. We’re getting out of bounds. We’re real efficient in our time because he’s controlling safeties and even the corners with his eyes and he’s hitting comebacks.”

At one point, Vizzina converts a pass over the middle of the field. He throws a rocket. The guy catches it and then he gets down. Timeout.

On the last play, there was pass interference, which led to an untimed down.

“Coach Kerley gets in the huddle,” Forester recalled. “He gives the play call. He says, ‘He’s gonna be open, hit him.’” The neat part about that, is our receiver, Brady Waugh, maintained his break, started to cut and Christopher’s already released it. To the naked eye, Brady looks wide-open. But from Christopher’s perspective — you can see it in the endzone camera — that there are defensive line hands that are going up and there’s also a backside safety and a middle linebacker that are shooting their hands up. He puts an absolute rocket laser on Brady. Brady makes the catch and we’re good from there to celebrate.

“He had all the confidence. He stepped up and ripped it. He was ready to go and (Waugh) was there.”

It’s moments like those that show Vizzina has that “It” factor.

“One of the fun things that I’ve known about for awhile, he’s a 14-year-old freshman, we’re playing the No. 1 team in the state,” Forester said. “It comes down to the end and he’s making those same throws right down the middle. He’s stepping up into the pocket, while he’s getting hit, as a 14-year-old freshman. He’s done that. We went to overtime last year. We’re down 14 points with five minutes to go and he leads us there, as a junior, to an overtime victory.

“There’s been these times throughout and to me, this was just another markup that the moment’s not too big for him. He has the it factor, the ability to lead. Our guys, they all respect him. They follow his lead. And so, there was no real panic from our offense, from our coaching staff. It was our time and they executed it to perfection.”

Following a walk-off win, Briarwood starts region play. Forester was able to preview Friday’s matchup against Spain Park.

“We’re really excited,” he said. “For us, our state is divided for the playoffs into the North and the South. We spent the last four years in the northern playoff bracket, so this is our first opportunity to play a region team, but it’s also a first opportunity to get back into the southern part of the bracket.

“Excited about playing a new team. We probably haven’t played them in 8-10 years. So, getting back to playing them will be fun…It’ll be a good, tough matchup. Excited about the opportunity and just also ready to head back to the South. While the first two games were great, they were ultimately preparing us to be the best team we can be when we play the region. Now we’re getting that opportunity and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves. Excited to play in a region and make noise in the playoffs.”

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The Insider Report: Upcoming visitors, what’s next for Clemson’s 2023 class and more

It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report. We hope everyone had a great weekend. Notes on Clemson commits If you’ve been following our recruiting coverage as of late, you’d know that we’ve spoken to a couple of high school head …

It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.

We hope everyone had a great weekend.

Notes on Clemson commits

If you’ve been following our recruiting coverage as of late, you’d know that we’ve spoken to a couple of high school head coaches, who coach Clemson’s class of 2023 commits.

We spoke to both Matthew Forester, who coaches five-star quarterback Christopher Vizzina at Birmingham (Alabama) Briarwood Christian School and Ben Reaves, who coaches four-star safety Robert Billings at Alpharetta (Georgia) Milton High School.

With Forester, we asked Briarwood’s head coach about the usage of the run-pass option in the Lions’ offense and how it could benefit Vizzina before he heads off to Clemson.

“That’s something I think for me personally, I got comfortable with this year,” Forester said. “And so, we’re doing a pretty good bit of that throughout the summer and fall camp. It’s something that as the season goes, we’ll bring more and more into that. A couple of big catches from (Week 1) were just RPOs and him reading an out.”

The run-pass option has been a fixture in Clemson’s offense for quite some time now, so getting comfortable with those types of offensive concepts would certainly benefit Vizzina before he graduates into a college offense in January.

“I think it’ll be a neat thing,” Forester continued. “I think (Brandon) Streeter will use that. I think it’ll be an enjoyable part of his growth. I think it’ll be something when he goes to Clemson, there won’t be a concept that he doesn’t feel comfortable translating high school into Clemson.”

Talking with Reaves, the line of questioning was similar in the sense that it revolved around Billings at the next level, but he gave a better feel for what his expectations are and what position we could see the big-time safety play at the next.

“What he’s got going for him is that he’s got such a big frame,” Reaves said. “He’s so long and so fast, that they can literally mold him into whatever they want him to be. Anywhere from a safety to potentially an outside backer, just because he’s got the body that can do it. The body that can handle it. And the skills to go along with it.

“I think ultimately, he’s gonna be best fit being a strong safety because that’s just gonna put him closer to contact and that’s what he’s good at — finding the ball, getting to the ball and knocking the crap out of somebody, play after play. I think ultimately that’ll be a role that’ll fit him and he’ll enjoy.”

Commit on what’s next for Clemson’s 2023 class

Speaking of Clemson’s class of 2023 commits, we recently spoke with Alpharetta (Georgia) St Francis High’s Branden Strozier. While the four-star cornerback has enjoyed a strong start to his senior season, we asked him about the uncommitted prospects that he and the rest of the commits are focused on recruiting at the moment.

While we’ve already shed light on those two prospects, Strozier offered his thoughts on recruiting both Phenix City (Alabama) Central high four-star defensive end Tomarrion Parker and Suwanee (Georgia) North Gwinnett high four-star defensive lineman Kayden McDonald.

Parker, who picked up an offer from Clemson on Aug. 11, has already set two gameday visits. As we previously reported, Parker will be on campus for Clemson’s home opener against Furman on Sept. 10 for an unofficial visit. He’ll return to Tiger Town the weekend of Oct. 22 for Clemson’s game against Syracuse.

As for McDonald, who reported a Clemson offer back in May, he announced a commitment date of Oct. 31. Right now, McDonald is set to take his official visit the weekend of Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, for the South Carolina game. Likely, McDonald will also make his way back up to Clemson for a game day visit before he ultimately makes his decision.

“That’s the ones that we are really trying to get,” Strozier said. “Because before them, we were focused on getting Ronan (Hanafin). Once we got Ronan, they are the priorities now. That’s what we are looking to get.”

Prospects lining up game-day visits

We wanted to shed some light on some upcoming game day visits. We fully expect Willis (Texas) five-star quarterback DJ Lagway and Jefferson (Georgia) five-star linebacker Sammy Brown to make gameday visits this fall. Neither one has officially set a date, but the expectation is that it will be settled after Sept. 1, when Clemson’s coaching staff can directly contact both junior prospects.

One prospect that has already set a game day visit, as we previously reported, is Fort Lauderdale (Florida) St. Thomas Aquinas four-star wide receiver James Madison II, who will be at Memorial Stadium for the Clemson-N.C. State game on Saturday, Oct. 1.

“I’m really excited,” Madison said. “I know they go all in for game days. I’m really excited to be up there.”

Another prospect that plans on making a game-day visit to Memorial Stadium this fall is Buford (Georgia) four-star linebacker Jadon Perlotte. The sophomore in the class of 2025 was looking at visiting Clemson this summer, but that didn’t end up materializing.

While he wasn’t able to say which game he was attending, Perlotte said that it’ll be one of Clemson’s first games. It’ll be his first time in Tiger Town since March 12.

Perlotte (6-4, 210) currently ranks as the nation’s No. 5 linebacker and the No. 33 overall prospect in the class of 2025, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

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Coach says Clemson’s 5-star QB commit will grow from adversity in senior season opener

If you judge Christopher Vizzina’s first outing of the season by the box score, you aren’t necessarily doing the five-star quarterback justice. He went 15-of-25 for 97 yards with no interceptions in a 48-0 loss and while it might’ve not been the …

If you judge Christopher Vizzina’s first outing of the season by the box score, you aren’t necessarily doing the five-star quarterback justice.

He went 15-of-25 for 97 yards with no interceptions in a 48-0 loss and while it might’ve not been the start to the season that the Clemson commit wanted, his head coach didn’t see it like that.

“They had a smothering defense,” Briarwood Christian School head coach Matthew Forester told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview Tuesday. “They did a really good job of locking down our receivers. The few holes that were there, he found. The few times he had in the pocket, he sat in the pocket and he found the opening. He was accurate. We had three or four dropped balls on the night. I mean, he was very accurate, it’s just receivers dropped balls…He did a good job. He did his part distributing the ball, making the right reads and there was growth in it.”

Keep in mind, that Vizzina was one of three players on offense that had played meaningful minutes the season before. Clay-Chalkville came into last Friday’s matchup as the reigning 6A state champs with top junior prospects like four-star cornerback Jaylen Mwbake, four-star wide receiver Mario Craver, four-star offensive JacQwan McCroy and four-star quarterback Kamari McClellan.

“We just had to grow as a team,” Forester said. “It’s what we needed to do. We played a really hard team because we want to have a long run in the playoffs. We’re gonna improve and get better. We’ll be fine later on. We just ran into a really good team on Friday night.”

Forester said that not only will his team be fine, but so will Vizzina. According to his head coach, the big-time quarterback prospect had a good attitude after the game.

“The big thing is, around here we got the long-term goals in mind for this season — it’s the state championship. It’s playing in the playoffs,” Forester said. “The idea that we’ll go in and we’ll come back. We’ll get back to work. We’ll get better. We’ll improve. But, at the same time, you’re a leader on the team, and he does a good job because he’s not self-focused, he’s a team-focused person. It’s encouraging, it’s lifting up, it’s continuing to push the guys to be the best that they can be. We got to get players to rise to his level, to play at his level. And they will and he’ll be part of a process that helps that by being a good leader.”

If Friday night’s game was any indication, then Forester may be on to something. Briarwood won its first game of the season over Spain Park thanks to Vizzina’s heroics. Down 21-17 with under a minute remaining, the senior quarterback led the Lions down the field for a game-winning drive.

His last-second eight-yard touchdown pass sealed a 23-21 win.

“He hates losing like all of us do, but at the same time,” Forester continued, “he knows we’re gonna get better and it’s gonna be a special season.”

Vizzina finished with 358 total yards from scrimmage. He scored three total touchdowns, going 22-of-32 passing with 260 passing yards and another 98 yards on the ground.

With that said, did Forester have any goals for the five-star quarterback before he heads off to Clemson in January?

“I think always your goal is you come in and you’re finally a senior — it’s finally where the leadership squarely falls on your shoulders,” he said. “Being a quarterback, it’s a little bit different, but now, you’re the quarterback that’s started for four years. You’re the guy. He and his fellow seniors are just developing in leadership. I mean, all of them are gonna use this for the rest of their lives, learning to be the person that everybody looks to. And while he might’ve had that earlier in his career than most, it’s finally there’s nobody else to look to.

“And then for him, it’s not just understanding the offense, it’s total mastery of the offense. Like getting down and understanding every part…it’s feeling comfortable in the entire offense. Those are just the mental aspects, where it’s leadership, it’s mastery of the playbook. He knows it incredibly well, but it’s even the fine-tuning, even the stuff we’re adding. We want to continue to grow in that because we could all learn more. His game’s really good.”

From this point last season, Forester said that the biggest difference in Vizzina is that he’s gotten bigger, stronger and faster. His arm has even more zip and more pop on it.

It’s the natural maturation of a high school kid that’s 17 years old and entering his senior season.

“He’s still growing. He’s still developing,” Forester said. “He’s continued to work hard in the offseason at being a quarterback. He’s fine-tuned his mechanics — he’s worked hard on those. He’s gotten into a really good spot where mechanically he’s doing a great job. Those are the small things that he works on when nobody else is around. He’s constantly trying to fix those and tweak and improve his mechanics, which he’s done. It’s just fun to watch somebody whose 6-4, 210-pounds play quarterback and can run.”

Vizzina, who started ever since he was a freshman at Briarwood, is the only quarterback that Forester has had. The Lions’ offense has grown around him. Each year he’s grown, they’ve added things to the offense and tweaked some things to fit Vizzina’s skill set.

“It’s a really neat experience to say that this offense, really in a lot of ways, is custom-made for him, because when I started, we started from the ground up,” Forester said. “We started from what he was good at and we kept evolving, finding out what those strengths are, growing those strengths. It’s been a really neat process to walk through because our offense has been built around him…For us, it’s been a really neat experience. We’ve added stuff — it’s because of his talent that we’re adding it because it works with his skill set. It’s been an enjoyable experience.”

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Coach Speak: Tuesday’s commitment a ‘full circle’ moment for Vizzina

Prior to Briarwood Christian (Ala.) four-star quarterback Christopher Vizzina verbally pledging to Clemson Tuesday, The Clemson Insider spoke with his head coach Matthew Forester. Vizzina will be the third player that Forester sends to play for …

Prior to Briarwood Christian (Ala.) four-star quarterback Christopher Vizzina verbally pledging to Clemson Tuesday, The Clemson Insider spoke with his head coach Matthew Forester.

Vizzina will be the third player that Forester sends to play for Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Trent Howard played under Forester at Briarwood, as did senior safety Carson Donnelly. Forester didn’t take over as head coach until 2018, but he spent the previous eight years as the program’s defensive coordinator.

“I’m incredibly excited for him,” Forester said regarding Vizzina’s commitment to Clemson. “I think what Coach Swinney’s built is incredibly special and for him to be a quarterback that gets to go and play there is an incredibly high honor. I think he’s earned that and I think that they got faith in him that he can succeed and do well. I’m just ecstatic to watch what unfolds after he finishes his senior year of high school.”

Vizzina wanted to commit to Clemson after his unofficial visit for spring practice on Monday, April 4. Though, he didn’t feel like it would be fair to his coaches at Briarwood for him to do so.

“We have a great relationship,” Forester said. “I think we’ve pro and conned this thing, and talked a lot about it throughout the year. It wasn’t a one-time conversation we had. I think one of the things Christopher’s always said and I appreciate it, is he wanted to make sure he told his high school coaches first before he talked to anybody. He wasn’t going to commit on campus without talking to us.

“He’s been all over the country. He’s got to see so many incredible football programs and we’ve talked a lot about that. We’ve done a lot of this discussion and I think he knew that he had narrowed it down. I think he made a great choice. He didn’t have a bad choice in front of him, but I think he made a choice that’s right for him and I’m incredibly excited for him.”

Forester agrees with the assessment that Clemson is a good fit for Vizzina and Vizzina is a good fit for Clemson.

“I had the pleasure this spring and just watching spring ball and just listening in their meetings and what Coach Swinney and his coaches say,” Forester said. “It’s what we preach at Briarwood. It’s how (Vizzina) was raised by his parents. I think he’s going from one program that has helped elevate him and he’s gonna go to another program that’s gonna continue to elevate him, not only as the best player but as the best person he can be.”

Tempo has been a focal point for Clemson’s offense this spring, as offensive coordinator, Brandon Streeter works on adding his own twist to a system that’s being tweaked rather than overhauled.

“It’s something that we already incorporate,” he said when asked about Vizzina’s comfortability running tempo. “We try and do a great job of just controlling the game from an offensive perspective, so we want to control the flow of the game. We do that in certain times more so than others. There’s some gameplans where you gotta slow it down, get your defense off the field, and then there’s other games where we go as fast as we can. I think it’s something he’s comfortable with. I think he’ll get more comfortable with it as he goes to the next level. That’s something that I’m excited to see. I think a lot of what they do is very similar to what we do, so I think it’s a good fit for him.”

Vizzina has gone up against some of the best competition in the country playing his high school games in the state of Alabama and he’s done so since he was 14-years-old.

“It’s pretty remarkable the fact that he won 20 high school football games before he could drive home by himself during his freshman and sophomore year,” Forester said. “He’s been in big-time games against No. 1 teams in the state, where he’s won the games, he’s played in just this big-time environment in the state of Alabama. I don’t really feel like there will be a moment that will be too big for him. It’s a part of his makeup and his character. I expect nothing less when he goes to the next level.”

Tuesday will be a full-circle moment for Vizzina, which his head coach believes has been a very cool thing to see it through.

Forester knew that Clemson checked all the boxes for him from the get-go. Vizzina wanted to go somewhere that was gonna develop him as a whole person, that was going to prepare him for the next level and that was going to be in the national championship hunt year in and year out.

“I think you’re about to spend the next four years of your life away from your home and you want to know the people that you’re gonna be working with,” Forester said, ” The great consistency that Clemson has demonstrated just in their coaches and while this is a time of change, it’s elevating from within, it’s people that are familiar with the program. Ultimately, it’s about relationships and the fact that they had those long-standing relationships, I think was a really key thing because you can’t fake this kind of stuff. I think they did a great job of being genuine, being upfront, being honest with him, and those things helped in this whole process.

There were other schools that Vizzina was really, really interested in, but he always kept coming back to Clemson, a school that checked every single one of his boxes.

“I think it’s really neat,” Forester said. “The fact that he got to go there, he got to compete against the nation’s top quarterbacks (Arch Manning) in the ’23 class at Clemson last June and now it’s kind of full circle. In a lot of ways, it’s full circle because they’re the first ones that called me during quarantine about a skinny freshman and now it’s actually coming to fruition. At the same time during his first week of camp, he goes to Clemson and he has just an amazing camp and they showed great interest in him from that point on.

“I think it’s been really neat how it’s all worked together. The lord’s been gracious to him, to put him in the right situation. You can just see the lord’s hand at work in all of these things.”

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Coach Speak: Clemson doing ‘first-class’ job in recruiting top QB target

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 …

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.”

Briarwood Christian School head coach Matthew Forester

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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