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.
We took an in-depth look at how Vizzina went from having one offer from UAB to being one of the top quarterback prospects in the nation for the class of 2023. It didn’t happen overnight, but the one Power 5 school that’s been on him since he was a freshman was and is Clemson.
“Clemson, they were the first Power 5 school to really start talking to me during my freshman year,” Vizzina said. “I had an offer from UAB, but it was really like UAB and Clemson that I was talking to my freshman year. And so, Coach (Todd) Bates was my primary recruiter at that time and the past year, Coach (Brandon) Streeeter picked it up. They were on me before I started blowing up.”
One could make the argument that Vizzina didn’t start blowing up until he camped at Clemson this past summer, but you’d be selling him a bit short. Though, going throw for throw with the nation’s No. 1 quarterback prospect — Arch Manning — at the Dabo Swinney Camp, was enough confirmation for Vizzina to realize that he belonged.
Multiple weeks beforehand, though, Vizzina was training really hard because he knew he was going to have a stretch of camps, where he needed to perform in front of some high-profile college coaches.
“I was prepared for it,” he said. “I think Coach Streeter and the staff, they knew of me, but I didn’t really think they knew how good I was. They invited me up to camp. We had an elite group of quarterbacks and throughout the whole day, I just stayed with those guys. They put me in that group and I went toe-to-toe with all of those guys. Me and Arch battled it out at the very end and that was pretty fun. Me and Arch are good friends now, so I can say that.
“That was a really good day. I think I kind of proved to myself that I am one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Obviously, not everybody in the world was there that day, but I proved to myself that I could hang with those guys.”
There was one person rooting for Vizzina on that day: Tajh Boyd.
Earlier last year, Vizzina went to the Elite 11 regional. Boyd was there and he watched Vizzina throughout the day. He went up to him afterward and told the former Clemson star how highly he thought of him. From there, they messaged on Instagram back-and-forth and stayed in contact. They now text all the time.
“He really liked my game, but I only had one offer at the time,” Vizzina said. “It was cool to see him back at Clemson camp, but he was really the only one who knew me and he was there supporting me the whole time, which is really special.”
Vizzina posed for a couple of pictures with Boyd during his junior day visit. He also went into further detail about his time on Clemson’s campus just a couple of weekends ago.
“What I wanted to do on this visit — going into it — I wanted to see the actual university and actually get to spend time with the coaches I’d spend time with,” he said. “Clemson really did that. I got to see the new business school and spend time with the coaches I’d actually spend time with. I think they did a really good job of setting it up for me. It was a very memorable visit.”
Vizizna was the only quarterback on campus for Clemson’s Elite Junior Day. That gave him an opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time with Streeter, which he hadn’t been able to do before on previous visits.
“Coach Streeter, he really made the effort to get to know me early on before I had all these offers and everything like that,” Vizzina said of Clemson’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. “That’s what really means a lot. On these visits, I’ve got to spend time with him really the whole time, he’s hung out with me basically. He kind of puts the football stuff away on these visits and he tries to get to know who I am and who my family is.”
On one of these visits, Vizzina picked up his coveted Clemson offer. He was supposed to be in attendance for Clemson’s matchup against UConn but opted to attend the Wake Forest game instead. Vizzina was expecting to be able to talk with Streeter before the matchup and just enjoy the game. He had no idea that an offer was coming.
“We went to Coach Swinney’s office and he told me the good news,” Vizzina recalled. “It was a very special moment. Honestly, I didn’t think I was gonna get it, because normally Clemson only offers one quarterback until that quarterback makes a decision. It really meant a lot that Coach Swinney believed in me that much to go ahead and give me the offer.”
Every time he sees Swinney, Clemson’s head coach reminds him that he’s only one of two people on the planet to have that offer. Swinney also reiterates to Vizzina that he’s Clemson’s guy and a priority target for the Tigers at that.
“That means a lot because when you go to certain places, the head coach may not spend that much time with you,” he said. “I know that I’m a priority because Coach Swinney follows me around on these visits. It’s awesome.”
What Clemson likes about Vizzina goes beyond his play on the football field. He’s also a high-character young man. It showed in our conversation with him and our dealings off-camera.
We know a lot about Christopher Vizzina the football player, but who is he as a person? What does he like to do for fun?
“Off the field, I like to hang out with my friends,” Vizzina said. “I really try to be a normal kid. I just want to be with my friends. Fishing is what I love to do. I like to ride my bike all the time. When I can, I try to put the football and all the exposure, hype and everything and try to put that away. Settle down and focus on school and focus on just being a kid.”
His friends call him “Christopher” or “CV,” and you can also call him “Chris” if you’d like. Though his mom would prefer that you didn’t, considering that’s his dad’s name.
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