Christopher Vizzina still has one more prep football season to play, but Clemson’s latest quarterback recruit has done a lot of thinking lately about his future beyond high school.
And he’s not all that concerned with who’s ahead of him at his next stop.
Last week, Vizzina continued the Tigers’ recent run on coveted signal callers. The four-star prospect out of Briarwood Christian (Alabama) School gave his verbal pledge to Clemson, choosing the Tigers over offers from Auburn, Ohio State and Notre Dame among others.
Ranked as the nation’s No. 52 recruit in the 247Sports Composite, Vizzina joins the likes of Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence, D.J. Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik as blue-chip quarterback prospects that have chosen to play for Dabo Swinney’s program in the last decade. Two of those are still part of what could be a crowded quarterback room when Vizzina arrives on campus next year.
Uiagalelei is entering his junior season as the incumbent at the position while Klubnik, a freshman who just wrapped up his first spring at Clemson, is waiting in the wings in what could turn into a heated competition between former five-star signees as soon as this fall. Even with graduate transfer Hunter Johnson set to leave the room after next season, Vizzina could be the fifth scholarship quarterback to join it for the 2023 season.
Of course, that’s assuming Uiagalelei, Klubnik and former walk-ons Hunter Helms and Billy Wiles all stick it out at Clemson until then. A breakout season could send Uiagalelei to the NFL early. There could also be transfers.
Vizzina was in attendance for Clemson’s spring game on April 9. After watching Uiagalelei and Klubnik in person, he said he believes both are “really good quarterbacks.” Regardless of the numbers or the experience some of the older quarterbacks may have on him, though, Vizzina said he’s not backing down from the competition when he arrives.
“I’ll go in there in (January 2023),” Vizzina said. “Hopefully D.J. gets to the NFL, but let’s say he’s still there: We’re going to still be a really good quarterback room, and I’m going to compete really hard.
“That’s what I want. I want to embrace the competition, but I also want to be best friends with those guys. I want to compete with them every day, but I also want to be how close they are right now with each other.”
It was Vizzina’s second visit to Clemson in a matter of days. He got to meet Clemson’s current quarterbacks during an unofficial visit the Monday before. The way they interacted with both him and each other, he said, put Vizzina’s mind even more at ease about the situation he will be walking into.
“(It was) just us, and they were really honest with me about everything,” Vizzina said. “The thing that really stood out – I feel like they’re all competitors – but at the same time, they’re all really tight. They were all really cool to me and everything.”
Going with the best player at the position regardless of experience level is also something that Vizzina has observed of Swinney in recent years. Watson and Lawrence each took over as the starter during their true freshman seasons, and Klubnik is nipping on Uiagalelei’s heels ahead of this coming season.
Already 6-foot-4 and pushing 210 pounds, Vizzina threw for 2,065 yards as a junior last season with 16 touchdown passes and just four interceptions, helping Briarwood Christian to a 10-2 record. He added 600 yards on the ground and 15 rushing touchdowns.
“The thing is, I know that Coach Swinney is going to play the best quarterback,” Vizzina said. “Whoever’s the best quarterback at the time will be the starter for that weekend. In the back of my mind, that’s going to comfort me. There’s not going to be any politics going into it or anything like that.”
Staff writer Sam Neumann contributed to this story.
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