Clemson quarterback Christopher Vizzina spoke to the media on Saturday for the first time since joining the Tigers’ roster this spring.
Speaking at a Dear Old Clemson NIL event, Vizzina gave his thoughts on the Tigers’ plan for him to redshirt his freshman season.
“That was a possibility coming into this, but it doesn’t discourage me at all,” Vizzina said. “I want to learn. I want to be ready for when my chance comes; I want to be prepared for it.”
Coming out of high school, Vizzina was the No. 6 quarterback prospect in the class of 2023, according to 247Sports Composite rankings.
As a mid-year enrollee, the former four-star recruit struggled in Clemson’s spring game in April, throwing two interceptions and completing three of nine pass attempts for nine yards.
“I got here, new offense and everything. I hit the learning curve a little bit early on, but I felt like I finally got adjusted to it, maybe after three practices, and I started rolling from there,” Vizzina said. “I’m glad I came early. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I came in the summer. Just trying to be ready to play and everything like that, I feel like coming in the spring was definitely the right decision.”
Head coach Dabo Swinney said earlier this week that the plan is to redshirt Vizzina, making Hunter Helms the presumed backup quarterback behind Cade Klubnik.
“We hope that (Vizzina) can be our ’23 signee and our ’24 signee, if you will, and it really kind of sets us up with a good situation with Cade being a junior and him being a redshirt freshman, which tells you how we feel about CV. I think we got a great player right there,” Swinney said.
Clemson FB freshman QB @vizzina2 says a potential redshirt season “doesn’t discourage me at all … I wanna be ready for when my chance comes.” Also says the 2023 signing class is a “special group” pic.twitter.com/ypsIRPClTQ
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) July 22, 2023
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