CLEMSON — Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney said Christopher Vizzina is in “pole position” to be the team’s starting quarterback in 2026, and that showed on the fifth day of Tigers spring practice.
During the first five games open to the media on March 4, during a red zone pass drill, Vezina threw the ball up the backcourt at breakneck speed to a wide receiver. Offensive coordinator Chad Morris wants all of his quarterbacks to be able to do that, but it’s hard for others to do both.
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Vezina also showed off his power and accuracy on deep throws by throwing long passes to wide receivers in another drill. But he wasn’t perfect, sometimes overthrowing receivers and sometimes breaking passes.
Still, after five practices, Swinney’s stance on Clemson’s quarterback competition hasn’t changed.
“They’ve all been impressive. They’ve all made mistakes,” Swinney said. “Nothing that happened in five days made me think anything different than what I said at the beginning. Very talented room, very competitive.”
Swinney and his staff must determine who will be the team’s starter before Clemson opens the season on Sept. 5 against LSU at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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Vezina is the most experienced player and is competing with Chris Danson, Trent Pillman and newly signed Brock Bradley and Tate Reynolds for the starting job at Clemson.
Vezina has appeared in 14 games and started one, against SMU in 2025 with Cade Krubnik sidelined. Vezina completed 61 percent of his passes for 596 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, and rushed for 109 yards on 38 attempts.
He completed 69 percent of his passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns against SMU in a 35-24 loss.
All other quarterbacks made a combined eight appearances but no starts.
More: How Dabo Swinney paid tribute to Lou Holtz after former South Carolina coach’s death
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Dabo Swinney on hiring 65-year-old Rich Bisaccia
On March 4, Clemson hired 65-year-old Rich Bisaccia as the team’s special teams coordinator.
Bisaccia’s hiring continues Swinney’s trend of hiring older coordinators with decades of experience, including Morris, 57, and defensive coordinator Tom Allen, 55.
Previous coaches with less experience in these positions include former special teams coordinator Will Gilchrist (32 years old when hired), offensive coordinator Garrett Riley (33 years old) and defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin (37 years old).
Swinney said he doesn’t feel like he intentionally hired older coaches.
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“It’s more of a comfort zone and just trying to hire the best person that I think is the best person for the job,” Swinney said. “I don’t care how old they are. It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care. I just want to hire the best, best person.”
Why Dabo Swinney has confidence in offensive line despite missing portal target
Clemson chased multiple offensive linemen at the gate but found nothing. Previously, the Tigers lost starting tackles Blake Miller and Tristan Leigh, center Ryan Linthicum and right guard Walker Parks as they all exhausted their eligibility.
Swinney said Clemson has its eye on portal tight ends with one year of eligibility remaining but is not targeting any more players because the team believes it will have six signees in 2026 and four in 2025.
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He’s optimistic that some will emerge as contributors in 2026.
“We attacked them. (Offensive line coach) Matt (Luke) would tell you the same thing,” Swinney said. “… All of these guys have the tools to be great football players at this level, but they’re on the road, they’ve got the attributes and they’re working on it.”
Derian Carter covers Clemson athletics for the Greenville News and USA TODAY Network. Please email DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter), @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared in The Greenville News: Dabo Swinney updates Clemson football quarterback competition
