Dabo Swinney lauds Christopher Vizzina’s Clemson loyalty: ‘He could’ve left 10 times, and somebody would’ve paid him a ton of money’

Dabo Swinney saw all the moaning and groaning from the malcontent keyboard warriors after Clemson failed to dip into the transfer portal to replace graduating multi-year starter Cade Klubnik at quarterback. Instead, Swinney opted to stand firm and enter the upcoming 2026 season with the QB options already on the Tigers roster, including veteran backup Christopher Vizzina. Because, in the end, it was about returning the unflinching loyalty shown by Vizzina, a four-star quarterback in the 2023 cycle who faithfully stuck with the Tigers across three seasons. And, in a day and age with quarterbacks regularly hit the portal at the first sign of adversity, Swinney wanted to reward the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Vizzina with an opportunity to win the QB1 job this offseason. [ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ] “We made a decision that we weren’t going to get some shiny object at quarterback (out of the transfer portal). … CV (Vizzina) has earned the opportunity to go be the starting quarterback at Clemson, based on everything that we’ve observed,” Swinney said Thursday during Day 2 of the three-day 2026 ACC Football Kickoff event in Charlotte. “… CV was a guy that’s been incredibly loyal to our (program). This guy could’ve left 10 times, and somebody would’ve paid him a ton of money, and he could’ve gone and done that. “But this kid has stayed loyal to Clemson, and he’s done everything he’s been asked to do and when he’s had an opportunity to play, he’s played well,” Swinney added. “Now does that anoint him to be the guy? No. He’s got to go do it. It gives him the pole position, and that’s what he had in Spring ball.” Vizzina enters the upcoming season having thrown for just under 600 yards and four touchdowns across 14 career games over the past three seasons, much of which came last season as Klubnik’s backup. That included his first career start, when Vizzina completed 29-of-42 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns in a spot start against SMU in place of a banged up Klubnik. Now he’ll get every opportunity to prove it was all worth the wait by holding off a strong challenge from four-star true freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds, who established himself as the Tigers’ clear No. 2 option during Spring practice. Either way, Swinney’s comfortable in his decision to stay loyal to Vizzina this offseason. “The team needed clarity going into the summer, and it became very obvious that these were the two guys that gave us the best chance,” Swinney said. “So now, coming out of Spring, Tait can put his eyes on CV, and he can go beat him out. Or CV can feel the heat from somebody else. Either way, we’re going to get better, because competition makes us better.”