Top Clemson QB Target Reveals Aggressive Timeline for Commitment

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The Clemson Tigers know that Christopher Vizzina will be starting at quarterback heading into 2026, and it also looks like freshman Tait Reynolds will be next up.

Things get a bit dicey once you get past those two, though.

Clemson is attempting to change that for the future, as it has been targeting four-star 2028 quarterback Trace Hawkins.

Hawkins is the 20th-ranked quarterback and the 293rd-ranked player overall in his class, via 247 Sports' composite rankings. He has collected 17 offers thus far, including Auburn, Florida, Indiana, Iowa State and LSU.

Clemson offered Hawkins back in January, and the young signal-caller loved how the Tigers handled it.

“It felt great, honestly,” Hawkins told The Clemson Insider. “It was just a blessing. Making it even better, coach [Dabo] Swinney called me. That means that they truly want this to work. It was just great.”

Hawkins has already paid three visits to Clemson and will also be on hand when the Tigers battle LSU in Baton Rouge in their season opener this September.

Funny enough, Clemson and LSU are both at the top of Hawkins' list.

But when will the Calhoun, Ga. product make his decision? Hawkins has made it clear that he doesn't want to waste a whole lot of time.

“I don’t feel rushed, but as a quarterback you need to commit kind of early,” Hawkins said. “So you can start recruiting for your team. I mean, I don’t feel rushed, but I really want to do it sooner than later, though.”

Hawkins made it clear that he feels very valued at Clemson and that while money plays a role in his recruitment, he is more concerned with his development.

We'll see if the Tigers are able to bag the six-foot, 180-pound quarterback, who threw for 2,442 yards, 24 touchdowns and three interceptions while also punching in three rushing scores during his 2025 campaign at Calhoun.

Clemson landed both Reynolds and Brock Bradley — each of whom are three-star prospects — for the class of 2026. It also secured a commitment from three-star 2027 signal-caller Kharim Hughley.

The last four-star quarterback the Tigers landed was Vizzina, who committed back in 2023.

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