Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Admits He Made Controversial Choice at QB

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Clemson athletic director Graham Neff told head coach Dabo Swinney that the program had enough funding to go after an elite quarterback in the transfer portal this offseason.

Swinney opted not to even attempt to do what Miami, Indiana, and Notre Dame have done in the past couple of seasons to make the College Football Playoff national championship.

The Tigers are hoping that a quarterback battle between Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds produces a competent leader this season. 

During the ACC Kickoff media day event on Thursday in Charlotte, Swinney told reporters he was taking a risk by adding a transfer this offseason, and he'll receive a lot of blame if the quarterback situation is a bust this year.

"We weren't going to go get a shiny object (transfer) at quarterback," Swinney said, via Brett McMurphy of On3. "If it doesn't work out, we're going to be raked over the coals."

Given the Tigers’ talent at receiver, it would be a huge waste for the offense if neither Vizzina nor Reynolds are able to push the ball down the field with T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr. as targets this season.

On Thursday, Swinney provided an update on the quarterback battle going into training camp. He has Vizzina in the "pole position" with Reynolds not too far behind.

"He's our most experienced guy," Swinney said of Vizzina. "But we don't have a ton of experience there. I think we like the talent in our room, and we like the competition in the room. Tate Reynolds came out of spring as our second guy, and now those two guys have competed all summer, and that'll carry over into camp. 

"But man, CV has done a great job as you know to this point in showing that hey he deserves to be the guy going into camp, and Tate's done a great job to show that hey he ain't going away. He's going to continue to compete."

It appears the Tigers want to start their more experienced player against LSU in Week 1. If things start slow for Vizzina and Clemson again this fall, they might see what Reynolds can do.

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