The Clemson Tigers lost quarterback Cade Klubnik to the draft process after an underwhelming year, during which the star received preseason Heisman Trophy hype and was part of an anaemic offense. After the Tigers’ Pinstripe Bowl loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions, offensive coordinator Garrett Riley was fired, and Chad Morris was hired in his place.
Despite the loss of Klubnik, coach Dabo Swinney did not dip into the transfer portal for another quarterback, trusting the prospects on the roster to fight for the QB1 role.
Josh Pate Addresses Clemson’s Quarterback Battle
During Sunday’s segment of the “Josh Pate College Football Show,” analyst Josh Pate spoke about the Tigers’ quarterback room ahead of next season.
“What about Clemson? Cade Klubnik is moving on. We’ll have our eyes on this one because they brought in Chad Morris as the offensive coordinator,” Pate said. “Garrett Riley is out. So, Chris Vizzina is the guy we talked about several times a few years back. He was a pretty high-profile recruit. He came in, he was No. 155 overall per the On3 ranking.
“He has immersed himself in the program. He’s 6’4, 210 and he’s ready to take the reins now. I know Chris Denson and Tait Reynolds are there, but it’s Chris Vizzina’s job to lose to me. I don’t know how much of a battle this becomes, but it’s a quarterback situation that I have my eye on.”
Swinney originally hired Morris in 2011 to change his offense to a spread attack and to develop quarterback Tajh Boyd, who went on to finish as the Tigers’ leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Morris was hired in 2011 after the Tigers finished 6-7 in 2010, the worst record in Swinney’s tenure, and he helped to supercharge an offense that had finished No. 86 in the country in points scored per game to No. 24, helping them to win the ACC for the first time in two decades.
Last season’s 7-6 finish was one of the worst in Swinney’s tenure, and the offense that averaged 27.2 points was No. 72 in the country, and the Tigers’ 124.5 rushing yards per game was No. 105 in the country.
During his introductory news conference alongside Morris, Swinney explained why he opted against pursuing a quarterback in the transfer portal and chose to trust in his quarterback room.
“If you take a quarterback, then you’re losing two,” Swinney said, “and I don’t want to lose the guys we got. You can go get in those sweepstakes, but then you probably don’t keep some of the guys that we were able to retain.”
Swinney is notoriously transfer portal-shy, but he dipped into the portal this January, adding nine transfers while keeping his quarterback room untouched. Ominously for Clemson, five of the last six quarterbacks in the last three national championship games have been transfer quarterbacks.
