Dabo Swinney on if Clemson plans to dip into the transfer portal to add a QB
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney held a press conference Tuesday and was asked about the Tigers’ current quarterback situation and if they plan on looking to add a quarterback from the transfer portal.
With the departure of backup quarterback Hunter Helms, the Tigers could be seen as thin at the position. Regardless, Swinney is comfortable with where this team is at the position and doesn’t plan on addressing it in the portal.
“No, we talk about that at every position, but we like the guys we have, and we like who’s coming,” Swinney said. “So, we feel pretty good about the direction that we have there.”
“If Paul wasn’t here and we didn’t feel like we feel about Trent Pearman, then we would probably have to go find somebody else,” Swinney said.
The Tigers will return Paul Tyson in a student coach role, but he will also remain their fourth-string quarterback. Tyson gives them comfort at the position with four guys. Swinney will prepare him if No.3 quarterback Trent Pearman can’t go.
“We really, really like Trent Pearman. He’s got some moxie and savvy,” Swinney said. “And those of you that have watched him play, this kid was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of South Carolina. This ain’t no slouch, now. This kid can play. He needed to get a little bigger, he needed to get a little stronger, but he’s got savvy, he’s got instincts, he’s got moxie. I mean, he is a really, really, really, really good third-team quarterback.
“So, that’s what we got, and then we got Paul, who’s a sixth-year guy who’s got a wealth of experience who could go win the game for us in the Gator Bowl if we need him to. We got him. So, that’s where we are.”
The name people are most likely excited about is Christopher Vizzina, who will take over as the Tigers’ No.2 QB. Vizzina redshirted this season as he prepares for a bigger role down the line.
“We’re excited about CV,” Swinney said of Vizzina, the former blue-chip recruit from Alabama. “We’re kind of executing the plan that we put in place. This was a highly recruited guy that could have gone to a lot of places, and he chose to come (to Clemson). He was only 17, so that was kind of what we recruited him, to redshirt.”
Clemson is in a fine position at quarterback right now, and they have their guy in starting quarterback Cade Klubnik.
