CLEMSON — Christopher Vizzina is not concerned about being redshirted this coming season.
Saturday was the first day the freshman got an opportunity to speak with the media since getting on campus in January through the Dear Old Clemson Freshmen NIL event at the Poe Indoor Practice Facility.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced last Tuesday, the plan is to redshirt the freshman quarterback in 2023.
“I am going to just trust the plan. I kind of knew that was a possibility coming into this,” Vizzina said. “It does not discourage me at all. I want to learn. I want to be ready when my chance comes. I want to be prepared for it.”
Vizzina, a 5-star prospect coming out of high school in Birmingham, Ala., says he still has a lot to learn.
Below are some quick observations from the rest of the freshman’s conversation with the media:
--Vizzina says he has enjoyed his time at Clemson thus far, especially when he gets the opportunity to play golf with some of his teammates. He says playing golf has allowed him the time to build relationships with some of the older players, as well as bond with his fellow freshmen. “This place is just so awesome with the people that are here. Every day you walk in here, there are people smiling. There is never a down day.”
--As for the quarterback room, Vizzina says it is a great room. He said new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley has added a lot to the room. He said everyone in the room brings a different skillset to the table. “We are all different ages. It is a very welcoming room. When I walked in, being 17, I did know how it was going to be, but they accepted me.”
--The freshman quarterback said he was sad to see Brandon Streeter go because he recruited him to Clemson. Vizzina says he still talks with Streeter to this day. However, he is excited to learn from Riley, especially after just watching him coach TCU to the national championship game. “We were all excited. Coach Swinney sat me down and told me, and I was very excited.” Vizzina said Swinney told them he was going to make a change at offensive coordinator and bring someone new in. He said it was about a day later when Clemson announced Riley as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
--Vizzina says the offense is going to be explosive under Riley’s leadership. “There are a lot of guys that have more experience compared to last year, and now with Coach Riley, he has put in this offense, and it is just explosive. We have different types of players and different types of receivers and I think when it all comes together, we are going to be very dangerous.”
--The first couple of days of spring were tough for Vizzina. He said he hit a learning curve. The speed is different, but he adjusted well. He said what helped is that he learned everything at the same time with the other quarterbacks. He said towards the end of spring he got better and better.
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