Dabo Swinney Makes Clemson QB Change Clear: ‘Tait Has Passed Him, and He’s Won the Job’

Tait Reynolds was already getting the start. Now Dabo Swinney has made it clear the freshman has won the job.

Three days after announcing Reynolds would start Saturday against North Carolina, Swinney offered his strongest assessment yet of Clemson’s quarterback competition Tuesday.

“Tait has passed him, and he’s won the job,” Swinney said. “So he’s going to be the starter. And we’ll see where it goes from there.”

The distinction is important.

Reynolds’ move into the starting lineup came after Christopher Vizzina injured his left arm during Clemson’s 22-7 win over Georgia Southern. But Swinney made clear Tuesday that the change at quarterback is based on performance, not simply Vizzina’s health.

Vizzina is back at practice and improving daily. Swinney said the senior will have to wear protection on his left arm but “should be good to go.” Asked directly whether Vizzina would be Clemson’s No. 2 quarterback Saturday if needed, Swinney said yes.

Instead, Clemson’s quarterback change is the result of an evaluation that has been taking place since spring practice.

Swinney said Clemson grades every play and every rep in practice and estimated Vizzina finished the spring about three practices ahead of Reynolds. That was enough for Vizzina to maintain the lead entering the season.

Two games later, the order has flipped.

“We just feel like Tait has moved ahead,” Swinney said. “Now that you’ve gotten into some games, you saw some things. He wasn’t perfect, but you saw some things that we saw in the spring that were like, okay, now you see it in real time.”

The numbers through two games illustrate a competition in which neither quarterback has produced much through the air, but Reynolds has received more opportunities and avoided the turnovers that hurt Vizzina.

Clemson quarterbacks through two games

Reynolds went 4-of-6 for 22 yards after making his college debut during Clemson’s 51-10 loss at LSU. He then received extended work against Georgia Southern, completing 16-of-27 passes for 178 yards while adding 38 rushing yards on 14 official carries. He has yet to throw a touchdown, but he also has not thrown an interception.

Vizzina has completed 14-of-23 passes for 102 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His interception at LSU was returned for a 30-yard touchdown, and his interception against Georgia Southern came on his final play Saturday night.

Still, Swinney stressed Tuesday that Clemson has not given up on Vizzina.

“I hadn’t lost any faith in CV. Not at all,” Swinney said. “I think we’ve got a good situation. I think we can win with either one of them.”

But Swinney also described the decision plainly.

“It’s a performance deal.”

Swinney said Vizzina had opportunities to retain the starting job but did not consistently execute the routine plays Clemson needed from him. Reynolds, meanwhile, showed enough during his opportunity against Georgia Southern to move ahead.

Later Tuesday, Swinney went even further in describing Reynolds’ rise.

“Tait has put himself in this position. Nobody gave it to him,” Swinney said. “He’s put himself in the position. Now it’s on him to go play well and run with it.”

The change also means a much different week of preparation for Reynolds.

Instead of splitting practice work as part of an ongoing competition, Swinney estimated Reynolds will now get about 70 percent of Clemson’s quarterback reps, up from roughly 30 percent.

That additional work comes at an important time.

Clemson is 1-1 and has struggled to find any consistency offensively.

The Tigers were held to 145 total yards at LSU and followed that performance by scoring only one touchdown against Georgia Southern despite a 22-7 victory.

According to the NCAA, Clemson ranks 136 out of 138 teams in 3rd-down conversion percentage (3-of-27) through its first two games, just 11%. 

Reynolds wasn't immune to his own problems Saturday.

Swinney pointed to mistakes in the run game, quarterback counter, and Reynolds’ pre-snap process as areas that need improvement. But he believes those are correctable issues, especially with Reynolds now receiving most of the first-team work.

“I don’t expect him to be a fifth-year quarterback,” Swinney said, “but I expect him to be a much better quarterback than he was last week.”

Reynolds will get his first opportunity to show that improvement Saturday when Clemson opens ACC play against North Carolina at noon in Death Valley.

And for the first time in his career at Clemson, Reynolds has the job.