Dabo Swinney didn’t need much time Tuesday to make his feelings clear about the eligibility mess hanging over Clemson’s season opener at LSU.
With two LSU players - tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris - potentially able to gain clearance through a Thursday hearing in Louisiana, Swinney said the whole situation has crossed into absurd territory.
“I’ll probably get turned in for tampering,” Swinney joked Tuesday.
Wright has been practicing with LSU this week, and both he and Harris are seeking another year of eligibility despite having spent time with a pro team this summer. Swinney, asked whether that bothers him, didn’t soften his answer.
“Rarely am I at a loss for words … it’s kind of embarrassing, honestly,” Swinney said. “It’s just embarrassing that that’s where we are.
I don’t blame the kids, trying to take advantage of the system. But it’s embarrassing for college football.
…
“It’s a joke. We’ve got zero rules.
And when you enforce rules, somebody just goes and finds a judge to say you can’t enforce those rules. Never did I feel like I’d be playing in an era like that, but that’s where we are right now.”
Swinney did not single out LSU coach Lane Kiffin, who has publicly pushed for the players to be eligible after the NCAA changed its rule to allow players a fifth year without grandfathering in players from the 2022 class.
“I’ve lost zero sleep over that,” Swinney said. “I don’t judge anybody. They can do what they want to do.”
He did, though, crack a little on how much film work Clemson has had to do this summer to prepare for LSU’s roster movement. Swinney said the Tigers studied Arizona State for quarterback Sam Leavitt, along with Ole Miss, Wisconsin and other programs. More recently, the focus shifted to the NFL.
“We spent this last week or so studying the Browns, the Cowboys, the Saints and the Bucs,” Swinney said.
On the field, Clemson walks into Saturday’s game at No. 11 LSU as roughly a 10-point underdog. The Tigers are also coming off a disappointing 7-6 season and were unranked in the preseason AP poll.
Swinney also settled the quarterback race, naming senior Christopher Vizzina the starter. Vizzina had been the favorite, but freshman Tait Reynolds pushed him through spring practice and into the summer.
Reynolds, a three-star recruit and the 34th-ranked quarterback in the 2026 class according to the 247Sports composite, missed most of his senior year in Arizona because of a hamstring injury. His dual-threat skill set helped keep the battle alive longer than expected.
“He’s not a mile ahead. But he’s ahead,” Swinney said of Vizzina, who has 105 pass attempts in three seasons.
“And practice matters. There was a time where I really thought Tait had a chance to take the job, and then he had a couple disastrous days, and just looked like a freshman.
But to CV’s credit, CV has just been incredibly steady. He’s put his head down and gone to work.
He got ahead to this point.”
In Other News...
Clemsons LSU Opener Just Got A Lot More Complicated
LSUs preparations for its opener against Clemson just got a lot messier after a Louisiana judge granted a temporary injunction that allows former NFL preseason players DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris to remain eligible until their legal case is resolved. The ruling keeps both players in the conversation for LSUs roster as the Tigers head into a game that already had plenty of attention attached to it, and it adds another layer to a matchup Clemson was preparing to treat like an early measuring stick.
The SEC has filed a lawsuit against LSU over the schools recruiting of former professional players, and the league now appears poised to push back harder after the injunction. Attorneys for the SEC plan to appeal the ruling, leaving LSU in the middle of a legal fight with the opener looming and a potential roster decision still hanging over one of the biggest games on its schedule. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Faces A Wild Roster Fight Just Before Clemson Opener
A legal ruling this week opened the door for LSU to add more bodies to its roster just as the Tigers are trying to get settled for the season, with former professional athletes DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris now eligible to play after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction. LSU is moving quickly to add Wright and Harris before the deadline, and it is also working to bring Blake Cotton onto the roster as well, a reminder that the personnel battles around college football can be just as intense as anything on the field.
For Clemson, the timing is hard to ignore with the opener looming, because LSU is still sorting through eligibility and roster questions while the SEC has already pushed back hard. The conference has filed a lawsuit against LSU and Lane Kiffin and plans to appeal the ruling, leaving the situation in a legal gray area even as LSU tries to get its lineup in place for the start of the year. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States No. 1 Opener Just Got A Bigger Week 1 Spotlight
The 2026 college football calendar already has plenty of heavy lifting built into it, and Clemson is right in the middle of it. The Week 1 slate features all AP Top 25 teams, but the matchup drawing the sharpest attention on the Tigers side is LSUs season debut against Clemson, part of a full opening weekend that also includes games like Louisville against Ole Miss and a packed broadcast lineup across the sport.
For Clemson, the intrigue is obvious because the opener brings an early measuring stick against a national power and a fresh LSU look under Lane Kiffin. The schedule details are set, the stage is national, and the first Saturday in September now carries even more weight for a Clemson program that will have to answer a big question right away, with the Tigers entering that one in an unexpected role. [Read more 🡒]