Clemson’s quarterback race is still wide open, but the person helping steer it has lived through the same kind of pressure before.
Tajh Boyd, now the Tigers’ quarterbacks coach after being promoted this offseason, has been right in the middle of the competition between redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina and true freshman Tait Reynolds. And from Boyd’s view, the biggest thing standing out isn’t tension - it’s how well the room is working together.
“One of the things that I love so much about the room right now is how they complement each other,” he said during Clemson football’s media day. “I think the uniqueness of it all is being able to coach it and have played it.”
Boyd knows what a quarterback battle feels like. Back in 2010, he was competing with Kyle Parker for the starting job at Clemson, and he came out on the wrong side of that fight. Even so, that experience gave him a firsthand look at what it takes to stay engaged when the reps are being divided.
His message to the quarterbacks now is simple: if one guy is on the field, everybody else still has work to do.
“So, one guy’s out there; we should all be taking notes,” Boyd said. “We should all be taking the mental reps. We should all be learning; when we come back to the sideline, we’ll talk about it and address it collectively.”
That kind of buy-in matters even more with fall camp coming up in a few weeks, and Boyd says the room has kept that togetherness intact. He pointed to Vizzina as one of the leaders helping hold things steady.
For Vizzina, the challenge is familiar. He spent three seasons waiting behind Cade Klubnik, and Boyd said the redshirt junior has handled that stretch with the right attitude.
“He’s grabbed it by the horns; he really has,” Boyd said. “Super proud of CV, and it’s a hard thing, you know what I mean? You’ve been sitting, waiting in the wings for a little while now, and he has had opportunities, like a lot of guys during the offseason, to think about what could happen.”
Boyd said he’s also been impressed by how Vizzina has stayed consistent in his approach after choosing to return.
Reynolds, meanwhile, has brought a different kind of energy into the battle. Boyd described him as a player who attacks competition with real edge.
“Tait is just hyper-competitive,” he said. “Obviously, his physique looks one way, but his mental matches, and he’s a guy who just loves to compete, loves everything about it, and so you love that.”
Even with both quarterbacks pushing hard, Boyd said the competition has not spilled over into anything damaging for the group.
“It’s been super competitive,” Boyd said, “but yet it’s been complimentary, and those guys all have an appreciation for each other.”
At this point, Clemson’s staff still sees no clear winner. Vizzina is ahead, but Reynolds is close behind, and August is expected to bring another round of separation as the players sharpen up from where they were in spring.
Boyd is eager to see who takes the next step once camp opens.
“When they’re out there with us, that’s what’s required,” he said. “But, it’s when they’re on their own time that the separation occurs, and so excited to see where they’ve gone, where they’ve grown since spring ball and excited for fall camp.”
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