With backup quarterback Hunter Helms transferring, is Clemson looking to add a QB from the transfer portal?

Head coach Dabo Swinney was asked that question during his Tuesday press conference and said the Tigers don’t plan to seek a transfer signal-caller.

“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.”

Swinney said the Tigers likely would have needed to bring in another quarterback, if they didn’t already have veteran transfer Paul Tyson and walk-on Trent Pearman.

“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.

Tyson is coming back for another year at Clemson in 2024 as a student coach and will serve as the team’s fourth-string quarterback, staying ready in case he’s needed in an emergency situation behind the No. 3 in Pearman.

“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 Tigers will return starting quarterback Cade Klubnik next season, with Christopher Vizzina in line to be Klubnik’s backup after redshirting as a true freshman this season.

“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.”

As for Klubnik, a rising junior, Swinney remains bullish on his future and said the Tigers are “committed to him and believe in him.”

A former five-star prospect from Texas, Klubnik has experienced some highs and lows this season in his first full year as the Tigers’ starter, during which he’s completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,580 yards and 19 touchdowns with eight interceptions, while rushing for 194 yards and four more scores across 12 games.

“He’s our guy,” Swinney said. “We saw a lot of growth in him this year in his first year as a full-time starter, and I think you’re going to continue to see that. He’s got a lot of things he’s got to do in the offseason, for sure. The game has slowed down for him. He’s still got more to do there. But he makes elite, elite plays, and he’s gotten better at kind of cutting out some of those disaster plays that we had early on and again, just being a little smarter and settling in, a little more poised in the pocket and things like that.

“I think he’s made great progress, and we really believe in that kid. He’ll be a junior, and I think if he stays the course, when he walks out of here in a couple years, this kid’s going to be a great winner here. I really believe that, and so does everybody else in the building.”

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