The Clemson Tigers and head coach Dabo Swinney might already have their quarterback of the future.
To say that the 2025 college football season has not gone according to plan for head coach Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers would be a massive understatement.
At the beginning of the year, Clemson was expected to be a top-tier national championship contender. What has truly transpired on the field has been anything but championship contention.
Heading into today's matchup against Furman, the Tigers hold a 5-5 record. It seems likely that Clemson will end up being bowl eligible, but the team has zero chance at the College Football Playoff. That shortcoming has caused a lot of frustration within the fan base.
Throughout the 2025 season, Swinney's name has come up as a hot seat candidate. Swinney has also been urged by analysts to consider parting ways with the Tigers.
Despite the outside noise, Swinney seems to be remaining loyal to Clemson.
Following the 2025 campaign, the Tigers will need to find a new quarterback. Cade Klubnik is playing his final games as the lead man at Clemson. Who could the program turn to under center?
Prior to facing Furman, Swinney spoke out with incredibly high praise for freshman quarterback Chris Denson. He might very well be the guy for the Tigers moving forward.
“He’s a guy that there’s just still some unknown with him,” Swinney said. “He’s an elite athlete – I mean, elite, elite, elite. Can really, really run. You’ve got guys that can run, and then you’ve got guys like Denson.”
Swinney continued forward, heaping more praise on Denson while also cautioning that the youngster still has a lot of work to do to improve his game as a passer.
“He is unbelievably explosive,” Swinney said. “He’s still developing as a quarterback. There’s still some growth there that’s got to happen. But we’re seeing lots of improvement in practice – physically, and just developmentally, as far as throwing the ball.”
Denson, who was a three-star quarterback in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247 Sports, has a big fan in Swinney. If he can develop his passing game to match his ability on the ground, Clemson might have its future quarterback.
Klubnik has been good during his time with the Tigers. He was never quite able to live up to the hype, but is headed off to the NFL and will have a chance to make his mark at the professional level.
Perhaps Denson will be the guy next season. That might not be the case, but Swinney is clearly extremely high on the young signal caller.