​Clemson quarterback Christopher Vizzina (17) will compete with freshman Tait Reynolds for the starting QB job in fall camp. Travis Bell/Sideline CarolinaCLEMSON — Clemson football enters 2026 fall camp under less-than-familiar circumstances in more ways than one.The Tigers are young and less experienced than 2025, losing 14 players to the portal and nine to the NFL draft.And perhaps the most talked about unfamiliarity of camp will be the quarterbacks: Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and staff have a choice to make at QB for the first time since Trevor Lawrence nipped at the heels of Kelly Bryant in 2018.Swinney wasn’t prepared to give out the starting job to anyone when he spoke to the media prior to Clemson’s first fall practice Aug. 6, a sentiment that went well beyond the QB position.“I’m just gonna tell you, there ain’t nobody starting. Somebody’s gonna run out there today, because you got to go practice. But we’re gonna evaluate them every day,” Swinney said. “If you run out there first tomorrow, then that’s because you earned it today, not because we just think you’re supposed to be the best one.”Clemson’s staff will likely be choosing between fourth-year QB Christopher Vizzina and freshman Tait Reynolds in 30 days when the Tigers take the field against LSU in Baton Rouge Sept. 5. Swinney continues to emphasize that Vizzina has the pole position but needs to finish the race. He also praised Reynolds, saying “I don’t know what you wouldn’t like,” about the freshman’s physical traits.“Focus on what you control. Just compete every rep. Every rep’s getting evaluated,” Swinney said of his message to the QB room. “Obviously, there’s a lot of tangibles and intangibles at that position. But those guys are great, man. … It’s not like they don’t know the position they signed up for. So go play.”It’s not just the QBs that will be evaluated in fall camp. Clemson also needs to replace four starters on the offensive line, figure out what it has from its crop of nine defensive transfers (11 total) and find a pecking order for its running backs, including Chris Johnson Jr., Gideon Davidson, Jay Haynes and Jarvis Green.“In today’s world, if Jay and Jarvis have been healthy all last year, we probably don’t have all five of these dudes,” Swinney said. “But they were out all year, and but now they’re back and they’re healthy, and we’ve added.”That’s all without mentioning Clemson’s young linebacker room, led by junior Sammy Brown. Swinney said he hopes that group can show their promise with and without Brown on the field.It may feel like a lot to figure out in just 30 days. Swinney insisted it’s a long 30 days between the first practice and kickoff, and nobody is a finished product yet.“We challenge them to, wherever they are in their development phase, to come back the best version of themselves that we’ve seen to this point, regardless of who it was,” he said.“We don’t expect to see the finished version o