There’s been plenty of speculation surrounding what Clemson football might do to address its quarterback depth situation heading into this fall.
The Tigers are now down a quarterback- with Taisun Phommachanh sidelined for the season following a ruptured Achilles tendon- and there are many Clemson fans who would like to see the Tigers go to the NCAA Transfer Portal to find a quarterback.
Still, outwardly, nothing has been said about what the plan is and everything seems to still be trending towards allowing the three freshmen- Bubba Chandler, Will Taylor and Billy Wiles- to get on campus this summer and let them, along with Hunter Helms, battle it out for position behind D.J. Uiagalelei.
There’s only one problem: Clemson won’t know if Chandler or Taylor will actually be making their way to campus until July when the MLB Draft takes place.
Chandler is expected to be taken high in the draft and that means he could choose to forego his collegiate eligibility and begin his professional career.
One report says Clemson football has reached out to a potential solution in the NCAA Transfer Portal
The Clemson Insider reported last week that sources had told them that Clemson had reached out to a graduate quarterback who might be interested in coming back for one more year of college football.
TCI did not give a name, but said the quarterback was already ‘in the work world’ and that he would be ‘a major upgrade to what the Tigers currently have.’
"“I can tell you this player has confirmed to me in the last 24 hours that he has spoken with Coach Pearman about the possibility of playing one more year of football at Clemson,” the report said. “Of course, as you know, Pearman’s new role at Clemson is to scout and recruit the transfer portal. This player was recruited by the Tigers in high school and already has a relationship with Swinney and several assistants.”"
This quarterback already has a job and he would be choosing to leave that to come back for another season, according to TCI.
If that’s the case, it could be a name in the Transfer Portal but it also might be a name we’re not expecting. There has been some speculation surrounding Austin Kendall- the QB from West Virginia currently in the transfer portal- but that description doesn’t necessarily fit him.
It will be interesting to see what ends up playing out, but for now we would take this report with a grain of salt for the time being. The Clemson football coaching staff is going to go through its options and carefully consider the best route before making any decision.