Clemson
On film, Chris Denson looked like he had it all.
He threw a pretty deep ball. He minimized turnovers. He was an explosive runner who didn’t mind going off script, and usually picked up 10 or more yards rushing when he did. Yet here he was late in the fall of his senior year, an unheralded three-star quarterback recruit set to play college football at … Coastal Carolina?
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney watched Denson’s highlights over and over, stumped.
“I watched it like 10 times,” Swinney said last week. “I’m literally trying to figure out what I’m missing, and I can’t. I’m like, ‘OK, well he must be 5-foot-8.’”
Spoiler alert: Denson was not 5-8.
Swinney is as optimistic as they come, and no college football coach is going to talk down their quarterback recruit on the day they sign. But there’s a growing consensus outside the walls of Clemson’s team facilities, too: That program got quite a steal when Denson flipped his commitment from Coastal Carolina to the Tigers.
Denson (6-1.5, 175 pounds) racked up nearly 3,500 yards of total offense and 40 touchdowns as a senior at Plant City High School outside Tampa, Florida — not bad for someone considered just the 51st best quarterback prospect in the Class of 2025.
Assuming Clemson starting quarterback Cade Klubnik returns for his senior season in 2025, there’s no viable path to playing time for Denson until 2026. Even then, he’d likely have to beat out a fourth-year quarterback in Christopher Vizzina.
But 247Sports recruiting analyst Tom Loy remains fired up about Denson’s long-term trajectory with the Tigers.
“Chris Denson, in my opinion, is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the country,” Loy told The State last week. “He has a chance to be a starter. A lot of people think he’s just being brought in as a spot-filler, or a guy that’s going to be a career backup. I could not disagree more.”
Clemson’s abbreviated QB search
Heading into his senior year at Plant City, Denson wasn’t on Clemson’s radar in any capacity. The Tigers, like most programs, generally take just one quarterback in a class and thought they had their guy for 2025 in four-star Blake Hebert.
But Hebert made an out-of-the-blue pivot this fall, flipping his commitment from Clemson to Notre Dame on Oct. 14, and leaving the Tigers without a quarterback commitment in their 2025 class about two months before early signing day.
Enter Denson, who was putting up career numbers in Florida while coincidentally being committed to another school in the state of South Carolina.
Coastal Carolina coach Tim Beck and staff had pursued Denson aggressively after he put up strong numbers as a junior, and he committed to the Chanticleers in April with little fanfare. His other reported finalists were Minnesota, South Florida, Arkansas State and North Dakota State, an FCS program.
“I’m sure Coastal was hoping that nobody ever saw him,” Swinney joked.
The Chanticleers, a Group of Five program which competes in the Sun Belt “absolutely loved” Denson, Loy added. “They thought he was a guy that was going to stick in their class and could potentially be an NFL guy down the road.”
Clemson general manager Jordan Sorrells, who leads the team’s recruiting efforts, liked what he saw on tape. Swinney did, too. But the Tigers wanted to make sure Denson stacked up in person, so offensive coordinator Garrett Riley flew down to Florida to watch him in a late November playoff game.
Plant City was overmatched in the game, Swinney said, but Denson’s stats told the story. In a one-point loss, the lefty quarterback was 11 of 19 for 202 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while rushing 18 times for a season-high 235 yards and a third score. Riley returned home with further confirmation:
This was who Clemson needed.
“He is a rocket with an arm attached to it,” Swinney said.
Denson, 17, announced he was flipping his commitment from the Chanticleers to the Tigers four days later. He was the first 2025 signee to get his paperwork officially processed at 7 a.m. sharp on Dec. 4, the early national signing day.
“This is the top program in the country, and my development will soar as a result,” Denson said in a social media post announcing his signing. “Playing on one of the best teams nationally will provide incredible opportunities for growth.”
‘Just what we needed’
The incoming freshman led Plant City to a 9-3 record this fall and finished the season with 40 total touchdowns against just four turnovers. Denson completed 65% of his passes for 2,334 yards, 28 touchdowns and three interceptions in 12 games.
On the ground, Denson averaged 10.3 yards per carry and had 1,159 rushing yards, 13 scores and five games of 100-plus yards (and only lost one fumble).
Denson plays a “backyard style of football,” Loy said, one that also reportedly drew the interest of power conference schools Florida State and Notre Dame when they were looking for potential quarterback recruits earlier this fall.
Loy compared Denson’s playing style to that of Deuce Knight, a five-star 2025 quarterback who ranks as the No. 29 recruit nationally and signed with Auburn.
“This is like Deuce Knight-lite,” Loy said of Denson. “He’s every bit the player (Knight) is right now. Both are raw. He’s just not 6-foot-5.”
Denson, an early enrollee, told The State that he plans to be on campus and participate in bowl practice with Clemson starting next Monday.
After beating SMU in Saturday’s ACC championship, Clemson earned the No. 12 seed in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff bracket and plays a a first-round game at No. 5 Texas on Dec. 21 in Austin.
The bowl prep experience, which is becoming more and more common for early enrollees thanks to an NCAA rule change two years ago, will give Denson a head start and some early facetime with Klubnik, Clemson’s star junior quarterback, and Vizzina, the team’s top backup quarterback who is a redshirt freshman.
Swinney said Denson’s “unique” skill set as a lefty and dual-threat quarterback made him an ideal fit for the Tigers in 2025, and for long-term plans at the position.
“The portal has lessened a lot of high school kids’ opportunity, and that’s the only thing I can say for why he’s under-recruited,” Swinney said. “I mean, this guy is a baller. … I’m really excited about him coming in here and filling that spot for us.”
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