Clemson lands QB Paul Tyson from transfer portal

Matt Connollyby:Matt Connolly12/21/22

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Clemson has added a veteran to its quarterback room as transfer portal QB Paul Tyson has joined the Tigers program.

Clemson officially announced the addition of Tyson Wednesday morning.

He is transferring to the Tigers from Arizona State.

Tyson is an Alabama native who originally signed with Alabama out of high school.

He did not appear in a game for the Sun Devils in 2022, but he did appear in 13 games as Bryce Young’s backup in 2021. He finished 10 of 16 passing for 150 yards that season.

Tyson is the great grandson of Alabama legend Bear Bryant.

He was rated as a four-star prospect in the class of 2019 coming out of high school.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback attended Hewitt-Trussville High School and finished his career with a 19-5 record as a starter. He threw for more than 6,500 yards and 69 touchdowns, with only 13 interceptions in his 24 games as a starter.

Clemson was looking to add depth to its quarterback room after losing a pair of QBs to the transfer portal.

DJ Uiagalelei is currently in the portal and looking for a new home, while Billy Wiles has announced that he is headed to Southern Miss.

Tyson is joining a Clemson quarterback room that will have a couple of elite signal callers in 2022 signee Cade Klubnik and 2023 signee Christopher Vizzina.

Klubnik is currently the starting QB for the Tigers and will make his first career start later this month in the Orange Bowl. He is a former five-star recruit.

Vizzina signed with Clemson earlier Wednesday as a four-star recruit.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.