During his weekly Tuesday press conference, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney discussed his patience with Cade Klubnik throughout his career and how rewarding it is to see the success he's having now.
Now in his second full season as the Tigers' starting quarterback, Klubnik has been on fire in recent weeks, accounting for 16 total touchdowns (12 passing, four rushing) with only one interception over the past three games.
"I'm proud of him. He's had a good September," Swinney said. "We've got a long way to go and he's got a long way to go in his career, and he just needs to keep his head down and stay focused on the task at hand day in and day out, and he'll be fine. But I'm proud of the work that he's put in."
Swinney reflected on the development that Klubnik, now a junior, needed at the beginning of his college career. Swinney said Klubnik "wasn't ready as a freshman" in 2022 and that having DJ Uiagalelei at the quarterback position gave Clemson "the best chance to win" that year.
Then a junior, Uiagalelei started 13 games for the Tigers in 2022, when he had an up-and-down campaign and ultimately lost the starting job to Klubnik in the ACC Championship Game before transferring to Oregon State for the 2023 season.
Klubnik shined after taking over for Uiagalelei in the ACC title game, earning MVP honors while leading Clemson to a win over North Carolina. Klubnik then made his first career start in the Orange Bowl vs. Tennessee to end the 2022 season before entering 2023 as the Tigers' full-time starter.
"To me, that's our job as coaches -- I think you can really hurt kids when you put them out there before they're ready. He wasn't ready as a freshman," Swinney said of Klubnik. "You put him in there in the Georgia Tech game at the end of the game and he has a good drive in the fourth quarter, and 'we gotta start him the next week.' That's these narratives that you get.
"DJ gave us the best chance to win. It's very simple. He really did. We don't go to the ACC Championship Game without DJ that year. We don't. That's just a fact. ... DJ really had two bad games here, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame... And then DJ kind of settled back in, and actually came back in that game and played well to finish that game. Again, he gave us the best chance to win. You're trying to win every week. You're not trying to win narrative awards or polls. You're trying to win games. And then obviously the change happened in the ACC Championship Game, and we went from there."
Klubnik experienced some growing pains during his first season as Clemson's starting quarterback last year, when he completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,844 yards with 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
The former five-star prospect struggled at times but did progress as the season went along and capped the season with a game-winning drive against Kentucky in the Gator Bowl, giving Clemson a five-game winning streak to end the year following a 4-4 start.
The adversity that the 2023 season brought was a new experience for Klubnik, the former Texas Gatorade Player of the Year who went 27-0 as a starter his last two years at Westlake High School.
Swinney believes Klubnik is now better off because of that adversity.
"He still was a young player with a lot of developing, and last year as a first-year starter, we had a tough start," Swinney said. "Again, you're talking a double-overtime loss (to Miami), an overtime loss (to Florida State). We lose on a pick-six, one play at NC State. The Duke game (in the season opener) was just, to this day - in 129 years, we've never lost a game like that with 200-200 (200-plus rushing yards, 200-plus passing yards). First time in the history of the school. There was some crazy things.
"And so, again, young player, big stage, lot of scrutiny, lot of noise, lot of negativity, and he in particular had never really had much football adversity. Everything's kind of gone scripted for him. It's good for him. It's made him better."
A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available! Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!