The path from five-star high school quarterback to a strong Heisman Trophy contender has not been a direct one for Cade Klubnik. Clemson’s senior quarterback has seen his share of ups and downs, and he says he’s thankful for it.
“Growth through failure,” Klubnik said. “It hasn't been easy, but it's been awesome. I'm so thankful for the hardship that's come along the way and every battle that I've had to go through. It’s been awesome. And I feel like it's just continually made me better.”
Klubnik is getting ready to lead his Tigers against the Tigers from LSU in one of Week 1’s blockbusters. Clemson is ranked No. 4 and has an eye on a national championship run. LSU is No. 9 and potentially has Brian Kelly’s best team in Baton Rouge. As a bonus, the winner gets to crow about having ‘the real Death Valley’.
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You will find Klubnik near the top of the Heisman Trophy odds, near the top of the NFL Draft boards and near the top of All-America teams. But the kid from Austin, Tex., does his best to avoid the noise, because he knows through experience things can turn on a dime.
He was the next big thing at Clemson, a five-star freshman biding his time behind DJ Uiagalelei. His first college appearance came as a true freshman in mop-up time in an opening week win against Georgia Tech (“Threw a touchdown to Will Taylor on ‘Orange Crush’. That was so awesome.”). Clemson fans loved what they saw, and started to pine for the new kid when Uiagalelei struggled later in the year.
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Klubnik was subbed into a game at Notre Dame to give a lifeless offense a spark. He threw an interception on his second play that led to an Irish touchdown and never returned. Maybe the Texas kid wasn’t ready after all.
But Klubnik shined in his first start, a 39-10 win over North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game when he threw for 279 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a TD. Expectations once again rose in anticipation of the 2023 season when Klubnik would be the starter from Day 1.
Yet after eight games, Clemson stood 4-4 and was averaging just 19 points in ACC play. Tyler from Spartanburg, and many others in the fan base, didn’t like what they were seeing.
The Tigers went out and beat Notre Dame 31-23 the following week, and Klubnik remembers what it felt like to answer the critics.
“Pure joy of winning versus Notre Dame,” he said. “I remember just hugging Coach (Dabo) Swinney and hugging my parents after that one. I walked into that game with a different mentality that I've had, and I haven't really looked back since. That game has probably had the biggest impact on my career.”
Clemson finished 9-4, but that didn’t live up to the new standard some Clemson fans had quickly gotten used to.
“It was a tough year, and to think that you're good at something and thousands of people tell you that you suck at it is not very confidence driving,” Klubnik said.
Klubnik said he met with Swinney and was given a needed boost of confidence. Other quarterbacks were calling, ready to transfer in if Clemson was looking to go in a different direction. Swinney wasn’t entertaining their offers.
“Just the confidence in his voice,” Klubnik said. “He said he believed me, but he said, ‘Hey, we gotta get better.’”
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So Klubnik went to work, figuring out how best to use his legs, cut down on his sacks, interceptions and negative plays. He had to improve his red zone performance, deep balls, and develop physically.
“He had a lot of room for improvement in all of those areas, and you saw that last year,” Swinney said.
Klubnik’s numbers improved across the board. He finished with 36 touchdowns, 6 interceptions and a 63.4 completion percentage. He ran for 463 yards and seven touchdowns, and led Clemson to a CFP berth, where he threw for 336 yards and 3 touchdowns in a loss at Texas.
Fourteen starters return from a group that got a taste of the expanded postseason, and Klubnik said the team is looking for more. The Tigers are getting all kinds of accolades and attention, and they know a win Saturday night will amplify all the preseason expectations.
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Klubnik wants to be the calm leader amid the hype storm. He said he wrote in his journal when he was a freshman that one of his goals was to be the same person for four years, whether he was an unknown backup, a struggling starter or the leader of the team. He knows he’s changed physically and emotionally, but at his core, he doesn’t let football change who he is.
Which doesn’t mean he isn’t excited for what’s to come.
“We kind of been through the fire, and we've had some great ups and some big downs, but we're a hungry team,” he said. “Man, we’ve got a lot of talent. We're a tight group, and we're ready for the long haul, that's for sure.”