Clemson has national championship goals. Why QB Cade Klubnik is ‘built for it’

Around this time a year ago, Clemson football had a morning workout. And that’s where Cade Klubnik was: head down, working, an 18-year-old kid from Texas trying to prove himself.

While Dabo Swinney and DJ Uiagalelei spent the better part of that same day quieting an already-brewing quarterback controversy at the 2022 ACC Kickoff preseason media event, the next big thing for Clemson football was “just trying to be Cade Klubnik every single day,” he said Thursday.

A lot has changed since then – more so than they usually do at Clemson, a program built and maintained on consistency and longevity, and especially so for Klubnik, who has gone from a buzzy backup to the face of a program trying to keep its place atop the ACC.

But amid two historic starts and Uiagalelei’s transfer to Oregon State and one of college football’s splashiest offensive coordinator hires, the Klubnik of July 2022 is very much the Klubnik of July 2023. Older. Wiser. Stronger. But still himself.

“I would say just take it one day at a time,” Klubnik said. “I know I say that a lot, but that’s really what it comes down to. Right now I’m focused on today. ... We’ve got workouts tomorrow morning, and I’m going to be there. I’m going to be locked in where I am.”

With high expectations – down the line, of course.

“The reason I came to Clemson was for two things: It was for the culture and to win a national championship,” Klubnik said. “I believe that we’re going to be able to do that while I’m here.”

As do Swinney, his coach, and Tyler Davis and Will Putnam, the two teammates who joined Klubnik as Clemson player representatives on the third and final day of ACC Kickoff.

They’ve seen the journey every step of the way and know that Klubnik – from an early enrollee who needed to add weight to a backup patiently waiting his turn to an ACC championship game MVP and Orange Bowl starter – is uniquely positioned to lead the Tigers in 2023.

“This time last year he didn’t know what he didn’t know,” Swinney said. “And now he knows what he didn’t know. That’s the great thing. There’s no greater teacher than experience. There’s no greater teacher than a little bit of disappointment along the way, too.”

“So he’s had a lot of success. He’s had a little bit of disappointment. He has a year under his belt. He understands what we got to do to prepare week in and week out. He’s built for it.”

Turbulent freshman season

“A lot of success” is self-explanatory. In December, Klubnik became the first true freshman ACC championship game MVP in league history after throwing for 279 yards and a touchdown, rushing for another and providing a desperately needed spark as Clemson routed UNC 39-10.

Klubnik, who’d flashed tantalizing talent (Syracuse) but some freshman mistakes (Notre Dame) in previous appearances in relief of Uiagalelei, supplanted the now-Oregon State QB once and for as Clemson’s starting quarterback that night and rode his success into the Orange Bowl against Tennessee.

Enter “a little bit of disappointment.” In a frustrating Dec. 30 performance that partially cost former offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter his job, Clemson set program records for most total offensive plays (101) and most first downs (34) in a loss the resurgent Vols.

Klubnik left everything on the field – his 74 combined pass and rush attempts were the fifth most ever by a Clemson player in a single game – and racked up 371 total yards in his first career start.

But two interceptions and puzzling end-of-half sack he’s probably still thinking about contributed to a frustrating 31-14 loss in Miami – the kind that can make an 11-3 season still feel a little blah.

Said Klubnik: “That’s an amazing year, but to finish with a loss, it’s always going to leave something a little dirty in your soul.”

Since then, Putnam and Davis said they’ve seen Klubnik slide into a natural leadership role and take extensive steps to better himself, the offense and the program at large. Consider him as grizzled as a veteran as one can be at 19 years old.

“He understands what it takes,” Putnam said. “He just has different demeanors. I think he’s more calm. I think he’s more comfortable with being uncomfortable, which is really important at quarterback. And that’s also something that I think it’s just really hard to do as a freshman.”

“I can’t wait to see him this year,” Davis said. “I can’t wait for y’all to see him this year. … Just the way he leads, his competitive fiery nature. Y’all will see it.”

Clemson returns four of five starting offensive linemen and arguably the best running back duo in the country in Will Shipley and Phil Mafah, while new OC Garrett Riley, a star hire from TCU, will be tasked with getting the Tigers offense (and wide receivers) back to a College Football Playoff level.

But none of that clicks without a healthy, confident and efficient QB1, something Klubnik said he’s well aware of. He has added 25 pounds of healthy weight since enrolling at Clemson in January 2022; leaned on a small inner circle of people including his parents and his Bible study group to stay grounded; and taken what he sees as every necessary step entering 2023.

New year. Same Klubnik. Same goals.

Read: a 2023 national championship.

“We were ACC champions last year,” Klubnik said. “In the Power Five, there’s only five champions, and we were one of those five. To do that, it’s really really tough – especially in this conference. But we’ve got bigger goals this year.”