Cade Klubnik has had a roller-coaster of a Clemson football career to this point.
As a freshman, he sat behind DJ Uiagalelei despite the former five-star being considered the future of the program and the starter not quite living up to expectations in 2022.
In 2023, Klubnik took over as the full-time starter, forcing Uiagalelei to transfer to Oregon State where he had a bit of a resurgence with Jonathan Smith and the Beavers. When Smith left for Michigan State ahead of the 2024 season, DJ hit the portal again and went to rival Florida State where he just didn't gel and eventually fizzled out, losing his starting job.
On the flip side, Klubnik was busy passing for 2,844 yards and 19 touchdowns for a Tiger team that fell short of the 10-win mark for the first time in over a decade.
Some fans wanted Klubnik out after that because he just didn't do anything special and the offense was disappointing, but he stuck around, used the hate as fuel, and put together his best season as a Tiger in 2024. He passed for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns with only six picks and he ran for another 463 yards and seven scores.
Now, Klubnik is the top quarterback in the nation, per countless media outlets.
That means he went from being called "trash" to "the best quarterback in college football" in the span of a year and now he's one of the most coveted signal-callers in the nation.
That's led to other teams trying to poach him.
Clemson QB Cade Klubnik confirmed yesterday that other teams made a run at him this offseason, trying to get him to transfer: "I'm here for the long haul, and that’s what it is. Sure, other teams tried and whatever. But, obviously, it wasn’t easy to pull me away from here"
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) July 25, 2025
Klubnik admitted that Dabo picked him up when he was down after the 2023 season and that motivated him to get better and to stick it out at Clemson when it probably would have just been easier to go somewhere else with fewer expectations. All he did was turn himself into the best quarterback in the country.
It's no secret as to why he opted to stay at Clemson despite receiving numerous offers to pull him away and poach him for his final year of college ball.
We can all thank Dabo for making sure Klubnik never ventured elsewhere.