After a 4-4 start to the 2023 season, there was a ton of criticism surrounding the Clemson football program. Many started to believe Dabo Swinney’s stubbornness was putting the Tigers behind in the changing landscape of the sport. There was even more resentment for quarterback Cade Klubnik, though.
Klubnik was viewed as the quarterback who could bring Clemson back to the heights of the 2010s his freshman year. By the end of his sophomore season, his first year as the starter, a portion of the fan base was ready to replace him. Even after finishing the season 9-4, there were many who felt that Klubnik was not good enough to put the Tigers back in the national championship conversation.
It was a time Klubnik himself described as uncomfortable at the ACC Football Kickoff.
Swinney could have easily listened to the noise and went shopping in the portal at that point. Instead the head coach doubled down on his trust in his quarterback. That trust that Swinney had in Klubnik is what the quarterback said has fueled him for the last two years. It turned out to be the best decision for all sides seeing how the next season went.
Klubnik nearly doubled his number of touchdowns thrown from 19 in 2023 to 36 in 2024. Along with that he also threw three fewer interceptions and for 755 more yards. Swinney reminded fans during the ACC Football Kickoff, “Development has been what we’ve always been about in my 16 years as the head coach.” He sees Klubnik as the perfect example of that.
Swinney also said that Klubnik is made of the right stuff and he saw that in how he processed everything, good and bad.
Dabo feels that 2023 was the first time Klubnik faced true football adversity. Klubnik had a stellar high school career winning three Texas state championships. Then, in his freshman season, he stepped into the ACC Championship Game for a struggling DJ Uiagalelei. The Tigers went on to win that game and Klubnik won the MVP award for his performance.
All the foundations of that same winner were still in Klubnik even after the struggles in his sophomore year. Swinney added in his ACC Network interview, “I had a lot of conviction that Cade was a guy that it was important enough to him to go and get better. Now he’s 207 pounds…less sacks, less turnovers, less TFLs, more leadership, better decision making, better situational awareness, [and] used his legs.”
All the growth Klubnik made as a player from 2023 to 2024 was expected by Swinney.
Sometimes it takes hearing the right people say they still believe in you to raise your level of motivation. For Klubnik, that is what he needed. To hear and know his coach still trusts him. It explains why Klubnik loves playing for Swinney. Their relationship is what fueled him into becoming a Heisman favorite. This season will be the culmination of that trust.