Say it quietly, but the Clemson Tigers are back. They’re wagging their proverbial tails back towards their pedestal. Success is relative, and Dabo Swinney’s program has had an unsuccessful couple of years by their high standards. But Coach Dabo finally embracing modernity with the transfer portal to address the line of scrimmage, in tandem with their young receiving corps. having a year under their belt, has fanned the flames of a return towards their status as a perennial contender. But even with all this retooling in the off-season, Cade Klubnik remains at the head of the table. The crown jewel, the pièce de résistance. QB1 has been gaining plaudits nationwide. Now, a Clemson alum has also thrust his momentum behind this hype train.
Continuity is a precious commodity in College Football. In a sport where you’ve got players for a finite amount of time, getting uninterrupted progression becomes a massive benefit. So getting the draft-eligible Cade Klubnik back for another year is a great foundation for Dabo Swinney to work off. But when this transpires across the rest of the roster too, special things can happen. Clemson leads the country in returning production from the ‘24 season. 81% of their output remains in Death Valley. Sprinkle this existing synergy with additional help and a championship culture. It’s not hyperbolic to say Clemson is a legitimate threat to win it all this season. But, as clichéd as it sounds, teams only go as far as their quarterback takes them.
Here’s an exercise that every Clemson fan has probably been doing incessantly all off-season. Check out any credible ‘Top 5’ or ‘Top 10 quarterbacks’ list floating on the airwaves. Cade Klubnik is a mainstay in the upper echelons of such subjective hypotheticals. For good reason, too. A senior statesman with a proven track record at this level. But that doesn’t happen automatically. Skill and raw talent are futile if the application isn’t right. Turns out, Klubnik isn’t just uber talented. He puts in the work to reciprocate that talent. Over the Orange Crush podcast, Clemson great Eric Mac Lain leveraged some insider information about the quarterback that epitomizes just how much he’s meshing his intangibles with his high-end tangibles.
Mac Lain shared something he heard directly from linebacker Barrett Carter. A stud for Clemson before his ascension to the NFL this offseason. He said, “During film sessions, Barrett is a guy who wants to be the first one in and last one out. And Cade was always there. He just couldn’t beat Cade.” Mac Lain referred to Klubnik as a “student of the game.” If you’re privy to how far Klubnik’s game has come over the course of the past 12 months, this revelation about him being more diligent than anybody on the team wouldn’t shock you. He has been sowing the seeds in the shadows and reaping the rewards on Saturdays. Mac Lain also shared a second thing he heard from Barrett Carter pertaining to Cade Klubnik.
“I can’t remember if it was a practice or a workout. But Cade kind of calls Barrett out. And it’s just like, ‘Hey, let’s go. What are you doing? Get going. Get this team going. You’re supposed to be a leader.’ Baron said that was a massive momentum shift. Because A) that guy’s put in the work. But also, he’s turning into that leader that the quarterback has to be,” remarked Eric Mac Lain. Look, Cade Klubnik isn’t quite a Trevor Lawrence who can motivate his peers by his sheer excellence. So him finding his voice in that dressing room and gaining traction as a leader will go a long way in driving Clemson towards their goals. Overall, there’s plenty of positivity around Klubnik right now. Which has permeated through to the rest of the program as well. If you needed a microcosm of just how much fervor and hype there is surrounding Klubnik right now, then depending on where you’ve got your ear pointed towards, he’s even running circles around Arch Manning.
Cade Klubnik continues to supersede every QB in his wake, including Arch Manning
Being a former college quarterback himself, ESPN’s Greg McElroy does offer valuable insight into the position group. He relayed his list of the best quarterbacks in CFB for 2025 over his “Always College Football” podcast. As aforementioned, you can pick any such list as a litmus test of Cade Klubmik’s rep. Both amongst analysts, such as McElroy, and the more general football savant. He’s always there or thereabouts near the top. In fact, McElroy has Klubnik down as the best QB in the country.
McElroy rationalized this by bringing up Cade Klubnik’s numbers from last season. 36 TDs through the air, an additional 7 on the ground and over 4k total yards. But McElroy made it a point to relay just how much Klubnik’s developed as a threat out of the backfield. Someone who can move the chains with his legs. For context, he had 463 rushing yards last season. Interestingly, Arch Manning only received an honorable mention from Greg McElroy and didn’t crack the Top 10. Likely because of how much of an unknown quantity he still is.
Dabo Swinney has assimilated the supporting cast around Cade Klubnik. Something that wasn’t entirely true last year. Now, it’s down to him to perform to the requisite level. The ceiling for this team is a national championship, and Klubnik’s predecessors have delivered on that ceiling. It’ll be fascinating to see just how much he, and by extension the Clemson Tigers, can improve. They snuck into the playoffs in sensational circumstances last time, but something tells you it’ll be a much smoother route this time of asking.
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