Cade Klubnik is projected by multiple outlets as the No. 1 QB in college football for the 2025 season. His path to staying all four years at one school and being in that position is a rarity in the sport now.
Klubnik was recently interviewed on the Pure Athlete podcast about his journey and what motivated him to stay at Clemson.
“I dreamed of playing college football my whole life, and I never dreamed of doing it to make money,” Klubnik said. “I dreamed of doing it because it’s what I want to do. I want to run out on a football field in front of 100,000 fans and play the game I’ve been playing since I was three years old. And not to go make money. I think I had to kinda remind myself of that perspective of that’s the dream I’ve been chasing.”
The former 5-star prospect and No. 1-rated quarterback in his class didn’t have the success expected after an ACC title and MVP performance to end his freshman campaign. He says he had some options to go elsewhere after the up-and-down season.
“So after my sophomore year, sure I had some teams call up and ask me to come and blah-blah-blah, but I’m like, ‘No, I’m staying here.’ I need to get better. I trust in Coach Swinney,” Klubnik said. “I trust in Coach Riley. I need to put my head down and go get better because there are a lot of people depending on me.”
One conversation with his head coach particularly stood out to him in that process.
“I think one of the biggest things after my sophomore year was, which was exactly a year ago, was Coach Swinney pulled me into his office and told me, ‘Hey, I’ve got quarterbacks that want to play here too. I’ve got players wanting to come play at Clemson and come replace you,'” Klubnik said. “He told me, ‘I believe in you, and I trust in you. Let’s go to work.’ It’s one thing to have a couple people in your ear saying this and this and this, ‘You should leave.’ When the head coach comes up and tells you that he believes in you, after you just had a not great year — that just kinda flipped something. ‘I want to go play for you even harder. I want to go to work for you even more.'”
The rest is a career junior season, and as he has already expressed this offseason, he is looking for even more in 2025.