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When you think about the Dabo Swinney era at Clemson, the first thing you’ll think about will be the annual trips to the College Football Playoff, the multiple national championships, and the countless conference championships. And as you could imagine, the play of the quarterback during that time is the main reason for all that success. While Tajh Boyd never won a national championship, he’s the QB that helped get Dabo’s program back into the national spotlight, taking the Tigers to back-to-back BCS bowl games. Following Boyd, was Deshaun Watson, one of the highest-rated recruits to ever commit to Clemson, and he didn’t disappoint, taking the team to the College Football Playoff in consecutive seasons, winning one national title, and losing in another. After Watson, comes Trevor Lawrence, an even higher-rated recruit, who didn’t disappoint either, losing only one game as a starter, while taking the Tigers to a third national title, and losing in another.
Since Lawrence moved on to the NFL, Clemson has been seeking their next guy under center, and after DJ U failed to meet expectations, another heralded recruit, Cade Klubnik is now ready to lead the program back to the College Football Playoff. Klubnik, played in 10 games, throwing for 2 touchdowns, against 3 interceptions. But when he was inserted into the ACC Championship game after two drives, it sparked the offense, as they made light work of Drake Maye, and UNC, winning in blowout fashion. While he didn’t follow that up with a great game in the Orange Bowl, he’s ready for takeoff in 2023.
After the success of Boyd, Watson, and Lawrence, Clemson QBs will forever be judged by how many games they win, and did they win national championships. Klubnik knows that, but he’s not getting caught in that line of thinking. Today at ACC Kick-Off, Klubnik set down with Wes & Walker, and addressed just that by saying “Comparisons are going to happen here and there. But at the end of the day, I’m just trying to play like me. I’m just trying to be Cade, I’m just trying to be the best me I can possibly be”.
If the best version of Klubnik is the one we saw in the ACC Championship game, the Clemson program is in good hands, and will be back competing for conference titles, and national championships starting this fall.
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Cade Klubnik: I’m Trying To Be The Best Version of Myself was originally published on wfnz.com
