Clemson OC Garrett Riley says QB Cade Klubnik is 'picking it up quickly'
It is a new era at Clemson with Cade Klubnik taking over as the starting quarterback and former TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley calling plays under Dabo Swinney. Kludnik stood out last season in the ACC Championship game in relief of DJ Uiagalelei, who transferred to Oregon State.
"He's picking it up quickly,” Riley said. “We're all about simplicity and making it easy for that guy, No. 1. That's the whole thing: if it's easy for the quarterback, odds are you're going to reap the benefits of that eventually. He's grasped it well. A lot of things he did at the high school level and even last year, it's just probably doing a little bit more and a higher repetition of it."
Klubnik threw for 697 yards and two touchdowns to three interceptions in 2022. He logged two starts last season, including in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee. The battle with the Volunteers was a losing effort, but Klubnik dazzled against the Tar Heels, throwing for 279 yards on 20-of-24 passing along with a touchdown.
"You look at what Tennessee could do last year and everybody talked about how fast they played," Klubnik said, via Clemson247. "I think that's going to be a lot similar to what we're going to be doing this year. Just the speed we can play at but also the efficiency. It's not just a bunch of guys running around trying to figure out what we're doing. Even in the first day of practice, after 10 minutes guys were running around and getting to the spot and snapping the ball 15 seconds later. I don't know the exact time.
"It's fun... you're running around, getting set, snapping the ball and getting six yards then you're taking a shot. Then six more, six more, then taking a shot. It's just fun, that's the best way to describe it. It's just a fun offense to play in."
Klubnik arrived at Clemson as a five-star prospect. He ranked No. 13 nationally, the No. 2 quarterback and No. 3 in the state of Texas overall. He is a product of Austin (Texas) Westlake.
"Accuracy and continuing to rally guys and really push them to where they haven't pushed themselves before," Klubnik said of where he's improved. "I feel like now I have that capability to really encourage guys to get going. We got some of the best athletes in the nation here, so just getting their minds right. Not saying that they don't, but we're not here to just have another year. We're here to win it all. That's the main goal here and if we don't do that then the accomplishment isn't made."
