Dabo Swinney reflects on patience with Cade Klubnik, value of sitting behind DJ Uiagalelei

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has seen it happen before, but it’s the “exception” to the rule. In other words, not everyone can be Trevor Lawrence, and that’s OK.

“The exception is to come in and be this phenom freshman,” Swinney said this week, when reflecting on the growth of his current starting quarterback, Cade Klubnik. “That can’t be the expectation. That’s really more the exception.”

Klubnik didn’t win a national championship as a first-year Tigers player like Lawrence. He didn’t even start his first game until the postseason of his true freshman campaign. And to say his sophomore season was rocky would be an understatement.

But, finally, Klubnik is putting it all together in his third year with the program and his second as the team’s full-time starter. Following a rough opener against then-No. 1 Georgia, Klubnik has posted a 67.9% completion percentage and a 12:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. What’s more, he’s ran for an additional four touchdowns, meaning he already has 16 scores this season, just seven shy of his season total from 2023.

Most importantly, Clemson is 3-1 and No. 15 in the AP Top 25 with a wide-open ACC race ahead.

“I think you can really hurt kids when you put them out there before they’re ready,” Swinney said Tuesday, when asked about his patience with Klubnik. “He wasn’t ready as a freshman. You put him in there in the Georgia Tech game, and at the end of the game, he has a good drive in the fourth quarter, and we got to start him the next week — you know, that’s these narratives that you get.”

Klubnik spent most of his true freshman season sitting behind then-Clemson starter D.J. Uiagalelei, who has since started games at Oregon State and Florida State.

Uiagalelei left Clemson ranking top 10 on the Tigers’ career lists for completions (515), passing touchdowns (36), quarterback rushing touchdowns (15), passing yards (5,681) and wins (22) as a starting quarterback.

Ultimately, untimely turnovers and inconsistencies tainted his run as Clemson’s QB1, notably seven games between 2021-22 where he completed fewer than 50% of his pass attempts.

When Klubnik joined the fold, though, Swinney felt like Uiagalelei was the better option. He stands by that decision.

“D.J. gave us the best chance to win,” Swinney said. “Just very simple. And, I mean, he really did. We don’t go to the ACC Championship game without D.J. that year. We don’t. That’s just the fact. Now, obviously [Cade] kept coming [along]. He had a chance in the Notre Dame game.

“… DJ really had two bad games here, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. And you think, ‘Well, OK, maybe,’ but [Cade] didn’t. And then D.J. kind of settled back in, and he actually came back in that game and played well to finish that game and just kind of, again, gave us the best chance to win. You’re trying to win every week. You’re not trying to win narrative awards or polls. You’re trying to win games.”

Swinney went on to note that the change did happen later that season, two drives into the ACC Championship game. The Tigers benched Uiagalalei, and Klubnik led Clemson to a conference title with a 39-10 beatdown of North Carolina.

Although the Klubnik-led Tigers lost to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl that season, he entered 2023 as the full-time starter.

“But he still was a young player with a lot of development. And last year as a first-year starter, we had a tough start. And, again, I mean, you’re talking a double-overtime loss [to Miami], an overtime loss [to FSU]. We lose on a pick-six, one play, at N.C. State. The Duke game was just, to this day in 129 years we’ve never lost a game like that. You know, with 200 [passing yards and] 200 [rushing yards]. I mean, first time in the history of the school. There were some crazy things.

“And so, again, young player, big stage, lot of scrutiny, lot of noise, lot of negativity. And he, in particular, never really had much football adversity. Kind of everything’s going scripted for him, and it’s good for him. It’s made him better. So you just keep going and keep teaching and guys develop. I mean, again, we’ve got this world now where if you’re not some great player right out of the gate, you stink — or coach, if you’re not a great coach right out of the gate, you stink. It’s just this terrible mentality that is just woven into our world now, and it’s just not reality.”

Swinney emphasized that football is a “development game.” He pointed to the NFL level, where several quarterbacks who have been picked in later rounds — or even gone undrafted — have ended up starring, the latest example being San Francisco 49ers signal caller Brock Purdy, “Mr. Irrelevant” in the 2022 NFL Draft.

“If you’re made of the right stuff and you have the skills, and you hang in there, you’re going to get better. And Cade’s got all the tools, man. He’s a very gifted kid. He’s a gifted player. He’s got high character, high football character, and it’s been fun to see.”