Cade Klubnik shares if he has considered entering the transfer portal

Clemson lost quarterback DJ Uiagalelei to the transfer portal last offseason. Current Tigers starting QB Cade Klubnik said on Monday that he doesn’t plan on doing the same.

Klubnik spoke with the media on Monday for the first time since Saturday’s loss to NC State, which dropped the Tigers to 4-4 on the year. He shared that he is committed to the Clemson program and wants to help turn it around.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m sticking to this place,” Klubnik said. “I trust everybody here and I trust coach Swinney. Earlier on in his career he had some ups and downs, but look at what he did after that. We’re just going to create momentum and just continue to put our head down and work.”

Clemson is currently off to its worst start since 2010 when it finished the year 6-7.

The good news for the Tigers is that after that season, Clemson started a streak of 12 straight years of at least 10 wins.

Clemson isn’t going to reach that mark in 2023, but perhaps Dabo Swinney‘s program can get back on track next year, with Klubnik helping to turn the program around.

“This is a winning program, at the end of the day. So when we have a record like we have, nobody’s used to it,” Klubnik said. “So it’s learning how to handle that. I would much rather be at a winning program than a losing program.”

Dabo Swinney: ‘Really painful’ falling to 4-4 this season

Clemson is in an unusual place as the calendar turns to November.

Normally at this point in the season, the Tigers are trying to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff or at least the ACC title game.

However, Clemson has no shot at either of those goals this season.

Dabo Swinney spoke after the loss to NC State about what it’s like being 4-4 for the first time since 2010.

“It’s just really painful, man,” he said in the postgame. “This is — I don’t know what to tell you, other than this is a really hurt football team and staff. I mean, we pour a lot into, you know, trying to be our best. We pour a lot into trying to win and right now it’s just not going our way. And we’ve had a long lot of lot of days that it has, but right now, it’s not.”

Swinney then made it clear that the brunt of the blame for this sideways season falls on him as the head coach.

“And again, that’s my responsibility. So, really disappointing, and again, just a hurting football team. It doesn’t get any easier, you know. We got tough games ahead and we’ve got to flush this one. We got to get back and try to find a way to win a game.”