Dabo Swinney describes the difficulty of being patient with quarterbacks in today's college football

Patience isn’t a word often found in today’s college athletics. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney may know why.

In the age of NIL and the transfer portal, instant gratification is becoming a necessity for players, coaches, and fans alike to maintain positive morale within the program and throughout the fanbase. This especially rings true at the quarterback position.

“It’s hard to have patience because you have so much noise and fans. If a kid isn’t great as a freshman and the head coach is under so much pressure, you go on to the next guy,” Swinney said. “Everybody wants to win yesterday. Unfortunately quarterback play, all play, it’s developmental. If we threw guys away as first-year starters, we’d miss out on some of the greatest players to ever play. There just isn’t a lot of patience anymore.

“You can see it in the NFL, too. Some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL now weren’t great early in their careers. But people develop. Sometimes you have a guy who transitions right away but that’s not always the case.”

Swinney pointed toward current Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik. A former five-star recruit, Klubnik was a first-year starter during the 2023 season. There was pressure on Klubnik to perform right away and he continued to progress as the season progressed.

“The game has slowed down for him,” Swinney said of his quarterback. “He is a second-year starter and is still developing. It’s not just mental. It’s physical. It’s everything together. You’ve seen guys who have hung around and gotten better in college football.

“You see that right now with Cade. I think we have the same thing with Christopher Vizzina. And he’s getting better. He had patience on the front end. But he’s getting better. Y’all don’t really see it. He’s really progressing. He’s kind of doing it in the dark. Patience isn’t a popular word these days.”

As Clemson continues to develop their talent the old-fashioned way by recruiting and developing talent, they’re reaping the benefits having won its last six games this season thanks to the play of Klubnik and company.

They’re set to take on Louisville during Week 10 as they look to remain undefeated in ACC play. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET live on ESPN.