Dabo Swinney reveals confidence level that Cade Klubnik will return for 2025
As a junior, Cade Klubnik could have a decision to make after this season. The Clemson quarterback could declare for the NFL Draft or return to the Tigers for one final season under Dabo Swinney in 2025.
With Week 4 approaching, Swinney was asked about whether Klubnik could be back in the fold next year. As of now, it appears the plan is to have his quarterback under center once again.
Swinney said he wanted Klubnik’s focus to be on this week’s game against Stanford. While he noted the looming decisions that could be coming, he said he expects to have everyone back who’s able to return, although he acknwoledged plans can change.
“I don’t know why he wouldn’t be,” Swinney said of Klubnik. “He needs to just beat Stanford. … He’s a junior. You may have somebody that may just want to move on somewhere else and you never know. Our anticipation and where are on paper, we know we’re gonna lose Marcus [Tate] and [Jake Briningstool] and Phil [Mafah]. Outside of that, we expect everybody back. We’re building good momentum with this group and more on the way.
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“And same thing defensively. We’ve got a couple guys that will probably have a decision to make. We know we’re gonna lose RJ [Mickens], we know we’re gonna lose Barrett [Carter], we know we’re gonna lose Payton [Page]. Outside of that, we’ll see.”
Klubnik is looking to take a leap forward this season after an up-and-down first season as the starter in 2023. Through three games, he has completed 73.4% of his passes for 729 yards and eight touchdowns as Clemson. That includes a strong showing last week against NC State when he completed 16 of 24 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns en route to the 59-35 victory.
It’s safe to say that performance caught Dabo Swinney’s attention. He raved about Klubnik’s performance through just one quarter – he completed seven of his first eight passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns at that point – and how he’s starting to come into is own in Garrett Riley’s offense.
“Explosive. Explosive and consistent,” Swinney said on the ABC broadcast. “They’re just taking what’s there. Our quarterback’s blossoming right before our eyes.”
Clemson is coming off two straight blowout victories entering this week’s matchup against Stanford. They came after the Tigers were on the wrong end of a blowout in the opener against Georgia, but a 2-0 start to conference play could be in the cards.