Dabo Swinney on Cade Klubnik's growth: 'We've seen what we need to see in practice'
Dabo Swinney is ready for Cade Klubnik to take the next step as the leader of the Clemson Tigers, and lead the team back to the College Football Playoff.
Those are the expectations for the program, fair or not, after the immense success Swinney has enjoyed with Clemson. The talented quarterback looks ready to continue improving in 2024, as his head coach continues to rave about him throughout the summer.
“Yeah, well, growth-wise, he’s physically bigger. He’s about 210, so he’s substantially bigger than he was this time last year. So, we’re proud of that. But, you know, I mean, we’ve all seen him take that next step in practice. We’ve seen what we need to see in practice,” Swinney said, speaking with the ACC Network’s Road Trip. “So, now he’s just gotta go do it on game day, you know, consistently. Oh, by the way, you get — the first warm up is the No. 1 team in the nation, but we’re proud of him. He’s had a great camp. Really, all of our quarterbacks. I’m not — I said that the other day to our local media, I’m really pleased with our quarterbacks. I think they’ve all made a jump. They’re all very functional.
“But Cade has really grown as a leader, and you know, the things that he needed — that we needed to see him improve on, he’s done that in practice, and he’s done it in our scrimmages. Now, he’s just got to go carry that to game day.”
As Swinney mentioned, there’s no time for Klubnik and the Tigers to rest ahead of the 2024 season, with the Georgia Bulldogs on the docket for Week 1. Still, the quarterback is enthusiastic about Clemson’s offense entering a new campaign.
“I think we’ve just had a really good mindset, more than anything,” Klubnik stated, speaking with the media last week. “We were a really young team last year, and it’s a team that’s [now] just a lot smarter.
“Guys have got a little bit more experience, kind of all over. When it comes to receivers, offensive line, quarterback, running back, just a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball now and a lot of returning starters. So I’d say that’s one of the biggest things is just getting to come back in the same offense again is huge — not having to have your first fall camp in a new offense and kind of getting to run things you’ve already been running.”
The sky is the limit for the Tigers if Cade Klubnik and company can make good on their potential. Dabo Swinney will have his team ready to rock, and they’ll need to be prepared from the get-go.