Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik has had a great junior season, but he’s not interested in discussing his future beyond that right now. Asked on Monday ahead of the Tigers’ first-round playoff game against Texas if he intends to return to Clemson for his senior year, Klubnik declined to comment.
“I don’t have an answer for that yet,” he said. Coach Dabo Swinney has said publicly multiple times this fall he anticipates Klubnik returning for his final season of eligibility in 2025. But Klubnik, 21, has not directly confirmed his plans. Klubnik, a former five-star recruit, has put together a career year as junior and second-year starter. He enters the weekend third nationally in passing touchdowns (33) and tied for third in total touchdowns (40) among all FBS quarterbacks. He’s also thrown for a career-high 3,303 yards in 13 games this season and has 3,761 total yards of offense, including a career-high 458 rushing yards.
Two weeks ago in Charlotte, Klubnik also became only the third player in ACC football history to win two conference championship game MVP awards. That’s drawn at least some level of public intrigue about whether or not Klubnik (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) might consider entering the 2025 NFL Draft pool as a draft-eligible junior. Underclassmen must declare those plans by Jan. 15.
Klubnik indicated on Monday he won’t make that decision (or, at least, talk publicly about whatever decision he’s already made) until the 2024 season is over. If he returns in 2025 — as Swinney has indicated — Klubnik would be a third-year returning starter for the reigning conference champions and likely be one of the faces of the ACC and a preseason player of the year candidate. Klubnik said on Monday he remains focused on the No. 12 seed Tigers’ first-round CFP game at Texas, which will also be a unique homecoming for the Austin native. A 2022 Westlake High School who won three state championships at the Texas prep level, Klubnik said he got dozens of texts and ticket requests from friends and family back home after Clemson was paired with UT during the CFP selection show.
The winner of Clemson-Texas advances to play No. 4 Arizona State in the Jan. 1 Peach Bowl CFP quarterfinal, which will be played in Atlanta. “It’s one thing to know where you’re going to be playing,” Klubnik said. “But at the end of the day, you know that the ball’s going to get set and you’ve gotta focus on the job right in front of you. I kind of enjoyed it for a little bit. … Now, I’m locked in and really just focused on on the team that we’re playing.”
