Clemson's Klubnik found his voice this summer. Will he lead a 'smarter' offense this fall? (2024)

CLEMSON— There is nothing unusual about player-led meetings in the college football offseason, especially because coaches are limited in just how much coaching they can do.

But the role Cade Klubnikassumed in Clemson's player-only meetings this summer caught teammates' attention.

They were poring over the game film, reviewing a season where the Tigers' offense was too often out of sync, and the junior quarterback noted the distance between receivers' splits at the line. Klubnik was telling his pass catchers how, precisely, to angle their routes for a perfect connection.

And it wasn't just receivers, running backs, and offensive linemen populating these meetings, which were once or twice a week.

"We were having meetings where it's Cade coming and talking to the whole team," offensive lineman Marcus Tate said. "Cade was were really taking initiative and scheduling those meetings to go over whatever it is— routes, playbook, coverages, or just team mentality."

Running back Phil Mafah saw it, too.

"He's starting to use his voice more, just telling us how he feels," Mafah said. "We need that from our quarterback. To be that guy."

Klubnik needed to take many steps after his first season behind center. He wasn't the steadiest of game managers during Clemson's 4-4 start, and his 6-foot-2 frame was still a bit scrawny, just over 200 pounds, not especially equipped for punishment in the pocket.

Klubnik not only appears more physically mature at 210 pounds, but teammates and coaches describe a matured presence. Not only calmer feet in the pocket, but also a more commanding tone in meetings and huddles.

Quarterbacks naturally assume a leadership role, and Klubnik arrived to Clemson as a naturally excitable and vocal person. But credibility had to be earned.

"Being a head coach doesn't make you a leader. A title doesn't make you a leader," Clemson coachDabo Swinney said. "Those are things that are developed. And he's just taking that next step."

Clemson's player-led meetings were born out of conversations Klubnik had with offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and transfer-quarterback-turned-student-assistant Paul Tysonabout areas where he could improve.

Heading into a second year in Riley's scheme, Klubnik was equipped to lead his teammates in cleaning up lapses in execution, especially during times in the summer when Riley was prohibited by NCAA rule.

But the Tigers didn't just have game-planning sessions. They also split into a half-dozen smaller groups, just to bond. Offensive lineman Collin Sadler recalled sharing his "why" with teammates, to "finish" for his late grandfather, ex-North Carolina receiver John Schroeder, who had the opportunity to play pro football in Canada before a hip injury cut him down.

Klubnik will say his "why" is simply to be the best quarterback and leader he can be for Clemson, which teammates like Sadler read as "genuine."

"He's really figuring out who Cade Klubnik really is, and that's showing dividends on the field," Sadler said. "That's a guy who I'd run through a brick wall for."

Riley admitted he came into last season unsure of his offense's "core" leadership, but that isn't an issue in 2024. The offensive line not only has vets like Tate and Walker Parks,but a second-year starter in Tristan Leigh has become a loud voice. Mafah is a quiet standard bearer for the running backs, but Adam Randall and Antonio Williams have the receivers set onreestablishing "WRU."

The offense is just a "smarter," more experience unit, Klubnik will say. Their confidence channels through Klubnik, who has been an "executioner" during fall camp, according to safety Tyler Venables.

But that doesn't mean Klubnik is taking kill shots every play.

"It's not even about throwing a 50-yard vertical route. It's just little things," Klubnik said. "We're just doing (positive) things that we wouldn't have done last year and we're doing now, or (negative plays) we would have done last year and we're not doing now."

Those player-led meetings in the offseason were about becoming as smart as possible, Klubnik said, within NCAA rules. But that wasn't Klubnik's only effort.

Klubnik spent days training with ex-NFL quarterback Jordan Palmerin California. He made his rounds on the camp circuit with the Elite 11 and the Manning Passing Academy. He just recently had a phone call with a mentor from his high school alma mater, just-retired NFL quarterback Nick Foles, about the helmet communication devices college quarterbacks can now wear.

Now that the NCAA no longer limits countable coaches, Klubnik has taken full advantage of newly dubbed assistant quarterback coaches Tajh Boyd and John Grass, who were previously barred from coaching on the field.

When Riley is calling plays in an 11-on-11 drill, andbackups Christopher Vizzina and Trent Pearman are behind center, Klubnik mentally walks through his reads with Boyd— the quarterback who started Clemson's run of success in the 2010s— standing right next to him.

When Klubnik finishes his own set of throws, he finds Boyd again.

"To immediately come back to the sideline and say 'Did I make a right decision here? Did I trust my eyes? Did I have the checkdown?'" Klubnik said. "It's immediate feedback."

Last season, Swinney was drawing comparisons between Boyd and Klubnik for a not-so-great reason: They both made frustrating errors as first-year starters.

They weren't particularly smart with the ball.

But if a player is "made of the right stuff," Swinney says, they will grow. Boyd did. And Swinney believes Klubnik has.

"That's been a big area, whether it be meetings, whether it be just vocalizing things, or it's just him organizing things with the guys to get together to throw or whatever," Swinney said. "He's done what you wanna see him do for a guy that's going into his second year as a full-time starter."