As Cade Klubnik is just a couple of days away from officially putting pen to paper, Clemson’s five-star quarterback commit got to play in front of his future coaches last weekend.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter and running backs coach C.J. Spiller all made their way down to Westlake (Texas) to make an in-home visit with Klubnik and watch the future Tiger do his thing on Texas high school football’s biggest stage.
“If you would’ve told me two years ago that Coach Swinney, Coach Streeter and Coach Spiller would be able to come to my game and come over for dinner after, I would have said, ‘Haha, very funny,'” he told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview Wednesday. “It was just kind of a dream come true to have them be able to come to a game of mine. It just showed how much support that they have [for me]. It meant a lot. It was so awesome to have them there and it definitely brought a lot of energy.”
In the wake of Brent Venables’ departure to Oklahoma and Tony Elliott’s departure to Virginia, what’s been the overall message that Klubnik’s received from the coaching staff?
“I don’t think anything will really change for me or Coach Swinney,” Klubnik said. “I’m just so excited to get there and I think they feel the same. They keep kind of saying that, that they’re very excited for me to get there and get to work. At the same time, they’re wanting me to finish out the season strong…I don’t think they’ve said anything crazy. I’m just really excited and ready to get to work.”
At the time of TCI’s conversation with Klubnik, Elliott was deemed a top candidate for the University of Virginia head coaching job, but nothing had been agreed to just yet.
So at that point in time, it was logical to ask Klubnik about the possibility of Streeter being named the next offensive coordinator at Clemson. We now know that is a very real possibility.
“I would say I’m closest with Coach Streeter out of anyone on the staff other than Coach Swinney,” Klubnik said. “He was the first person I ever talked to at Clemson and I talk to him more than anyone else. We actually just got lunch (Wednesday), me and him. He came back to Austin and we had a really good hour and a half, just me and him. It was awesome.”
“I would be stoked for him if that ended up happening — I don’t know if it’s going to or not — but I would just be super happy with that happening. But also just super comfortable with him calling plays. He did it for six years. I think just as a former quarterback and also under Coach Elliott for a while, I think he’d be really comfortable. He would kill it.”
While that will soon be resolved, Klubnik still has a couple of last high school memories to soak in before it’s time to enroll at Clemson. That includes playing for one last ring or Westlake’s third straight state title.
“Our playoff run, it’s been awesome…but we have to treat it like it’s any other week,” he said. “Just taking it one day at a time and trusting our coaches with the game plan and just executing in practice and bringing the energy. Obviously, we know that there’s a bigger motivation to win, but the preparation is the same.”
On Saturday, he led Westlake to a 45-14 victory over Katy (TX.) to advance to the Texas 6A Division 2 state championship. He threw for over 300 yards and five touchdowns in the process.
Klubnik will look to make it 40 straight wins for a storied Westlake program, but before he does that, he’ll have a chance to put pen to paper during National Signing Day — the early signing period — on Wednesday, Dec. 15.
That’s when he’ll officially become a Clemson Tiger.
“I’m so excited,” Klubnik said. “That will be an awesome day, one that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.
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