Dabo Swinney likens Clemson’s quarterback situation this season to that of 2020, when Trevor Lawrence was the starter as a junior and DJ Uiagalelei was backing up Lawrence as a freshman.
Now Uiagalelei is the junior, and Cade Klubnik is the freshman backup. And like two years ago when Clemson wanted to play Uiagalelei as much as possible in certain situations behind Lawrence, Swinney and the Tigers hope to get Klubnik as many game reps as they can this season.
But Klubnik’s playing time will be dependent on game and season flow, according to Clemson’s head coach.
“I think it’s more like DJ and Trevor. That’s kind of how I see it,” Swinney said of Clemson’s current QB situation during his weekly press conference Thursday ahead of Monday’s season opener vs. Georgia Tech.
“Just like when DJ came in here, we wanted to get him as much opportunity as we could within the flow of a game and the flow of the season, and that’s what we did.”
Uiagalelei ended up playing 235 snaps across 10 games as a freshman in 2020, with the former five-star prospect filling in for Lawrence to make two starts against Boston College and Notre Dame when Lawrence was sidelined by COVID-19.
“Obviously he ended up having to start a couple games, and I see the same situation,” Swinney said. “DJ’s the starter, and we want to certainly get Cade as many opportunities as we can to play. But it’ll be same as it was when DJ came in here – it’ll be within the flow of the game and flow of the season.”
Swinney is confident in all three quarterbacks that took the majority of reps in preseason camp – Uiagalelei, Klubnik and Hunter Johnson, who returned to Clemson this year as a graduate transfer for his final season – but Swinney knows it’s important to give Klubnik opportunities to get out on the field as the season progresses.
“Because this is it for Hunter, and DJ, I know he’s got great aspirations,” Swinney said. “Graduating in December. I mean, it’s important to get Cade ready to roll, and hopefully it’ll happen in a positive way as we go through the season, he’ll get plenty of experience.”
As for Klubnik, Swinney says the former five-star prospect and nation’s top-ranked quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class has made a “seamless” adjustment to the speed of the college game in practice since enrolling in January.
“It’s been just like you want to see,” Swinney said.
Swinney has noticed a lot of the same qualities in Klubnik that he saw in Lawrence, Uiagalelei and Deshaun Watson when they were freshmen and enrolled early like Klubnik.
“All three of those guys came in midyear,” Swinney said. “So, Deshaun and Trevor and DJ, and right out of the gate you saw the aptitude, you saw the high level of skill and talent, you saw the commitment, the work ethic, the attention to details, all of those things. So, Cade has come in, and he’s so similar to all those guys. He’s got everything, and all those three guys – DJ, Deshaun and Trevor – man, they just took to it, and you could just see ‘em coming, coming, coming. And it’s the same thing with Cade.
“I mean, the game is not too fast for him. He’s a rookie, he’s a young guy, but he’s doing what he needed to do.”
From a physical standpoint, Swinney sees Klubnik as a carbon copy of Watson, but says Klubnik has an edge over Watson in speed.
“I compare him more to Deshaun just because they’re so similar physically – almost clones if you put them side by side and how they’re built structurally and where they were,” Swinney said. “I think they were both about 179 pounds when they got in here, and that first August they were both right there around 200.
“Cade’s probably a little faster, but they throw the ball very similar, very similar characteristics as far as creativity. But he’s a special young prospect, just like those other guys had been.”
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