Cade Klubnik Ready To Become 'Elite' During His Final Season With Clemson Tigers

Ahead of his final season at Clemson, Cade Klubnik is ready to turn in an elite performance.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) enters the field outside of the Poe Indoor Facility during Spring Practice in Clemson, S.C. Monday, March 24, 2025 | Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cade Klubnik will be back for the Clemson Tigers, and he's coming off the best season of his career.

It wasn't a high bar to clear considering he had a disappointing showing during his sophomore year that had a lot of people around the college football world questioning if he would ever live up to the five-star manta he was given in high school.

But last season he did.

Klubnik finished with 3,639 yards passing, 36 touchdowns to six interceptions and a 63.4% completion percentage that led Clemson to another ACC title and CFP appearance.

He's ready to take his game to the next level, though.

"I think that I had a pretty good year last year, but I want to be elite — that's consistency in every game, every drive, every play. I have a very high standard for myself, and I want to continue to chase that. Continually making big plays and not forcing them, limiting negative plays — that was a big thing that I got better at last year," Klubnik said, per Austin Hannon of 247Sports.

By all accounts, that's what he did.

It was a major struggle for Klubnik in 2023 when it came to producing scoring plays, throwing just 19 touchdown passes while also throwing nine interceptions.

His completion percentage was largely the same year-over-year — 63.9% in 2023 and 63.4% in 2024 — but there was some argument that he was too careful with the ball when he should have let it rip and overly aggressive when the play wasn't there.

More experience helped him, as is the case with virtually all quarterbacks. And with him heading into his final season of college football, the expectations are high.

The star quarterback is viewed as a Heisman favorite, and this offense is projected to be one of the best units in the country when they take the field for their first game of the year.

With high expectations can come underwhelming results, something Klubnik is no stranger to from his early career. But he's also putting in the work this spring so that doesn't become a reality as he gets set to put his college career behind him.

"I'm not out here practicing, these are game reps. That's what it's gotta be. You're either getting better or getting worse," he added.

Klubnik will have an opportunity to shine early on a national stage.

Clemson will host LSU for their first game of the season on Aug. 30, giving everyone a chance to see if Klubnik can live up to the hype he's generated coming into the campaign.