What Former Clemson QB Cade Klubnik Learned After Frustrating Senior Season

Cade Klubnik arrived in Clemson in 2022 as a winner, and that’s how he wanted to do things with the Tigers. But sometimes, plans don’t pan out as you’d like.

He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and during his first media availability as an NFL player, he was asked about his time with the Tigers. It included conversations about how he was able to handle the 2025 season, when Clemson began the year as the No. 4 team in the country before finishing 7-6.

Klubnik said that this past season helped him figure out to truly be a winner, even when times seemed tough for the Tigers. They were two games behind .500 in November before a strong rally changed things.

“I think, more than anything, I think that I found out how to be a winner, especially after this past year,” he said on Saturday. “Starting off the year 3-5 and kind of figuring it out, you know, I’ve been winning a long time. Three-time state champion in high school, two-time ACC Championship in college, went to the playoffs and really faced a lot of adversity this past year.”

For a team like the Jets, it’s a great thing to figure out. New York hasn’t been to the NFL Playoffs since the 2010-11 season. A revolving door of quarterbacks has been imminent with each season, but that’s what Klubnik wants to change.

He’s going to take that 2025 experience and use it as strength to help break through the team’s depth chart this summer.

“For me, I figured out how to take a team that’s not winning and transform and go win games,” Klubnik said. “We finished with four straight wins at the end of the year, so I’m all about pushing the guys around me, and I’m a winner, and I’m a competitor and I hate to lose.”

That was one of the qualities that Klubnik prided himself on: resilience. When he was asked about some of his other best qualities, he mentioned accuracy and his ability to help put the teams he’s a part of in a winning situations.

He had plenty of those at Clemson, and although he saw five losses in his third year as the team’s starter, he’s thankful for how he learned about himself as a player over his four seasons.

“I think it was just a lot of little things that were kind of going wrong, but honestly, I don’t want to get into that, to be honest,” he said. “I’m just celebrating being a Jet now. . .but I’m thankful for this past year.”

An ACC Championship, a national championship and a College Football Playoff appearance would have been the best-case scenario for the Westlake product, which would have etched him in more Clemson history with the likes of Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence.

However, one thing is for certain with Klubnik, especially with learning how to “attack adversity” in 2025.

He has plenty more snaps ahead of him at the NFL level, and he will have a chance to cement himself as the Jets’ starting quarterabck. It’s just a matter of when he will get the opportunity, and he will rely on his Clemson experiences to help hiim at the next level.

“I’m excited. I’m a competitor, and I love making people around me better too, though. So, I’m excited to get into that room and go to work. . .I think my best ball’s ahead of me.

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