Klubnik's teammates taking notice of his leadership and energy

Klubnik throws a pass during practice this past week.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Dec 17 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – Cade Klubnik’s teammates love his energy, and they love the leadership he brings to the table.

Klubnik, who will make his first career start in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee, was a force in practice this week. He runs from drill to drill, is constantly exhorting his teammates to go faster and be better, and is a constant source of encouragement to his fellow quarterbacks during drills.

Even the older offensive linemen are taking notice of the kid, who just has the “it” factor that turns good players into great players.

Center Will Putnam says that Klubnik’s energy and enthusiasm are contagious.

“I think it’s great,” Putnam said. “Seeing a guy like that with good energy, always clapping and saying, ‘Let’s go.’ I would rather a guy that’s more like that than a guy you can’t necessarily hear. Even though for someone like me, I’m experienced and I might not necessarily need that, but I think it’s good for younger guys who are coming into bigger roles on this offense and this team and just guys on scout team trying to hang on and trying to keep on going. I think that energy is really good and contagious.”

Freshman wide receiver Adam Randall said he was glad to see Klubnik – who came off the bench to lead Clemson to a win over North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game – get an opportunity to show what he can do.

“Me and Cade are roommates. I was excited to go out there and watch him ball,” Randall said. “I know what he can do. I saw it in high school. I see it in practice every day. I was very excited for him to showcase it out there for the world. We have a great relationship. I’ve had two great quarterbacks in high school, one at USC (Luke Doty at South Carolina) and one at App State (Ryan Burger) - and now I have another best friend at Clemson at quarterback. I feel like that relationship will carry us a long way. We will be able to kind of read each other's mind when we are on the field.”

What is it like having Klubnik as a roommate?

“We are just two 18-year-old kids going throughout the college life. Once we got here, it’s kind of a whirlwind-- just classes, football, speed of the game-- we’re really just adjusting well,” Randall said. “I can’t ask for a better roommate. Simple things like keeping the apartment clean-- little stuff like that. Just go out here and play. Treat the game like you did when you were a kid and go out there and make plays.”

Randall said there are differences in Klubnik and former starter DJ Uiagalelei.

“They obviously have two different styles of play. You can say Cade is more vocal-- but D.J. was a vocal guy and a great leader,” he said. “They are both great leaders, but they just lead in different ways. As an offense, we’ll grow around our quarterback, and I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing all year.”