Clemson QB signee talks coaching changes, recruiting another Etienne to be a Tiger
Clemson five-star quarterback signee Cade Klubnik will be competing in the All-American Bowl on Saturday, along with fellow signee and East St. Louis (Illinois) cornerback Toriano Pride.
Klubnik, who committed to Clemson last March, just completed a storied career at Austin (Texas) Westlake High School. On Dec. 18, he won a third straight state championship, ending high school with a 33-0 record as a starter.
The Texan compiled 7,561 career passing yards (70.8% completion) — breaking the school’s all-time passing record previously held by former Texas quarterback and current Indianapolis Colt Sam Ehlinger — 1,178 rushing yards, 87 passing touchdowns and 31 rushing TDs during his three-year varsity career.
The All-American Bowl — played in San Antonio, Texas — airs at 1 p.m. Saturday on NBC.
On Monday, Klubnik talked to The State about the excitement playing with Pride for the first time in the upcoming game, getting running back target Trevor Etienne — brother of program great Travis Etienne — to become a Tiger and his expectations upon arriving to Clemson next week.
The State: Now that you’ve had a couple weeks to process the end of your high school career at Westlake, what has that been like in thinking about what you were able to accomplish?
Cade Klubnik: Definitely just a great thing to go out with coach (Todd) Dodge and all my buddies. A great way to go out. You couldn’t have written it up any better. It was awesome.
TS: In terms of the quarterback legacy, what does that mean to you, coming from Westlake where there has been so much success, to now have a couple of passing records over guys like Drew Brees and Sam Ehlinger?
CK: It’s kind of surreal but it wasn’t me. It was definitely our whole team this year with coach Dodge. We had a phenomenal receiving corps this year with the best offensive line in the country, so the credit’s all to them on that. It was awesome.
TS: Moving forward, you’ll be headed to Clemson next week. What have the conversations been like in lieu of the coaching changes and what have you talked to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter about?
CK: I think we’re ready to go in and get to work. Not a lot has changed on the commits and the main coaches are stepping up. Just kind of ready to go in and get ready for next season. I’m just ready to get to work in the offseason.
TS: When the coaching changes happened, were there any hesitations on your part or were you still pretty set?
CK: I trust in coach (Dabo) Swinney. I know what he’s going to be able to do in these next couple of years, so I’m excited.
TS: What has coach Streeter told you about your role and what are you hoping to learn under D.J. Uiagalelei?
CK: I’ve got a lot to learn, so to be able to learn from coach Streeter and D.J for a while, that would definitely help so much since they both have so much experience. It’ll help with time, but just really excited to get to work and start.
TS: This weekend, you’ll get a glimpse at being teammates with cornerback Toriano Pride at the All-American game. How excited are you for that?
CK: I was just texting him a few moments ago. We’re both super excited. He’s already there right now, so we just left. I’ll probably meet him there. We’re both on the same team, so that’ll be really fun.
TS: You could possibly have another teammate there at the game. Jennings (La.) running back Trevor Etienne is going to announce his commitment at the game. With Clemson being in his top three, what’s your pitch in that last push to get him to choose Clemson?
CK: We’re trying at him pretty hard. He’s more of a quiet guy that doesn’t want to give too much away but definitely keeping with what we’ve been doing, and kind of how we’ve got the other guys is stay consistent, build a friendship with him, see where it goes and continue to rub off Clemson on him.
TS: It worked for Adam Randall. He wanted to be one of two in-state wide receivers with Antonio Williams and he got it. How excited are you to get to work with them, too, as part of this 2022 class?
CK: So excited. I think we have a really, really good class coming in just overall. A lot of guys are going to be able to do stuff early on like Antonio and Adam. They lit it up at the Under Armour All Star game this weekend, so just excited for them. They’re going to both be able to have a huge impact just on the offense right away, so I’m super pumped for them, our O-line and our defense.
TS: Not just football, but overall, you’ll be leaving Texas as well when you come to Clemson for college. What are you most looking forward to?
CK: I think just building new friendships and start fresh, but also, my dream was always to play college football one day so just to kind of start that dream of mine is going to be awesome.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
