Why one of Clemson QB Cade Klubnik’s top football memories starts with an injury
Cade Klubnik’s high school career was straight out of a Hallmark sports movie.
He was a five-star recruit and the No. 1 QB in the country. He led Austin’s Westlake High School to back-to-back state championships in Texas’ biggest and toughest prep football classification, 6A. He was 27-0 as a starting quarterback. 27-0.
Yet one of his favorite memories starts with him … tearing his shoulder?
It sure does, Klubnik said Tuesday from Clemson football’s practice facility, grinning as he thought back to a three-week stretch that still resonates four years later, when his bad luck wound up changing a best friend’s career.
And that tells you all you need to know about the Tigers’ star senior quarterback, Heisman Trophy candidate and projected NFL first-round draft pick, according to Christian Edgar, the friend and teammate in question, and Todd Dodge, the coach who watched it all go down.
“I can remember it like yesterday,” Dodge said.
It’s a “perfect example” of who Klubnik is, added Edgar, who now plays at Rice.
“A situation doesn’t go well for him, and the last thing he’s thinking about is himself,” Edgar said. “He’s thinking about somebody else.”
An injury leads to an opportunity
To set the scene: It was fall 2021, six games into the season for defending state champion Westlake. Klubnik, fresh off a commitment to Clemson and Dabo Swinney that spring, was riding high, playing like you’d expect the nation’s No. 1 QB recruit to play. Edgar, also a senior, was his backup.
Westlake was hosting Bowie High School in a key Oct. 8 district game. The Chapparals had a lead. Then, midway through the second quarter, Klubnik ran a wheel route out of the backfield on a trick play and caught a pass from his running back. He landed on his left shoulder. Hard.
“I was just kicking myself” for calling the play, Dodge said.
With Klubnik knocked out of the game, Edgar, who’d transferred to Westlake before his junior year but only started for the JV team, stepped in at quarterback. He did what was asked of him, throwing a short touchdown pass and adding to a big lead.
Westlake won 35-0. Then they waited.
Ultimately, Klubnik dodged a bullet. He was diagnosed with a torn left AC joint, the joint that connects the collarbone to the shoulder blade. But since Klubnik is right-handed, an injury to his left, non-throwing shoulder wasn’t disastrous. He’d miss about three weeks, doctors said.
For an über-competitive quarterback and outgoing senior, though, that stung.
“In the moment, I’m hurting and I’m upset and I’m sitting there just so sad that I’m missing three weeks,” Klubnik said. “I’m committed to Clemson. I’m so excited.”
If that’s how Klubnik felt minutes after hearing his injury diagnosis, you wouldn’t have been able to tell at Westlake’s first early morning practice the following week. A banged-up Klubnik showed up at 5:30 a.m., perky as ever, ready to spend a key stretch of his senior season in a new role: Edgar’s biggest supporter.
Do you have any questions, Christian?
How can I help you?
What about the playbook?
It was a big opportunity. Edgar knew that. He was going to be the starting quarterback at a program loaded with Division I talent. A few good games could go a long way toward boosting his recruiting profile, limited at that point to a couple of nibbles from assorted Division II and III programs.
The fact that the guy he was temporarily replacing, Klubnik, was as active and engaged in Edgar’s success as he was? Maybe even more excited at times?
“That was so meaningful,” Edgar said, adding that Klubnik “totally could’ve sat back and been like, ‘OK, I’ll just wait til I’m healthy again and then start trying again.’ But he did not do that. He showed up every day. … He was so selfless, which was awesome and super helpful to me.”
And once Edgar actually started playing?
“He just absolutely lit it up,” Klubnik said.
A greater meaning behind a shoulder tear
In the three games Edgar started, Westlake went 3-0, averaged just under 70 points per game and did not turn the ball over. Edgar, a talented runner, averaged 288 total yards per game, completed 86% of his passes and had 15 total touchdowns (nine passing, six rushing). Twice, he rushed for over 100 yards.
Edgar played so well that his backup (Westlake’s third-string QB) started subbing in for him in the second half. This came during a “soft” part of Westlake’s schedule, Dodge admitted. But the coach still considers Edgar’s three-game run a defining moment for a Westlake team that ultimately went 16-0 and won a second straight 6A state championship once Klubnik returned from injury.
“Our offense, when Cade came back, we weren’t starting over again,” Dodge said.
Klubnik has a simple definition for what happened: “A total God thing.”
The first thing that brought him and Edgar together in high school was their faith — both quarterbacks are strong Christians and have attended dozens of Bible studies and church services together. A firm believer that everything happens for a reason, Klubnik was initially frustrated when he tore his left shoulder AC joint.
But it didn’t take him long to see the bigger picture.
“In the midst of the chaos and what I was worried about, I just had to set my mind on, ‘All right, what’s God working on here?’ ” Klubnik said. “And he was just totally working.”
After the season, Edgar’s recruiting picked up dramatically — coaches had seen his film as Westlake’s starting quarterback, and they were impressed. He heard from a handful of Division I schools, including N.C. State, and ultimately committed to Rice University in Houston as a walk-on quarterback in April 2022.
Adding to the full-circle moment: Edgar was actually in Clemson, visiting Klubnik as spring practice wrapped up, when he announced his commitment on social media.
Klubnik commented in all caps on Instagram: “AINT NO ONE MORE DESERVING THAN YOU BRO!! THIS WHAT WE BEEN PRAYING FOR! LETS GO!!”
He added in a separate post on X: “They are getting the STEAL of the century.”
‘The most selfless person’
Despite countless accomplishments at Westlake and at Clemson, Klubnik has often volunteered that moment with Edgar — his injury, and his teammate’s subsequent rise — as one of his favorite memories during his time playing the sport. And he and Edgar have remained close friends, despite living thousands of miles apart.
They coordinated a group trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They devour Tex-Mex when they’re back home to Austin. They watch each other’s games on TV, when that’s possible. Edgar and other Westlake teammates attended Clemson’s first-round College Football Playoff loss at Texas last December to watch Klubnik in person.
“Was literally on the phone with him today,” Klubnik said.
Edgar, a two-sport athlete who is also one of the Rice track and field team’s best hurdlers, has played QB and safety for the Owls. This year, he’s playing slot receiver. The chance to compete at the Division I level has been a dream, Edgar said.
And Klubnik, with his steadfast support after an injury, helped make it happen.
“Cade’s such a special guy, and he really loves people,” Edgar said. “I think it comes from his faith. ... And I think that’s just a perfect example.”
Clemson 2025 football schedule
Listed with known kickoff times and TV channels
- Aug. 30: vs. No. 9 LSU, 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
- Sept. 6: vs. Troy, 3:30 p.m. (ACC Network)
- Sept. 13: at Georgia Tech, noon (ABC or ESPN)
- Sept. 20: vs. Syracuse
- Oct. 4: at UNC
- Oct. 11: at Boston College
- Oct. 18: vs. No. 16 SMU
- Nov. 1: vs. Duke
- Nov. 8: vs. Florida State
- Nov. 14: at Louisville/Friday game, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
- Nov. 22: vs. Furman
- Nov. 29: at No. 13 South Carolina, noon (ESPN or ABC)
This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 7:45 AM.
