Clemson Appeared to Have Troubling Issue Behind the Scenes With Cade Klubnik

The Clemson Tigers failed to launch early last season, losing 17-10 to LSU in Week 1. 

The battle between LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and Cade Klubnik (both players entered the 2025 season hyped as potential Day 1 picks) was underwhelming. Nussmeier one touchdown pass. Klubnik threw no touchdowns but had one interception.

The easy analysis after the game was that both quarterbacks struggled against elite defenses. But that didn't turn out to be the case.

Klubnik finished the season with a 65.6 percent completion percentage, 2,943 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. He went to the New York Jets in the fourth round of this year's draft. Nussmeier went to the Kansas City Chiefs in the seventh round.

College football analyst Josh Pate suggested that things behind the scenes weren't great for Klubnik last year. He said players on Clemson are willing to fight for Christopher Vizzina, something that wasn't necessarily the case with Klubnik.

“The one thing I'd be really excited about from an intangible standpoint is, I can say that team will fight for Chris Vizzina," Pate said. "I can tell you, I think that team's willing to go to war for Chris Vizzina.

"I don't know if I would have said that about the quarterback position at Clemson last year. And that matters. It matters because a lot of times the result on the field can't perfectly be quantified by past recruiting rankings or portal rankings or even the stat sheet. And Clemson football is probably one of the biggest examples of that."

Based on what we saw on the field, that appeared to be the case.

Following the season, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney defended Klubnik's career with the program. He pointed to Klubnik's election as team captain to prove his players had the signal-caller's back.

“A lot of people focus on what he didn’t do, I focus on what he did do,” Swinney said. “He loves Clemson, he loves his teammates, he was elected captain, he’s a top-5 winner in the history of this school.

"He’s a two-time ACC Champion and MVP of both of those. Man, I love this kid.”

Klubnik led Clemson to the College Football Playoff in 2024 after making a run late in the season. For whatever reason, the momentum didn't carry over into the 2025 campaign.

Maybe Vizzina will have a better shot this year.