Cade Klubnik recalls when he knew Clemson was right for him

During his recruiting process, Cade Klubnik could’ve picked from almost any school in the nation due to his success at Westlake (Austin, TX), but the star quarterback took his talents to Clemson, deciding to join Dabo Swinney’s Tigers.

During an appearance on the Field Talk Podcast with ESPN’s Field Yates, Klubnik took some time to remember his decision, recalling what separated Clemson from the pack. It’s easy to see why he’s more than at peace with his choice, as he continues to build a legacy with the Tigers.

“My whole recruiting process was over Zoom and FaceTimes and phone calls. I was during COVID. A lot of these Zoom calls right here. A lot of these phone calls. I remember stepping out of class sometimes, you know, to talk to coaches and stuff. There was a couple of times I’d literally get offered by a coach when I was in government class or something like that. Like, it was wild the year that that was, just because of COVID and everything that happened,” Klubnik reminisced. “So, I never got to really visit a ton, but my dream had been to go play college football. To make that happen, I knew that I had to make an effort, with reaching out to coaches.

“Starting my sophomore year, I started reaching out to all of these coaches, and ended up having — I want to say 15, going into my junior year after my sophomore year, and halfway through the summer, going into my junior year, I end up reaching out to Coach [Brandon] Streeter and Coach [Tony] Elliott. Not Coach Swinney, because he’s not on social media, but just DMing them, and sending them my highlight tapes and you know, just saying, ‘Hey, it’d be awesome to get in touch, and here’s my phone number.’ Got in touch, started talking to them, and I remember I talked to Coach Streeter one time at like, a Monday at 8 p.m., and I always wanted to be very like — I don’t know, not aggressive but I guess like, starting the conversations and stuff.

“So, I remember asking him one time, ‘Is this a good time to call?’ It’s Monday at 8 o’clock, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s a great time to call.’ So from like June until like the next March, I called him every Monday, at pretty much 8 o’clock, because I knew that was a good time to call him, and I wanted to show that I really loved him. Obviously, our relationship grew since then, to the point where I committed. But that was one thing. You’ve just got to reach out and start communication somehow.”

Evidently, the difference in how Clemson treated him throughout the process made Klubnik swoon over the idea of playing for the Tigers, and when it came time to lock in his decision, it was an easy choice.

“I remember Clemson, the reason I really wanted to come here was because I felt like through those conversations, with a lot of coaches and everything, I felt like, at times, I was just a name on a checklist,” Klubnik added. “I felt like at times I was just a person somebody would call on Tuesday at 2 o’clock, talk to me for 30 seconds and say, ‘Alright, talk next week.’ Where I talked to Coach Streeter, I talked to Coach Elliott, the conversations I had with Coach Swinney later in my recruitment — Coach Streeter would talk to me about, ‘How’s your family doing? How’s your brother doing?’

“It was a very intentional conversation about wanting to know me as a person, not just football or whatever. Just the culture of what Clemson was, and just through a phone call, I knew that was just a tiny, tiny part of what it was going to be whenever I got here, and I just felt something was different.”

With the immense success Cade Klubnik has enjoyed at Clemson, we’re willing to bet he believes he made the right choice. The Tigers made the College Football Playoff in 2024, and they’re only scratching the surface — perhaps a national title could be in their future, if their quarterback continues his ascension next season.