Cade Klubnik calls Bill Belichick 'the GOAT of all coaches'

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik called Bill Belichick the “GOAT of all coaches,” giving the UNC leader some high praise going into the weekend. So that means Belichick beats everyone in the NFL, college and high school!

Hard to argue that point though, as Belichick is an eight-time Super Bowl winner, six coming as a head coach of the New England Patriots. Although, North Carolina has gotten off to an uneven start this season.

But Chapel Hill is the host to Clemson-UNC this weekend where Klubnik has to play against a Belichick coached defense. So far this season, Clemson has seen its fair of struggles as well, so it could be an intriguing battle.

“You know, he’s probably the GOAT of all coaches, so what an honor to be able to step on the field with him,” Klubnik said. “I actually got to meet him last year at the Manning Passing Academy. We got to chat it up a little bit, and then, you know, now I’m gonna be playing him. So it’ll be great, obviously, a huge honor to be able to play somebody like that and step on the field with him. And you know, he’s a legend, so I never would have thought that, you know, whenever I committed here. So it’ll be pretty cool.”

In four games this season, Klubnik is not quite on the same pace as his career year in 2024. He has 996 yards, six touchdowns, four interceptions and a 60.1% completion percentage in four games.

Despite Belichick’s defensive prowess, the Tar Heels have struggled against Power Four opponents in a 2-2 start to the season. They lost 48-14 to TCU and 34-9 to UCF while beating Charlotte and Richmond. But with an extra week to prepare for Clemson, perhaps Belichick can make things interesting against a reeling Tigers’ squad. 

“Clemson has a great program, a ton of respect for Coach Swinney, his staff, players, and the program they’ve run there,” Belichick said in the lead up to the game this weekend. “I’ve had a lot of guys from Clemson through the years. Those guys are tough, they love football and they do it the right way. So a lot of respect for them. We’re excited to get going. I think we made some improvements last week that we needed to make and kind of reset a few things. 

“So hopefully that’ll show up this week, but it’s a good football team that we’re prepared for, and they’ve lost a couple of tough games. They have obviously a lot of talent, have some very explosive players on both sides of the ball, and a very experienced team as well. So, they definitely know what they’re doing.”