From hot yoga to hot routes, Klubnik shines as nation's top quarterback |
Cade Klubnik made the trip to California for the Elite 11 with one major goal in mind, and that was to learn as much as he could from some of the best quarterback coaches in the country and take that information to become a better quarterback in high school and college.
Along the way, he won the title of the nation's best quarterback and his 7-on-7 team won a championship. The Elite 11 Finals were held over the weekend in Manhattan Beach, California. After over 500 quarterbacks try out across the country, it is narrowed down to the 20 best quarterbacks within that particular recruiting class. The top-20 selected compete for one of the 11 spots to become an official Elite 11 member. They each get the chance to compete for the MVP of the competition as well. This spot is earned by the quarterback who succeeds across all of the challenges and tasks they endure. Klubnik, a 2022 Clemson commit out of Austin (TX) Westlake, took on that challenge and was named the Elite 11 MVP. Past winners of that prestigious award include Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Fields, and Spencer Rattler. Klubnik is the first Clemson commit to win the award. His mentality, however, was to learn. “My mentality from the start was to grown and learn and make as many relationships as I could,” Klubnik told TigerNet. “The coaching staff out there is some of the best coaches in the country, so my mentality from the start was to go in and learn and soak it all up like a sponge. To take in as much info as I can and learn as much as I can and take into that next season and then onto Clemson. Winning wasn’t really my main goal, but I knew if I hit my main goal the other stuff would end up happening.” What were some of the main things he learned? “There are so many things I learned. I think one of them is that the true definition of competition isn't striving against each other, it's striving together,” Klubnik said. “That was big in our quarterback group -- just making each other better in everything we did. When somebody made a throw we would go and encourage them, and we were always learning from each other and trying to get each other's secret. We were learning to be better quarterbacks ourselves by learning from others. “Also, building relationships with the coaches was big for me, especially Jordan Palmer. He taught me stuff I will be able to use the rest of my career. I know I will be talking to those guys for a long, long time. I learned so many details when it comes to the game. I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of what it means to be a real quarterback yet.” Klubnik’s The Opening 7-on-7 team, Royal, won the championship. He was paired with fellow 2022 Clemson commit and wide receiver Adam Randall, along with top Tiger targets in running back Trevor Etienne (the younger brother of Travis) and tight end Oscar Delp. “Adam, Oscar, and Trevor were all on our team,” Klubnik said. “I was with them some of the day Friday and all day yesterday. So I got to spend a ton of good time with them. I think it was really good that we won the thing. I think that helped me a little bit in recruiting.” Klubnik hooked up with Etienne on the final play of the event. With just 20 seconds or so left on the clock, Royal needed a first down to clinch the title. Klubnik told Etienne to run a wheel route instead of the original play (called a hot route in football terminology), and Etienne found himself matched up with 5-star cornerback Domani Jackson, the No. 4 player overall in the 2022 class. Etienne went airborne to snag Klubnik’s throw, all with Jackson covering him from head to toe. “The winning catch, we threw a little back-shoulder to Trevor to win it all, which was crazy, with about 20 seconds left. We just needed a first down to win it,” Klubnik said. “Trevor made a great catch.” Klubnik said he took the subtle approach to recruiting Etienne and Delp. “You just make comments every once in a while. That is how you do it,” he said. “You don't want to just sit down and talk to them for 30 minutes about why they should come. You just want to give them little sneak peeks every once in a while and keep them interested. I was totally doing that the whole time.” What turned into one of the more memorable off-the-field moments happened at the beach. “We did some crazy things. We did hot yoga for like an hour and 45 minutes and it was so tiring and we had to walk a mile-and-a-half right after it,” Klubnik said. “We were in these sweatpants and t-shirts and we were all sweating, so we took off our shirts because we were so hot and tired. We walked all the way down to the beach and we didn't have a change of clothes or anything. And now, we're all sandy. “And they made us sit down, and a psychologist came and talked to us for a while and it was pretty cool. Then we all linked arms and ran into the ocean, which was part of the thing we were doing. We didn't just go like a foot deep, we went where the waves were above our heads, getting crashed on, and we all stayed linked together.” Klubnik said he thinks he will see of his newest friends down the road, and that he is looking for success for all of them. “Out of 20 guys, it's inevitable for at least four or five of these guys to get drafted,” Klubnik said. “That is just gonna happen, which is super cool. And who knows? There might be a Hall of Famer in this group. And it might be whoever came in last place or someone who was in the Elite 11. I know I made a lot of friends, so it was pretty fun.” Clemson connection here with Cade Klubnik hitting Adam Randall pic.twitter.com/JW94m6aRs2 #Clemson commit Cade Klubnik to Top247 TE Oscar Delp setting up another TD here at The Opening pic.twitter.com/YxtBAAH9cT #Clemson commit Cade Klubnik to Oscar Delp for a TD pic.twitter.com/Rvz58i78uL
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