CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Klubnik says one thing about Dabo Swinney is
Cade Klubnik is amazed by Dabo Swinney's memory.

Klubnik says one thing about Dabo Swinney is "absurd"


by David Hood David Hood - Senior Writer -

Cade Klubnik says one thing stands out about his head coach.

Dabo Swinney is known for many things: Winning conference and national championships, emotional sideline outbursts, his ability to preach sermons on a whim, graduating players, and many more.

Klubnik has played for three years under Swinney and has a chance to cement his place in Clemson history with a special season in 2025. Klubnik took a big step forward this season - in 2024, Klubnik helped guide Clemson back to the College Football Playoff, throwing for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns, and just six interceptions. He also contributed 642 rushing yards and seven scores on the ground.

The Austin, Texas native told ESPN’s Field Yates earlier this week that Swinney was the one coach he wanted to play for.

“About a year before I committed, March of my sophomore year, I probably had six or seven offers, and my mom had asked me, kid, if you could go play anywhere in the country or for what had coach, what would it be? And I said, oh, coach Swinney, that's an easy choice,” Klubnik said. “And then we both kind of looked at each other like, that's a big jump. That's Clemson we're talking about. I don't know if I'm that good. A year later, I ended up committing, and it was just crazy.”

Klubnik said that he is always amazed by Swinney’s memory.

“Coach Swinney, he is one of a kind,” Klubnik said. “First of all, I don't know if you know this, but his memory is the craziest thing on planet Earth. You can have a player that he coached 15 years ago and he hasn't seen that kid in 10 years, and he can remember where he lived on his official (visit), what his mom cooked for him, everybody in his family's name. And this is 15 years later and he's had thousands of kids come through his program. His memory is just absurd.”

However, the memory isn’t always a good thing for Klubnik.

“That's a good thing and a bad thing because at times you'll not have a good practice or something and he'll let you hear it on the field,” Klubnik said. “And then 10 minutes later in the cafeteria after practice and then the next day. All about one throw that I missed or something like that. His memory is crazy. He's always wanting to coach you, but he also cares about this player so much and I wouldn't want to play for anybody else. And I'd come back for one more year and I think that that proves it. I didn't want to go play for anybody else. I want to go play for them one more year.”

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