Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Dec 5, 2022, 2:06 PM

Or did he say that he thought DJ gave the team the best chance to win therefore earning the starts and playing time? I don't recall any comments where it was stated that Cade wasn't practicing well either. What we heard was that DJ was simply maintaining his spot through practice, which he apparently was.

I do feel like we got Brownell'd a little bit with DJ. Most were ready to move on prior to the season, but lo and behold, like that Sweet 16 run in 17-18, DJ led us to 7-0 with passing and rushing stats rivaling DW4 and TL16. With great press and renewed enthusiasm at this success, we proceeded to fall off some, with calls for change in the air again. And right when you think it's about to occur, with the writing on the wall, DJ rattles off two solid performances vs Louisville and Miami to keep us squarely in the CFP hunt, a la Brad's NCAA appearance in 20-21, once again postponing the inevitable.

It stinks that CK went full Freshman in his ND appearance. Sure, it was a tough spot to be in, but such is football. Do you think the staff feared a similar Freshman miscue were he to take over for DJ in crunch time vs SCar? Probably, and certainly not something they wanted to see Cade experience again in those circumstances. While DJ was far from inspiring, he's delivered in close games this season, and we were definitely in a position to close that one out and emerge victorious based on those tendencies. That effort failed.

Like every living Clemson soul out there, I was thrilled with CK's play Saturday night. He offered everyone a very inspiring glimpse into our program's future, a lot of confidence ahead of the Orange Bowl. Could it, should it have happened earlier? Can we ever really know that? Do we beat Wake, NC State, and FSU with CK back then, when we were missing critical players with injuries? When CK took over vs La Tech and we squander a lead, did that inspire confidence in the staff for the ACC stretch ahead? Would a victory in those contests by those opponents inspire them to perform better the remainder of the season and have us on the outside looking in again for the ACC title?

Bottom line is, a lot of the name calling on the coaches and digs at their character, Dabo in particular, on how the progression at QB has occurred and how it's been relayed to fans is disappointing. Keeping Brownell around for so long with these results is not a middle finger from the Admin to fans, or a lack of understanding obvious struggles from that end, or simply settling for less. It's been more about timing.

To me the same thing transpired with DJ. Heading into the season, it was definitely DJ's job to lose, which was fair. He responded to that with significant improvement, put us in the Top 4 in the CFP, fell back a bit, rebounded well, then there at the moment of truth at season's end, pulled a Lucy with the football. Following DJ's dismal performance vs SCar, the leash on him was rightfully short Saturday night. He no longer had the confidence of the coaches that he offered the best chance to win. Having guided us to 8-0 in ACC play, with a little help from CK on the way, he absolutely earned the starting nod. And following two very uninspiring drives reminiscent of his play just a week prior, he absolutely earned getting replaced.

For some clarity, I'm not trying to compare expectations in football to those in basketball. What I've pointed out are similarities in how what may seem obvious to many outside concerning personnel, and decisions made around them, is different to those managing that personnel and the circumstances they are operating within. In Brownell's case, the Lucy with the football analogy has played out over a decade plus. With DJ, it largely took place over the course of a single season. Both circumstances delivered disappointment, but each also materialized in a fashion that made it very difficult to go an alternative direction at the time. Fortunately for us, Dabo responded when the opportunity presented itself Saturday, and he's clearly comfortable not looking back on that and moving forward full speed.

Being as close as we were to a CFP appearance and falling short stinks. Losing to SCar stinks worse. It's the worst stink possible actually. However, claiming arrogance, lying, gaslighting (a term very few on here seem to grasp), what have you, out of the leadership, just doesn't hold water. It's their job to assess and make tough decisions that give us the best chance for success at every turn as it's unfolding. As we see, those decisions don't always turn out so well, but that's sports, and life. Taking it all so personal from them, though, and claiming 'the obvious' and thus the corresponding rationale explaining for certain results that don't turn out as we wanted them to be - it's just not that black and white. It may seem that way on Monday morning with scores and stats and such, but getting there requires context, nuance, and a host of intangibles that nobody outside that locker room, or Admin offices, can truly and honestly fathom.

As it is, we are Orange Bowl bound with a Top 10 matchup. The future looks bright. And hey, Brad has us off to a 7-2 start and 1-0 in the ACC. Like the first quarter of the SCar game - so far so good.

Go Tigers.

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Klubnik's play Saturday night was amazing. I hear you on that. Klubnik's series a month earlier at ND was not. DJ put together two very impressive performances in the two games following that clunker that moved us to 10-1 and totally within the CFP crosshairs.

The SCar game was frustrating to watch, definitely, and DJ was having a terrible game, but it was a nailbiter, and a tough situation to roll out a freshman QB into in that kind of pressure situation. We can all look back on that and wish Cade had played more because of the final result, and maybe it would have been more like Saturday's game. Versus SCar though we're up 14 early, 9 at the half, and that's with a few turnovers of our own still. It wasn't like UGA vs Bama in the Tua game - Bama was nearly down and out at the half in that one so why the hell not? We were never in that situation with SCar. We were not at our best all around but were doing just enough, and we have a track record of that getting the job done. Vs SCar, it didn't work.

Again, in hindsight it can seem black and white. We can look back at Brad's record over 12 years and identify numerous opportunities where we should have made a change, but the team performed just enough at key moments to keep that train rolling, and here we are. We were in a similar box with DJ. He was producing well enough to win, and we were winning with him, to the point where you feel the risk with change is greater than what you have, even though it's not the best version at that moment. Arrogance, stubbornness, hubris, lying, all that other stuff being thrown out there is missing context. Dabo clearly had no problem pulling the trigger vs UNC. DJ started off in a complete funk, we were down 7 quick, team energy was at a low point, and thankfully Cade shined for us and we win going away.

Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

I do hope you got it all off your chest . . .***

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

He's now played in 9.

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

He said and implied multiple times that Cade wasn't ready.***

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Dude...Skip that ND crap. That was obsequious diversion.***

Re: Dude...Skip that ND crap. That was obsequious diversion.***

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

It's not so much what Dabo says but what

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

More importantly.....Cade SAID.....

...but roughly 30% this past week. Never given the chance.***

Re: Did Dabo ever once say Cade Klubnik wasn't ready? (long)

Re: Wow, seek some therapy dude. Waaaaay too obsessive

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