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Dabo Swinney Makes Transfer Portal Decision On QB Position, New Coaches Make Waves At 1st Practice

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Dabo Swinney talks to quarterback Cade Klubnik during the Orange Bowl.

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Dabo Swinney has made his decision on utilizing the transfer portal to find a quarterback. Unfortunately, it’s not the one that many around the program were hoping to see.

The head coach is putting full faith in Cade Klubnik following an up-and-down season.

Klubnik came to Clemson with much fanfare. The former five-star prospect shined in his first game after taking over for DJ Uiagalelei, leading the Tigers to a 39-10 ACC Championship win over North Carolina.

Unfortunately, his first full campaign as starter didn’t see the same success.

The Tigers finished a respectable 8-4 after starting the season 4-4. Much of that was due to a dominant defense, however, as Klubnik struggled under center.

In Game 1, a loss to Duke, the quarterback turned the ball over twice, while a game-changing fumble thwarted an upset bid of Florida State.

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Later, in a loss to Miami, he was blasted by his head coach for running the wrong play on a crucial fourth down. The next week was more of the same as a pair of Klubnik picks led to 14 NC State points in another defeat.

Even in the wins, his performance was underwhelming. He threw for just 131 yards in a win over Wake Forest, 109 yards in an upset of Notre Dame, and 100 yards in the season finale versus South Carolina. He completed less than 56% of his attempts against the Gamecocks and Irish.

When the year was through, the passer threw just 12 touchdowns to seven interceptions over his 10 games against Power Five competition.

While the struggles persisted for much of the season, the Tigers had little depth to move onto another option. In the QB room were walk-ons Trent Pearman and Colby Shaw, freshman Christopher Vizzina, and little used grad transfer Paul Tyson – who is transitioning into a coaching role.

It doesn’t look like Dabo Swinney intends to build on that depth through the transfer portal this offseason.

When asked about the possibility of adding to the position through the transfer market, he said, “We like the guys we have, and we like who’s coming in. We feel pretty good about the direction that we have there.”

While Swinney expressed confidence in his starting signal caller, not everyone around the program was satisfied with the response.

“That’s disappointing.”

“Still being hardheaded. You have to get somebody to push Cade. Only way he improves.”

“Two steps forward, one step back for Dabo.”

New Clemson coaches make headlines in 1st practice

New defensive line coach Chris Rumph grabbed everyone’s attention at his first Clemson practice due to his passion and desire to achieve greatness. He was spotted going right at those Tiger defenders, a group that shined much of last season.

Rumph is a football veteran, having played for South Carolina before a lengthy coaching career at both the college level and in the NFL.

His counterpart, offensive line coach Matt Luke, was doing much of the same. The former Ole Miss head coach was fired up to make his Clemson debut

Both are the midst of bowl practice as Clemson gears up for a Gator Bowl appearance against Kentucky.

It’s evident they’re not taking any plays off ahead of that ACC vs. SEC matchup. We’ll see how the groups respond in Jacksonville.