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We need to talk.
You've got questions, we've got answers or opinions.
In this popular feature, Tigerillustrated.com digs into team-related topics broached by our subscribers.
Off we go ...
cu1974: What is the story on Cade Klubnik? Seems like with his pedigree, he would be seeing more playing time, building for the future? We get from Dabo Swinney that he is good and competitive. Can you guys shed some insight based on sources close to the team?
LARRY: A few hours after last week's game I was visiting with someone who is close to the program.
I expressed my surprise that they didn't go with Cade Klubnik in the second half after DJ Uiagalelei was dinged on his hip from a severe hit by Nick Emmanwori.
Uiagalelei, already not playing particularly well, seemed to regress even more after the hit. ESPN color man Todd Blackledge noted it on the broadcast.
The response later after the game from the person close to the team: A shake of the head and a convicted tone when he said: "Cade might end up being the guy, but he's not right now. He's just not ready."
That take is reflective of the feel from everyone I've been in contact with who's inside the program and connected to it. Bottom line, there's no one I know and trust who has told me some variation of: "Cade is the better option right now and I don't know why we're not going with him."
To me, there's really not a lot of mystery as to who has proven to be the better option in practice.
Now, having said all that: I think a case could be made that Klubnik, even if he's not what the coaches believe he will be long term, is still worthy of being given a chance in a game when Uiagalelei is struggling. And yes, even if there were other reasons Clemson lost to its rival for the first time since 2013, Uiagalelei's missed throws and missed reads and dinged-up state were still a significant part of the losing recipe.
Klubnik, even in his limited appearances this season, has put the ball in danger in almost every one of them. He has looked like the game is still quite fast for him, as is the case with most first-year quarterbacks out there (I should point out that the great Bryce Young didn't look all that ready back in 2020 during his limited appearances as a freshman).
That said, Swinney is just a couple weeks removed from telling Uiagalelei that it was "do or die" going into the Louisville game. He is less than a month removed from entering the second half at Notre Dame fully prepared to go with Klubnik.
That night in South Bend, there was talk of going with Klubnik to start the second half. The staff reconsidered and gave Uiagalelei two more series with Clemson down 14-0.
Uiagalelei's numbers when he was pulled that night: 13-of-19 passing for 78 yards with no interceptions.
Uiagalelei's numbers over the entire game Saturday: 8-for-29 (27.6 percent) for 99 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Uiagalelei's numbers in two full games against South Carolina the past two years: 17-for-48 (35.4 percent) for 198 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Woof.
I get it that the situations were different in South Bend and last week inside Death Valley. In one instance the Tigers were down two touchdowns and needed a spark. In another they were trying to protect a lead.
But in both cases they needed some sort of spark on offense. On their last four drives of the game Saturday the Tigers registered two first downs. Both were courtesy of penalties by the Gamecocks, one a facemask and the other pass interference.
Woof.
It could well be that the most crucial failure Saturday was not so much staying the course with Uiagalelei, but not staying the course with the running game. Going away from Will Shipley when he was clearly the best offensive option on the field, clearly lathered up, clearly productive even when South Carolina's defense was loaded up to stop the run, will remain confounding long after now.
That said, Klubnik was good enough to roll with when you were down double digits against Syracuse. Good enough to trust in an exceptionally well-managed comeback against the Orange as the staff swallowed hard and leaned on its running game and defense to carve out a 27-21 victory.
I don't think sticking with Uiagalelei in the second half was unequivocally the wrong move, but it just didn't seem to totally square with the "do or die" directive the head coach gave Uiagalelei a few weeks ago.
I think Swinney and this staff believe there's still plenty to play for this season and still highly value a conference championship even if some fans out there have already declared it a wasted season. I believe he's still all-in on what the staff and plenty others have determined is Clemson's best option to get out of Charlotte with a victory, to get to the Orange Bowl and to 12-2.
Cloud9: Just a guess, but after we win this game, who starts the Orange Bowl at quarterback? Over/under on opt-outs and transfer starters at two players for the game. Which side you taking?
LARRY: Clemson's best chance at winning Saturday in Charlotte has DJ Uiagalelei playing reasonably well, something he did for the most part in the previous two games against Miami and Louisville.
And if that holds true, it's hard to see them not going with DJ in the Orange Bowl.
I know there's a school of thought out there that this season is over with no playoff appearance, and a humiliating home loss to South Carolina. Best to just get a head start on the Klubnik era, the thinking goes.
I don't agree with that at all, and I suspect that mode of thinking is why the head coach has been so bent out of shape at times this week in calling out the vocal minority of the fan base.
This team can still achieve something important even if it doesn't achieve all that it set out to. Something that Clemson spent two decades wondering if it would ever get back.
That said, opt-outs are just a fact of life in 2022 and I would guess that falling short of the CFP will lead multiple high-profile players to strongly consider going ahead and calling it a college career after Saturday.
You asked about transfers, and that's of course different from opt-outs. I don't have a firm read on the timing of portal departures, but yes I do expect multiple transfers after the season including (and probably not limited to) E.J. Williams and Fred Davis.
OrangeRegalia: Have we ever had two prominent coaches on staff point out blame to other position groups or players to protect one singular player before? It not only seemed odd, but disappointing.
Hambone83: Are you picking up on any internal/player frustration over how the quarterback position is being handled?
PAUL: Piggybacking off Larry's answer above, no -- because they're seeing what everyone else is seeing at practice. Based on that, it's been pretty obvious to observers that Uiagalelei has presented the best chance to win going into games week after week.
I get why fans are responding the way they are, and have been, to how Swinney, Brandon Streeter and others have not only defended Uiagalelei but been defensive in response.
The deflection carries some merit because indeed, other players are warranting blame for the substandard or ineffective results. Coaches too, for that matter. And quarterbacks typically get too much of the blame along with too much of the credit.
Yet watch this clip from earlier this week about Tua Tagovailoa, and I think it reinforces why Clemson coaches have handled Uiagalelei commentary the way they have.
I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that in reading Uiagalelei's personality and manner, your best shot at squeezing the best from him is to nurture rather than tear down -- especially publicly.
You might not agree with all of Swinney's methodologies. But he has a really strong track record with reading his locker room and sensing which buttons to push with individuals as well as the collective.
Moreover, one of Swinney's defining traits has always been that he's a self-professed over-believer in people. Support them, love them -- use positivity rather than negativity to motivate. Part of the secret sauce, and it's largely worked the last decade.
That doesn't mean they won't push or prod Uiagalelei behind closed doors. Because they will. But pick your spots.
No good comes of doing so in the public eye. Especially, in my opinion, with a quarterback who hasn't necessarily demonstrated steely resolve -- which was something we expressed as the big question going into his sophomore season. As we're now seeing surface again late in the season, when things start to go bad for Uiagalelei, the snowball gathers downhill speed fast.
So I think it's with justified reason that delicate words and kid gloves are used.
The goal is repeatedly to win the next week's game, and they've got to harness the best Uiagalelei possible in order to try to accomplish that.
neely73: Paul, we are now closing in on the conclusion of football season in a month. It might be too early to ask, but does DJ enter the transfer portal or announce for the NFL Draft?
PAUL: I don't know what Uiagalelei will ultimately do, or if his destination has been specifically set in his mind.
Yet as we've repeatedly informed subscribers, our educated belief is that this remains Uiagalelei's final season at Clemson.
Could mean he goes pro. Or because this union ultimately hasn't worked out after two starting seasons, Uiagalelei goes elsewhere. Bottom line, it is time for both sides to try something different.
If they haven't through backchannels already, there will be quite a few power conference programs lining up with the offer to come get a fresh start. A situation like Arizona State -- new coach with quarterback pedigree, back home by the West Coast -- jumps out from an unequivocally speculative standpoint.
Either way, Uiagalelei has handled it all publicly with class. You shake his hand, and everyone wish one another the best.
That's our bet on how it unfolds.
kingkyle1008: Best ways to cope with depression?
PAUL: Taking a job on Nebraska's staff appears to be the remedy for a few football folks from around here.
OrangeTowerTiger: It seems for whatever reason Clemson has not been able to have the results at punter of many of our peers. In your opinion, is this an evaluation or a scheme problem? Or is it just not considered a priority for the staff? What can Clemson do to recruit a weapon at punter equal to many of our peers?
PAUL: I don't think scheme is an issue. Among special teams, I'd say punt coverage is one of their strengths. I knit-pick more over personnel usage on the return units.
But punter really comes down strictly to evaluation -- factoring in, of course, when Swinney wants to take one. And if there's one who has his eye.
The vast majority of college programs struggle with specialist evaluation. Iowa might be the best at it, or Tennessee when there was a Colquitt brother of age.
Often prospects earn their spot through camp performance -- which is a small one-day sample size, and frequently a matter of a handful of kicks at most.
There's also the question of, to what degree do college coaches -- who specialize in other positions -- know what they're looking at with kickers? And then, the variable for what's going to translate when the kid gets to college. Because most are going to have to improve leg strength, hang time and consistent technique to be an average college punter.
Hence why so many schools prefer the walk-on path if the market allows.
South Carolina's Kai Kroeger, an Illinois native, didn't even get an offer from the home-state Illini. He also visited LSU, Penn State and Northwestern, and only the Gamecocks offered after camp.
For a bazillion-dollar industry where some teams are approaching as many support staffers as scholarship players, you'd think it's about time someone devotes a bit more resources to kickers.
But maybe it wouldn't matter, who knows.
statepawdog: Why did the offensive coaches just destroy the Chad Morris playbook?. It was effective and the offense was able to score on a consistent basis. This offense now looks worse than the Rob Spence mess.
LARRY: First off, Morris hasn't had a very good run since leaving Clemson. He did some good things at SMU, failed miserably at Arkansas, got fired with Gus Malzahn after a year at Auburn, got fired at Allen High School in Texas, and recently was on the USF staff of fired coach Jeff Scott.
Offensive football has advanced so much over the last decade that I'm not sure Clemson would have a great deal of success if it tried to copy what Morris did here from 2011 to 2014.
It's an RPO world now, defenses have adjusted to the fast-paced stuff, and what qualified as innovative then doesn't qualify as such now. I think this offense could use some more innovation, but I don't think the recent struggles have been a result of going away from the Morris playbook.
Morris did a wonderful job of changing the identity here, but he also had some exceptional playmakers from the moment he arrived.
The inconsistent quarterback play and lack of playmakers outside this season reminds me a bit of 2014 when Deshaun Watson was out with injury. No Deshaun and no Sammy Watkins from the three seasons prior meant a really tough task of manufacturing production and points.
That was Morris' final season at Clemson, and his playbook didn't mean a whole lot without playmakers.
The void of playmakers is, quite clearly to me, the biggest problem on offense right now.
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