Cade Klubnik was visibly giddy while discussing the implementation of Clemson’s new offense earlier this spring, particularly when noting one specific change.

“I’m loving the style and freedom of the offense,” the Tigers’ quarterback said.

Freedom isn’t something Clemson’s quarterbacks had much of in previous systems, where what was called was typically what was run. For a couple of reasons, though, Klubnik will have some leeway in Garrett Riley’s air-raid offense to change plays and protections at the line of scrimmage based on what the defense is doing.

First, Riley’s offense operates organically in that fashion. Tight ends coach and passing-game coordinator Kyle Richardson, who ran a version of the air raid at Rock Hill’s Northwestern High before arriving at Clemson, explained as much.

“It’s one of those things where this system just kind of allows them to play where in the past, there may have been, hey, on this play, this route has to be like this,” Richardson said. “It’s got to be this many steps. Or it’s got to be run to this vicinity and you have to stay in this spot or whatever. This is a little bit of, hey, this is where we want you to go, and on the way there, if some things happen, then let’s play football.”

But Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Klubnik has also earned some of that flexibility by quickly grasping the details of Riley’s offense, which is focused on mastering a small number of plays. The degree of freedom Klubnik has will depend on what play is called, Swinney said, but Klubnik’s ability to process what he’s seeing from the defense and make proper tweaks on the fly in practice is building confidence in his coaches to loosen up the reins a bit.

“This is definitely a very quarterback-friendly offense for sure. Very, very, very quarterback friendly,” Swinney said. “He’s got a lot of flexibility, and he’s got to be able to handle that. But he’s demonstrated that he can. It’s been fun to see it pull together.”

Swinney said giving the quarterback that type of freedom is all about maximizing the offense’s chances for success.

“We want to be able to attack where (the defense’s) weaknesses are,” Swinney said. “We want to be able to take the matchups where they need to be. But you’ve got to have a quarterback who can manage those things, and I think we’ve got guys that can do that starting with Cade. He’s demonstrated really good understanding. Procedurally, signals, cadence, it’s different. And it’s been fun to see those guys take ownership of that.”

Klubnik noted Riley’s offense is similar to a version he ran during his prep days at Westlake (Texas) High, which has helped Klubnik with the transition. Richardson believes this offense and Klubnik’s dual-threat abilities at the controls are a match made in heaven.

“I think it fits him well,” Richardson said. “I don’t know exactly what version of the offense he ran, but with his skill set, this is a really good fit for him. He’s loving it and running around out there making plays.”

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