DJ Uiagalelei Shares Thoughts on Clemson's Offense. "I thought it was very basic."
The Transfer Portal has added a new wrinkle to college football. So many players in years past have committed to schools with schemes that just don't fit, only to have to sit out a season if they wanted a new opportunity. Now, players can immediately take the new opportunity.
That's exactly what's happened to former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. After an incredible freshman season backing up Trevor Lawrence, including a massive performance at Notre Dame, Uiagalelei and Clemson struggled to find consistency on offense. After those two seasons, the firing of offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter, and the emergence of freshmen Cade Klubnik, Uiagalelei decided to enter the Transfer Portal and headed to Oregon State. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic sat down with Uiagalelei to discuss his transfer and Oregon State's upcoming season. During the interview, Uiagalelei shared his displeasure with Clemson's scheme under Tony Elliott and Brandon Streeter.
DJ Uiagalelei threw for 5,861 yards during his three seasons at Clemson. (Clemson Athletics)
“I didn’t want to do what I was doing at Clemson,” said Uiagalelei. “I didn’t really like what we did there scheme-wise. I didn’t think we did very much. I thought it was very basic. It didn’t help me out as a quarterback and play to my strengths. I wanted to go somewhere that would play to my strengths and go somewhere that would develop me for the NFL. Play-action, work under center, throw the ball deep.”
In the past two seasons, Clemson ranked 30th and 82nd in points per game, after ranking 4th in 2020. Earlier this offseason, the Tigers hired TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley to take over the offense.
