Faith Played Huge Role in Bringing D.J. Uiagalelei to Clemson

The Clemson coaching staff's willingness to openly talk about their faith played a huge role in quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei's decision to come join the Tigers.

Under the guidance of head coach Dabo Swinney, Clemson has had very little issue recruiting what some might call generational-type talents at quarterback.

The Tigers have seen elite-level talents like Tajh Boyd, Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence come through the program over the past decade. One thing that all three had in common, outside of their success on the field, was their willingness to openly talk about their faith.

The Tigers now have what many would call another generational talent in D.J. Uiagalelei primed to step in and take over for the departed Lawrence. Like those quarterbacks before him, Uiagalelei has never shied away from talking about his faith.

"I remember when I first came to Clemson," Uiagalelei said. "The biggest thing for me that stood out was that coaches here, they openly talked about their faith in Jesus Christ. That was the biggest, the was huge for me, to be able to hear coaches openly talk about that."

The second-year quarterback from California said that with this particular coaching staff, it wasn't just lip service. 

The transparency Uiagalelei saw in the Clemson coaches was something he just hadn't seen at other schools and that played a huge part in him knowing fairly quickly where he was going to play collegiate football.

"It was really genuine, you knew that they weren't just saying that because they just say that but they were real genuine about it," Uiagalelei said. "So for me, I never heard coaches talk openly about their faith. And that was the biggest thing for me, I remember telling my mom that night, 'Yeah, I know I'm coming to Clemson, this is definitely where God wants me to be at.'"