Swinney Likes What He’s Seeing from Uiagalelei

Clemson's Veteran quarterback is making plays, taking care of the football

Ken Ruinard / Staff / USA TODAY Network

CLEMSON, S.C. — During the off-season, DJ Uiagalelei spent a lot of time working on his footwork and other mechanics in hopes of a better year than he had in 2021.

So far, the Clemson quarterback’s hard work is paying off.

“He has been really good,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said following Wednesday’s practice, Day 5 of fall camp for the Tigers. “First off, he is faster. He has made several plays with his feet that I don’t think he would have made last year.”

Uiagalelei has dropped 26 pounds since last season. The 6-foot-5 quarterback checked into camp last week at 234 pounds. He admitted in the spring that he was playing at 260 pounds last season.

“It has been very noticeable,” Swinney said.

Uiagalelei is also standing out when he throws the football. He is playing confidently and is making good decisions with the football.

“He is a high football IO guy. He really understands where to go with the ball,” Swinney said. “You can tell he has worked really hard. He is very conscientious of his fundamentals. He is hard on himself. He grades himself every day.

“He has been good.”

And that is a good sign for the Tigers.

Some of Clemson’s struggles on offense last season were due to Uiagalelei’s ineffectiveness. From a statistical standpoint, he had the worse season by a Clemson quarterback since 2010.

He completed just 55.6 percent of his passes for 2,246 yards while throwing just nine touchdowns to 10 interceptions.

Of course, Uiagalelei was also banged up, as he suffered through knee and hand injuries throughout the year.

But do not get the junior quarterback wrong. He is not using any of that as an excuse as to why he did not live up to expectations in 2021.

“No one wants to hear someone complain about something to complain,” he said at ACC Football Kickoff last month. “Whine, make excuses for something. So, for me, I always want to put my head down and work. Just keep coming out there, keep putting my best effort forward and just working.”

Uiagalelei ignores the outside criticism from the fans and the media. He does not allow those things to drive him.

“That can’t be your fire. That fire has to come from yourself, it has to come from you and why you play the game,” he said. “For the most part, I wanna be DJ. I want to go out there and play my game and everybody to know who DJ is.”

Want to join in on the discussion? 100% FREE! Interact with fellow Tiger fans and hear directly from publisher Zach Lentz, deputy editor Brad Senkiw, recruiting analyst Jason Priester and staff writer Will Vandervort on any subject. Click here to become a member of the ALL CLEMSON message board community today!