Clemson’s quarterbacks are familiar with Brandon Streeter in more ways than one.
Streeter had already been on the Tigers’ coaching staff for seven seasons before Dabo Swinney promoted him last month to be the offensive coordinator when Tony Elliott left to take the head coaching job at Virginia. Streeter has been a recruiting coordinator and passing game coordinator during that time, but his primary job before now has been coaching the Tigers’ signal callers.
As their position coach, a role he’ll continue with in addition to his play-calling duties, nobody works more closely with Clemson’s quarterbacks on a daily basis than Streeter, a quarterback himself during his playing days at Clemson in the late 1990s.
The 2021 season was a rough one for the position, particularly D.J. Uiagalelei, who posted the second-lowest completion percentage among starting ACC quarterbacks and tossed more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (9) in his first season as Trevor Lawrence’s successor. It’s something to monitor as Clemson gets ready for its first on-field preparation for next season this spring.
But Streeter said his expectation is simple for whoever ultimately ends up taking the snaps for the Tigers come the fall.
“It’s really not just to D.J. but to all of them: Just continue to improve,” Streeter said.
In Streeter’s opinion, Uiagalelei did that in the latter part of the season while also fighting through knee and hand injuries. The strong-armed sophomore led a pair of game-winning drives in the fourth quarter against Florida State and Louisville and had one of his better performances in the Tigers’ home finale against Wake Forest, going 11 of 19 passing for 208 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Clemson’s Cheez-It Bowl win over Iowa State provided mixed results for Uiagalelei, who completed 65% of his passes (21 of 32) but didn’t push the ball down the field much (187 yards passing). He was also intercepted once and didn’t throw a touchdown pass.
Uiagalelei’s primary backup, Taisun Phommachanh, has transferred out of the program, but he was more of a running threat than passing. This spring, however, will bring some real competition to the quarterback position with five-star signee Cade Klubnik enrolling early. Clemson has also added more experienced depth with the recent signing of Northwestern transfer Hunter Johnson, who’s back for his second stint with the Tigers.
“We’re going to have a heck of a team coming back, and we’ve got some great guys that we just signed,” Streeter said. “Really excited about those guys coming into the mix.
Former walk-ons Hunter Helms and Billy Wiles round out the quarterback room for next season.
“That’s what spring ball is for,” Streeter said. “Let’s put the pieces of the puzzle out on the table now and, and let’s put it together one practice at a time. Competition is always good. At every position, there’s always going to be competition. It makes them all better.”
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