During Clemson’s press conference at the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte on Wednesday, head coach Dabo Swinney fielded a question that led to him voicing his confidence in rising junior quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.
Swinney was asked about the opinions that Clemson internet message boards have had regarding Uiagalelei and his on-field performance over the last two years, including last season when he was the subject of criticism amid his struggles as a sophomore following his sensational freshman debut two seasons ago.
“They had a lot of great opinions his freshman year, didn’t they?” Swinney said. “They wanted me to sit Trevor (Lawrence) for DJ. I had some of them, ‘I think we should sit Trevor. He is not playing great. Let’s put this DJ.’
“DJ set records as a freshman. He did an amazing job for us. Last year it was a struggle. Like I told DJ, that comes with being the quarterback. Comes with being the head coach. You get a lot of praise and you get all the criticism. That just comes with it. That’s part of — comes with the territory so to speak.”
Filling in for Lawrence to make a couple of starts against Boston College and Notre Dame as a true freshman in 2020, Uiagalelei threw for 781 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in those two contests.
The former five-star prospect led Clemson to the largest comeback in Memorial Stadium history (18 points) in the Boston College game, and his 342 passing yards in that game were the third-most by a Clemson freshman (true or redshirt) in his starting debut. A week later, Uiagalelei’s 439 passing yards at Notre Dame were the third-most in a game in school history and broke the school freshman record of 435 (set by Deshaun Watson against North Carolina in 2014), while the 439 passing yards at Notre Dame were also the most ever thrown against the Irish by an opposing quarterback.
Overall, as a freshman, Uiagalelei completed 78-of-117 passes for 914 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions across 10 games. His 146.4 pass efficiency rating was fifth-best by an ACC freshman quarterback since 2002 (min. 100 passes), and he became only the second FBS player since 2000 to throw at least 115 passes and record at least five passing touchdowns and no interceptions.
Uiagalelei’s statistics in his first full season as a starter last year were a stark contrast to those he posted as a freshman, as Uiagalelei experienced his share of struggles while completing only 55.6 percent of his passes with more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (nine).
Entering the 2021 season as a strong Heisman candidate, Uiagalelei was plagued by inaccuracy and poor decision making, and his aforementioned completion percentage ranked 98th nationally.
Swinney pointed out that as opposed to when Lawrence and Deshaun Watson were playing quarterback for Clemson, Uiagalelei’s mistakes were amplified last season as the rest of the Tigers’ offense around him had issues as well, such as inconsistent play up front on the offensive line and injuries at the running back and receiver positions.
“Last year, as I’ve said many times, I’ve never had a young quarterback, first-year starter who didn’t make mistakes, but the past young quarterbacks that I have had, the last two young quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson and Trevor, they made mistakes, but we were much better around them,” Swinney said. “Whereas with DJ, we were not very good around him. So his mistakes were magnified.”
Swinney believes last season was part of the maturation process for Uiagalelei, and it’s all about how he responds this coming season.
“Then I think this guy, all he has ever done is win, and now all of a sudden it’s disappointment, there’s adversity, challenges, and some criticism. How do you respond?” Swinney said.
“It’s disappointing. Next thing you know, people question you, and maybe you lose a little confidence or you try to do too much. That’s all part of maturing. He is going to play football for a long time.”
Swinney compared the faith he has in Uiagalelei to the confidence then-Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips showed in him when Swinney had what he called a “sophomore” slump with a six-win season in 2010.
“I don’t need anybody on a message board to tell me who DJ is on a message board,” Swinney said. “Just ask Terry Don Phillips, I won six games my sophomore year — my sophomore year? My second year as the head coach. I won six games as the head coach. There was a lot of people on the message boards wanting me gone. Right? Then next year we won the ACC for the first time in 20 years. We won 10 games for the first time in 20 years. Now we win 10 games, and they want to fire me.
“Terry Don Phillips had a lot of confidence me as a coach. I got a lot of confidence in DJ. Going to graduate in December. Unbelievable young man on and off the field. One of the best leaders that we’ve had come through. Incredibly committed. He has some scars on him and some shrapnel and some wounds. That’s going to serve him well as he goes into this year.”
While Swinney was very vocal about his belief in Uiagalelei, he noted it’s up to the rising junior signal-caller to go out and perform better this season.
But Clemson’s head coach is confident that Uiagalelei will do just that, and that he’ll have more help around him this season, too.
“So it’s a game of performance, and you can’t change that,” Swinney said. “I can talk about how great he is all day long, he has to go do it. I believe in him, and there ain’t no doubt about that. I know who he is. We’re going to be better around him, and that’s the first thing we’ve got to do is we’ve got to be better around him. He has to learn from his mistakes. He has to play better in certain areas that he knows. I believe is he going to do it.”
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