Brandon Streeter has seen a lot of positives from his starting quarterback since the end of last season.
Clemson’s offensive coordinator offered praise for the steps that DJ Uiagalelei has taken this offseason, including getting his body right. Not only did the junior signal caller out Inland Empire (CA.) drop over 30 pounds, but he’s finally healthy again. From the sounds of it, he is doing relatively well from a mental and physical standpoint.
Uiagalelei has taken all of the right steps, including embracing the competition that comes with Cade Klubnik and Hunter Johnson joining Clemson’s quarterback’s room.
“He’s definitely taken some really, really good steps,” Streeter said Tuesday. “Obviously, he learned a lot of lessons last year. I think a lot of us did. Everybody in the whole program learned a lot of lessons. I think really where we’re as a team, we’re gonna apply those lessons and it’s gonna be a lot of fun this year. It’s gonna be fun to watch these guys produce after learning all those lessons and he’s one of those guys that learned a lot last year.
“He’s really committed…to getting his body in better shape and he has lost anywhere from 30-35 pounds. He’s back healthy. He feels great. His knee is totally healthy and so he’s moving around much better, which is giving him a lot more confidence each and every day. Mentally, he’s in a really good spot. He had a great spring and so I’m really proud of where he is, battling through some of the stuff he went through last year.”
Aside from physical ailments, including a knee injury that required him to sport a bulky brace following the Louisville game, Streeter, of course, is referring to a lot of the external criticism that Uigalelei faced throughout his first full season as a starter.
Needless to say, Streeter thought Uiagalelei handled it well.
“He did nothing but take responsibility,” Streeter said. “He never pointed fingers. He never was a distraction at all and he owned up to everything. And it wasn’t all his fault. That’s what we gotta keep telling him because it’s the truth, but that’s the position he signed up for. We’re ready to accept that and he’s ready to accept that. He knows that’s part of the job. But, I really believed that he continued to battle. Was it hard for him? Yes, there’s no doubt. I do think as the year went on, he learned how to handle that and he got more and more confident as the year went. It was good to see him push through a lot of adversity and he grew a lot.”
Now that he’s pushed through that adversity, there’s a sense of urgency with different faces in Clemson’s quarterback’s room. While it’s not on par with what Uigalelei faced since he was under center against the would-be national champions in Charlotte, he has since embraced Klubnik’s presence, which has pushed and challenged him even more.
According to Streeter, Uigalelei has definitely accepted Klubnik in a lot of different ways as they’ve become close and good friends since the five-star quarterback out of Westlake (Texas) arrived on campus in January.
“Anytime you have competition, you’re gonna have a sense of urgency to get better,” Streeter said. “It started this spring. He had a really good spring and he got better. That was very obvious to me and that helps when you got some guys that come in and push you. There’s been some guys that have come into the program and have been able to do that, which has helped everybody. I’m just proud of where he is, as far as taking on that challenge. Not just learning from the mistakes he had last year, but building on some of the confidence he had from last year from overcoming some stuff. And then also, competing each day…I feel really good where he is.”
Streeter also feels great about where Klubnik is after the spring.
“As a quarterback, when you come in the spring — your first spring as a mid-year, still supposed to be in high school — it’s a hard jump,” Streeter said. “There’s a lot to absorb. There’s a lot of things going on…but we threw him in the fire quick. We wanted to get him as many reps as possible just so he could gain that experience and really learn from his mistakes and that’s what he did…He got better and better each and every day. Very talented player. He’s gonna be a very, very good leader on our team. He’s already a good leader on our team.
“The future’s bright for him for sure and he’ll just continue to get better. I challenged him after spring ball to really reabsorb everything because, in my past, I’ve seen a lot of jump and growth from the spring practice until preseason camp…Now they get a chance to sit back, take a deep breath and really absorb it, reabsorb it, regurgitate it from the spring, watch more film, go out there this summer and do all the skills and drills practices that they do. So, he’s been progressing along really, really well.”
In any event, Streeter is excited to watch both Uigalelei and Klubnik perform and progress once preseason camp rolls around come Aug. 5.
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