Clemson’s head coach is “All In” on his quarterback heading into the 2022 season, and Dabo Swinney went to bat in defense of D.J. Uiagalelei this week.
During an interview on SiriusXM at the 2022 ACC Football Kickoff, Swinney was very forthright while explaining why he has no shortage of confidence in Uiagalelei, delivering candid commentary defending the rising junior signal-caller who is coming off a difficult 2021 campaign during which he was tasked with taking over for Trevor Lawrence as the Tigers’ starter.
“My quarterback, and you mentioned him, this dude’s a freak,” Swinney said. “And people talk about him like he’s some slapdick from Eastaboga Community College, and this guy can play the game at the highest level. He’s going to play the game at the highest level. And he wasn’t great last year. He was awesome as a freshman. He was awesome his whole career in high school. He’s a winner. He’s got all the tools, all the intangibles. But he is better because of what he went through.
“He’s had a lot of challenges and then, all of a sudden, we’ve got three different centers, we’ve got six OL, one’s a true freshman, a true freshman running back, all of our receivers are out. Well, now, he tries to do too much. He loses his confidence. The first time in his life he’s had to deal with some criticism. This guy ain’t never been criticized. He’s been the GOAT his (whole) life. Now, all of a sudden, he’s got MilkBone underwear on and they’re chomping at him everywhere he goes.”
Uiagalelei completed only 55.6 percent of his passes while throwing more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (nine) in his first full season as a starter last year, after bursting onto the scene as a true freshman in 2020 with four touchdowns and no interceptions in two starts vs. Boston College and Notre Dame.
"This guy can play the game at the highest level." @ClemsonFB HC Dabo Swinney is #ALLIN on @DJUiagalelei heading into 2022. @Chris_Spatola | @AllHands81 | @TomLuginbill | #ACCKickoff pic.twitter.com/ZeBTfFWTLa
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) July 20, 2022
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