Birthday cake and cookies and cream.
Those two ice cream flavors are D.J. Uiagalelei’s favorites, but Clemson’s quarterback hasn’t indulged in either over the last six months. For someone with a sizable sweet tooth, it’s taken some serious self-control.
“That was hard,” Uiagalelei admitted.
Uiagalelei made the rounds again this week at the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte having made some noticeable changes. After attending last year’s event with a “Big Cinco” medallion hanging from his neck, Uiagalelei swapped it for a gold necklace complete with a large pendant depicting the face of Jesus – a nod to his faith – as he bounced from radio row to the main ballroom to numerous interviews in between.
Perhaps the most evident alteration, though, was how snugly Uiagalelei’s custom-tailored brown pinstripe suit hugged his body. A svelte Uiagalalei is entering fall camp down roughly 30 pounds from last season, a weight-loss process that began shortly after Clemson’s Cheez-It Bowl win when the 6-foot-4 signal caller revealed he tipped the scales at 265 pounds.
“I weighed myself, and I said, ‘I’m a little too heavy coming off of (last season),’ so I wanted to get some weight down and be able to come into this year in the best shape of my life so I could put my best foot forward,” he said.
The hardest part of dropping the weight? Staying away from those tasty ice cream flavors.
“That’s a big one,” Uiagalelei said. “I’m a big ice cream fan.”
Uiagalelei said he not only cut out some foods that he normally likes to eat, but he also watched his portions. Dieting, though, was only part of the equation.
During the offseason, Uiagalelei got his weight lifting in just like his teammates, but he did more than that. Uiagalelei said he worked out twice a day, adding a heavy cardiovascular component to his offseason routine.
Now Uiagalelei is entering his junior season around 235 pounds and said he would like to stay somewhere between 235 and 230 during the season. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said all the credit goes to his quarterback seeing how there was no directive from the coaching staff to shed the pounds.
“After the season, you evaluate everything and what you’ve got to do to get better in all areas, but it’s really more self-motivated for him,” Swinney said. “It’s something that he really wanted to do.”
While improving his overall health was part of the thinking behind the weight loss, Uiagalelei said he also had his performance in mind after a season that fell well short of expectations for Clemson’s offense and its signal caller. Not only did Uiagalelei finish with the second-worst passing efficiency among ACC starters a season ago, but he also averaged just 2.9 yards per carry.
Uiagalelei said that number resonated with him specifically. Now 30 pounds lighter, he said he feels like he can move better and should be a more viable threat in the run game.
“That was a big reason (for the weight loss),” he said. “I wanted to be more mobile and agile and be able to extend plays a little bit more.”
Uiagalelei has also shed the brace he sported this spring after spraining his knee late last season. That bum index finger on his throwing hand is healed up, too. With an offseason of optimistic chatter winding down, a healthy, slimmer Uiagalelei will soon have to show on the field that his improvement is more than talk.
But his dedication isn’t something anyone is questioning.
“The commitment and the sacrifice it takes to do something like that,” Swinney said of Uiagalelei’s weight loss, “it speaks to his grit and his drive to be great.”
Photo credit: Ken Ruinard/USA Today Network
