DJ Uiagalelei had an eventful few years during his time as the face of Clemson football. In 2020, he filled in for two starts for a Covid-stricken Trevor Lawrence and looked like an absolute superstar, tossing for 871 yards and accounting for six touchdowns in the two games. As the starter in 2021, though, Uigalelei was a disaster (2,246 yards, nine touchdowns, 10 interceptions) before rebounding to put together a respectable 2022 season (2,521 yards, 22 touchdowns, seven interceptions). Still, even as he led Clemson to the ACC title, he was never on firm ground and even got benched in the ACC Championship game in favor of prized freshman Cade Klubnik. As a result, Uigalelei made the shocking move to transfer to Pac-12 football bottom-dweller Oregon State this offseason, leaving behind a complicated legacy and no shortage of hard feelings.
“I didn’t want to do what I was doing at Clemson. I didn’t really like what we did there scheme-wise,” DJ Uiagalelei told On3 about his decision to leave Clemson's powerhouse football team for Oregon State. “It was very basic. It didn’t help me out as a quarterback and play to my strengths. I wanted to go somewhere that would play to my strengths and go somewhere that would develop me for the NFL. Play-action, work under center, throwing the ball deep.”
“This has been definitely different. The scheme is totally different than what we were doing at Clemson. I feel like it’s a lot better,” said Uiagalelei. “It’s just new stuff. I wasn’t doing any of these run-checks at the line; I wasn’t really under center. It’s a lot more plays. All of these different play-action plays; these different two-man routes, three-man routes. All the stuff that I wanted to do at Clemson but we weren’t doing. It’s exciting. I’m just taking it day-by-day.”
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