Florida State football will once again be bringing in a top 10 ranked transfer portal class in 2024. During the latest cycle, the Seminoles added 15 transfer commits, consisting of five three-star players and 10 four-star players, the most for any team, which was good enough for the No. 4 ranked class.
Since arriving in 2020, head coach Mike Norvell has made the transfer portal a pivotal part of his program in helping build the Seminoles roster. And he's been quite successful. He's brought in the likes of quarterback Jordan Travis, wide receiver Keon Coleman, and edge Jared Verse, just to name a few.
Those three players and others are now gone, headed to the NFL. Meaning that Florida State football is in a bit of a rebuilding, transitioning phase. No doubt they still stand to be super talented, with portal additions from last year, plus returning players. But one position that was going to be in desperate need with Travis' absence — which was evident early when he went down with an ankle injury late in the season that eventually cost the Seminoles a chance at making the College Football Playoff — was that of quarterback.
Not only was Travis out of eligibility, but also his backup, Tate Rodemaker entered the transfer portal, leaving the Florida State quarterback room depleted. Also, with Norvell and the Seminoles in a window where they still feel like they can compete for a national title now with the talent they have, they were in need of an experienced starter, which can almost easily be found in the era of the transfer portal.
Enter former Clemson and now Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. But make no mistake about it, Uiagalelei will have a lot to prove down in Tallahassee.
DJ Uiagalelei transfers to Florida State football
When DJ Uiagalelei left Clemson, he likewise had a lot to prove even then. It didn't help that while at Clemson he was following in the footsteps of now Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence and before that DeShaun Watson, both national champions. But Uiagalelei was also a former five-star prospect and was ranked the No. 1 pro-style quarterback, No. 2 player out of the state of California, and the No. 2 overall prospect in the country, per 247sports.
But he quickly didn't live up to all the hype that was behind him. In his first full season as a starter in 2021, he completed just over 55 percent of his passes for 2,246 yards, nine touchdowns to 10 interceptions that resulted in a 10-3 season for Clemson, their first three-loss season since 2014.
His 2022 season saw some improvement, where his completion percentage went up to almost 62 percent, throwing for 2,521 yards, with a much better touchdown to interception ratio of 22-to-7. Clemson finished 11-3 with an ACC Championship, but Uiagalelei was unpleased with head coach Dabo Swinney's offense and decided to bolt for Corvallis.
Joining Jonathan Smith's Beavers team at Oregon State, Uiagalelei did see some improvement, although the ball wasn't necessarily put in his hands too often. The Beavers relied a lot on the run game, which meant that Uiagalelei had to become more of a game manager than anything else.
In 12 games for Oregon State, he completed just 180 of his 315 pass attempts, which actually lowered his completion percentage to 57 percent, according to Sports-Reference. However, he threw for the most yards of his career with 2,638 and was just one touchdown shy of matching his previous season at Clemson, while having the same amount of interceptions.
Norvell has done wonders with quarterbacks before, just as he did with Travis when he came from Louisville. But Travis also had four seasons with Norvell. That won't be the case with Uiagalelei. But Travis is also Uiagalelei's problem, where he once again will be having to follow in the footsteps of a quarterback that if not for an injury that derailed his and the team's season last year, could have become the next Florida State football legend. That's why Uiagalelei has the most to prove out of all of Florida State's transfers.
Follow Us
Subscribe