For the past two seasons, former five-star quarterback prospect DJ Uiagalelei was the starting quarterback with the Clemson Tigers. But after he was benched late in the season last year, he decided to transfer to the Oregon State Beavers. And it sure doesn’t sound like he regrets that decision.
This week, DJ Uiagalelei was asked about his time at Clemson, and he had some strong words for his former team.
“I didn’t want to do what I was doing at Clemson. I didn’t really like what we did there scheme-wise,” Uiagalelei said. “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.”
It’s a pretty brutal assessment of Clemson’s offense, and the college football world had plenty to say about it on Twitter.
Yeah I hear you. Good luck at Oregon State! https://t.co/HryXyuztL9
— Ellis Tolbert (@EllisTolbert) April 24, 2023
DJ Uiagalelei says in this article he felt like Clemson's coaching staff didn't trust him and they were calling plays "scared." Also felt Clemson's scheme was "very basic" and wasn't developed as he would have liked.
DJU did not hold back. https://t.co/iwIYO2gnRo
— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) April 23, 2023
This is quite the read. It surprises me a little bit that a guy who Dabo basically never criticized publicly was willing to be this critical of Clemson & its coaches in such a public way. https://t.co/MCNByXppZU
— Kelly Gramlich (@kellygramlich) April 23, 2023
Really interesting article from Bruce. DJ U was extremely candid. https://t.co/7qxHcRAYl5
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) April 23, 2023
Well at least now we know DJ hated that stupid uninspired scheme as much as the fans did. https://t.co/HVS9qKOBfa
— Tiger-B8s (@Tiger_B8s) April 23, 2023
We’ll have to see how both Clemson and Uiagalelei fare after his departure from the team.
[On3]
