Dabo Swinney on DJ Uiagalelei: He is truly the unquestioned leader

2022 provides DJ Uiagalelei a chance to wash the poor taste that last season provided out of his mouth, and prove to everybody why he was considered a Heisman Trophy candidate and one of the top quarterbacks in the 2022 class.

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney discussed how proud he is of the 2021 squad led by Uiagalelei and how they finished last season as a 10-win, Cheez-It Bowl-winning team after a more-than disappointing start to the year.

"He is truly the unquestioned leader. He is unbelievably respected on this team."

Dabo Swinney on his QB, @DJUiagalelei 👏 @ClemsonFB pic.twitter.com/8EzAZ07RKT

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) August 18, 2022

“He in a very peaceful place. He’s incredibly confident. He’s scarred up, has some shrapnel on him. He’s been through some battles,” Swinney said of his quarterback. “Last year was a rough year – and he needs to play better, he knows that – but we weren’t very good around him for a lot of reasons, and I’ve never had a young quarterback, a first year starter that didn’t make mistakes, never. His mistakes were magnified.”

Uiagalelei entered last season as a Heisman hopeful in his first opportunity as a full-time starter. That chance got off the rails very quickly and never fully recovered. He threw for less than 175 yards per game over his 13 starts and threw just nine touchdowns all year. Pair that with Uiagalelei’s 10 interceptions and there weren’t many happy faces when it came to the Clemson offense or QB.

Swinney has defended Uiagalelei on multiple occasions and did so again during his answer. He says Clemson’s offensive woes didn’t fall solely on his quarterback. He believes the offense around him wasn’t much better either. With a new year ahead, Dabo Swinney says he has already seen improvement in the supporting cast and, in turn, DJ this fall.

“Where we were at 4-3, how we finished and the way we had to finish I mean, I’m incredibly proud of that staff and that team last year,” Swinney said. “It was because we just found a way, but that kid played with a hurt finger, a bad knee, but he came since January, he’s lost 30 pounds.

“He’s incredibly focused immediately, and he’s just got the eye of the Tiger, but he’s got to go do it on game day. He’s gotta go do it when the lights are on, and I’ve seen him do that as a freshman. And then last year, he had his moments but again, he’s got to be better and I know he can go do it at a high level … But the biggest thing with DJ is he is truly the unquestioned leader. I mean, he is unbelievably respected on this team, but it’s just his confidence and he’s just kind of come through the other side, and I think it’s going to serve him well.”