Dabo Swinney compares DJ Uiagalelei start to his own at Clemson

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney came to the defense of his quarterback, DJ Uiagalelei, by comparing how they both struggled early at Clemson. Swinney was fielding questions at ACC media days when asked about fan perception of Uiagalelei, prompting the Tigers’ coach to come to his defense and downplay outside opinions.

Dabo Swinney on fan opinions of DJ Uiagalelei

“They had a lot of great opinions his freshman year, didn’t they? They wanted me to sit Trevor for DJ,” Swinney responded. “I had some of them, ‘I think we should sit Trevor. He is not playing great. Let’s put this DJ.’ DJ set records as a freshman. He did an amazing job for us. Last year it was a struggle. Like I told DJ, that comes with being the quarterback. Comes with being the head coach. You get a lot of praise and you get all the criticism. That just comes with it. That’s part of — comes with the territory so to speak.

“Last year, as I’ve said many times, I’ve never had a young quarterback, first-year starter who didn’t make mistakes, but the past young quarterbacks that I have had the last two young quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson and Trevor, they made mistakes, but we were much better around them. Whereas with DJ, we were not very good around him. So his mistakes were magnified.

“Then I think this guy, all he has ever done is win, and now all of a sudden it’s disappointment, there’s adversity, challenges, and some criticism. How do you respond?

Swinney then turned the criticisms Uiagalelei faces to similar criticisms he faced as a young coach. As Swinney highlights, his second year at the head of Clemson saw them finish with a 6-6 record — something that he believes would have been a problem if people didn’t have faith in him.

“It’s disappointing. Next thing you know, people question you, and maybe you lose a little confidence or you try to do too much. That’s all part of maturing. He is going to play football for a long time.
I don’t need anybody on a message board to tell me who DJ is on a message board. Just ask Terry Don Phillips, I won six games my sophomore year — my sophomore year? My second year as the head coach. I won six games as the head coach. There was a lot of people on the message boards wanting me gone. Right? Then next year we won the ACC for the first time in 20 years. We won 10 games for the first time in 20 years. Now we win 10 games, and they want to fire me.

“Terry Don Phillips had a lot of confidence me as a coach. I got a lot of confidence in DJ. Going to graduate in December. Unbelievable young man on and off the field. One of the best leaders that we’ve had come through. Incredibly committed. He has some scars on him and some shrapnel and some wounds. That’s going to serve him well as he goes into this year.

“So it’s a game of performance, and you can’t change that. I can talk about how great he is all day long, he has to go do it. I believe in him, and there ain’t no doubt about that. I know who he is. We’re going to be better around him, and that’s the first thing we’ve got to do is we’ve got to be better around him. He has to learn from his mistakes. He has to play better in certain areas that he knows. I believe is he going to do it.”

Uiagalelei enters the 2022 season with a career passing total of 3,160 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions across 23 games and 15 starts. His ability in the running game is a significant part of the Clemson offensive attack as well, rushing for 368 yards and eight touchdowns last season on 133 carries.