Greg McElroy digs into DJ Uiagalelei potential destinations: Tennessee, Florida, Arizona State, Miami

Former Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei officially entered the transfer portal earlier this month, but there are questions about where the former five-star prospect will go next in his college career. Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy discussed a few possibilities, such as Tennessee, Arizona State and Florida, on Always College Football.

“I think the QB-friendly system is accurate and the good news is I think most systems are quarterback friendly nowadays,” McElroy said. “I don’t think that there’s many where like, it’s really, really difficult on the guy. So I think that he’ll likely land in a position where he’s going to be successful, no matter what. I just think it’s going to be very important for him to get a fresh start. Obviously distance himself from Clemson, it just got a little bit poisonous there. Not Clemson’s fault, not D.J.’s fault, just for whatever reason the marriage wasn’t working. So time to get a fresh start time to look elsewhere.”

Arizona State hired Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham as the new head coach and that could prove to be an attraction for Uiagalelei.

“Obviously, if I’m looking, Arizona State makes a ton of sense,” McElroy said. “I think that could be a place where you can go and you look at the growth that Bo Nix experienced this year prior to his injury down the stretch (at Oregon). So Kenny Dillingham clearly has a good track record of developing some guys.”

Tennessee had a great season, led by Hendon Hooker who transferred in from Virginia Tech prior to the 2021 season. Before his ACL injury, Hooker was in the Heisman conversation under head coach Josh Heupel.

“You got to think that yeah, Tennessee would be amazing,” McElroy said. “Assuming they would be willing to bring him in. I just, I’m not sure that that’s going to make a ton of sense if you’re Tennessee because of what you’ve already done from a recruiting standpoint. You probably don’t want to bring in a guy that might be a little up and down.”

Another SEC school that came to mind was Florida. Anthony Richardson declared for the NFL Draft and head coach Billy Napier might need a veteran to plug in for the 2023 season, if the Gators opt to try and upgrade over Jack Miller, a former Ohio State transfer. Miami was also an option, according to McElroy

“That to me makes a ton of sense,” McElroy said. “Billy Napier has had success developing quarterbacks in the past, it’d be a fresh start, top tier competition and to get a chance to compete for a starting job but you have two true freshmen that are both five star guys that you’re going to be competing against. So that would be difficult. Miami would be another spot that I would strongly consider. Granted, if you look at what they had going into last year, it didn’t go well. Obviously, (Tyler) Van Dyke is still there at the moment. (Jake) Garcia is still there at the moment. So having your opportunities there would make some sense.”

McElroy also suggested schools like SMU and Houston that have good offensive minds in Rhett Lashlee and Dana Holgorsen.

Uiagalelei finished the 2022 season with 2,512 yards, 22 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 61.9% completion percentage. In his career, he has 5,681 yards, 36 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and a 59.8% completion percentage.