How Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei found faith, and the role it played in the 2021 season

Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei is always one of the last people out of the locker room after games.

Oct. 23 was different, though.

When Tausha Uiagalelei saw her son after the Pitt game, she could tell something was off. Instead of inquiring, she simply held her oldest boy. His 6-foot-4 frame bent down to hug his mother as his head burrowed in her shoulder.

Clemson had just suffered its third loss of the season and second in the ACC via the 27-17 defeat to the Panthers. Uiagalelei had also been pulled for a series in the game.

“That was probably by far one of the hardest games for me to be at,” Tausha said. “His brother (Matayo) and I were both there. … He just could let out a deep breath and be like, ‘I’m so glad you’re here, Mom. I love you.’ I love you.”

The mother of two lives in California and couldn’t be at every one of her son’s games. She took comfort in knowing that when she couldn’t be there, Uiagalelei was rooted in his spiritual beliefs, getting him through the tests and trials of the year.

Prior to the 2021 season, he said God gave him the word “faith” as the theme for the year. Though he didn’t at the time, he now understands why.

“Faith is something that you don’t know, you can’t see, but you know you believe in your heart,” the sophomore explained after the Cheez-It Bowl game on Dec. 29. “Going through it, I know Jesus put me in this position to be able to go out there this season and put me through these trials and take me through these different struggles and just different challenges, and I thank Him for that.”

Intro to Christianity

The granddaughter of a pastor, Tausha Uiagalelei grew up in church. As a result, when D.J. was born in 2001, she dedicated her firstborn to God.

“I had made that pledge, like, ‘OK, Lord, if there is one thing that I can accomplish with this little guy’ — at that time, it was just D.J. — ‘it will be, he will know who Christ is,’ ” said Tausha, who worked in her church’s nursery when Uiagalelei was a baby. “I made this vow: He will be in Sunday school.”

Growing up, D.J. was always involved in Awana, a “world-wide nonprofit ministry focused on providing Bible-based evangelism and discipleship solutions for ages 2-18,” according to its website. The Uiagaleleis always had a church home, too. It wasn’t just about the weekly rituals, either. Faith was modeled in their home.

Tausha’s mother, Judi Bryson, was divorced and lived with her daughter while battling multiple sclerosis. The disease took a traumatic toll on Bryson, and she died what Tausha called “a horrible death” in 2017. Bryson never lost her belief in God, however, which strengthened the faith of her daughter and grandsons.

“(Having faith) doesn’t mean that it’s easy and we’re just skipping down the road,” Tausha said. “No, it’s almost even harder. You just know and it’s just a part of your life and who you are.”

On a smaller scale, spirituality being part of D.J. Uiagalelei’s identity came in handy four years later.

Walking by faith

Uiagalelei came to Clemson as a five-star, top-ranked quarterback in January 2020 and impressed with two standout starting performances that fall. By August 2021, he had the second-highest odds of winning the Heisman behind Spencer Rattler (Oklahoma), who lost his starting job during the season and transferred to South Carolina last month.

Then the season began.

Clemson didn’t score a touchdown and lost to Georgia on a pick-six in the opener. Until that point, Uiagalelei hadn’t thrown an interception for almost two years. While the 10-3 loss was disappointing, a tough game was expected between the two top-five squads, both of whose strengths were their defenses.

The problem was, Clemson kept struggling after that game.

The Tigers labored to reach the end zone, uncharacteristic of a program that had put up gaudy numbers over the previous six seasons. Uiagalelei’s completion percentage of 54.2%, which would now rank 103rd in the country, was a mixture of errant throws and dropped passes. Injuries and inexperience among the offensive unit didn’t help, either.

Then-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and Uiagalelei, who had never lost three games in a season before, bore the brunt of the criticism and public ire. Tausha didn’t escape the grasp of Internet trolls, either, finding negative comments on her social media pages.

“You want to just fire off things and you can’t and you’ve just got to pray,” she admitted. “D.J. would always say, ‘We don’t know them. Do you know them? I don’t know them. Who cares?’ I’ve learned a lot from him. I can say I’ve learned a lot from D.J.”

Tausha estimates she made about half of Clemson’s games this season while also supporting youngest son Matayo, a five-star recruit and the top-ranked defensive end in the Class of 2023 who also plays tight end at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California.

D.J., who regularly attends a Bible study in Clemson, picked his mom up from the airport prior to the home games she attended. The two often drove around listening to old songs from Gospel icons and siblings BeBe and CeCe Winans.

“Those are songs that take both of us way back,” Tausha said. “Just driving and listening to that, it just makes me smile because that’s music that I used to play or my mom would play when he was little.”

Pitt was one of the road games she traveled for, a decision she’s glad she made. After the defeat, Uiagalelei said he was told, but didn’t hear, Panthers fans chanted something along the lines of “D.J. sucks.” The only voice he cared to hear was his mother’s, a comforting reassurance that despite the tumultuous year, everything would be OK.

And, it was.

Season-ending resurgence

Elliott believes the 10-point loss to the Panthers brought about a change in D.J. Uiagalelei. The Tigers didn’t lose again for the rest of the year and averaged 36.4 points over the final five games of the regular season, which is closer to being on par with the team’s usual offensive style.

Uiagalelei experienced another setback when he sprained his PCL at Louisville on Nov. 6, but he still managed to score the go-ahead, eight-yard rushing touchdown with a braced-up right knee. He also threw for a season-high 220 yards. Two days later, Tigers freshman wide receiver Beaux Collins, who went to high school with Uiagalelei, discussed the changes he’d seen in QB1 over the course of the year.

“The hump he had in the beginning of the season, he’s really picked it up a lot as far as leadership and just being able to make the easy layups, as we would say in practice,” Collins said.

Uiagalelei, who also played the final stretch of the season with a broken finger on his throwing hand, put together one of his best performances in the 48-27 home finale win against Wake Forest. He went 11-for-19 with one touchdown and one interception for 208 yards, his third straight 200-yard passing game and his fourth overall on the year.

Clemson closed out the season with a 30-0 win over South Carolina, then beat Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl 20-13. Uiagalelei had improved his completion percentage and finished 99th in the country (55.6%).

“Who can survive seven scholarship receivers out three games in a row and just keep finding a way? This guy here, he’s got the heart of a champion, unbelievable character, and just really, really proud of him,” Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said. “Every young player at quarterback I have had has made mistakes, but we weren’t quite as good around him as we were with those other guys. But, his process has been sped up because of that. His process of becoming a leader, his maturation, his toughness, his preparation, his attention, everything.”

A firm foundation

Uiagalelei went home for a few days before the bowl game, then spent almost two weeks in Southern California with Tausha and Matayo afterward. No sooner than he got off the plane, he was off to quarterback training. He also had Matayo run routes and catch for him.

Football never ended whether the brothers played the “Madden” video game or just watched the NFL.

Tausha would watch, too, and cherished the family time together while allowing her eldest to decompress.

When it was finally time to send him off on Jan. 10, she gave him a hug and said, “I love you and I’m so proud of you,” which Uiagalelei reciprocated.

The new buzz is whether or not he’ll be the starter next year. Five-star recruit Cade Klubnik, the nation’s top-ranked quarterback, arrived on campus Jan. 9. The Texan won three straight state championships at Austin Westlake — which competes in Texas’ highest classification — and is the Chaparrals’ all-time passing leader, breaking Sam Ehlinger’s record.

On December’s signing day, Swinney held off on saying whether or not Klubnik can or will compete for the starting job.

“I’d say the same thing I’ve always said: You don’t know where they are until you get them here and start coaching them,” he explained. “We’re going to be pretty blessed to have the two quarterbacks. There’s very few programs in the country that’s going to have two quarterbacks like D.J. and Cade.”

The Tigers’ quarterback room got even more interesting Monday when it was reported that former Northwestern signal caller Hunter Johnson would transfer back to Clemson after entering the transfer portal five days earlier. That gives the program three former five-star quarterback recruits. How that all shakes out will be revealed in the fall.

While Uiagalelei may have a different word for the year, the 2021 season created an even stronger foundation for his faith.

“I accepted the challenge and (God has) made me a better person going through the season and learning the different life lessons going through it,” Uiagalelei said. “It’s made me a better person and I know exactly what He’s (done) for me, so I’m thankful for that.”