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It’s official: Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei enters the transfer portal

Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei’s Clemson career is over.

The Tigers’ one-time starting quarterback officially entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer Monday afternoon, a Clemson football spokesman confirmed to The State on Monday afternoon via text.

Uiagalelei’s intent to transfer was first reported Sunday night by 247Sports.

The 247Sports report came a day after Uiagalelei was benched for freshman backup quarterback Cade Klubnik in Clemson’s ACC championship win over North Carolina.

Uiagalelei has immediate eligibility as a one-time transfer due to NCAA rule changes last year. He will also graduate from Clemson with a bachelor’s degree this month.

Uiagalelei started all 13 games for Clemson this season, but coach Dabo Swinney benched him after just two series in favor of Klubnik, a former five-star recruit from Texas who’d previously spelled Uiagalelei in the second half of previous games against Syracuse and Notre Dame.

Klubnik completed his first 10 passes — his 11th was a drop — and finished 20 of 24 for 279 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions against UNC. He also had a team-high 30 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown and a 19-yard catch while becoming the first true freshman in league history to win ACC championship game MVP honors.

Swinney said postgame that Klubnik would start in the Orange Bowl against Tennessee on Dec. 30 but was complimentary of Uiagalelei, who led Clemson (11-2) to a seventh ACC Atlantic Division title and seventh conference championship berth in its last eight seasons.

“We don’t win the Atlantic without DJ, and there’s no doubt about that,” Swinney said postgame. “Appreciate who he is. He’s one of the most respected young men that’s come through this program. His teammates love him. You know, things have to happen the way they’re supposed to happen, and tonight that’s the way it went.”

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) looks for a receiver in the the quarter as he is pressured by North Carolina’s Cedric Gray (33) during the ACC Championship game on Saturday, December 3, 2022 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. Klubnik passed for 279 yards and one touchdown. Robert Willett/rwillett@newsobserver.com
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) looks for a receiver in the the quarter as he is pressured by North Carolina’s Cedric Gray (33) during the ACC Championship game on Saturday, December 3, 2022 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. Klubnik passed for 279 yards and one touchdown. Robert Willett/rwillett@newsobserver.com

Up and down 2022 season

Uiagalelei, a junior, was just 2 of 5 for 10 yards in the ACC title game against UNC and also struggled in a loss to rival South Carolina a week earlier with a career-worst 27.6% completion percentage and 99 passing yards.

His third season with the Tigers was, start to finish, his best yet. Uiagalelei set career highs across the board, completing 61.9% of his passes for 2,521 yards and 22 touchdowns while adding 545 yards and seven touchdowns as a runner.

But a lack of consistency and spike in turnovers caused Uiagalelei, a former five-star class of 2020 recruit, to lose his job once and for all in the ACC championship.

Uiagalelei — who was noncommittal on his Clemson future in numerous interviews Saturday night — was red hot through his first seven games and actually had the seventh best odds among all college football players to win the Heisman Trophy entering the Oct. 22 Syracuse game.

Then the old habits that defined Uiagalelei’s first season as a starter returned that afternoon. He threw two interceptions and also had a goal-line fumble returned for a touchdown against the Orange, and Klubnik replaced him midway through the third quarter.

Klubnik led three consecutive scoring drives to engineer an 11-point fourth quarter comeback win against Syracuse and also played briefly in relief of Uiagalelei in a Nov. 5 loss at Notre Dame the following week — but threw an interception on his only pass attempt.

The UNC game marked the earliest that Klubnik, who was 27-0 as a starter across his junior and senior seasons of high school in Texas, subbed in for Uiagalelei.

“You saw what Cade could do tonight,” Swinney said Saturday. “Man, he’s worked his butt off all year to get ready. Thought he might take it in the Notre Dame game. It didn’t work out. But he just kept grinding and kept preparing, and then tonight, man, he took it and didn’t look back.”

Uiagalelei held onto his job against Louisville on Nov. 12 in what Swinney described as a “do or die” game and played well against Miami on Nov. 19. After those back-to-back wins, though, he had his worst game of the year in a Nov. 26 defeat to USC that gave Clemson a second regular-season loss and confirmed they’d miss a second consecutive College Football Playoff.

Uiagalelei finished 2022 with 10 total turnovers — seven interceptions and three lost fumbles — and seven of those 10 turnovers came across his last six games.

Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (5) passes the ball in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Louisville, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman) Jacob Kupferman/AP
Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (5) passes the ball in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Louisville, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman) Jacob Kupferman/AP

Sky-high expectations

The 6-foot-4 junior, nicknamed “Big Cinco,” had similar issues in 2021 when he had 13 total touchdowns against 13 turnovers for a Clemson team that started 4-3 and dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2014.

The Tigers rebounded, winning their last six games of 2021 including the Cheez-It Bowl, but missed their first CFP since 2014 and struggled on offense the majority of the season.

Uiagalelei was far more effective in 2022 with 29 touchdowns against 10 turnovers — and he was far from the only reason Clemson lost to Notre Dame and South Carolina. But the margin of error for a quarterback at a program expecting to contend for national championships annually is slim (just ask Kelly Bryant).

And expectations were sky high for Uiagalelei, the former No. 1 pro-style quarterback and No. 10 overall recruit per 247Sports, after two dazzling performances as a true freshman.

Playing in relief of star quarterback Trevor Lawrence after he tested positive for the coronavirus, Uiagalelei led the largest comeback in Memorial Stadium history against Boston College (18 points) before throwing for 439 yards (a Notre Dame opponent record) in a double overtime loss to the Fighting Irish.

Clemson backup quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei (right) has been studying Trevor Lawrence closely since arriving on campus. BART BOATWRIGHT/For The State
Clemson backup quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei (right) has been studying Trevor Lawrence closely since arriving on campus. BART BOATWRIGHT/For The State

But he could never fully recapture that 2020 magic in a two-year span that also saw Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and defensive coordinator Brent Venables leave for coaching jobs at Virginia and Oklahoma, respectively, casting further doubt on the Tigers’ long-term viability as a championship contender under Swinney.

Uiagalelei leaves Clemson with a mixed on-field legacy but a starting quarterback record well above .500 — he was 21-6 before the ACC title game — and a lot of love from his coach, too.

Swinney, Uiagalelei’s most vocal defender over the last two seasons, spoke with a sense of finality Saturday about a quarterback who “handles everything the right way,” he said. “He handles everything with class.”

From his first career start to his last.

“He’s a guy that’ll always have a special place in my heart,” Swinney said, “because nobody has ever worked harder. Nobody has ever been more respected in this program. These guys love DJ, and I do, too.”

Other Clemson football transfers

Seven other Clemson players have announced their intent to enter the portal as of Monday morning.

  • LB Sergio Allen (September 2022)

  • WR Dacari Collins (September 2022)

  • QB Billy Wiles (Sunday)

  • CB Fred Davis II (Sunday)

  • WR E.J. Williams (Sunday)

  • DE Kevin Swint (Monday)

  • RB Kobe Pace (Monday)