How can DJ Uiagalelei bounce back in 2022? This Clemson legend has great advice

Picture this: A tantalizingly talented quarterback secures Clemson football’s starting job as a sophomore. He has a shaky year. Then, as a junior, he bounces back and leads the Tigers to a national title.

Certainly a dream scenario for DJ Uiagalelei, no?

That’s how things played out 40 years ago for Homer Jordan. The trailblazing star quarterbacked Clemson to an undefeated season and its first national championship in 1981, but his success didn’t come without some self-admitted struggles during the 1980 season.

So as Uiagalelei enters 2022 on a bit of a hot seat — thanks to a lackluster 2021 season and the presence of talented freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik — Jordan had some words of wisdom.

“Just do your job,” Jordan, 62, told The State on Saturday. “Do whatever you need to do for you to get better, and hopefully it rubs off on the other guys … That’s all you can ask for. Coach (Danny) Ford used to tell us: ‘Just give us the best you’ve got. Just give us your best.’ ”

In town over the weekend for a Clemson athletics alumni reunion weekend organized by W.A.B. Sports, Jordan also voiced his support for Uiagalelei: “I like him. I like him as a quarterback. I think last year was his growing time, but I look for him to have maybe one of his best years (this season).”

Uiagalelei, a former five-star recruit and towering presence at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, couldn’t have asked for a better start to his Clemson career. He was lights out in relief of starter Trevor Lawrence in a win over Boston College and a double-overtime loss at Notre Dame in 2020.

The 2021 season, his first as a full-time starter, began with legitimate Heisman Trophy hype and ended with mixed results. Uiagalelei completed 55.6% of his passes for 2,246 yards and nine touchdowns against 10 interceptions in 13 games and got benched for two series in a loss at Pittsburgh.

Clemson rallied from a 2-2 start, won six games in a row and ended the 2021 season at 10-3 and No. 14 in the final AP Top 25, but its offense was a far cry from previously high-scoring Dabo Swinney- and Tony Elliott-coached iterations. (Elliott’s now the head coach at Virginia.)

Uiagalelei — who added 308 yards and four touchdowns as a runner — finished his sophomore year with the No. 99 completion percentage among FBS quarterbacks and No. 107 passing efficiency; his uncatchable pass rate was also among the highest for qualifying quarterbacks, according to advanced metrics tracked by Pro Football Focus.

Uiagalelei is “definitely our starter,” Swinney said after Clemson’s spring camp concluded in April, but his biggest competition is also making waves. True freshman Klubnik was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the class of 2022 and turned heads with a solid spring game showing.

Jordan is familiar with those kinds of battles. Heading into his 1980 sophomore season, he was one of three quarterbacks competing for Clemson’s starting position and ultimately beat out Andy Headen, the starter after spring ball, with an excellent camp showing that August.

“For us, it was all about competing every day,” Jordan said. “You’re never guaranteed a position, even though you maybe started last year or whatever. You have to compete every day.”

Jordan started all 11 games for Clemson as a sophomore, leading the Tigers to a 6-5 season while recording 1,683 total yards and eight total touchdowns.

He was still evolving as a player, though, as evidenced by his four passing touchdowns against eight interceptions and a slide that saw the Tiger lose four of their last six games and finish 2-4 in the ACC. Ford’s unwavering support throughout the season spoke volumes, Jordan said.

The rest is history: As a junior, Jordan improved across the board statistically and led Clemson to a perfect 12-0 season and national championship-clinching Orange Bowl win over Nebraska.

Jordan, the offensive MVP of that win over the Cornhuskers, also became the first Black starting quarterback to lead an FBS (then known as Division I-A) program to a unanimous national title.

Four decades later, Jordan lives and owns a small business in his hometown of Athens, Georgia, and attends a few Clemson football home games annually. And when it comes to Uiagalelei — or any other Tigers player looking for a 2022 bounce-back, for that matter — his advice is simple.

“Just keep fighting,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”