DJ Uiagalelei entered the transfer portal following the 2022 season after three seasons at Clemson, eventually landing with Oregon State, and the former five-star prospect and No. 2 overall player in the 2020 recruiting class wasn't exactly thrilled with the way the Tigers offense was built around him. Uiagalelei was expected to be the next superstar under center for coach Dabo Swinney after Trevor Lawrence moved on to the NFL, but that never materialized.
In an interview with The Athletic, Uiagalelei detailed his frustrations with the Clemson offense that eventually led to him finding a new home with the Beavers, who have an offense under rising star coach Jonathan Smith that may be better-suited for his skill set.
"I didn't want to do what I was doing at Clemson," Uiagalelei said. "I didn't really like what we did there scheme-wise. I didn't think we did very much. I thought it was very basic. It didn't help me out as a quarterback and play to my strengths. I wanted to go somewhere that would play to my strengths and go somewhere that would develop me for the NFL. Play-action, work under center, throw the ball deep."
Uiagalelei completed 58.8% of his passes and tossed 17 interceptions over the last two seasons, making him a lighting rod for criticism. That came after throwing for 781 yards and four touchdowns in two starts in place of Lawrence in 2020 when Lawrence was out due to COVID-19 protocols.
He was benched during last season's ACC Championship Game in favor of true freshman Cade Klubnik, who will enter this season as the starter for Swinney. Klubnik will have a new coordinator to work with after Brandon Streeter was let go and Swinney hired former TCU coordinator Garrett Riley to take his place.
Uiagalelei hails from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California, which has produced multiple star quarterbacks over the last two decades.
