When DJ Uiagalelei entered the transfer portal again, there was no doubt where the former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback envisioned going.
“My eyes were set on one school,” Uiagalelei said recently. “I wanted to be here at Florida State.”
He got his wish, joining the Seminoles in January. And when FSU spring practice begins Tuesday, we’ll get our first glimpse at whether the potentially awkward, somewhat unlikely and utterly fascinating partnership will work out.
It’s easy to see why Uiagalelei wanted to join the Seminoles. Coach Mike Norvell just took another transfer quarterback (Jordan Travis) and helped him become a star. Norvell did the same at Memphis with Riley Ferguson (Tennessee/juco) and Brady White (Arizona State). Uiagalelei can be the next.
Uiagalelei also has personal knowledge of FSU’s climb. In 2021, he quarterbacked Clemson to a 10-point win over Norvell’s ‘Noles. The Tigers outgained FSU 377-241.
A year later, Clemson needed all four of Uiagalelei’s touchdowns to hold off FSU for a six-point win. This time, the Seminoles outgained the Tigers 460-370, and Uiagalelei could see Clemson’s rival was “going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
Then last year, Uiagalelei followed from afar as FSU started 13-0 start (and won at Clemson for the first time since 2013).
“It looked like the old Florida State,” Uiagalelei said.
Whether the 2024 Seminoles still look like the old Florida State will, in part, come down to Uiagalelei. If he lives up to his five-star billing in the 2020 recruiting class, FSU will make the expanded 12-team playoff. Though the cast around him is new, it’s talented enough for the ’Noles to repeat as ACC champions.
But that’s far from a given. Uiagalelei was mediocre at Clemson (31 touchdown passes, 17 interceptions and a completion percentage of 58.8) and benched multiple times. He was better last season with the Beavers (27 total touchdowns, seven interceptions) but still finished outside the top 40 in passing efficiency.
Historical precedent is also a concern; teams rarely lose one of their all-time great players (like Travis) without regressing. Clemson didn’t go straight from Deshaun Watson to Trevor Lawrence; the Tigers had Kelly Bryant in the middle. Then again, the portal has made it easier for coaches to address known voids with short-term, win-now bridge quarterbacks.
Like, perhaps, Uiagalelei.
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Explore all your optionsThe best-case scenario for FSU is that Uiagalelei is a one-year patch from Travis to either Brock Glenn (who won the ACC championship as a true freshman) or Luke Kromenhoek (a top-60 national recruit in the 2024 class). Uiagalelei mentors them both for a year, and one emerges as the 2025 starter for a team that’s a championship contender.
“He’s been everywhere, and he’s had a very long career…” Kromenhoek said. “He has so much knowledge to give me.”
That part is indisputable. Uiagalelei has started 40 games and won 30 of them while playing at two successful programs. You can criticize his play, but his leadership was beyond reproach.
It also explains why FSU made the semi-surprising decision to focus on Uiagalelei out of all the options in the portal. Washington State’s Cam Ward was a possibility and flashed more upside; he eventually signed with Miami.
Uiagalelei has a mixed track record in the ACC, but he’s not the same quarterback he was at Clemson. His transfer to Oregon State last season gave him a fresh start — a chance not only to learn a new system but to take over a new locker room.
“Ultimate team guy,” said Deshaun Fenwick, a Bradenton native who played running back alongside Uiagalelei with the Beavers last year. “He’s surrounded by a bunch of fame, notoriety … but at the end of the day, he’s just a really, really solid guy.
“Florida State has something really good to look forward to.”
Uiagalelei does, too. He, once again, plays for a big-name program with realistic championship expectations and one of the best offensive coaches in the game.
The path here wasn’t easy, and the road ahead isn’t certain, either. But Uiagalelei gets another fresh start this week, on another side of the FSU-Clemson rivalry.
Exactly where he wants to be.
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