When DJ Uiagalelei entered the transfer portal once again, there was no doubt where the former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback envisioned going.
“I had my eye on one school,” Uiagalelei said recently. “I wanted to be here at Florida State University.”
His dream came true and he joined the Seminoles in January. And when FSU's spring practice begins Tuesday, we'll get our first glimpse of whether a potentially awkward, somewhat unlikely, and downright fascinating partnership will work out.
It's easy to see why Uiagalelei wanted to join the Seminoles. Coach Mike Norvell just transferred another quarterback (Jordan Travis) and helped him become a star. Norvell did the same in Memphis with Riley Ferguson (Tennessee/Juco) and Brady White (Arizona State). Uiagalelei could be next.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/MQ3OQNZJPVAW5ELY75P5YHD4YY.jpg "DJ Uiagalelei had a checkered career at Clemson University.")
Uiagalelei also has personal knowledge of FSU mountaineering. In 2021, as quarterback, he led Clemson University to a 10-point victory over Norvell's Noles. The Tigers defeated FSU 377-241.
A year later, Clemson needed all four of Uiagalelei's touchdowns to hold off FSU and win by six points. This time, the Seminoles outscored the Tigers 460-370, and Uiagalelei felt his Clemson rivals were “going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
And last year, when FSU started 13-0, Uiagalelei followed from a distance (his first win at Clemson since 2013).
“It was like old Florida,” Uiagalelei said.
Whether the 2024 Seminoles still look like the Florida State of old will come down in part to Uiagalelei. If he lives up to his five-star rating in the 2020 freshman class, FSU will qualify for the expanded 12-team playoffs. The cast around him is new, but there's enough talent for the Noles to be crowned ACC champions once again.
But that's not a given. Uiagalelei was mediocre at Clemson (31 touchdown passes, 17 interceptions, 58.8 completion percentage) and was benched multiple times. He was better last season with the Beavers (27 total touchdowns, seven interceptions), but still finished outside the top 40 in pass efficiency.
Historical precedent is also a concern. It's not often that a team loses an all-time great player (like Travis) without setbacks. Clemson didn't go directly from Deshaun Watson to Trevor Lawrence. The Tigers had Kelly Bryant up the middle. Again, this portal has made it easier for coaches to address known voids in short-term, ready-to-play bridge quarterbacks.
Probably something like Uiagalelei.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/GMJEAD7N4ND5HEXWMKNHW4CJZA.jpg "DJ Uiagalelei led Oregon State to eight regular season wins last year (no small feat for the Beavers).")
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The best-case scenario for FSU would be for Uiagalelei to move from Travis to either Brock Glenn (who won the ACC Championship as a true freshman) or Luke Kromenhoek (a top-60 freshman nationally in the 2024 class) for one year. It will be a patch. Uiagalelei will coach both of them for a year, and one of them will emerge as the 2025 starter for the championship-bound team.
“He was everywhere and had a very long career…” Kromenhoek said. “He has a lot of knowledge to give me.”
That part is not up for debate. Uiagalelei started 40 games and won 30 of them while playing for 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 has potential and has shown signs of improvement. He ultimately signed with Miami.
Uiagalelei has mixed results 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. It was a chance for him to not only learn a new system, but also take over a new locker room.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/HIJKTPFYEVDJLPDUFF7ZHQHGHQ.jpg "DJ Uiagalelei quarterbacked Oregon State in the Pac-12's true final game of the season.")
“The ultimate team guy,” said Bradenton native Deshaun Fenwick, who played running back with Uiagalelei for the Beavers last year. “He's surrounded by a lot of fame and notoriety, but at the end of the day, he's just a really, really solid guy.
“Florida State has really great things to look forward to.”
The same goes for Uiagalelei. He once again played for a prestigious program with realistic expectations of winning and became one of the best offensive coaches in the game.
The road to this point has not been easy, and the future is uncertain. But Uiagalelei gets a fresh start this week on the other side of the FSU-Clemson rivalry.
It's exactly where he wants to be.
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