5 potential transfer destinations for D.J. Uiagalelei
By Scott Rogust
With D.J. Uiagalelei getting benched during Clemson’s game against Pittsburgh, here are five potential transfer destinations for the sophomore.
The Clemson Tigers’ disastrous 2021 season got that much worse on Saturday. The team trailed the No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers 14-7 at halftime and immediately saw that deficit extend to 21-7 after quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei threw a pick-six on the opening drive of the second half.
After completing 11-of-23 passes for 101 yards and two interceptions, head coach Dabo Swinney benched Uiagalelei in favor of Taisun Phommachanh. However, he did return to the game in the fourth quarter.
As is the case whenever a presumptive starting quarterback is benched, they are instantly placed in the transfer portal. It is unknown whether that will be the case, but if it were, here are five potential destinations for the sophomore Clemson signal-caller.
Clemson football: 5 transfer destinations for quarterback D.J. Uigalelei
5. USC Trojans
The first destination on the list is the USC Trojans, who just so happened to be one of the favorites to recruit Uiagalelei out of St. John Bosco High School. In fact, 247Sports gave them a seven-percent chance of doing so. If Uiagalelei were to enter the transfer portal, it would be interesting to see if he were to give another look at USC. That could all be dependent on who the school hires as their new head coach with Clay Helton out.
4. Utah Utes
The Utah Utes were among the many schools to offer Uiagalelei a scholarship. That was a given, since he was a five-star recruit, but lost out to Clemson. Utah could be a great landing spot for Uiagalelei, as he can play under head coach Kyle Whittingham, who has led the team to a bowl game in six of the last seven seasons. Plus, it would be interesting to see if the Utes can steal the quarterback away from their Pac-12 rivals in USC.