We hope everyone had a great weekend. It was a great one in Charlotte where the Tigers won Another Clemson Championship.
It is time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.
Uiagalelei Transfer Background
The QB controversy is officially over at Clemson. Just two days after Cade was named the starting quarterback, DJ Uiagalelei entered the transfer portal.
If you are wondering if Uiagalelei decided to transfer because of the events that transpired Saturday night at the ACC Championship Game, that is not the case. We spoke with a source Saturday that let us know DJ would be leaving the program. This was before the Tigers dominated North Carolina and won another ACC title.
There has been info out there about a possible transfer all season, but this weekend it became a reality.
We can tell you that some of his teammates were a little surprised when they heard the news Sunday of his decision to enter the portal.
DJ certainly didn’t see his dreams come true at Clemson. He had some great moments and some that didn’t go his way. One constant was he handled everything with class. When games didn’t go his way, he always made time to talk with the media after the game. Many quarterbacks would not have done this. When things did go well, he gave all of the credit to his teammates. There have certainly been better quarterbacks that wore the Paw, but there haven’t been any that handled adversity any better than DJ.
There was plenty of pressure on DJ at the championship game knowing Cade would come in on the third series. The first two possessions didn’t go well. There was also pressure on Cade to take advantage of his opportunity. He certainly did that in spades.
Cade will benefit greatly from being QB1 during practices for the Orange Bowl. He’s going to make some mistakes since he hasn’t gotten a lot of experience this season, but he is also going to make some great plays like we saw at Bank of America Stadium.
Why Swint Decided to Transfer?
One of the Tigers to put his name in the transfer portal was defensive end Kevin Swint. This is the only player to enter the portal today that came as a bit of a surprise to the TCI staff.
Swint played 167 snaps in the regular season for the Tigers this season and totaled 18 tackles. He looked to be set for more significant playing time in 2023 with others moving on to the NFL.
We checked with some sources today to get some information on his transfer. We were told one of the reasons was that he is looking for a school that runs a 3-4 defense. Swint came to Clemson as a linebacker and was converted to defensive end.
We wish Kevin the best with his future.
Confidence is Back
What a difference a week makes? A week ago the Tigers were trying to figure out how they lost to South Carolina. Saturday night it was like the clock was turned back a couple of years.
Clemson was once against dominating on offense and the team was having fun on the sidelines, playing guys on the three-deep in the second half and showing that at least for a night Clemson football is back.
We spoke with a number of people around the program since the win Saturday night and the vibe is completely different. There is confidence that in 2023 the Tigers can put together an offense that puts fear in the opponents on a consistent basis and will once again have a great defense.
We can tell you fans aren’t the only ones believing the Tigers would be in the playoff if they just gave Cade more chances earlier in the season.
As the coaches hit the road to recruit, they now have a much different narrative to sell. Dabo built a program selling home and then kept it elite selling results. The performance Saturday night will allow him to have a much easier sell during the offseason.
Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store. Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.
Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 