Clemson Football: Dabo Swinney Praises Quarterbacks
It’s an annual rite of spring practice for Clemson football: Heaping love on players new and veteran, young and old, scholarship, transfers and walk-ons all the same.
This isn’t to say the positive feedback is not warranted, but rather to take the praise with a little grain of salt, especially for those we’ve seen perform on the field, during games, in the fall.
Yes, players can and often do get better, improving with experience, coaching, guidance and confidence and that certainly could be happening now.
For me however, it’s noted, filed and put away until the first Saturday in September rolls around and the other teams jerseys are not orange or white.
After a scrimmage earlier in the week Dabo Swinney had praise for D.J. Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik:
"“Outstanding,” Swinney said. “Made some big plays. Managed the game. Took care of the ball. Good decisions. Very accurate. “That’s what we’ve seen every day, and then Cade, same thing. Cade I though took a step today just growing in his confidence. The game is slowing down a little bit. He made some big plays, some nice throws. He’s a very accurate guy. He’s got a great presence to him.”"
That’s incredibly good news for Clemson fans assuming, of course, it translates to Saturdays in the fall.
The slimmed down Uiagalelei has focused more on his diet than he did last season, which became obvious when a knee injury limited his mobility.
"“For me, yeah I knew I wanted to lose some weight, get down, longevity wise, career wise you kind of see the TB12 diet, stuff like that. Your body is like a temple. You want to treat your body like a Ferrari. Stop putting fast food in myself. Try and treat it like a high-engine car, like a fancy car. That’s what I’ve kind of been doing. Eating right. Working out twice a day. Meal prep.”"
In 13 games last season, Uiagalelei was 208-of-374 passing for nine touchdowns and ten interceptions, completing only 55.6% of his passes and throwing more interceptions than touchdowns.
That has to change for Clemson to emerge as a playoff contender again in 2022.
While most Clemson fans long for the deep bombs and electric offense of the past, first on Uiagalelei’s priority list has to be avoiding the head scratching plays that turned into pick-sixes against Georgia and PIttsburgh, that effectively ended those games.
That’s a starting point for me. Do that, then worry about improving the other aspects of your game.
The spring game is scheduled for 1 p.m., April 9 in Death Valley.