High school coach says Uiagalelei will "kill it at Clemson"

Terry Bullock expects big things for Uiagalelei at Clemson

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Mon May 06 14:01:30 GMT-04:00 2019

Terry Bullock has been around DJ Uiagalelei since the recent quarterback commit was in seventh grade, and he knows exactly what Clemson is getting. Clemson is getting a winner that is going to do big things for the Tigers.

Bullock is an assistant coach for Bellflower (CA) St. John Bosco High School, and he says the stars aligned for the Tigers and Uiagalelei to join forces.

“I think people need to know they're getting a winner. DJ is a very humble person. He's not a me-me person,” Bullock told TigerNet. “People need to notice that he's very selfless and he always puts others before himself. He's constantly promoting teammates. If you go look at his social media, other than the commitment video, you don't ever hear him talk about himself. It's always about others and not about him. I think that's what the Clemson culture and Dabo Swinney are all about. That's why, to me, this is a situation where all of the stars align - the location, the culture, the Christian faith, the coaching staff, he's going to get an opportunity to play on the biggest stage, which he's used to.

“We have a gauntlet of a schedule this year. We're playing five out of state teams in our preseason. We have DeMatha (MD), Don Bosco Prep (NJ), Good Counsel (MD), Liberty (NV) and Hawaii. At the high school level, this is what he's used to and this what he wants so no matter what anybody says about where he's going or who he's coming in behind, this what this young man has been bred for. I think he's going to kill it at Clemson.”

Bullock says that Uigalelei isn’t afraid of the quarterback competition at Clemson – the Tigers will have Trevor Lawrence, Chase Brice, and Taisun Phommachanh ahead of him on the depth chart when he arrives next January. It’s a similar situation to the one Uiagalelei faced when he chose to attend Bosco.

Senior quarterback Re-Al Mitchell, who led Bosco to a CIF-State title in 2016, was replaced as the starter after Uiagalelei authored several strong performances off the bench. That included coming off of the bench to lead a 14-point fourth-quarter comeback at St. John’s in Washington D.C.

“DJ, coming into high school, he could've gone to any high school in California and started Varsity as a freshman. Instead, he chose to come to St. John Bosco High School,” Bullock said. “Out here, Bosco has a reputation - coaches, parents a lot of them are afraid of Bosco. Coaches of other teams tell parents, 'You don't want to go to Bosco because you're never going to play. They're too loaded. They have too much talent and too much depth. You won't play til you're a senior.'

“DJ came in behind a state champion quarterback, had to fight for a starting spot. He probably should've gotten a chance to play in our first game against St. Thomas Aquinas when we went to double overtime, but our coach was doing the right thing giving our quarterback a chance to dig himself out of the hole. After the fifth game, Coach (Jason) Negro called DJ's number and the rest was history. DJ got that opportunity to get in and play and never looked back.”