DJ Uiagalelei talks Florida State team that didn't have to do any convincing that they'll be better last year they won 13 Florida state is back to work with practices underway and this comes after being left out of the playoff last season they kick things off this season over the pond in Dublin Ireland on August 24th against Georgia Tech and the Air Lingus football classic but before kickoff Florida state must replace 14 of their 22 starters with seven coming on each side of the ball and of those 14 10 were selected in the 2024 NFL draft Florida state was one of five schools to have at least 10 players drafted this spring the other four went on to make the college football playoff EJ Manuel caught up with one of The Replacements DJ oui angal now what went into the decision of coming to Florida State I think everything man um just trying to find a place where I feel I can get better at find like find a place where it's going to be best fit me a coaching staff a coach the offense that's going to be able to fit me in my skill sets and I mean I found here with Coach norell coach toos and every everybody else here man it's a unbelievable program man it's been a journey it's been great to be able to be here at Florida State for the past what six seven months I've been here I've learned a lot uh I've got the experience a lot being here and the coaches here and the players here are great man it's been it's been wonderful man the fan base here is one of the best man one of the reasons why I love coming back to Tallahassee bring my family my kids uh but also even when I was like you and your shoes as a player you know the fans were the ones that we wanted to do it for you know how excited are you to come out out into dope Campbell Stadium for the first time I'm super excited man uh the stadium is amazing the fans here are amazing man uh the fans they love they love the team and you know that's all you want as a player man you want fans that are passionate about the game passionate about the players and about the coaches and like love the game of football you can feel that here with the Florida State fans and and I'm super excited about coming here in day one and just coming in my first game DJ going back to your time at Clemson uh you were Anointed The Chosen One after Trevor Lawrence you know you were the guy festar recruit coming out of high school play well freshman year uh really show the country who you are and who who you could be uh now you're here at Florida State on your third stop you know how does that situation kind of for you when you look back on it how does it make you feel uh for me I learned a lot being at Clemson I love my time there like the relationships I built there with my teammates coaching staff I enjoyed it and for me man I'm excited to be here at Florida State and I've learned a lot coming in playing being College four years now my fifth year in Florida State so feel like I have a lot of experience under my belt but there's a lot of stuff I want to show on camera I want to show on the field and just go out there and just ball for my teammates be the best team I could be um make every play I can make just be confident each and every time I step on the field and just be a great team great leader each and every time you feel like you have something to prove now uh I want to say I have something to prove um for me man I was want to go out there and ball for me like outside knows whatever people say what they say have opinions about me whatever that doesn't really that doesn't really bother me or anything like that in my heart I know what kind of player I am and I just want to go out there and show the rest of the world that for what I believe in myself love that now if somebody were to buy stock in the dju why would they buy stock in you for me why would they buy stock uh Stock's On The Rise I think that's my thing I think the Stock's On The Rise I think there's a lot of stuff I want to show to the world and just a lot of stuff I want to be able to put on Films different Scouts and people watching the game of football so that's why good stuff man appreciate the time bro what DJ Uiagalelei on Florida States identity do you think will be fsu's ID this year Victoria I think it stops and starts with try trying to make good on that snub from last year I I still think it is one of the worst snubs that we've seen in college football history and probably won't see one worse than it and I realized that you know we saw the graphic earlier about how many starters that they lost and not just lost but lost to the NFL like this was a great team last year uh but I think despite a lot of these new faces that we're going to see coming in from the portal Mike Norvell I can tell you from being in that room the day that they got snub he is going to use that as a motivational tactic for this team they felt like something was taken from them uh and so they're going to be playing with a chip on their shoulder this year so I think one you're going to see a team that is going to be playing like their hair is on fire and then the other piece of this to we mentioned those new additions one obviously being dju I think he is lowkey one of the great quarterbacks to be put in this particular position with this team because he is also somebody he sort of mentioned in an interview with EJ that he is somebody that has something to prove and I think with a quarterback like him you have seen he he showed he showed glimpses at Clemson he obviously showed those as well at Oregon State and I think it's he's one of those players when you continue to put him in good positions he will rise and I think that you're going to see that with this Florida team this year especially with him at the quarterback position yeah Harry you make a lot of great points and I think dju really establish as a high floor for this team and it would not surprise me if they do get to that double digit win mark but I think the identity of this team is going to be on the defensive side and if you remember last year we saw players like Jared verse Braden Fisk reonardo green Jer and Jones we saw them produce so much NFL talent I think it's going to be very similar this year now some of the players that they got out of the transport portal Marvin Jones Jr is one name that I would love to highlight him coming over from Georgia his dad is a Le Legacy seminal so he's going to have some big shoes to fill along that defensive line and one player that's not even listed who I think is going to be their best player on the defensive side is Patrick pton a lot of NFL Scots that I talk to believe that he has the potential to be a top 15 of overall pick so there's a lot of people along this defensive line and two other names I would love to mention Joshua farmer as well as Daryl Jackson in the middle two former high school teammates together in the State of Florida so this defense is it has a chance to be very very good and I think that's what the identity of the simar is going to continue to be going into this year Well Harry how many wins DJ Uiagalelei on Florida States schedule do you think this team is capable of this year I got to tell you looking at that Florida State schedule I I don't know that a lot of teams would envy them uh cuz obviously the conference schedule is Tough Enough a lot of those coming uh on the road against Notre Dame against Miami uh and against SMU which I think is going to be a tough one as well but I think that opening game against Georgia Tech is going to be a tough one an improved team there with Haynes King at quarterback that Memphis game is going to be a tough one that is a team in the group of five who believes that this can be the year that they make the playoff especially with how much returning players that they have including a four-year starter at quarterback in Seth henigan so if I were to uh make a safe bet I would say at least nine wins but again this is could be one of those schedules where if Florida state gets the ball rolling the right way in those close games they could easily win more than that I think it comes down to three games for them and it's the October 5th matchup where they have to go to or excuse me they play Clemson they play Miami on October 26th Miami has a lot of hype and I believe they're going to be a contender in the ACC this year as well but that November 9th game against Notre Dame that's another game of where we're going to find out just how good Florida State can be so I think they can get to that double digit win mark But if they can come out of that three week stretch whereas with a two in1 record or a 3-0 record winning two or three of those games they have a chance to get to the Double Digit win mark it might not get that 13- win season but this team definitely has a chip on their shoulder as Harry said playing with their hair on fire having being left out of the playoffs last year that video still haunts a lot of us but uh you can catch the full Florida state road trip tonight at 6 pm on acc Network and don't [Music] ready just so I can breathe [Music]