QB Daniels brings experience, perspective to West Virginia

When restarting the recruiting process for a third time, transfer quarterback JT Daniels had a few goals in mind when it came to selecting his final collegiate stop.

The one-time USC and Georgia signal caller wanted to find the right fit for his playing style, a good mesh with the players on the roster in order to win right away and a good overall situation. At West Virginia, the California native found all of that rolled into one tightly-knit package.

Daniels committed to West Virginia in April after visits to Missouri and Oregon State and has been on campus for around a month acclimating to his new surroundings. The Mountaineers football program immediately was attractive to him given his familiarity with offensive coordinator Graham Harrell.

That’s because the two worked together during Daniels’ first season with USC.

“He had a big part of it. I know him. I trust him. I think he’s a great coach and schemer,” he said. “I think he’s really underrated as a schemer. I love the offense and I love what he does with it.”

Once Daniels was able to get to Morgantown for an official visit he also was able to see the current state of the roster and the opportunity for him to step in and compete for the job immediately. Combine those aspects and it made West Virginia a near perfect fit in many different areas.

“Just being around the culture I think there’s a lot of good things at West Virginia right now,” he said.

The ability to even visit his options was something that Daniels didn’t have when he elected to transfer from USC to Georgia due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That made this process easier due to the face-to-face interaction and the ability to host Harrell and other West Virginia coaches in-home.

Daniels has been on campus for a little over a month and has already started to cultivate bonds with the players and has gotten close with most of the team. That has led to an overall smooth transition.

He has already been working with the receivers on getting their timing down and that’s something that he is used to after having different groups of pass catchers at his various stops.

Daniels immediately brings a veteran presence to the room that was previously missing. The fourth-year quarterback has thrown for 4,840 yards with 32 touchdowns and 16 interceptions across his time at Georgia and USC. He completed 65-percent of his passes and is going to bring a different element for the Mountaineers in both experience and on the field production. That isn’t lost on him either as the quarterback has experience in the offensive scheme and mentally has been around the game.

The only knock on the portfolio of Daniels is the fact that he has battled injuries during his career such as a torn ACL at USC and various ailments at Georgia that sidelined him over his two season there. That isn’t lost on him and his health has been a major focus.

“That’s the biggest. It’s an old saying but availability is your best ability and I’ve missed 20 games over the last three years from injury,” he said. “If I stay healthy is very important to me.”

For the time being Daniels isn’t focused on the upcoming season and instead is driven to get better on the field and building relationships with his teammates. Adjusting to the offense, despite his comfort level, is also a key in order to speed toward the season opener against Pittsburgh.

Daniels is hoping that some of the things he learned playing on last season’s national championship team at Georgia can be taken and passed onto his new teammates in Morgantown. That Bulldogs team had a strong core DNA which consisted of connection, toughness, resiliency and composure.

And Daniels is excited to bring that along with the rest of his skill set to Morgantown.

“If I stay healthy and stay committed to the plan I think there’s a lot of good things that can happen at West Virginia,” he added.

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