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Back in state, JT Daniels in his UGA football debut against Mississippi State

Back in state, JT Daniels in his UGA football debut against Mississippi State

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JT Daniels’ college football arc has almost come full circle in a roundabout way.

Four years after making his Georgia debut during Mississippi State’s last visit to Sanford Stadium, Daniels is back in his first coaching job after a long and varied playing career.

Technically his title at West Georgia is offensive analyst, but he works closely with quarterbacks at the Carrollton school.

“We talk about game plan-specific things, quarterbacking in general,” Daniels said.

Daniels understands the twists and turns that this position can bring.

He went from five-star recruit out of Irvine, Calif., to freshman at Southern Cal in 2018, transferred to Georgia, where he made his debut in the seventh game of the 2020 season, lost the starting job to Stetson Bennett, transferred to West Virginia, and then another once to Rice.

Now he’s at the FCS level in West Georgia, where he’s 1-4 after a 20-16 home loss to Austin Peay. The Wolves play at Central Arkansas on Saturday.

How former Georgia football player JT Daniels became a coach

Daniels retired from football due to health concerns stemming from four concussions after playing in nine games last season at Rice.

Last winter he went to Senior Bowl week in Mobile to try to coach. There he chatted with former Georgia defensive coordinator and current Oregon coach Dan Lanning and Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

Daniels, 24, came to the West Georgia staff largely because of his connections to offensive coordinator Dane Stevens, who was an assistant at Southern Cal at the time Daniels was there.

Carrollton has a population of 26,738 and is not far from the Alabama border.

“Everywhere I’ve ever been in Georgia, I’ve really enjoyed it,” Daniels said. “I loved living in Georgia when I lived in Athens. “I feel the same way about Carrollton.”

Looking back on the Mississippi State game in 2020, Daniels called it “a pretty eventful evening.” Anytime you haven’t played for 13 months, it feels strange to jump in. A lot of things can happen to you while playing football every time you step on the field. And the last time you literally played against a live defense and you tore your ACL, there’s definitely something in your head that’s playing and can bring certain emotions.”

Daniels completed 28 of 38 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-24 win.

“Mississippi State kind of sold out to stop the run,” he said. “It was fortunate that we had Todd Monken and George (Pickens), Jermaine (Burton), Kearis (Jackson), Darnell (Washington) and a lot of others.” Guys in the receiving game who stepped up and played really well. “

No Georgia quarterback had passed for more than 400 yards in a game since Sept. 28, when Carson Beck rushed for 439 yards in Georgia’s 41-34 loss to Alabama.

“When his opportunity came, he took it,” Monken, then Georgia’s offensive coordinator, said of Daniels before that season’s Peach Bowl.

JT Daniels enjoys the team-first mentality of Georgia football

Daniels lost his starting spot in 2021 because he battled an oblique injury and then a lat sprain.

He left Georgia with a 7-0 record as a starter and a national championship ring – the program’s first in 41 years – at his parents’ home in Dallas.

“This whole experience has been great,” Daniels said. “Obviously it’s difficult being someone who is constantly dealing with a lot of injuries week in and week out, but being part of the team has been great.”

Of that perfect record as a starter, Daniels said, “Someone showed me that I have to be the only quarterback at Georgia who never crosses the line of scrimmage with the ball in my hands.” I had a long career at Georgia with zero Yards rushing.”

Daniels said he keeps in touch with several former Georgia teammates, including Bennett. He texted Brock Vandagriff after he and Kentucky beat Ole Miss a few weeks ago.

“Being a part of a team like that, I think one of the reasons why this team has been as successful as it has been and why Georgia continues to be as successful is kind of a team-first mentality,” Daniels said. “When you’re on the team, everyone really accepts it. There’s a strong next-man-up mentality that every team talks about, but not every team necessarily lives up to it.”

Daniels is getting used to being on the college football team and deciding whether he’ll be there for the long haul.

“There are a few options,” he said. “I am also very interested in psychology and am also doing my master’s degree.”

Daniels worked with Trevor Moawad, the late mental conditioning coach, and Drew Brannon, a sports psychologist who worked with Georgia in recent seasons. Daniel’s bachelor’s degree from Georgia is in psychology.

“I am a big proponent of performance and psychology in general and the impact it can have on an individual’s life and team success,” Daniels said. “I saw it firsthand in Georgia. Georgia takes a strong approach to the psychology game and it absolutely pays off in so many ways.”

That Mississippi State game, he said, felt “a long time ago and yesterday at the same time.” It’s interesting. It’s kind of like that. Since then I have moved somewhere else in the country almost every year. I was a starter, backup, coach and finished my career. As drastic as it may seem, it didn’t really feel that way to me personally.”

His college career spanned six seasons at four schools. Daniels finished the game with 9,390 passing yards with 66 touchdowns and 32 interceptions.

“Definitely not what you expected, but I wouldn’t take any part of it back for anything,” Daniels said. “I have really enjoyed my playing days and my playing career and am very excited about what comes next.”