Mark Royals: BJ to blame for fall of football program

[gobulls83]

Mark Royals was pretty much spot on... except it is grossly unfair to lay the blame directly on BJ Daniels. That kid played his heart out, he just wasn't a D1 QB. It was the coaches fault (and as Mark suggested - recruiting) that we tried to develop BJ into a D1 QB. And the lack of production and performance, the inability to throw simple screen passes or even hang on to the football is probably the foremost cause of our slide in the past few years. Sure, BJ was better than his walk-on backups, but that hardly disproves Mark's statement!

wow both of you haven't a clue. not a d-1 QB?? do you watch college football at all?? he was easily in the top half of d-1 QBs for all 4 of his years.he was easily in the top half of big east QBs in all 4 years as well. I've seen some stupid things posted on this board before but this one just might take the cake. wow.

what was his conference record in 4 years

he was not in the top half of all starters---NOT BY A LONG SHOT

bj couldnt hit open receivers time and time again

my eyeS dont lie

Yes they do. BJ didn't get better because his coach (Skip Holtz) tried to turn BJ into a pocket QB, something completely against his nature. If BJ had proper coaching and was developed the RIGHT WAY (mobile dual threat QB mostly hitting slant routes) he wins USF multiple Big East championships. Then his abilities would have never been questioned.

The idiocy some people have over BJ is mind blowing. He sucked because Skip kept trying to stick a square peg in a round hole for 3 freaking years. BJ had no chance to thrive.

There really isn't any reason to get all upset and start calling people idiots or like they haven't a clue... usually that kind of foolishness is only reserved for folks with a very weak argument.

A D-1 QB should be able to consistently throw touch passes. BJ had one speed and often bounced his passes.

There are 120 FBS teams. You think 119, or even half that many, have quarterbacks who can throw "touch passes" up to whatever imaginary standard you've concocted? What about on teams where the quarterback is a runner first and a thrower second? Or are you under the impression that none of those exist?

We seem to often argue that the coaches "played away" from his strengths. I think that is pretty arrogant of most college football fans!

So it is arrogant to criticize the coaches, but not arrogant to criticize the players? Is that right? As far as I know, Skip Holtz has had nothing but good things to say about BJ Daniels. If he has said somewhere that Daniels can't throw the ball well enough to be a "D-1 QB," please provide a link, otherwise you're here "arrogantly" disagreeing with the coaches, right?

And is it arrogant on your part to decide what skill set every single quarterback in college football should possess? Without regard to type of offense run? Skip Holtz was fired because of his poor performance - to say it must be wrong to suggest Holtz's own performance is beyond question because he's the head coach so he must have known what he was doing is dumb as hell. He was incompetent at USF, this is what the record does now and always will reflect, so no, I don't think it is arrogant to second-guess his decision making.

[USF_Grouper]

So it is arrogant to criticize the coaches, but not arrogant to criticize the players? Is that right? As far as I know, Skip Holtz has had nothing but good things to say about BJ Daniels. If he has said somewhere that Daniels can't throw the ball well enough to be a "D-1 QB," please provide a link, otherwise you're here "arrogantly" disagreeing with the coaches, right?

Criticizing is fine, nothing wrong with that at all... but it is frankly beyond arrogant to think that the solution is as simple as "the ol coach just isn't playing to BJ's strengths". Skip Holtz may not have done well at USF, he may not even be a great top-tier coach, but he certainly knows the talents of his team better than any fan watching, if for no other reason than he gets to see them more! When the leash has came off BJ he has consistently turned the ball over. Our best chance to win was to keep him under control and try to play good defense - until this year when our defense was unimaginably bad. BJ simply wasn't talented enough to play at this level - great kid, played his heart out - but the coaches needed to be looking elsewhere (both Leavitt and Holtz).

As far as top half - turns out he ranks 75 in passing! And that was probably only because of the early games against weak opponents that we'd just throw jump balls 50 yards down field and hope someone made a play! http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/collegeQuarterbackRating/count/41

Again, to be clear, I think it is grossly unfair to "blame BJ". He gave all he had. Our coaching staff is to blame. But the single greatest cause of the 3 year skid in USF football is inconsistent (and bad) play at the QB position. Any year you could say we had holes in other positions, but poor play under center has been the one and only consistent weakness.

[dabull80]

So it is arrogant to criticize the coaches, but not arrogant to criticize the players? Is that right? As far as I know, Skip Holtz has had nothing but good things to say about BJ Daniels. If he has said somewhere that Daniels can't throw the ball well enough to be a "D-1 QB," please provide a link, otherwise you're here "arrogantly" disagreeing with the coaches, right?

Criticizing is fine, nothing wrong with that at all... but it is frankly beyond arrogant to think that the solution is as simple as "the ol coach just isn't playing to BJ's strengths". Skip Holtz may not have done well at USF, he may not even be a great top-tier coach, but he certainly knows the talents of his team better than any fan watching, if for no other reason than he gets to see them more! When the leash has came off BJ he has consistently turned the ball over. Our best chance to win was to keep him under control and try to play good defense - until this year when our defense was unimaginably bad. BJ simply wasn't talented enough to play at this level - great kid, played his heart out - but the coaches needed to be looking elsewhere (both Leavitt and Holtz).

As far as top half - turns out he ranks 75 in passing! And that was probably only because of the early games against weak opponents that we'd just throw jump balls 50 yards down field and hope someone made a play! http://espn.go.com/c...Rating/count/41

Again, to be clear, I think it is grossly unfair to "blame BJ". He gave all he had. Our coaching staff is to blame. But the single greatest cause of the 3 year skid in USF football is inconsistent (and bad) play at the QB position. Any year you could say we had holes in other positions, but poor play under center has been the one and only consistent weakness.

Not the same games I was watching because the last two years it was bad defense not bad QB play.

[BullFan98]

I am watching the Syracuse and W. Virginia game and can't believe Syracuse is killing WVA.

[Rocky Style]

I am watching the Syracuse and W. Virginia game and can't believe Syracuse is killing WVA.

It's a snowy wonderland.

[Brad]

BJ Daniels: Mark Royals to blame for fall of sports radio in Tampa

[LifeIsBully]

Mark Royals was pretty much spot on... except it is grossly unfair to lay the blame directly on BJ Daniels. That kid played his heart out, he just wasn't a D1 QB. It was the coaches fault (and as Mark suggested - recruiting) that we tried to develop BJ into a D1 QB. And the lack of production and performance, the inability to throw simple screen passes or even hang on to the football is probably the foremost cause of our slide in the past few years. Sure, BJ was better than his walk-on backups, but that hardly disproves Mark's statement!

wow both of you haven't a clue. not a d-1 QB?? do you watch college football at all?? he was easily in the top half of d-1 QBs for all 4 of his years.he was easily in the top half of big east QBs in all 4 years as well. I've seen some stupid things posted on this board before but this one just might take the cake. wow.

what was his conference record in 4 years

he was not in the top half of all starters---NOT BY A LONG SHOT

bj couldnt hit open receivers time and time again

my eyeS dont lie

Yes they do. BJ didn't get better because his coach (Skip Holtz) tried to turn BJ into a pocket QB, something completely against his nature. If BJ had proper coaching and was developed the RIGHT WAY (mobile dual threat QB mostly hitting slant routes) he wins USF multiple Big East championships. Then his abilities would have never been questioned.

The idiocy some people have over BJ is mind blowing. He sucked because Skip kept trying to stick a square peg in a round hole for 3 freaking years. BJ had no chance to thrive.

There really isn't any reason to get all upset and start calling people idiots or like they haven't a clue... usually that kind of foolishness is only reserved for folks with a very weak argument.

A D-1 QB should be able to consistently throw touch passes. BJ had one speed and often bounced his passes. We seem to often argue that the coaches "played away" from his strengths. I think that is pretty arrogant of most college football fans! Coaches see him in practice far more than any fan. The way he carried the ball, if you let him run planned runs too often you'd probably see 4 fumbles per game! His scramble/run threat was great, but really only effective situationaly.

I didn't call anyone an idiot. I criticized the idiotic arguments (difference) people give when they criticize BJ. His last three years he was told to pass in a pocket that didn't exist. He hit receivers in the chest and they still couldn't catch the ball. I can't remember the last time we had a receiver make an "amazing" catch and help the QB out.

And Skip played away from the kid's strengths, that's obvious to anyone who watched USF football for the past few years.

[Cow Pie]

On 98.7 The Fan, when USF football was brought up by Drew Fellios, he asked Royals if Taggart could get USF to that elite level.

And Royals started off immediately by saying BJ was a bad QB who didn't have what it takes to win. Also mentioned recruiting being a problem. But he trashed BJ Daniels the entire time and didn't bring up the coaching once, up until the end when he said he would've given Skip one more year.

I understand this is an opinion, but if BJ would've been the only problem this year, we would've won 8-9 games.

I see no issues with what Royals said... spot on accurate to me.

[GoBulls84]

Also, we blew 6 games late in the 4th quarter the last 2 years. Games where we had the lead and the defense could not close.

And at least a couple of those, BJ and the offense drove late to take the lead before the D sh-t their pants. Mark Royals is stupid to say the least.

[Brad]

On 98.7 The Fan, when USF football was brought up by Drew Fellios, he asked Royals if Taggart could get USF to that elite level.

And Royals started off immediately by saying BJ was a bad QB who didn't have what it takes to win. Also mentioned recruiting being a problem. But he trashed BJ Daniels the entire time and didn't bring up the coaching once, up until the end when he said he would've given Skip one more year.

I understand this is an opinion, but if BJ would've been the only problem this year, we would've won 8-9 games.

I see no issues with what Royals said... spot on accurate to me.

Wow, The decline of the program on a single player? I attach it to Doug and Judy, but that's me. They're the grownups whose decisions really make a difference.