B.J. Daniels Says Go Green | Carlton Mitchell Wants You To Go Green

TAMPA -- Perhaps the most forgotten part of the story around USF quarterback B.J. Daniels this week has been the fact that he also plays basketball for the Bulls.

So we went to head coach Stan Heath and asked for his impressions on Daniels and how he would perform on the big stage at Doak Campbell Stadium.

BullsVision Exclusive: Coach Heath on Daniels

Earlier this afternoon, Daniels' football coach Jim Leavitt spoke at length with media on the weekly BIG EAST teleconference.  Below is the transcript, but we also have a link to the audio.

BullsVision: Leavitt Post-Practice Media Session
BullsVision: Canales Post-Practice Media Session
BIGEAST.org: Leavitt on the BIG EAST Media Teleconference

On Charleston Southern
"Going back to last game, I was happy with the way our guys played. They played well and we needed to play well."

On Matt Grothe
"Matt is great quarterback, we all know that.  His play speaks volume.  He is a great young man. We all feel bad for Matt, but I'm sure nobody feels worse than Matt."

On B.J. Daniels
"B.J. Daniels is a heck of a quarterback, and we are excited about what he can do, as well as Evan Landi."

On Florida State
"We are excited about Florida State.  We know they are awfully good, everybody knows that. They showed that by going out and doing what they did in beating BYU, a team that beat Oklahoma.  It is a great opportunity for us and should be a heck of a ball game."

On the opportunity to play Florida State
"Certainly everyone knows the tradition of Florida, Florida State and Miami.  The last 20 years or so, those teams have escalated to awfully strong programs.  We had a chance to play down at Miami a number of years ago, and I thought we did some good things, but we lost the game in the Orange Bowl. It set our direction and where we want to get to [as a program]." 

On Coach Bowden
"Coach Bowden and his career and what he has done at Florida State is legendary."

On the importance of the Florida State game
"It is very important for our program. It is very important for our program to take these steps and to get involved with games against Florida State, Florida and Miami."

On B.J. Daniels
"He's a great kid. He's a class act.  He is a confident young man, he has tremendous athletic talent, throws the ball well, runs the ball well and has great leadership ability. We recruited him knowing all those things, and he will continue to grow and develop.  He is excited about his opportunity. We are excited about B.J. quarterbacking for us.  I know B.J., and his focus is always great."

On Matt Grothe
"He is a strong young man.  We all know this. You can imagine what he is going through... not going to be able to compete in BIG EAST play this year.  It's always difficult, but he is going to deal with it.  Matt is going to deal with it, because he has great character. If I was going to have anyone deal with anything it would be Matt. It is difficult and it is tough, but I know Matt will deal with it, and he will do the best he can."

On taking Matt to Tallahassee and moving forward
"As far as I am concerned he will be with us on all of our trips and will continue to lead in any way that he can. He is an incredible young man. He will do all he can to help this football team. I am sure he will go with us to Tallahassee and be with us for the rest of the year. We have not talked specifically on those things, but I hope he knows that, that goes without saying."

On the mood of the team after the injury
"We talked to our team at the end of the game, and they understand and we are moving forward. We don't look back, we move forward. They love Matt to death, and he knows that. Injuries are part of the deal. We have had a lot of them in the past number of years. I know Matt's a little different because he's a quarterback, the most important position on the team, but we are moving forward from Saturday night."