FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 5, 2022) – Coming into the 2021 season, no one had any idea who
Kevin Daniels was. Despite rushing for an impressive 4,926 yards and 89 touchdowns during his high school career at Glendale High School, Daniels was not a big-name recruit or even the obvious replacement for Joe Logan.
Now a year later Daniels is thought of as one of the elite running backs in the Big Sky, if not the entire FCS. Last season, he ranked second in the Big Sky in both rushing yards per game and total rushing yards, while in the FCS ranked third and sixth respectively. It's easy to say that no one was expecting the explosive season that Daniels had as a freshman, except for Daniels himself.
"I was hoping for it and planning on having an explosive season," Daniels said. "I wanted a bigger season and didn't feel like I got everything out of it, but I'm really just focused on doing more and better next season."
Only a year into his collegiate career, Daniels has already inked his name into the NAU history books. His 90-yard run against Cal Poly was the longest in program history, he was the first 1,000 yard rusher since 2015 and ranks 10th all-time for a single season, while his 6.2 yards per carry average is third on the school's single season list. His performance earned him FCS Freshman All-American honors by HERO Sports and a spot on the All-Big Sky Second Team.
This kind of early success could be overwhelming for any player, not to mention the amount of pressure to constantly be improving on the field. However, Daniels is embracing that pressure and using it to fuel his drive to be better this coming season.
"There's more pressure on me this season to do it again," Daniels said. "I feel it even from my peers; they just want me to be better. It's easy to be a one hit wonder but I want to do it for years. I want to be a top five running back in the FCS, to lead the rushing yards in the FCS, and to get my team to the playoffs and win."
It can be easy to get lost in the statlines that Daniels put up. With multiple 200 rushing yard games and a yards per game average that would put him near the top of any league, it wouldn't be surprising if that's what he was focused on. For Daniels however, all that's on his mind is how he can help his team in the moment.
"I don't really care about what numbers I have,'' Daniels commented. "It's cool, but I'm just thinking about the end goal. I want the most yards I can get, the most touchdowns I can get, the most wins we can get. The little stats don't matter, what matters to me is that we win games."
While he may be riding high now after the success he's seen in the past year, it wasn't necessarily the easiest path to get here. Daniels came from a smaller school at Glendale High where he put up monster numbers and was slightly underrecruited. He was able to take the spring 2021 season to transition his game to a collegiate level, but it came with a lot of adjustments.
Last fall, Daniels spoke on NAU Athletics' Timber Talk Presented by Nova Home Loans about using spring ball to find and make any adjustments in his game that he needed to be successful at this level. In the spring, it was realizing he was slightly oversized for how he wanted to play. Now after having a full fall season under his belt, Daniels can see all the little things that he needed to work on to truly be a competitor in this league.
"It was a learning adjustment," Daniels said. "How fast the game works and you need to be able to comprehend on the fly. To see a play called and get to the line and run the play, it's a lot faster. This season it's more about maintaining my health and my body. I think if I can do that, the sky's the limit."
As a freshman Daniels was a big question mark in more ways than one. Teams didn't know who he was, if he was going to play, and how he played. After having a full season of footage worth to study now, Daniels knows that defenses will attack him more and have a better idea of the kind of player he is. That's what his focus has been on since the end of last season, and how he thinks he can better prepare for the upcoming games.
"It's been a lot of working on film recognition," Daniels said. "Now that people know about me, they'll attack me more, they'll put different boxes on the field, and blitz me with different looks to see if I understand that."
As much as Daniels is a team-oriented player, and as much as he loves winning games, he finds that his greatest competitor is himself. He is always trying to beat himself and knows that he can keep growing in his game.
"I love winning games, that's what everyone wants to do as a competitor," Daniels remarked. "But being better every season only shows how much growth I've had, the growth my teammates have had, and how much my coaches have helped me. If I get better then my team gets better. If the team gets better then we win more games and we're champions."
Thinking about his favorite part of being a Lumberjack and suiting up for NAU, Daniels had an easy answer. The fans.
"My favorite part of playing at NAU is the fan base," Daniels said. "When we're in the games, it's so loud and they're so supportive. Even outside before and after the games, with all the little kids and fans around it's such a cool environment."
Despite being grateful and proud of his success this past season, Daniels is focused on what's to come. Looking forward to the 2022 season, Daniels has only one message for Lumberjack fans: "We are going to get to Big Sky, I promise."
