TAMPA – You listen to Bryce Archie talk and it doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere. He might, you never know, but it doesn’t seem like it’s something he’s thinking about. These days, college quarterbacks live with their bags packed. You go one place and if it doesn’t work out or you get a better deal someplace else, you leave.
Archie started out at Coastal Carolina, where he didn’t play much, so he transferred to USF where again, he didn’t play much. And it looked like he was on that same train last year until Byrum Brown, a guy who puts the sizzle and the swagger in the USF offense, went down with a mid-season leg injury.
What ever shall we do? Bulls Coach Alex Golesh wondered. Well, maybe it didn’t go down exactly like that but you get the picture.
Brown, with a cannon for an arm and tremendous athleticism, was beginning to get noticed. He wasn’t Miami’s Cam Ward, who led the Canes to a 55-15 drubbing of the Bulls early on, but he played well and kept USF in the game for a half.
After proving they weren’t ready yet to play toe-to-toe with college football’s elite; Miami being ranked 11th in the country at the time of their game, the Bulls dropped down in class to play Tulane, another AAC team which, like USF, aspires to greater things.
And that’s when Brown got hurt and suddenly, Archie became the team’s quarterback. Archie, with limited previous experience, did a workmanlike job. He played pretty well some of the time and not so well others, which was to be expected.
But the Bulls went 5-3 under his direction, including a 41-39 five overtime decision in the Hawai’i Bowl with Archie passing for the winning score.
So, one might think that going into 2025, Archie would have some kind of shot at retaining the starting job, even though Brown is healed and ready to go. You might think that, but if you do, you would be wrong.
“We have an old adage here, you don’t lose your job to injury,” Golesh said as his team began spring practice. “Right now, I see him (Brown) as the starting quarterback. He’s able to do everything and he has no physical limitations,” an obviously pleased Golesh commented. But then he hedged a bit, but only a bit. “Every job’s an open competition,” he added.
And that brings us back to Archie. Realistically, he has no shot at being the starting quarterback. If Brown stays healthy all year, he has the skill set to be one of the better quarterbacks in the country, not just one of the better quarterbacks in the Group of Five.
“It’s harder to keep your guys happy now,”Golesh commented. “I think we’re all fighting that, trying to find creative ways to make sure a lot more guys are involved so that they feel like they’re a part of something, because if they don’t, they’re inevitably going to say they want to go someplace where they can be a part of something.
“I think you’re probably concerned about your whole roster in that regard,” Golesh went on. “I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t. We don’t want to lose Bryce.
“Certainly, I think for him, he understands there’s still a ton of growth and I think he understands how quick you can become the guy and I think that he learned that you’ve got to stay ready because there isn’t a transition period where you say ‘Man, let me get a game or two under my belt before I can go,'” Golesh said.
“So yeah, I think that concern’s (players leaving) real. I think it’s always going to be real as long as college football is the way it is now.”
Meanwhile, Archie seems totally invested in USF. In addition to football, he’s also a part-time starter on the Bulls’ baseball team, so he really doesn’t have a lot of time to consider other options.
It’s get up in the morning and practice football, eat lunch, practice baseball in the afternoon, eat dinner, go to team meetings in the evening, sleep. And then do it all over again. One wonders what kind of toll this will take on his arm, but Archie and Golesh don’t seem concerned about it so why should we be?
As for the fact that he is almost certainly going to be relegated to the bench once more, Archie doesn’t seem to mind. Of course he wants to play, but he and Brown are very close. “That just goes with me and Byrum’s relationship,” he said.
“We don’t care who’s out there as long as we go out and execute and win the game and do what we can, what’s best for the team,” Archie said. “It really doesn’t matter whether I’m sitting or starting.”
There’s another old football adage that says “There is no I in team.” No one really adheres to it anymore, because college football is all about the I, about what can the team do for me, not what can I do for the team.
Archie doesn’t seem to think like that. Maybe he understands that he has limitations in football. Maybe playing baseball for the Bulls appeals to him. Maybe he just likes USF.
Whatever the reason is, the thought here is that Archie will stick it out. And who knows? if Brown has a big year, he could decide to leave. And that might get Archie off the bench once again.