Former Clemson staff member to lead Bulls’ running game;
USF standout quarterback BJ Daniels joins the Bulls’ staff, will work with current quarterback room;
Xavier Dye moves from wide receivers to tight ends and adds recruiting coordinator title;
TAMPA, JAN. 29, 2021 – USF head coach Jeff Scott today announced the addition of Cam Aiken to the Bulls’ staff as running backs coach and run game coordinator and also current coaching staff changes and additions that include former Bulls’ standout quarterback BJ Daniels returning to join the program as an analyst.
“I am very excited about how our coaching staff for Year 2 is coming together and the knowledge and leadership we are bringing into our program,” Scott said.
Scott also announced a new positional assignment within the Bulls’ current offensive coaching staff as Xavier Dye, who coached wide receivers last season, will move to coach tight ends and will add recruiting coordinator to his responsibilities. Scott also named Reuben Wright as a defensive analyst addition to the staff.
Aiken joins the USF staff after working on Dabo Swinney’s Clemson staff for nine seasons, including most recently the last six seasons. He was part of six College Football Playoff runs and a pair of national championships at Clemson, working alongside Scott in the Tigers’ offensive meeting room for much of that time.
“Cam has an incredible offensive football mind and we worked tremendously well together at Clemson,” Scott said. “I am very excited to be able to bring him to Tampa as our running backs coach and into our offensive meeting room with Coach Weis, myself, and our other offensive assistants. Cam has proven knowledge and ability to relate to players and made a strong contribution to one of the top offenses in the nation at Clemson.”
Daniels, who started 42 games at quarterback for the Bulls and ranks third on USF’s career total offense list with 10,501 yards, will return to Tampa to serve as an offensive analyst and work with the Bulls’ quarterbacks. Daniels was the head coach at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, his high school alma mater, last season after completing an eight-year professional football career, including five in the NFL.
“It’s fantastic to have BJ back in green and gold and helping to lead our quarterbacks,” Scott said. “I’m just very excited to have one of the great players in the history of our program, who also has tremendous professional experience as a player, to be able to return and help lead us toward a very exciting future.”
Wright comes to USF after three seasons on the Western Carolina staff, including the last two as a defensive line coach, and a long high school coaching tenure in South Carolina. He will serve as a defensive analyst for the Bulls.
CAM AIKEN – Running backs coach/Run game coordinator
Aiken served last season as a senior offensive assistant at Clemson, helping the Tigers to once again return to the College Football Playoff as he worked closely with offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. Aiken assisted with the weekly offensive game plan and coaching the Tiger’s running backs as he helped Clemson to rank second in the ACC and 10th nationally in total offense (502.3 ypg) and lead the conference and rank third nationally in points per game (43.5) points per game. Trevor Lawrence had a standout season as he completed 69.2 percent of his passes and threw for 3,153 and 24 touchdowns, while Travis Etienne rushed for 914 yards and scored 14 touchdowns in 12 games.
Aiken, who was listed among 247 Sports 30 under 30 college football rising starts in 2018, served the previous five seasons (2015-19) as an offensive player development coach working with the Tiger’s quarterbacks and running backs. He worked on a day-to-day basis with the offensive coordinators and quarterbacks coach and assisted in weekly offensive game planning. Clemson won the ACC title and appeared in the College Football Player every year between 2015-20 and won national championships in 2016 and 2018.
Before his second stint with Clemson, Aiken worked as a graduate assistant at UAB during the 2014 season, where he worked primarily with the Blazers’ quarterbacks.
His first coaching experience came as an offensive intern on the Clemson staff from the 2011-13 seasons, where he worked with the Tigers’ quarterbacks, cataloged all the concepts of the Tiger’s no-huddle offense and broke down opposing defenses to create scouting reports.
Aiken earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Clemson in 2011.
BJ DANIELS – Offensive analyst
Daniels returns to USF for his first collegiate coaching position. He won 21 games as the Bulls’ starting quarterback from 2009-12 and led the team to bowl game victories in the 2009 International Bowl (Northern Illinois) and 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl (Clemson).
Daniels ranks third all-time at USF in passing yards (8,433), completions (649), and touchdowns (52) and held the Bulls’ single-game record passing record for six seasons after throwing for 409 yards vs. Cincinnati in 2011. 2,068 yards and 25 touchdowns to rank third all-time with 10,501 total yards and 77 total touchdowns on his career. Daniels was on his way to becoming the all-time yardage leader in Big East history when his senior season was cut short due to injury and he finished second in league history.
Daniels was selected in the 7th round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. He went on to spend five seasons in the NFL with six different teams and was part of two Super Bowl teams with the Seattle Seahawks, including winning a Super Bowl ring in 2014.
He also saw stints with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2018) of the CFL, Salt Lake Stallions (2018) of the Alliance of American Football and Seattle Dragons (2019) of the XFL.
Daniels began his coaching career as the quarterbacks coach at Leon High School in Tallahassee in 2018. He was named the head coach of Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, his alma mater, in 2020 and led the team to a 6-2 mark.
A native of Tallahassee, Daniels earned his degree in criminology from USF in 2012.
During his prep career, he was named All-Big Bend Player of the Year by the Tallahassee Democrat in both football and basketball following his senior season, which is believed to be the first time a student-athlete accomplished that feat. Voted the 2007 Tallahassee QB Club player of the year, he was also a 5A first-team all-state selection.
REUBEN WRIGHT – Defensive analyst
Reuben Wright comes to USF from Western Carolina where he joined the coaching staff as the running backs coach in 2017. For the 2019 campaign, Wright returned to the defensive side of the football and assumed the role as the defensive line coach.
In 2017 and 2018, Wright worked with a very talented group of Western running backs that included All-America tailback Detrez Newsome. He helped mentor the eventual Los Angeles Chargers signee to his third-consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season in 2017. During the 2018 season, tailbacks Connell Young and Donnavan Spencer split the reps and both eclipsed the 500-yard mark behind 1,000-yard rushing QB Tyrie Adams.
Before coming to Western, Wright made eight different coaching stops at the high school level. He served as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for a season at Greenwood High School in Greenwood, S.C. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as the head coach on the sidelines at Carolina High School and Academy in Greenville, S.C., where he mentored Zykiesis Cannon who went on to play at Louisville.
Wright’s coaching stints also include serving as the assistant head football coach at Eastside High in Taylors, S.C.
Wright has also spent two seasons at Presbyterian College where he worked primarily along the defensive line. In his first season with the Blue Hose, he mentored end Sherman Burnett to All-State honors. His unit ranked inside the national top 20 for tackles for loss. He also helped recruit three-time NFL Pro Bowl selection, Justin Bethel.
Before making the jump to the collegiate ranks, Wright spent two years as the defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coordinator at Blythewood High (S.C.) under head coach Jeff Scott. While at Blythewood, he helped mold the Bengals in their inaugural season in 2006, as the squad posted a 14-1 overall record and won the 2006 South Carolina AAA state title. Wright’s defense featured all-state performer and Georgia signee, Charles White, and held opponents to just 14.7 points per game in the 2006 season.
Additional prep coaching stops in the Palmetto state include serving as defensive coordinator at Seneca High (2004-05), and as an assistant coach at Northwestern High (2001-04) where he helped the program to a Big 16 state runner-up finish in 2001.
His coaching career started at Greer High (1994-2000) where he patrolled the sidelines for seven seasons. The Yellow Jackets went undefeated, 15-0, and won the AAA state championship in 1994, and made two Upper-State runner-up finishes in 1999 and 2000.
Wright earned his bachelor’s degree in history from the Catawba College in 1994 before earning his Master’s in education from Converse College in Spartanburg. He was captain of the 1993 Catawba football team.
Wright is married to Ms. Dena Wright, and has two children, daughter Kennedy and son Cade.
Season ticket renewals are currently ongoing with more than 85 percent renewed for 2021. New season ticket sales will begin March 1. Secure your seats for the 2021 season by calling or texting 1-800-GoBulls or by visiting USFBULLSTIX.com.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and will celebrate its 25th season (22nd at the FBS level) in 2021. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 14 All-America selections and 29 first-team all-conference selections, and have seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
Follow @USFFootball on Twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
– #GoBulls –
