ESPNCollege Football

Signing day presented the first chance for reporters to ask new South Florida coach Skip Holtz how he planned to handle his team's thin quarterback situation.

Sophomore starter B.J. Daniels underwent surgery a week ago on his left, non-throwing shoulder. Daniels will be out four to six weeks and will be held out of all contact work and scrimmages this spring.

That's even more of a problem than normal because the Bulls don't have any other scholarship quarterbacks ready to go. There's sophomore Evan Landi, who was Daniels' backup last season. But Landi was making a full-time move to receiver.

"I just have to look at what all's there, who else on this team has played quarterback and how much B.J. can do," Holtz said. "I don't want to move [Landi] there today, only to find that B.J. can take most of the reps. If that can happen, I would like to keep Landi at wide receiver, because right now I think with the job that he did there, he's got a chance to be a starter out there in your four-wide package."

Holtz said he'd rather have to scramble and get through the spring and then see if incoming freshman Jamius Gunsby can take on the backup quarterback role. Of course, that would be putting a true freshman just a snap away from playing the most important position on the field.

"We're going to find out how ready [Gunsby] is to handle that responsibility," Holtz said. "Physically, he's certainly ready to handle it, but we'll find out where he is mentally. And then again Landi is always that wildcard that's in your hip pocket that could be that guy who could move back there in a situation of need."

Holtz also had some interesting comments on how he saw the role of the quarterback in his offense. Daniels led the team in rushing with 772 yards. That marked the fourth straight year that South Florida's leading rusher was its quarterback. Though Daniels and Matt Grothe before him are electric playmakers with the ball in their hand, I've often thought that the Bulls put too much pressure on their quarterbacks to carry the load of the offense. Holtz apparently shares that thought.

"I'm not looking for a quarterback to be our tailback," he said. "So much goes into the development of that position mentally, that you really would rather not just have the wear and tear of having him be your leading ball carrier during the course of the season. I like a quarterback that gives you some versatility, that can throw it, but I think being a quarterback and being successful is more about making good decisions than it is just your physical attributes."

At the same time, Holtz said he'll play to the strengths of his players.

"I remember when we first got to East Carolina, we had a pocket-passing quarterback and a couple of really good receivers, and we had a young man like Chris Johnson, he ended up being our second-leading receiver because we couldn't hand it to him," he said. "We told our offensive linemen, 'Get run over slowly.' We told our quarterback to throw it quickly. So we're just going to have to figure out how we are going to do that and what are strengths are here at South Florida. At this point I really don't know what we'll be offensively or defensively."