One definition of patience is a person's ability to wait something out or endure something tedious even when you've been waiting forever or dealing with something painstakingly slow… like waiting your turn to shine on the field of competition. For some college athletes, that opportunity comes early and for others, the opportunity may come later in their playing career or not at all.

After three seasons as a special teams player and a 'role' player on defense, South Alabama senior safety DJ Daniels' patients has paid off and he is making his presence known on and off the field for the Jaguar football program.

Daniels, who played on both sides of the ball at George D. Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Fla., initially signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Virginia after also being recruited by other Power 5 programs such as Georgia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Purdue, as well as other programs like South Florida, Temple, Western Kentucky and Sun Belt members Georgia State and Georgia Southern, among others.

Coming out of high school, Daniels earned three stars from both ESPN.com and 247Sports.com, and was ranked among the Top 100 by both organizations as an athlete and as a defensive back after posting 90 tackles — including 5½ sacks — and returning two fumbles for touchdowns during his senior campaign.

Despite the rankings and production on the field, the recruiting process tested his patience.

"That whole process was truly a debacle. I committed to Virginia during my junior year in high school and had other schools reaching out to me," Daniels said. "I had committed to Mike London's staff and then they were replaced. I was still planning on going there, but a week before I was supposed to report, some things happened that caused me to scramble to try to find another school.

"I had looked at going to Buffalo or Wyoming and a day later after telling Buffalo's coach I was going there, I was contacted by [former Jaguar assistant coach] Brian Turner, who called me and told me they had an opening for me at safety. I knew about South because of [former South Alabama running back] Xavier Johnson who played at my high school. Because of the proximity to where I was from, I felt South was the best place for me."

Daniels really didn't start concentrating full time on the defensive side of the ball until he arrived in Mobile. Up to that point he had just "played where he was needed and filled whatever role the team needed."

Like many newcomers to a football program, Daniels wanted to make a splash as a freshman.

"Coming in as a freshman, you definitely want to prove yourself, and any freshman wants to travel their freshman season, even if it's just on special teams," Daniels said. "At the same time though, you want to be able to play on the field at your position."

As a freshman, Daniels played in each of the first eight games before suffering a season-ending injury, as he was mainly relegated to the special teams unit, but he still made the best of his opportunity.

"My first-ever start here was on special teams at Mississippi State on the punt return unit. Winning that game was truly a great experience and just playing in that environment. Knowing that I was on the field and being able to contribute to my team in some way made winning the game more special," he said.

That first season as a Jag helped change Daniels' perspective of the game.

"Going from high school where I had been a starter to college where I was in more of a supportive role really humbled me," added Daniels. "In high school, I wanted to play all the time and be the starter and I felt it was all about me, but when I got here I realized it wasn't just about me, but about the other guys around me as well."

Over the next two seasons, Daniels continued to fill his role on special teams and at the safety spot as he sat back and learned from several upperclassmen.

"I was able to learn from other great players in front of me like Nigel Lawrence, Jeremy Reaves, Malcolm Buggs and Tyree Vines; I learned so much from playing with them," Daniels said. "From a leadership aspect, I definitely took the need to rally the guys around you and bring the intensity every day at practice. You also have to stay engaged and ask them questions. On game day, it's about executing and if you do mess up, you just have to move onto the next play, because in this game you never know when your time is going to be up so you have to take advantage of every opportunity you get. You need to critique yourself and just learn every way you can."

Following his sophomore season, head coach Steve Campbell and a new coaching staff arrived in Mobile. Many players in similar positions as Daniels, one option might be to look for a change of venue. However, for Daniels that was never an option as he chose to patiently wait for his opportunity.

"At the time of the coaching change, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to stay here at South," Daniels said. "I wasn't going to just up and leave; I've never been the type of person to just do that when things got hard. I went through four different head coaches in high school, so the coaching change was nothing to me, I was used to it."

Daniels took advantage of the situation with the new staff last season and was a big contributor at both the safety spot and, once again, on the special teams units seeing time on three of the four kicking groups. Daniels posted a career-best 41 tackles in the role and was the only player on the team to recover multiple fumbles, while also forcing a fumble.  

Daniels only had to prove himself to one coach as the special teams coordinator was also his position coach – assistant coach Matt Kitchens.

"I feel that any special teams coordinator in the country who also coaches a spot where players can play on special teams is going to rely on guys in their room for certain spots more than others," Kitchens said. "I tell DJ all the time that I have him out on special teams, because I want him on those units and I want him to have an important role.

"He's dependable, plays hard and he doesn't get hurt or take plays off. What more could you ask for out of a player as a special teams coach. It's never a thing of him saying 'Hey coach, I'm tired.' He's dependable, always plays hard and he's coachable, and that's the reason he's out there. He's always ready to play."

"Being part of both the special teams and playing safety just shows that not only am I a versatile player, but that I'll go wherever I'm needed on the field," Daniels said. "Of course you want your best players on the field no matter whether it's special teams, defense or offense. I just try to fit in where I'm best suited."

As the only senior in the safety room, the former role player is now looked upon as a leader for the younger players, but that wasn't something that came as a surprise to DJ who had learned from some of the best leaders while patiently waiting his time.

"This season was truly a stepping stone for me. I knew after last season that the coaches were going to be looking at me to step up," Daniels noted. "Being the only senior in the safety room, it was my duty to take the other guys in the room under my wing and make sure they were ready for each practice and each meeting. I had been a leader in high school, but now I was on a bigger stage and I felt like my time was eventually coming. I just waited patiently and knew it was going to come and when it did, I took advantage of it."

Daniels' leadership hasn't gone unnoticed by the coaches or his teammates in the room.

"DJ has been a great leader for us," head coach Steve Campbell said. "He's our 'Old Guy' on the back end of our defense, especially in our safeties room. We have a lot of young guys back there and he's taken a leadership role and waited his turn. The way that it worked out is that he's the leader of that group. He's played really well for us, made a lot of tackles and made a lot of plays."

"He's awesome in the room," Kitchens said of Daniels' style of leadership. "DJ is 'The Guy' in that room who is the leader, puts his foot down when it needs to be put down, and the other players in there respond to him well. Everyone in the [safeties] room is young, and he's done an unbelievable job of taking all of the young players under his wing. When you're in the room with him, he's an unbelievable person to be around and an unbelievable type of player to be able to coach. He's what you want in a player as a coach. You coach him hard and he responds. He just likes coming to football every day."

Gallmon – a sophomore safety who has a similar story as he was a role player a season ago, but who is now a main contributor at the position – recognizes and appreciates what Daniels has done as a leader in the room.

"He's really stepped up as a leader and I feel like he had to be more of a vocal leader this season with him being the only senior in our room and all of the younger guys at the position," Gallmon said. "He's really taken to his leadership role and been a great leader for us."

This season, Daniels has started all nine games for the Jaguars as he ranks second on the team with 57 total tackles, 3 ½ of which have become from behind the line of scrimmage. His 41 solo tackles lead the team.

"DJ has been very patient. He's a kid that has that grit and determination. Quit has never been an option for him," Kitchens added. "He's always come here ready to work and the rewards of that attitude are showing now."

So what's next for Daniels after his football career is complete?

For Daniels – who has never missed a football season since he was five years old – involvement in football still might be an option should he go the coaching route.

"If the opportunity presented itself, I would be interested in going into coaching, but if not I'm not going to push for it," Daniels said. "Every one of the coaches that have coached me during my career has given me a life lesson to learn, whether it was on or off the field. If I'm able to combine all of those things into my coaching method, it could help lead future generations of men and show them that there is more to life than football. You have to know when to flip the switch on and off the field in order to get to where you want to be in life."

Daniels is completely fine waiting patiently for whatever is the next chapter of his life.

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