By Ryan Dunn
Media Services Student Assistant
Campbell University Athletics

A "jack of all trades" is a phrase used to describe someone that is multi-talented in many different areas. This phrase can also be used to describe Campbell redshirt junior quarterback Daniel Polk's college football career up to this point.

After a decorated high school career that earned him a spot on the all-conference team his senior season as the quarterback for Cary High School, Polk had many options to choose from to play college football. Many of those options were at the Division I FCS level; however, Polk chose the route of walk-on at North Carolina State. During his first season at NCSU, Polk ran the scout team offense at the quarterback position. The next season saw a new coaching staff come in and a handful of new quarterbacks. Polk saw a better opportunity by gaining some weight and switching positions by moving to fullback.

"I had actually heard about the Campbell program starting up for awhile and I was familiar with Coach Greg Williams (Campbell Associate Head Coach and Defensive Backs coach) and Coach Jerrick Hall (Campbell Defensive Line Coach) because they were a part of the coaching staff at N.C. State," said Polk. "I also knew about the prestige of the school which drew a lot of attention from my parents, so that's how the whole process got started."

Meanwhile, Campbell head coach Dale Steele and his staff were recruiting a former teammate of Polk's at Cary High School when they discovered that Polk was looking to transfer to another school. Both sides were interested and Polk got his release from NCSU and decided to transfer to Campbell. But just as his collegiate career had been up to this point, Polk didn't follow the typical path in his return to the quarterback position.

He was getting over a broken hand when he arrived at Campbell added to the fact that he arrived at the school a little late in the process, and he was not able to get many reps under center in training camp. But the Campbell coaching staff noticed his size and athletic ability so they wanted him to get on the field somewhere that would help the team. Polk agreed to move to linebacker and also play special teams. In limited playing time last season, Polk finished the year with three tackles, but also took some snaps at quarterback in practice late in the season.

"When Daniel came to us last year it was so late, we hadn't anticipated him transferring here and we had already gone through the process of training the quarterbacks," said head coach Dale Steele. He was a good athlete and an experienced player so really we just tried to find places to put him on the field, and we didn't really know much about him as a quarterback until the spring because he hadn't spent much time as a quarterback."

Move ahead to this past spring when Polk moved back to his natural position at quarterback. He spent time in practice battling with last season's starter Matt Vollono and transfer Payton Brady. He emerged in the spring game after leading the team with 108 yards passing and a touchdown toss, while also putting together 15 yards on the ground.

It was evident during workouts that his teammates really were excited and confident about the possibility of him starting at quarterback because of his toughness, work ethic and willingness to improve. It was really noticeable during spring break last year.

"He could have gone to the beach for spring break but instead he decided to come home to Charlotte with me to train and work towards becoming the starting quarterback and I think that says a lot about his character," said roommate and Campbell linebacker Will Phillippi.

Polk continued to impress during summer camp as he and Vollono were neck and neck for the starting quarterback position. Polk earned the starting position just days before the season opening game against Methodist. He started out with a bang after tossing a 65 yard touchdown pass to Harrison Jordan on his first pass attempt of the season. A few plays later Polk went down with an injury after trying to scramble for a first down, but he hasn't missed a game since that point. For the season, Polk has thrown for 389 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 192 yards and three scores.

"You have to be tough as a quarterback both mentally and physically and playing the different positions I think helped him become a little tougher, and that's one of the things you have to be as a quarterback," said Coach Steele.

Polk attributes a lot of his confidence and success to staying on campus this summer and working out, both in the weight room and on the field with his teammates.

"Coach Carter, our new strength and conditioning coach had us going most of the week in the mornings," said Polk. "We would have about an hour and a half of weightlifting and we would follow that up with speed drills and sprints, and at least three times a week I would get together with the wide receivers and tight ends and throw routes to try and hone in our skills."

Daniel Polk has been a "jack of all trades" through his collegiate football career; however, it seems as if he is here to stay under center for the Fighting Camels for the next couple of seasons. He is excited about the improvements that the team has made in the last year, but he knows there is still plenty of work to do in order to achieve his main goals for the team in moving forward through the rest of this year and the years to come.

"I just want to us as a team to develop a winning attitude where get used to winning games and just make that an everyday process," he said. "We want to expect to win games and make everyone at this school and community to feel the same way."