With the emergence of true freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis, many have wondered how it would affect the future of former five-star quarterback JT Daniels.

Daniels, the No. 16 player in the 247Sports Composite for 2018, had an up-and-down freshman season but looked primed for a big sophomore year before tearing his ACL and meniscus late in the first half of the Trojans’ 2019 opener vs. Fresno State.

Slovis took the job and ran with it, throwing for 3,242 yards and 28 touchdowns while competing almost 72% of his passes. One could make a strong case that Slovis’ surprising play was a big factor in head coach Clay Helton being retained, a move that was finally announced Dec. 4.

As for Daniels, he’s not going anywhere.

“JT is definitely staying,” Daniels’ father Steve told 247Sports. “He’s happy for Clay and has a great relationship with him but to be honest, no matter what happened with the coaching situation, JT was going to stay and compete. He loves it at SC, he has an SC tattoo on his leg so he’s pretty committed to the program.

“He's a very competitive kid and has never run from a challenge before. Kedon played really well and JT was happy for him but at the same time, JT is a competitor and once he’s back to 100%, he wants to compete for that job.”

Daniels said his son’s recovery and rehab has been going very well.

“He had the surgery in September and his goal is to make it back in 10 months,” Daniels said. “He’s doing double time in his rehab, every morning and again after school. Then he goes out and catches an hour of practice just to stay connected with the team and be supportive of the players.

“He’s very excited though and so driven, I’ve never seen him more motivated before. He obviously won’t be back by spring ball but if it’s a 10 month recovery, that puts him back by July and in time for fall camp. He’s going to be supportive and a great teammate regardless like he was this past year but he’s excited about the opportunity as well so we’ll see what happens.”

Daniels reclassified from the 2019 cycle to join a loaded 2018 crop that included Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. As USC’s second-ever true freshman starter in ‘18, he threw for 2,672 yards (59.5% completion) with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Daniels ended that season on a scorching note, with 349 yards on 37-for-51 passing in a 24-17 loss to playoff-bound Notre Dame.