In 2016, Mountain East Conference teams found out who Kahzin Daniels was.
This time around he wants to show them he was just getting started.
"I feel like last year was just barely scratching the surface of what I'm capable of," Daniels said. "I'm just itching to get back to it, get out there and just keep going crazy. That's my focus right now is to build on what I've done."
Daniels experienced a breakout sophomore season for Charleston last season. On a defense hit hard by injury, he took on a larger role and recorded 11 sacks. The defensive end became the first UC player since Jeff Green in 2012 to sack the quarterback more than 10 times in a season.
Those 11 sacks were good for third in the MEC behind Shepherd's Myles Humphrey and Fairmont State's Quincy Redmon, and Daniels had four games in which he had at least two sacks - including getting to the quarterback three times in UC's season-ending win over UVa.-Wise.
As the Golden Eagles head into the 2017 season, UC coach Pat Kirkland thinks Daniels could be a major catalyst for the defensive unit due to his skill set and ability to get to the quarterback.
"He has tremendous athleticism and it was really cool to see him grow into one of the top pass rushers in the conference," Kirkland said. "He's starting to not just rely on his speed, he's really added a lot to what he can do."
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound native of Newark, New Jersey, is part of a defensive line that the team believes could be one of the unit's strengths. Daniels is joined by junior second-team All-MEC defensive end John Cominsky and senior James King, who earned first-team all-conference honors in 2015 but was sidelined last season with an injury.
"It's awesome playing with these guys," Daniels said. "It doesn't matter where we're at on the field or who is out there, we're confident that we're going to make a play every snap. We try to look at ourselves as leaders and set a good example for the younger guys so that we can keep working to get to where we want to be."
Having a solid group of defensive ends will allow Kirkland to rotate players and keep them fresh, helping all three find ways to maximize their effectiveness when they're on the field. For a team that is looking to give its secondary some help at slowing down some of the conference's explosive passing games, having three players like Daniels, Cominsky and King there to put pressure on the quarterback is a great way to start.
"This defensive line is really tough for us and it allows us to be more multiple in what we're doing up there because of that," Kirkland said. "When you've got guys that can force a quarterback to get rid of the ball quicker than he might want, it's a big deal and it can get them to make some bad decisions."
Daniels is ready to continue to emerge as one of the league's top pass rushers. Only six returning players in all of Division II had more sacks than he did in 2016, and he entered the offseason focused on trying to do anything he could to keep improving.
"My game has grown in a lot of ways and I'm still working to improve each and every part of it," Daniels said. "My footwork and hands are getting better. It's a day-to-day process and I just keep coming in ready to get to work."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.