Times back of the year: J.T. Daniels is exceptionally skilled and only a sophomore

The decisive moment in a season to remember for sophomore quarterback J.T. Daniels of Santa Ana Mater Dei came during the off-season.

It’s when the coaching staff decided to let him call the plays. Everything changed.

“That was the pivotal moment,” Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “The confidence he exudes is beyond his years. In honesty, I found myself going, ‘Wow, that’s a 10th grader doing this?’ That just fascinates me.”

Daniels set school and Orange County records by passing for 4,849 yards and 67 touchdowns. He completed 75% of his passes and had at least five TD passes 11 times for the 13-1 Monarchs.

Daniels has been selected The Times’ back of the year.

“The confidence we have in J.T. Daniels is something we don’t worry about,” Rollinson said. “We just know he’s going to find a way. He brings a calmness to all of us, his teammates in the huddle, me, the crazy one running up and down the sideline . . .”

Rollinson has coached some very good quarterbacks, from Matt Barkley to Matt Leinart, but few did what Daniels accomplished so early in his career. “They had that confidence but it was later in their careers,” Rollinson said. “We had to suffer through the freshman and sophomore mistakes. It’s like all the pieces to the puzzle are there.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: latsondheimer