USF’s Bryce Archie broke the mold that said athletes should pick a sport and dedicate everything to that one.
He is a quarterback for the football team and a pitcher in baseball. It’s a balancing act, particularly this of year with spring football under way and baseball well into its season.
Try not to get tired while reading how he does that.
“I wouldn't say it's easy. I'd be lying to you if I sat up here instead and said it was just easy. But my routine is wake up around 6:30. Sometimes, like today (for the first day of football practice), I woke up at six," he said during a media session after USF's first football practice.
“I'm got some pre-rehab for my arm to get it ready for practice today, and then I'll go practice. After that, I'll eat lunch and then head to baseball practice. If I have time, I'll rest for a little bit and then attend meetings.”
He goes to bed soon after dinner, then gets up in the morning to do it all over again.
Archie started the final eight games of the football season after Byrum Brown was injured. The Bulls were 5-3 in those games, including a win in the Hawai‘i Bowl.
Last year in baseball, he struggled at times but has been much more effective this season. He has a plus-90 mph fastball and a bulldog mentality on the mound.
He picked up his third win in four decisions on Saturday with four solid innings of relief in USF’s 8-6 win over Tulane. That’s tied for the most wins on the staff.
His spring schedule is complicated by an NCAA rule requiring athletes to have at least one day off per week. That’s easy enough for athletes playing one sport, but not so much when they’re playing two.
Football coach Alex Golesh and baseball Mitch Hannahs recently met for 45 minutes to work out how to best use Archie’s time between the diamond and football’s 14 practice sessions.
“They're playing Friday, Saturday, Sunday, our off day, Sunday. What is his off day? Is he still practicing with us? What days can he throw? What days can't he go,” Golesh said.
“At spring break, our (football) guys took the week to kind of take a breath and unwind. There (baseball), they were playing. They were in Birmingham last week, and then they played against Florida Gulf Coast home and home. When you get to the end of the semester, our guys get about two weeks off but that's right around the (baseball) conference tournament time. So last year, we got to the end of June, and, like you could see, just physically and mentally worn down.”
Archie said he can already feel a difference this year.
“I can't thank them enough for the schedule they have for me right now, and it should work out pretty well,” he said.
It’s certainly a challenge, but when you love two sports as much as Archie loves football and baseball, you do what you have to do.
“When I first got here, Golesh told me I wasn't allowed to play baseball. That was kind of the toughest part for me. “I had to prove that I could handle one thing before I could do the other,” Archie said.
“I've always known that I want to play both. I was always told to do it until someone tells you to stop, and no one's told me to stop.”