Bryce Archie was one of those rare athletes at USF who participated in two sports. As the backup quarterback for the football team, he was thrust into action in 2024 when Byrum Brown suffered a broken bone in his leg and was out for the season.
Archie led the Bulls to five wins in eight games, including that unforgettable five-overtime win over San Jose State in the Hawaii Bowl. After that game on Christmas Eve, Archie turned his attention to baseball, where he threw 44â…“ innings with a 3.25 ERA during USF's 2025 season.
It was clear by then that if he wanted to play a professional sport, it would have to be baseball. The Cincinnati Reds made that point abundantly clear by drafting him in the 14th round of the 2025 draft. Even though he had a year of eligibility left for football, he made the right decision by signing with the Reds.
He is pitching for the Daytona Tortugas, a Single-A club in the Florida State League. And by all accounts, his career is taking off.
The Daytona Beach News Journal reported that Archie, in long relief, has team lows in ERA (3.05) and batting average against (.216) among Tortugas' arms with at least 30 innings.Â
"I knew I was up for the draft. My agent would call me and be like, 'Hey, you could go this day or this day.' I didn't quite know what it was gonna look like," Archie told the newspaper. "But when I got the call, I closed my computer from doing homework, and I'm like 'Oh my God, this actually happened.' It was a surreal moment."
Archie is remembered around USF as a good teammate as well as a versatile athlete.
"There might be athletes who want to do something like this, but there aren't many who actually can do it like Bryce,'' USF baseball coach Mitch Hannahs told GoUSFBulls.com last year.
"It is grueling. He's fitting into two locker rooms — and he's fitting in very well in our baseball locker room. And I'll tell you, it has been impressive to watch him not get much (baseball) work, yet he consistently goes to the mound, competes like crazy, and throws quality pitches.''
He played only football at Coastal Carolina in 2022 before transferring to USF. That's when he took up baseball again after a two-year absence.
Now his total focus is on baseball.
"It feels wonderful," Archie said. "Every week, I feel like I learn something new about the game, learn something new about pitching, and then just stats-wise, my numbers are increasing. … I don't have to go to football practice at six in the morning and then worry I'd have to pitch that night."
Add us as a preferred source on Google