Former South Alabama quarterback Carter Bradley has had two reasons to celebrate in recent weeks.

First, he was invited over the weekend to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, which takes place Feb. 3 on his old home field at Hancock Whitney Stadium. Second, his former offensive coordinator Major Applewhite was hired Thursday as the Jaguars’ head coach following the departure of Kane Wommack to become defensive coordinator at Alabama.

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Bradley was in attendance at the Mitchell Center for South Alabama’s basketball win over Troy on Thursday, at which he made an on-court appearance alongside Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy shortly after Applewhite briefly addressed the assembled crowd of more than 3,000 fans. Bradley spoke with AL.com about the Senior Bowl and Applewhite’s promotion, saying he was “excited” on both counts.

Bradley said he attended the Senior Bowl twice before arriving in Mobile, both times when his father coached in it while with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Gus Bradley is now the defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts.

“I remember watching my dad working with (future NFL quarterbacks) Jimmy Garoppolo and Derek Carr and it’s been a dream of mine to be in this bowl game,” Bradley said. “So it’s an exciting opportunity. I can’t wait to meet the guys and play in the game. I’m having a fun time with this stage of life.”

Bradley is one of seven quarterbacks confirmed for the Senior Bowl, along with Oregon’s Bo Nix, Washington’s Michael Penix, Tennessee’s Joe Milton, South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman and Tulane’s Michael Pratt. The Senior Bowl could add an eighth quarterback in the coming days or simply go with seven for game week, Nagy recently told AL.com.

Bradley’s invitation to the Senior Bowl came on Sunday, the same day he participated in the Hula Bowl all-star game in Orlando. He completed 6 of 8 passes for 61 yards and a touchdown in Team Kai’s 24-17 victory over Team Aina at FBC Mortgage Stadium, the home of Central Florida.

“I got told (of the invitation) right after the game by my dad,” Bradley said. “But I was so focused on how I could get better. I was just trusting God in the whole process and making sure I go about this in the right way and make sure I’m doing everything I can to be the best that I can be when Pro Day comes.

“… I’m very excited, very blessed for the opportunity. I’m excited to represent South.”

Bradley was a two-year starter at South Alabama after transferring from Toledo, leading the Jaguars to a combined 16-8 mark in 2022 and 2023 (he missed two games, one win and one loss, due to injury). He holds virtually every program passing record, including career marks of 5,995 yards and 47 touchdowns.

However, he was knocked out of the regular-season finale against Texas State with a recurring knee injury, and missed the season-ending victory over Eastern Michigan in the 68 Ventures Bowl. He said he’s fully healthy now.

“It was just one of those things during the season where I needed time (to heal),” Bradley said. “I finally got that time after the season, which is frustrating, but I’m in a great spot now.”

Bradley has not been shy about expressing his admiration for Applewhite, and lobbied hard on social media for the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator to get the head-coaching job after Wommack departed. Though he won’t get to play for Applewhite the South Alabama head coach, Bradley said he’s thrilled at what he believes the future holds for the Jaguars — including presumptive starting quarterback Gio Lopez, the 68 Ventures Bowl MVP as a true freshman — going forward.

“I’m so excited for Gio and the rest of that quarterback room, but also this whole team in general,” Bradley said “I think they got an unbelievable person in that office to be able to run this team.

“How he goes about the game of football is exactly how it should be played. He’s detail-oriented. There’s an urgency from him to get better. I think he leads people like no other. … I’m so excited to see next year how this thing goes because I know it’s going to go unbelievable.”

Bradley was a part-time starter in his four seasons at Toledo before coming to South Alabama, passing for a total of 2,377 yards and 14 touchdowns with eight interceptions in 22 career games. (He redshirted in 2018 and got an extra year of eligibility back for the COVID-marred 2020 season).

But he blossomed along with the rest of the South Alabama team in 2022, throwing for a school-record 3,335 yards and 28 touchdowns for a 10-win team. The 2023 season was more up-and-down for both the Jaguars and Bradley, but he gives Applewhite — a former Texas quarterback who spent two seasons as an analyst at Alabama before joining the USA staff in 2021 — much of the credit for his development into a legitimate NFL prospect.

“I think where he made me better is his experiences,” Bradley said. “Him being at Texas under the bright lights, he’s seen it all. He was at Alabama with Tua (Tagovailoa), with Jalen Hurts, a little bit with Bryce Young. I think when he came in, he pushed me to my extreme. It made me better and I told him ‘you coach me how I need to be coached.’ And he took that and went with it.

“I think he did an unbelievable job, where I came in at, used my strengths, took my weaknesses, built on them and fixed a lot of things that a lot of coaches probably couldn’t. He did an unbelievable job, and I’m super thankful for him.”