Superhippy

This is going to be a disaster. Us hiring him is a 1 minute story on ESPN. Us recinding the contract for a mystery reason is going to be reported on every day for a week. Wow. Just Wow. Just what USF needs.

I am taking this with a grain of salt like everyone else but there are two things that I took away from this article. 1. The O-Line bulking up an average of 13 pounds each is a VERY good sign. IMO the O-Line was the biggest weakness on this team last year. Calling it swiss cheese in 2013 would be an insult to swiss cheese. Game after game whoever was playing QB was having to scramble for their life, and when you have an offense with a limited number of weapons and a true freshman QB, that is always going to spell disaster. There were a few times last year, mainly in the Houston and UCF games that when White actually had some time in the pocket he was throwing some accurate and crisp passes but, the weak O-Line just never allowed the offense to get into a groove. On top of that believe it or not we actually ranked lower in the country in terms of rushing yards (118th) then we did passing yards (108th). Even pass heavy teams like Louisville, UCF, and Houston were rushing for 140 yards per game while USF was at a measly 88. The good news is that last year Tice was able to average 4.0 yards per carry and Shaw was able to get 4.9. Hopefully with an improved Line and more experience for Tice he can get that average to atleast 4.5, while someone else steps up as well. 2. It sounds like the current players are feeling the pressure of that massive recruiting class Taggart pulled in. This is where Taggart's decision last year to bench older players who were not playing hard or were just not playing at a high level in favor of freshman is going to pay off. These guys know that there will be alot of fresh blood coming in hungry to take their spots, and unlike Holtz, Taggart will give them those spots if the older guys don't play better. Sean Price is a good example. The Bulls have 3 Tight Ends coming in this year, 1 experience JC in Pope, and 2 solid 3 star recruits. If he doesn't step up then he will be riding the bench. I am just glad to hear that there is a sense of urgency this year.

Well said. USF really needed to hire an X's and O's guy when it came to basketball. Heath did a very good job recruiting but year after year the team struggled offensively and ussually relied on one guy to carry the team on their back. The fact that Pitino pointed Masiello our way is a good sign too. Those two are very close and I don't think Pitino would lead him in the wrong direction. Taggart is already doing an awesome job. Last year was a throw-away year. He inherited a broken team with no talent and a losing mentality and was able to get them to the point where they were playing competitively with some of the top AAC teams like UCF and Houston. Then he went and pulled in a monster recruiting class, that was way better then anything Holtz was ever able to get. If Taggart pulls in 1 more class like that the Bulls will end up at the point where they start steamrolling the conference just on talent. The gap between USF and everyone else in the AAC is ridiculous. It's what you are seeing at FSU right now. Jimbo Fisher has out recruited the rest of the ACC so badly that that even the #2 and #3 teams in conference are not giving them much trouble at all.

I'm not skeptical of USF being able to hire a good coach at all. Holtz was a huge failure but alot of factors went into that. For one USF wanted to hire someone that was the complete opposite of Leavitt, which is exactly what Holtz was. Holtz also had just won 2 C-USA titles, so USF tried to hit a home run and get a guy that could bring a squeeky clean program as well as conference titles and it failed miserably. Holtz was never able to ramp up the intensity, when it needed to happen, so when things went bad, they went REALLY bad. Heath was an average hire. On the plus side he was a very good recruiter and he gave us the best season USF had ever had. On the other hand he was never able to get the offense rolling and just was not a good X's and O's guy. Overall though Heath wasn't a total failure. He was buried in a monsterous Big East that the Bulls were never going to even have a shot at winning, so he did the best with what he could. I do think it was time for a change, but I don't think of Coach Heath in the same way I think of Holtz. Taggart so far in my opinion was a great hire. Yes they went 2-10 last year, but in college football 9 out 10 times the 1st year of a new coach is just a reflection on the previous coach (See Holtzes first year, looked exactly like a Leavitt year). At the start of last year the team was pathetic, losing to McNeese St. by 30, but in the last 5 games look what we did. We played Houston extremely tough on the road (on a Thursday), Played very good defense against a good SMU offense, and were 2 minutes away from beating the Fiesta Bowl winning UCF on the road. It didn't show it in the record but this team (specifically the defense) improved alot during last last. Now he just pulled in a recruiting class that blew the rest of the AAC's out of the water. Just to put in in perspective in 2014 Taggart pulled in 2 Four-Stars and 22 Three-Stars. In 2010,2011, and 2012 combined Holtz pulled in 3 Four-Stars and 30 3 Stars, not to mention that he has the "Auto-BCS Conference" as leverage. Taggart is doing a great job so far. The program was a dumpster fire that BJ Daniels was carrying. Once he went down / graduated the true nature of the team came out.

Ridiculously good haul by Taggart. The entire AAC has 2 four stars both of which are going to USF, and 83 3 stars of which USF has 22. For a little perspective he was able to outrecruit 21 P5 conference teams, and brought in the best non-P5 recruiting class. On top of all of that, Taggart just outrecruited every one of Skip Holtzes recruiting classes that he ever had, without the automatic BCS entry.

Stan Heath has had 12 years between Arkansas and USF and has a conference record of 66-128 (.340) and will be even worse by the end of the year. He's just not a very good coach. He inherited a Kent State team with alot of talent and took them to the elite eight and since then in 12 years has done almost nothing. On top of that he has been coaching in the SEC and Big East, both of which are conferences where you can afford 11 or 12 losses a year and still make the NCAA Tournament. His recruiting for years on end consisted of a couple of two stars and a three star. Last year he got 3 three stars and a four star, but all that has to do with is the shiny new facilities. Any coach could come in and show off USF's new facilities and pick up some solid recruits. That being said I don't think he is the worst coach in the history of basketball or anything like that, but over 12 years at USF and Arkansas he has consistantly won 9 to 22 games. Even when these current batch of players mature, 22 or 23 wins is the limit and in the watered down AAC I am not even sure that will make the tourney.

HOLY CRAP

The Big XII should take notice. Sure you can get cincy but you can also have this budding rivalry that will be a primetime game every year.

If they win this I will forgive Taggs for McNeese and FAU.

Actually, today the pass game opened up the run. Lol, maybe so. I'll take it regardless. I think I am just too amped up right now.

Thats what I'm talking about. This is what happens when we get the run game going.

FINALLY CALLED A MOTHERF****N PLAY

The offense has been obviously terrible but i will give the coaching staff credit for this defense. They have alot of talent coming in next year too and if our offense could even get to 80th in the country then we will win 4 or 5 next year. I wish we had that field goal from before too guys, 2 yards to this team is like 8 to anyone else.

Well I would rather have a guy that can run for a 100+ at QB throwing picks then a guy who throws 4 picks and has -3 rushing yards. Running QB's open the field up too and can extend plays. Its what Grothe and BJ did, and there's no reason why it can't be that way again.

I'm glad to see someone on here not overeacting about yesterday. His 1st year at WKU was 2-10 also. It's an assessment/rebuilding year. It's not like Sheiano with the Bucs. They have talent, he is just horrible.

If the current players can't even handle simple shifts before the play then thats just sad. We are not talking about Middle School football here guys. Good on Taggart for sticking with it. Changing gameplans and trying everything is what Holtz did and now we have this debacle.

What offense could Taggart possibly run that would make this team successful. Spread? HAHAHA this team would go 3 and out every drive. Triple Option? With this offense line and amount of fumblers it would be even worse, not to mention he does'nt have a mobile QB. Changing the offense to suit your players is stupid expecially when you are just playing at this point to gain experience for next year.

I can't believe you guys are saying that he ONLY went 7-5 at WKU. WKU was the worst, by far, program in the whole country. I'm talking Southern Miss,FIU bad and to get that team to a winning record was a huge success. WKU of 2012 would wipe the floor with this team and anyone who says otherwise is delusional. Right now he has a 2.94 star average in recruiting for next year and the next closest in conference is Cincy at 2.48. He is recruiting better then half the Pac-12, and about 15 other P5 level teams, not to mention that he only has filled 18 slots so far. The play calling was trash yesterday, I agree with all of you on that, but changing the whole playbook to try to beat Memphis is something that a coach like Skip Holtz does. Either way the 1st year of any coaching tenure is almost always a reflection on the prior tenure. Look at Holtz's 1st year, it was a typical Leavitt season. Muschamp's 1st for UF, was like a Meyer season. You can go through almost anywhere in CGB and the 1st year means nothing, except for recruiting. It sucks a** waiting but thats just how it goes.

Are you guys nuts. WE HAVE NO TALENT STILL. This team without BJ Daniels the last 2 years was just as bad but he covered it up. I even trashed BJ at times but without him seasons like this would have come much sooner. Holtz was either last or 2nd to last in in conference recruiting every single year, Taggart right now is 1st. Go look at FSU, they were awful but then Jimbo recruited him butt off and now they are the #2 team and really have played like the #1 team. Oregon,Bama,Ohio State,Clemson,Stanford,Louisville,UCF,Boise for years.........all products of great recruiting. When you out class a team like Memphis, a few bad play calls here and there do not matter. Shoot Jim Leavitt in that case was a terrible coach if we just go by playcalling. Stop freaking out and just realize that right now we stink and it's going to take 2 recruiting classes to get us to a conference championship level. Andre Davis is a decent receiver at best on any other team and the dude has 520 yards with a 14.5 average! Coach T may be losing on the field but he is winning recruting and thats way more important then a meaningless game with Memphis.

White didn't play great and the coaching staff had in my opinion their worst playcalling game of the year but lets give a little credit to the Memphis defense. They are now 19th in points against, held Duke to 28, UCF to 24, Houston to 25, and Cincy and SMU to 34, which is awesome considering that their offense is almost as bad as ours. The 2nd and Goal call was terrible, but only for this team. I have seen that play called plenty of times on the 1 and it has worked and I hope in a couple years with a better team Coach T won't be afraid to use it again.

I did'nt even want to post on here yesterday because words could not describe how going to the game yesterday felt. It was as bad as the McNeese game and the reason why is that we had plenty of chances to score points and win but a mix of terrible play calling and terrible play doomed us. The 1st pass of the game that went right though the receivers (forgot who it was) set the tone and once Kloss missed the kick, I knew we were in for a long night. So after stewing for a night, I don't want to fire Coach T or anything like that but he NEEDS to make sure that Flowers stays committed. Memphis's QB yesterday picked up 8.5 yards per run on 6 carries and every single one was beyond demoralizing. I think White has potential but in todays CFB if you don't have a mobile QB, you better have a great team arround him or you just won't win. I still like Taggarts system but you need either a dominating offensive line or fast elusive guys at the QB and RB position. I am not annoiting Flowers the next great thing, but White is going to have a tough time being a pocket passer when only one guy (Davis) is helping him, and even he is not a true #1 receiver. I know some of you may not call me a "true" fan but I am skiping the last game. It's a waste of $ and time, all of which I would much rather save to go to watch a basketball team that atleast has talent.

I really dont mind the strong strenth of schedule. If we can even get one win from Louisville or Memphis, it will stick out as a high quality win and come tourney time that matters. Just avoid the bad losses and pick up a couple good wins and you ussually get in. Its the exact formula this team had last time when they made it. These games against Bowling Green and such always scare me because a loss to them can be catastrophic later on.

I will be there tomarrow and I am expecting a win even though I should'nt be. If they play atleast as well as they did against Houston then they will win by 17 - 20. Memphis has a solid D but is still awful on offense. I think the D scores atleast 1 TD tomarrow and Mike plays a mistake free game but does'nt have crazy stats. GO BULLS.

I don't bet on my own teams but any line with the Bulls as an underdog is a gift. They are 2-6 but with White in there its a completely different team. The refs made sure we did'nt beat Houston but the reality is that we played a very tough team to the very end. Memphis is terrible and I would'nt be shocked if the Bulls come out and win by 14 - 21.

USF Basketball can no doubt be embraced by the area but it is going to take more NCAA births. When this team went on their run two years ago, I remember seeing USF stuff everywhere, Joe Madden was supporting them, Longoria was even wearing USF stuff. The problem is that during the regular season no one cares, unless you are Kansas,Kentucky,Louisville and a handful of others. The recruiting class alone should make this team much better and everyone ranking USF to be last in the conference is understandable due to last years results, but unrealistic. Top 20 recruiting class on top of Collins and Rudd should mean a much improved team. My guess is that we go 18 - 12 in the regular season and we either sneak in to the NCAA's or get a high NIT birth.