I realize a lot of people are upset, embarrassed, and even angry by the on field product that is USF football this year. But lets put this season into perspective. Below are 10 reasons why (in my opinion) we should all just take a deep breath and calm the frick down:
1. This is the 3rd offensive system that has been put in place in the last three years. Rather than having an entire offseason to learn and perfect a system, we have had to learn a new one each year. This makes a huge difference.
2. This is the 3rd offensive coordinator that has been hired in the last three years. Again, new philosophy, plays, schemes, etc. make a huge difference when you have to adjust to a new one every offseason.
3. We have a brand new coach and brand new coaching staff.
4. It can take more than 9 or 10 months to change the culture of a program. We had a losing, undisciplined culture under FCCS. That isn't going to change overnight.
5. We have a young team that will mostly all be returning next year. Some younger players that wouldn't have seen the field in a normal season are getting valuable in-game experience without burning eligibility.
6. We are using mostly Charlie Strong recruits still and he left the cupboard bare/almost empty. The few promising recruits that FCCS landed have either transferred, were kicked off the team, or were one-year grad transfers.
7. Jeff Scott has been head coach for all of 9 or 10 months, and did not get a spring practice season as he usually would have. Had we been able to have a spring game, we may have been able to solve the QB battle earlier, would have had more time to work on the offense/defense, and the coaches would have had more time to coach and develop players and instill the program's new philosophy.
8. We have yet to put a fully healthy starting lineup on the field due to Covid and contact tracing among other injuries. This may not make a huge difference, but had players like Cade Fortin been healthy the full season, he may have seen more than 4 or 5 drives worth of playing time and could have made a difference.
9. This is a throw away year. The moment the NCAA announced that no eligibility would be burned this year cause of Covid, the season became an 11 game tryout for current players. CJS knew this season was going to be bad and imo, i think that is why we continue to play multiple QB's each game. He is trying to see who he wants to keep and who deserves to be here. Don't be surprised if a lot of players get cut in the offseason to make way for his first full recruiting class next year.
10. Lastly, we were absolutely terrible last year. Why did anyone think we would be anything but terrible this year with the same players and a few transfers that weren't playing at power 5 schools?