G8RLegist

Yep. Judy did a great job over the last 18 years of making that happen. Let's hope the next president can continue her work while also finding a way to help athletics improve the same way.

Yes, and I also know that you want the GPA's and SAT's to be even higher. USF just qualified as a preeminent university and wants to maintain, or even increase, its status. National exposure is required for that to happen (well, maybe not required, but certainly helpful). National exposure can be a direct result of winning in football/basketball/baseball. Oh, and having a large number of students does not necessarily help a university increase its clout or UCF would be more liked.

The best Presidents are able to balance both academics and athletics. Especially the revenue producing sports. Success in sports can also drive admissions applications, in a good way.

So that begs the question, is USF the level of program that SK should get his OJT? Lots of risk, but maybe lots of reward too? Or does the Peter Principle kick in.

Kirby Smart just popped into Plant, via helicopter, to visit with Gleason. CCS should walk over just to say “Hi.”

Or he could light it up and be offered a head coaching job somewhere else (if CCS is not moving on). The chances of Kerwin failing are pretty slim. He has done well at every level he has coached.

Hopefully Burnett has grown up over the last year. Excellent athlete, but my only memories of his playing time are him getting unsportsmanlike, personal foul, late hit, and trash talking penalties. But that was his freshman year. CCS will get him right.

Not arrogance. The Gators were just a really bad team under McElwain. They are halfway decent now. That said, if Kerwin is still running the show in four years, USF will be a very strong team.

You may have missed your window of opportunity. If you had caught UF during the SwampDonkey years you would have had a good shot.

If I said "we" when I have Gator in my screen name, it would confuse people even more. Especially in a thread titled "USF Gators". USF didn't have a football team when I was there (thanks, Francis Borkowski), but I was very involved in the push to get one started. Radenko Dobras was the biggest star athlete on campus back then.

I wouldn't count them out quite yet. Wimbush might make a difference.

That would be awesome if you could beat UCF and win the conference title!

Don’t worry. We’ll get off your lawn.

Just saw Jordan McCloud and some of his boys walking towards the parade from CCS’s house. Hopefully everyone avoids trouble today.

I don’t think any of the young guys were ready. And playing them too soon could ruin them forever. Plus, it almost definitely would have meant a losing season. You might be better off, long term, that they didn’t play. Now they can learn the new system without developing bad habits from playing in the old system.

I think all eyes will be on the offense and seeing if they look like they know what they are doing in an entirely new offense. Will the qb's be making the right reads or locking onto their receivers? Do the receivers line up quickly or are they shifting around trying to find the right spot in the formation? Does the offensive line grasp the presumably new blocking scheme or is the defensive line running straight through them? It's hard to tell much about the defense aside from how fast they are and possibly blown coverages since spring games normally prohibit blitzes and many stunts.

Sorry. I meant they as USF coaches.

I think they are married now, right? And have a child.

It will be interesting to see how much Battles/McCloud/Evans can pick up this year. If they don't have the skill set CKB needs, he's going to have to be very active in the recruiting of both incoming freshmen and grad transfers. Looking back at Battles highlight tapes, he looks like he can at least make 1/3 field reads. I looked at McCloud's highlights as well as some of the regular game film I had access to in order to refresh my memory about his playing style. Reading does not appear to be his strong suit. He decided where he was going to throw the ball before the ball was snapped (for better or worse). But maybe that was what was asked of him. Evans looks more like a slot receiver than a qb in his highlight tapes. Very similar to Karious Toney for the Gators. Toney played QB in high school but is much more effective as a slot guy than a qb in college. I know USF has offered Carson Beck from Jacksonville (Bama commit) and Tucker Gleason from Plant (uncommitted but with offers from UGA, Vandy, UNC, etc). The Vandy/UNC offers are important because he is extremely bright and education is very high on his list. Do we know who else they might be looking at?

Well, Bell did have good success his first year at Valdosta State with a true sophomore. With Barnett and the two rs freshmen he should be in pretty good shape. Hopefully it clicks with Barnett and at least one of the younger guys for depth.

I watched McCloud play his senior year at Plant, so I am somewhat familiar with his ability. He has great touch, but not the strongest arm. He prefers to use his mobility to move around and buy time to throw, versus taking off down field. I don't recall offhand how good he was at making reads though.

BB certainly makes more sense at this point because he is a known commodity. From what I've read here, Gilbert's offense was a one read (no read?) offense. I'll admit I didn't watch many USF games last year. How did BB look?

I know you haven't seen Battles or McCloud in live action yet, but what are your thoughts on Barnett/Battles/McCloud's ability to make the multiple reads CKB's offense requires? All of the articles I have read talk about how it is a fairly simple offense that can be learned in a week, but they also state that the QB must be bright and able to process the info quickly. I also read CKB's quote that he doesn't need a QB that can throw the ball through a wall, just make the right read and be accurate.

I think he was trying to agree with you and be humorous at the same time. His way of saying UF players can't read. Because, you know, USF only recruits Rhodes Scholars.

I'm surprised you are ignoring Kyle Trina who signed with you the year before McCloud. He's a darn good athlete. I know ya'll have him listed at QB, but I have a feeling Kerwin will find a better spot for him (H back comes to mind). Kyle's dad is hilarious. He'll be the one in the big blue RV at all of the games.