BULLheaded

BigShoop what about combining the green top with green bottom? I like the combination of the green pants and gold jersey but it's a little strange the way the stripes don't match. Also, I really like the look with the black but they aren't our colors so I'd just assume they stay an interesting rendering. One thing I really like on your drawings and I wish more colleges would use are the pro style socks. It really makes the uni look sharper then bare calves.

I don't believe I've changed at all. I've been critical of our offensive coaches since the Blackwell days. I've been expecially critical of Hobbie and Smith and you can go back and find the multi-page debate I had with bien about smith's rediculous promotion. Now, I'll admit that after a couple of games this year I had some hope that my fears were totally off base and Smith might work out. Unfortunately that hope has been crushed by watching the last two painfull spectacles. The reason I get so vocal about it is because Leavitt is so loyal that I wonder if he can make coaching changes, if not then what? What's the outlook for the forseeable future? I hate to think that what we've seen for the past couple of years is what we will see on a continuous basis going forward. Do we then just hope to bring in only players that are so **** good that we don't need coaching? Shoot maybe I'm just hoping a positive person like yourself will throw me a thread of hope to hang on to but right now I don't see it with the currenct offensive coaching staff. Now that being said what do you expect? It wasn't like we won a close game and lost two close games. We blew out Louisville bringing everyone a huge high. We then followed that by not just losing but looking so horrendous that we needed to play the theme to the "bad news bulls" everytime the offense took the field. I mean those last two game weren't just losses they were pure pain. It was like seeing every fear I've had about Smith and his abilities showcased on play after play after play after play after play after play after play and on and on.....oh then Hall gets the ball and does something fantastic mixed in all that painful crap called an offense. I do wish sometimes I had your ability to always see the positive side of things, unfortunately that will never be the case for me. My personality is to always look for the weak link and fix it and to me it appears smith is a weak link and I have no ability to sugar coat that. Can I fix it? Obviously not, but I also can't keep quiet about it. I hope beyond hope that you are right we can put it together and somehow become a better team.

LOL, so ummmmm basically what your saying is we need to fix every aspect of the passing game. That about sums it up right?  ;D

Honestly I have no idea who our QB of the future is...and I also don't know that any of our coaches have the ability to even groom a QB of the future. But just assuming they have some level of competence to coach (I'm giving a huge benefit of the doubt here) then they need to figure this answer out and get that person in. I hate the way we continually keep in bad QBs. IMO Banks should have been yanked one heck of a lot earlier then he did. When Julemiste didn't work out he should have been yanked and Gachette given a shot. Obviously Denson isn't the answer so try Hill. If Hill can't hack it put in Grothe....if he can't hack it put in the center, or the tackle or a linebacker or watergirl....heck keep yanking them until we find the kid who has the ability and composure to lead this team. And this argument about harming their confidence, throwing them into the fire is the best way to find out what they are made of. The kid that can come out better from it is the kid we are looking for, the others wouldn't be able to handle the preasure anyway so who cares if the confidence gets damaged? Now on the flip side, we should have axed Smith instead of promoting him and brought in a decent OC and QB coach. Maybe then we could coach these kids into becoming a decent player instead of worrying about which QB would have such great natural ability that they could play well regardless of the coaching deficiencies.

This is probably asking waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy to much of Smith, BUT if Hill isn't ready simply because he doesn't know the playbook then adapt the playbook. I mean really, what the heck good is a playbook when you can't execute it anyway? Right now we have one and only one option and that is to hand off to Hall, I'm sure just about anyone on the team can do that. So put in Hill, and create a new book around him, simplify it (if it's possible to get more simple) or whatever but if Smith is getting paid to be the "mind" behind the offence then let him get to work and figure it out. Maybe he can pull a gruden and get his a$$ out of bed at 3am and put something together. It just seems our coaches are so inflexible that they'd rather stick to something that is obviously not working then to be a little creative and shake things up. I just love the comment from Leavitt about Hill not being an option.....way to go! Take away any incentive for the current QBs to improve. I guess I fall mostly in your category 2. While I think PJ needs to take his fair share of the blame I think the lion's share needs to rest on the coaches. The coaches are failing these kids IMO. It is obvious they don't have the ability to coach the proper techniqes, to prepare kids mentally, to create a decent playbook or to call a decent game. PJ isn't a very good QB, but he is doing all that can be asked of him. It's the coaches job to make changes and they obviously refuse to try anything different because of their stubborness to abide by this sacred play book.

maybe we should take a page from Nick Saben's book. Anyone notice the play yesterday where he didn't even bother to have a QB in the game and snapped the ball directily to Ricky Williams? We can try that out, just snap the ball to andre every play and don't even bother to put any QB in at all....could it be that much worse?

I guess it's like me and golf....that stray good shot keeps me playing the stupid game

Then change the playbook....it sucks anyway

I agree with everything not being PJ's fault. However, I disagree with the Banks comparison. As bad as PJ is he is still better then Banks was. To me he is a Banks clone that can actually make a little happen with his feet. Of course I also think that with so many similar problems that it points to coaching issues. I thought Smith should have been axed long ago as QB coach and I thought the promotion was posibly one of (if the the) worst decision we have made as a program so far. So am I on the fire Smith bandwagon? Well, I don't really see it as a bandwagon since the cries have been comming for years but whatever you call it I am and have been on it for quite some time. Actually, aside from Franks I've been on the "replace the entire offensive coaching staff" wagon for a long time now. No, sorry. I don't and never will just blindly "trust" that someone knows best. The track record in the past 3 years is terrible so they have not earned the trust at the QB position. Until we see that the decisions they make are proven on the field then those decisions should be viewed with skeptisicm not trust. Do we have a choice? No. Do we have to support it? also NO.

Well, everyone kept talking about how Leavitt wouldn't hire all these available OC because they don't run HIS preferred offense. And of course we promoted Smith because that would preserve HIS offense. So he shouldn't be looking at the box in disgust, he should be looking in the mirror. What we saw on the field is in fact HIS offense that he made sure to preserve....guess what? It's was preserved! YEAH!!

I would still blame Smith and his supporting offensive staff. These kids are not executing out there and I know many don't agree but that just points to poor coaching. Once in a while fine but for 3 years straight? I'm sorry but the coaches aren't doing their jobs in properly preparing the kids.

Does this really surprise you? I mean Hobbie wasn't fired so we could get someone better. He quit and the entire reason for promoting Smith was so things WOULDN'T change. So, we got exactly what we wanted. Things have NOT changed. Smith still coaches QBs like crap and the offensive system is still crap and the playcalling is still crap....just like we wanted it, no surprise there. Of course I'll admit that as much as I hated this hire I hoped beyond hope that my fears would be proven completely wrong and somehow smith would have proven that he was just hindered by Hobbie...well, guess I should have known that was just pipe dream.

I'm over 30 so I guess I'll pile on a bit. I do agree that PJ is just not cutting it (to put it VERY nicely), however I'll also say that the critisism, or maybe a better word is the blame towards him is misguided. Regardless of his production he is obviously giving everything he has and it is the COACHES job to either fix it or change it. I put my blame firmly on the hands of the coaches. I'm still not convinced that if you put PJ, Denson or even Banks at a school like Florida that they would be anywhere near as bad as they are here. I just can't imagine that we are teaching these kids the proper techniques and properly preparing them mentally for game day. If we are coaching them ok then we must just be a recruiting disaster. And this goes for WRs as well, does every recruit we bring in have butterfingers or is it lack of coaching? Either way, it is on the coaches shoulders to fix the problem so I would direct the blame to them instead of the player on the field that doesn't belong but is still giving the best they have. Hey, ask me to go out there and play QB, I'll try my hardest...but you'd be a real idiot for asking it of me.

our coaches have done a great job in our short history, however they are not perfect (nobody is) It seems that the one area they are lacking in is QB evaluation. Remember all that talk about how great Banks was in practice? Then it was Jewlmiste, and the begining of this year they thought Denson was the best. I'm sorry but I am not convinced that a player can be properly evaluated from practice only. Give the new kids a shot in a game and maybe they'll surprise us all....including the coaches.

we haven't tried Hill yet, but then I guess we wouldn't want to waste the redshirt...oh wait I forgot we are wasting it while he sits on the bench. I guess we just don't want to put in someone not ready that could potentially mistakes, uhhhh wait, that is also already happening. I know I know, we don't want to put someone in that doesn't know our ever so complicated offense well enough to be efficient with it....ah never mind I'll not even go there again. Remind me again, why are we not even trying a series or two just for kicks?

This is as good a place as any to vent I suppose WARNING.....for those who can't stand anything negative don't bother reading this. I have to say that our offense is easily one of, if not the worst offense I have ever seen play the sport. The only bright spot is Hall. Take away the ONE and ONLY person who isn't incompetent and we are left with a totally inept offense from coaches to players. What I have seen so far this year is poor coaching, poor technique, poor execution and anything else you can think of that follows the word poor. Some things I just can't help but think about are: 1)We REALLY missed on a perfect opportunity after Hobbie left to go after a competent offensive cordinator. So we decided to stick with Smith in order to keep things consistent. Well we succeeded, we are consistanty crap...Is THIS the type of offense we hoped to preserve? Shoot, instill an entire new system a few days prior to a game, couldn't be any worse. 2)Related to last point, what the HELL is smith doing out there? First off, I just loved hearing over and over again the commentators pointing out how "unsophisticated" our offense is. Of course this was followed by explanations on how we don't even offer PJ any checkdown opportunities. Great, PJ is struggling and we can't even give him options...great job smith! Oh and what the heck was that clusterf@ck at the end of the half? waste half a minute of time doing nothing just to call time out with 1 second left to throw a 70 yard hail mary? We can't complete a screen pass and THAT was what you come up with instead of actually using the time we had to possibly get at least a field goal? INEPT coaching. 3)What is the deal with Hill? Why not give  him a try under center? Say it all you want, well he may be worse then PJ. At this point does it matter? I mean really, how much worse can it get? The whole treatment of hill makes absolutely no sense to me, we are blowing his red shirt for what? Sitting on the **** sideline? If he can't play red shirt him! If you are not going to do that then **** it, play him. Give him a shot, at worse he fumbles or throws an interception and we keep the status quo. At best we may be surprised with some better qb play and give him a little experience. And don't use the stupid, coaches know from practice excuse. I've heard the past 3 years about both Banks and Julemist being wonderful in practice and  the coaches having all this faith in them only to be let down in the games. Obviuosly this shows that our coaches in fact didn't have a perfect read on the situation. 4)About an on campus stadium, to heck with that...take any spare change and hire an entire new offensive staff (other then franks) 5)about this high and low attitude from our fans, two things can explain that. First it is most likely the louder happy fans after a win and the louder unhappy fans after a loss. I don't see too many people doing both. Also, the reactions are also as high and low as our performance on the field. We go from winning a big game to not just loosing but stinking up the place so bad that slamming our hands in a car door would be less painful then watching our offense. 6)One attitude that drives me crazy are the fans that can feel "good" about our chances after looking at so many crap teams on our schedule. **** it! I'm sorry but I don't really take pleasure in relying on winning against the dredges of the conference.  We should be looking forward to going to a bowl because we earned it...and to me that means being a good team by winning against good and tough competition. OK, I'll stop now...maybe I'll feel different later on but for now I don't think that we can win another game unless the team is so god awful that we get away with running the ball on every down.

Just to throw in a different angle here. There is one other possible benefit to an OCS. Actually not really building one but publically working on getting one built. The real drawback to ray jay IMO isn't the distance from the school but the total lack of home feel. Right now TSA knows we have no other option so there is no incentive to cater to us ie...they have us over a barrell. Now, if they were to think we were working our asses off to get out of ray jay they might just come in and try to sweeten our deal. We may not be the bucs, but I'm sure they don't really want to lose a decent sized chunck of money each year especially if you think of the potential growth of our crowds. Not to mention another stadium that could bring in events like truck pulls or larger outdoor concerts etc... at a more reasonable cost might be something they would want to avoid. This could give us some leverage to say...well, maybe if you axe the TSA guards, paint the fields, decorate the lobbies, cover the red with green and on and on. I think changes like this would certainly make ray jay more appealing to everyone.

your missing the point though. The question was whether storming the field was a tradition in football, not at USF, or Penn St or OSU or UCF or any school in particular. In college football the fans have a tradition of storming the field. Yes, the schools fight it and don't want it but that doesn't make it any less of a tradition.....just an unpopular one for the school administrations.

Awesome! Glad to see USF jumped on this one! WTG!

I agree but that only makes my point. Emotion is just another immeasurable in the equation as to what would be consindered "big". However, even with this you are trying to put a requirement on what makes it good enough. I'm not even sure where to begin here. So a tradition has to be "proclaimed" to make it a tradition? A couple definitions for tradition: tra·di·tion  (tr-dshn) n. 1)A mode of thought or behavior followed by a people continuously from generation to generation; a custom or usage. 2)A time-honored practice or set of such practices. I don't see anything there requiring a tradition to be proclaimed by anyone. Not to mention storming the field is a FAN'S tradition not the school's tradition so you would be looking in the wrong place for the proclamation even if one was required. So I still say that since this is not only commonplace throughout several generations but ALSO triggered by a particular event ie...winning a game percieved to be big that it is in fact a tradition in college football. I look at your own comment (above) about what game will be big enough to warrant storming and you are yourself adding to the tradition....just arguing about what type of game is big enough to trigger the tradition. I agree with this which is why I said it would be rediculous to think we'd build a stadium for this reason. The only relevance to a new stadium and this incident would be to point out that USF has zero control in how we manage our own event and our own stadium would change that. However, I was pointing out from another debate we had that you said when USF admin gave the go ahead to go onto the field that the students were still breaking the law since it wasn't the proper authority. In the case of our own stadium that would not be the case since USF would be the proper authority. Also, USF would have options on enforcement....maybe, just maybe you would be wrong and the school would look into the collapsable goal posts and not care so much about the field storming, who knows but the point is that right now USF has no choice in the matter.

One thing I do like to hear, regardless of what the need is or what we can currently afford, is the students working on a plan. Get the ball rolling and who knows what can happen one day. The only thing I would caution is to make sure that you don't let your impatience sacrafice the quality of the stadium you propose. I don't think it would be going too far out on a limb to say that whenever the day comes that you get the stadium it will be your ONE shot to get it right. If you rush just to put up some tiny erectorset stadium you'll have to live with it indefinitely.

so those of us on directv are also out? Ah well, good thing I go to the watch parties anyway

I will go out on a limb and say it will be time once we start consistently selling out Ray Jay...whether that be 30 years or 3 years. Until we can fill it we don't yet deserve it.

your right, the interpretation of big is important. However you can't just say....well big = such and such. For instance, UCF wins first game in nearly 2 years. Is the game itself really that important? No, but the win for them was one of the biggest things for that program. IMO big is relative to the team you are talking about. If USF wins a game that locks a bowl game then that game is huge, on the other hand if it happens to USC it could actually be a disappointment if it isn't for the bowl determining the national championship. The funny thing is so many of you guys that argue till your blue in the face that we can't expect the coaches or the program to be on par with USC end up arguing like crazy that we shouldn't think wins are that important unless they are wins like USC. So which is it? Should we expect to be at their level and look at lesser wins as not "storming worthy" (and of course hold coaches as accountable if we aren't better then everybody) OR should we not have those high expectations and be happy at what we have achieved thus far and therefore those so called "lesser" wins are worthy of being considered big due to their relative importance to our program? Which is it? Can't really have both.

Jim, Are you honestly trying to say that storming the field is not something that has and does happen frequently in college football after great victories? Geesh, I can see why people would agree or disagree with continuing to allow it but c'mon pretending that it hardly happens over the years? And with the frequency that it has happened and the fact that it is triggered by a particular event I would say it qualifies as a tradition. Like it or dislike it fine but to pretend it's not there just silly. Even your post about it not happening at penn state seems to be wrong and that they in fact DID try to storm the field. Also, I can't believe anyone in their right mind would be saying we need a new stadium simply to storm the field. However, that is an INCIDENT that can be used as one example of why it would be a benefit for USF to have our own stadium. ie...not to storm the field but to have control of how the field is used and how to enforce the rules. You said yourself in another post that the kids were tazered since the permission given was from the wrong authority (USF officials instead of TSA officials) well if the stadium was under USF control then they would have been the proper officials in that case wouldn't they?