Dave_Glaser

How does Mr. Tom Jones possibly know this? He has sources inside USF athletics? Color me surprised. Maybe he can help out his colleague and beat writer.

One thing's for sure, it's not Jurich, given the quote about no baggage. Even if he's clean and it was guilt by association, he's out based on perception alone. it really shouldn't be anyone but Rob Higgins. They should have made him an offer he absolutely couldn't refuse. If the big donors really wanted to put their money where their mouth is, this could have been it.

Well, Long would certainly seem to be the "safe" hire. Is that what we're looking for? I don't know.

Sorry, Brad! Nope, he's coming back for his senior year. There is some bad news on the baseball front, though. Commit Cameron Gray has instead signed with Chipola JC: http://www.wjhg.com/content/sports/Cameron-Gray-signs-with-Chipola-baseball-485186471.html

Cameron Gray goes JUCO: http://www.wjhg.com/content/sports/Cameron-Gray-signs-with-Chipola-baseball-485186471.html

https://www.recordernews.com/sports/sports-local/125070

Thanks! I had a blast doing it.

Rod Smith landed at Illinois after Rich Rod's canning at Arizona, so we'll see him this season.

The Grothe thing was actually funny how that all played out. I went to watch his particular 7-on-7 game because USF was supposedly very hot after the QB prospect his team was playing - Dennis Brown from Miami Central, a tall, rangy kid that eventually signed with UConn but never really did anything. In any event, Matthew completely and totally outplayed him and I ended up running into Matt's Dad. We talked for a good long time. O-Coordinator Rod Smith obviously took notice too and USF offered Grothe that afternoon. Matthew's Dad emailed me on the way home from the camp to tell me he had committed and I reported it online. It barely made a ripple at the time because our fan base was very much focused on another QB we eventually signed - Carlton Hill.

So the backstory on this thing . . . After graduating USF and interning with long time SID John Gerdes in the Sports Information office, I spent the first decade of my career writing, editing, designing sports at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and then St. Petersburg Times. When I left journalism in 1995, I went to work as the communications director at USF-Sarasota/New College. A year later, we were talking football and then launching with those three odd little intrasquad scrimmages folks might remember in 1996. I helped with the execution of the one in Sarasota. I also got the bright idea that USF was someday going to need its own independent sports publication similar to GatorBait, etc. Why not me? I did a bunch of research to see how I might be able to pull that off and, by 1998, I had a formal business plan to do it and left my job on campus. Thanks to my relationship with John Gerdes (thanks, Puff Daddy!), he was able to get me an audience with then-Athletic Director Paul Griffin to make my pitch. Paul was great, loved the idea and gave me his stamp of approval and some amazing support. He purchased the first group of subscriptions for primary supporters of the program, and allowed me to hitch a ride and a hotel room with the football team. I roomed with school photographer - and long time buddy - Tom Wagner, who also did all the shooting for the publication. Tom later went on to become director of photography for the Tampa Bay Bucs. I produced the publication weekly during football and basketball seasons and monthly during the summer. I had some great contributors who wrote columns from time to time -- Jim Lighthall, T.J. Rives, Brett McMurphy, etc. I did the bulk of the writing, all of the layout, sold the ads, had it commercially printed in Bradenton, stuck mailing labels and bulk-rate mailed it (with my Dad's help). I worked 24/7 to get it done and out to subscribers week after week. My wife and family were unbelievable in their support during this crazy time. In traveling with the team, I got a view of the early days of the program that I now recognize was just amazing. The student-athletes and coaches were - in general - fantastic. I had HUGE support, encouragement and access from Seth Greenberg and his staff, Eddie Cardieri and Jose Fernandez. Football assistants like Mike Canales, Rod Smith, Wally Burnham, Rick Kravitz, Earl Lane, etc. were so amazing to work with. Jim Leavitt was Jekyll and Hyde. He and I had a complicated relationship - although I figure that's his relationship with most people. I have about a thousand stories from those three years of publication that would make you all laugh, cry and everything in between. At one point I had hooked up with superfan Chris Gallen (aka USFreak). He was hosting a site at USFBulls.com and he offered to turn it into USFBullsEYE.com. That worked out nicely as a home for the magazine. I think Brad launched this site not long after. Rivals.com was also in its infant stages then and eventually there was a USF site there run by grad Kevin Ellerbrock and former USF hoops star Brian Lamb. I got to be good friends with them and eventually partnered with them at Rivals.com. After three years publishing as a print product, I was wearing out and the magazine was still not at break even. I'd poured in a lot of sweat and money. I also had a one-year-old daughter. I decided to cease publishing and go solely online at Rivals - a very difficult decision - and go back to work full time. Kevin and Brian had moved on to other things and I then spent the next 7-8 years managing USFBullsEYE.com at Rivals.com. I eventually turned that over to a new publisher around 2008, if memory serves. So many great memories . . . Chilling and shooting the breeze late night in the media lounge with a cigar-smoking Bob Huggins at the C-USA Tournament Sitting with the football team on the tarmac in the middle of the night in Waco waiting for a new charter flight after our original was grounded Lee Roy Selmon! Seeing Lake Gibson High's Matt Grothe for the first time at USF's 7-on-7 and breaking the story of his commitment Being the first news outlet to report that USF would play SDSU in its first game vs. a I-A opponent - and then being there for it! Too many others to recount

You all should know that Brad was always a HUGE supporter behind the scenes and I'll never forget that. He's the most dedicated guy to this cause that there is and we all owe him a debt. Others - like me - have come and gone, but he's been relentless in his USF passion. Cheers to you my brother!

Thanks old buddy!

I'd love to do that and I really appreciate your support during those days and now!

And here's the very first full issue, featuring incoming freshmen Ian Blackwell, Kevin Verpaele and Greg Walls . . . Also in this issue was an interview with Chad Barnhart, Q&A with Paul Griffin, evaluation of the 1999 baseball recruiting class and those lost in MLB draft, feature on Georgia transfer QB Mike Usry, feature on John Kiser and the first USF basketball team, interview with first Herd of Thunder band leader Sid Haton.

I can't remember who it was that asked me to do this, but during the slow summer time I was able to dig out the archives of three years of the old BullsEYE mag. Here's the cover of the first promo issue back in April 1999. This was my blood, sweat and tears from 99-2001. I never worked harder or had more fun. Thought some might like the walk down memory lane. Thanks for indulging me.

I think it's a question that's still being answered.

I agree completely with you, but it looks like he probably has some tools. It's up to the coaching staff to maximize his strengths. Again, that's why we hired our head coach, right? Because of the supposedly great job he did with the pitching staff under Kingston.

It looks like a storefront in a strip mall.

I live in Bradenton, work for a school, and have no idea what or where this Victory Rock Prep is where we're getting these kids. I sure hope it's not one of those factories that result in NCAA penalties down the line.

Bingo! There are a small number of D1 high school seniors every year and the really good ones are scooped up by about six programs not named South Florida.

We don't play a "beefy" game. Jose wants to go up and down.

Don't know how she got out, but she originally signed with Colorado State last fall. They listed her at 6-1.

Get your sunscreen ready! Blistering!

Who's the point guard?

Dude! This is the first time we've ever had naming rights revenue from that building. Embrace it.