usf97

I think what we are seeing with Jeff Scott could be categorized as "Southern Football Family Culture". Similar to a Terry or Tommy Bowden. In this case, Michael Kelly found himself in a bind and said I will reach out to friend, Dabo Swinney and see if he can do me a favor. Dabo found a "family" member (Jeff Scott) a nice job where there would be no pressure (likely a commitment made by Kelly) where he could "learn on the job". Jeff is trying to implement "Clemson" culture. Unfortunately there is no precedence that this "Clemson culture" will function at this level. It's quite the grand experiment. Given enough time, maybe it'll work. I tend to doubt it. Leavitt and Taggart seemed to provide USF the blueprint with our limited resources. Get an athlete that everyone wants to play a different position (Blackwell, Grothe, Quinton, BJ Daniels). Tell him he can play QB at your school. Then recruit speedy, tenacious defensive players. Then don't hold the players to a high a level of discipline standards or they won't commit to your school. Rinse and repeat. Unfortunately, I believe the admins don't want that kind of reputation regardless of the results on the field, thus we keep turning back a more squeaky clean image (Holtz & Scott). Might as well let it all play out. I think the fans just need to accept the USF admins want us to be Tulane or Rice. That may be the compromise required to get them to actually invest in athletics.

Just gotta see if we can get UAB, Southern Miss, Army, Charlotte, St. Louis, DePaul & Marquette to join us.

Funny thought. Many suggest if only we could have an OCS and attain AAU status, we would be in a better situation. The university of Buffalo has both of those things and is looking to see if they can get into the AAC with us.

It is a valid point about the cost of running a football program at this level versus the marketing benefit to the school. I don't know what the answer is. Up until the building of the IPF, the school hasn't really dropped big $ on football. Sure we have the practice fields, the existing offices and the coaches salaries but in the grand scheme of things, USF hasn't spent that much on football. Now if you are planning to build an IPF and an OCS, you better hope it is worth it. IF USF stays in an AAC or CUSA type conference and has a solid 20k fan support typically, is it worth that kind of investment or would you be better off cutting bait like it appears UConn is doing? It sounds like they plan on moving forward but if football is outlawed in say 20-30 years due to concussions....I would say there is at least an argument to look into if that kind of investment is wise.

I don't think you understand how college football works. USF is NEVER going to sit "at the big boy table". What just happened recently wasn't UH, BYU, UCF & Cincy joining the Big Boy Table.....it was OSU, TTU, Baylor were REMOVED from the Big Boy Table.

You know this was baked into the cake a long time ago. I think my biggest take from the last 10 or so years of watching USF football is it was pretty amazing what Jim Leavitt pulled off. Sure USF was fortunate in some of it's relationships to get called up to CUSA and then the Big East but Jim really did a lot with not a lot of resources. I recall how frustrated with Leavitt I was in 2009 and really had let the high of the FSU win really skew my perception. But he was prophetic in his comment that USF would not be great. He knew what was coming. I think the best thing that USF could do is see if he would ever accept a Jim Leavitt day in the future. October 16th when SMU is on a bye week, fly him in, bring his mom in and have a little halftime event.

One of the toughest upcoming schedules ever, coming off worst record ever. Viola

Gotta love this pic of Brock Nichols. Looks like he's about to run through a wall.....and then another.

When I saw this headline....I thought it was going to be about this guy..... Brett McMurphy is heading from Stadium to The Action Network After time at ESPN (2012-17) and Stadium (2018-present), college football reporter Brett McMurphy is moving over to The Action Network.

Millions stolen from health fund spent at adult website A former accounts manager for a nonprofit affiliated with the University of South Florida's medical school has pleaded guilty to embezzling almost $13 million...

Oh....NOW is the time... I didn't realize that.

WVU finds itself in a very strange position. It's never been an academic juggernaut. Attendance in declining. State population is declining. It will be interesting to see what options they have in the future.

Trip is there a way to find out how many Active Board members are still posting in this thread and what is the post count? Going to page 1 is like going in the wayback machine seeing all the posters of days past.

This thread makes me think that maybe EA sports should develop a "Conference Realignment" Video Game. There clearly is a demand for such content. You could pick any team be it Wake Forest or South Alabama and you could navigate all the political infighting until you were invited to play in the Big 10 or SEC. The final scene would be you getting your media rights check!

Ah, the media. The current USF media is downright soft and positive compared to the Brett McMurphy, Martin Fennelly & Steve Duemig days. Then add in the usual Orlando Sentinel writers like David Whitley, Bianchi and Andrea Adelson (who then took her anti-USF/Big East toxicity with her to ESPN) and the lack of coverage is nearly refreshing compared to all the negative media we had to deal with. Here's a walk through memory lane for the old timers. USF Football: Source Says Backups Speak BS; He's Too Leavitt To Quit Word around the University of South Florida campus is former head football coach Jim Leavitt’s “slapping” incident wouldn’t have leaked if senior wide receiver Colby Erksin...

Scott is going to be given an incredibly long leash in my opinion. I think it is obvious what the USF admin's really want in a football coach. They want a nice guy/ face of the program that looks competent in press conferences. They also hope that he can have enough success on the football field to keep the natives happy. It's the same as the Skip Holtz hire. Scott kinda reminds me of the Will Forte coach character in the SNL Peyton Manning in the attached link. Anatomy of a Sketch: How Will Forte Made Dance-Magic With Peyton Manning This is how one of Will Forte’s favorite sketches of all time came together.

We are on our way!

Well we will certainly meet or exceed expectations this year.

I think the fan base would do themselves a lot of good to reframe how they see UCF. They are just another school that happens to be in the region. Being with them or without them is really no big deal either way. Why compare ourselves to them? You don't worry about FIU, FAU, FGCU or the University of Tampa. Each schools goals are very different. What does USF spend their money on? What does UCF spend it's money on. I know their fans are obnoxious but why care? T here's good and bad people over there just like there is at USF. McKenzie Milton seems like a good kid and I hope he does well at FSU. Dante Culpepper was fun to watch back in the day. If we play UCF regularly fine. Personally, I don't really enjoy beating or playing UCF. In my mind, its like playing ECU or Memphis or Houston. I root for USF regardless. But if we don't play UCF and they are in a different conference, whatever. We were in a conference with Pitt, SU, Rutgers, WVU & Louisville and I don't sit back and envy their current situations.

USF has come a long way in 25 years. Going from what was viewed as a commuter school along the lines of HCC (with no football) to US News Ranked Public School #46 and national recognition. A USF degree is considered the same value in an education as Temple (at triple the tuition price) and Colorado & Oregon (double the tuition). USF has a lot to be proud of and sure the football team isn't that entertaining but this is a university first. It represents the Tampa community. Tampa is better off for having USF and USF is better off for having a football team and athletics. What the football program did back in the 2000's with a shoestring budget, a rabid coach and some good connections in CUSA was something spectacular and unprecedented. I don't think that early success should tarnish what the school is attempting to build. I see what they are trying to do but it's going to take some time. I'd rather Kelly be honest with the fanbase and alumni than try and sell us that things are going great like he initially tried to do after his 1st season with Charlie Strong.

Sounds like Greg McDermott with Creighton....well except for the winning part.

My favorite Michael Kelly quote from 11/30/18 as to his reasoning for keeping calm and not making a change from Charlie Strong. "I could look at silly at any time, but I really believe he wants to be here," Kelly said. Likely, Kelly didn't have the authority to make the change due to the financial implications but I still like that he thought that would be a reasonable explanation for it.

Agree but to your earlier point....the reason these country bumpkins in many cases are successful is the support of boosters and the decades old "system" that has been in place in those communities that care so much about the outcome of college football. I don't believe Mack Brown and Phillip Fulmer are great coaches yet they each have a national championship. Likely those "systems" assisted in their endeavors even though they sound like country bumpkins also. I believe Jeff Scott is just a product of that pre-existing system. Obviously, CJS is not in one of those communities that values his "cultural heritage" at present but I imagine he one day hopes to be. Thus, the way he speaks could actually be beneficial to him in this one industry whereas it would likely be an impediment to him in almost every other career.

And where is Nick Saban from? Probably one of the most country bumpkin states in the Union. You got to go back to Urban in 2014 to find a non country bumpkin NCAA champ coach..... well unless you want to count Scott Frost.

FYI, ED Orgeron and Dabo Swinney aren't known for their articulation. Being a country bumpkin actually seems to be beneficial in college football unlike the NFL. Wonder why that might be?