Bull94

I don't know if the owners told Dungy he couldn't change the offensive scheme but I wouldn't think they would assert that much control. Maybe they did. I think it was Dungy who ran the ultra conservative offense not the owners. I also think Dungy hired "yes" men to be o.c.'s. Never really giving any power over to them. He has a great Defensive mind but when it comes to the offense he lacks creativity. I don't think he was willing to admit that here. I believe he oversaw much of the play calling and strategy when it came to the offense. He built great D's but imagine how great those teams could have been if they hired someone like a Gruden with some creativity to be O.C. and Dungy gave him full control. Even with the limited talent on the offensive side, they could have achieved great things. I have the utmost respect for CJL and think we can be quite successful on Offense with the right players. I am behind him 100%. I just hope he isn't the stubborn type that feels it is his way or the highway as far as the offense is concerned. I think some of the best coaches realize their shortcomings and aren't afraid to address them by bringing in guys with strengths to match their weaknesses. They generally don't succeed by bringing in guys to amplify their weaknesses by being "yes" men.

I just hope CJL didn't hire Smith to be a "yes" man. If he wasn't willing to give more control to an experienced offensive coach then we could be in trouble. Dungy was so stubborn in Tampa when it came to the offense. Didn't matter who he hired, if he was under his thumb, the offense never worked. I'm not a big fan of the spread but it can work in the right situations. I just hope CJL is flexible enough to realize you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. I feel like this is what we have been doing for 2 years now when we use a t-wing QB to run a spread. CJL should realize his strengths are on the defnsive side and hire someone to take complete control of the offense. Look how well Dungy's offense does in Indy when he has no control of it. He better start recruiting guys to fit his system or change his system to fit the guys he is recruiting. Good head coaches know how to delegate authority. I hope he isn't trying to be a control freak.

BullDoug, The split can mean much more than $20-$40k. I'm not sure of the split either but if the BCS pays $14.5m and the representative gets half ( $7.25m) that leaves another $7.25m to split. 6 ways amounts to $1,208,333. 7 ways = $1,035,714. That's a difference of $172,619. Not an insignificant sum. Plus you have 1 more team vying for the $7.25m each year. I still believe we should add one more to round out the league though. Army and Navy have a much higher following nationally. Didn't ESPN just sign Army to some special deal to show their games nationally? I don't think they would do this for the other CUSA teams even if they were independents. Army and Navy have much more prestegious programs. The SEC should kick out Vandy and invite a more competitive team but they won't. I think they have won like one conference game in the past 10 years.

I could see adding 1 more to replace Temple but they have already replaced the 3 that left for the ACC. It worked fine before. I don't see any need to split BCS money any further. The BCS tried to have ND join a conference and they balked. I would have liked to see them stick it to them. I think the settlement wasn't as harsh as it should have been for ND. If they make the BCS once in 10 years they basically break even. Any less and they make more $$. A watered down league might allow you to have a championship game but would it amount to greater per member revenue after the split? Probably not. Army and Navy have far greater national appeal than any of the others mentioned. They may not add to the strength of schedule but they sure would add to the character of the league. Any deals associated with Army and ND for that matter can be worked around. Both VTech and Miami used this league to grow into big time programs. Why not follow their lead? Don't cheapen the league by adding these others.

There are plenty of alums that live down here too. I'm starting to see gear all over. I have 6 buddies who would buy season tickets if we played at the palace and they all went somewhere other than USF. How many would come from St Pete and Clearwater? Much easier for them to get downtown. By the way the sundome isn't owned or operated by the school. Let them buy their own nice seats and scoreboards if they expect us to play there. I see plenty of students at the local bars in Southie, channelside, and ybor(all of which are spitting distance from the palace). If they can make it for drink specials, they can make it for a few games downtown. Imagine the recruits coming in and seeing the venues we play in. Ray Jay and the palace. Blows any venues in the rest of the state away.

I was just trying to point out how fortunate we were to have played in RJS. I think it was a good thing for Brighthouse to step up and sponsor the spring game. God knows I give them enough of my money. I think they look at it as a long term commitment. Channel 47 looks like it will be dedicated to local sports. Finally we may actually see some basketball and football away games on T.V. ESPN has killed local sports coverage. USF B-Ball used to get tons of play on T.V. locally until ESPN was concerned about taking eyeballs away from their game of the night. I think Brighthouse realizes this was a long term investment. The more attention they can get for USF football, the more they can charge advertisers for USF away games. And the less likely I am to sign up for satellite service. Just think if all diehard fans switched or stay with Brighthouse because they carry USF B-ball and football games. I pay $60 a month. Times that by 4,000 and you get $240,000 a month. Well worth the $20,000 dollars to promote USF football.

An interesting side note. Pitt's spring game was held at a high school field. Wannstedt's first year and Heinz field was closed. They had 8,000 show up. Normally their spring game is held at their on campus practice facility. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=ap-pitt-springgame&prov=ap&type=lgns

Not to say the 2 are anything alike but what if Duke had given up so early? Look at where their program was before Coach K. Very successful. Much more so then ours. Do you think they were all calling for his head after his 3rd year? I bet they were but cooler heads prevailed. Imagine if they fired him for not making the tourney and having a losing record in conference. I think coaches need time to develop programs just like players need time to develop their games. Remember Swifty his first 2 years? I guess Coach K would have been considered a failure until his 4th year since his record only got worse each year until the 4th.17-13 (6-8), 10-17 (4-10), and 11-17 (3-11). They went to the NCAA finals, 2nd round and elite 8 in the 3 years before Coach K. It's not like he inherited a team that hasn't been to the NCAA's in over a decade. They were there 3 years in a row. They won the ACC tourney 2 of 3 years and placed 2nd in the third. Overall record was 73-24 with a conference record of 24-14. His first year was the only winning year of the 3. Of course he did inherit an elite 8 NCAA team. They received an NIT bid. His only of first 3 years. Overall record 38-47. Conference record 13-29. He never made it past quarterfinals of conference tourney. All this with a program with a rich tradition. Bottom line is it will take time to build this program. We're not starting with anything close to what Coach K had at Duke and he went 11-17 (3-11) in his 3rd year.

How do you thing Seth got his latest gig?

beastie, Seth had 7 years to beat Cincy. Couldn't get the job done. Seth had 7 years to beat a top 20 team. Couldn't get the job done. Seth had 7 years to make it past the 2nd round of CUSA. Couldn't get the job done. CRM has been able to do all of these in 2. Seth had 7 years to get an NCAA bid. Couldn't get the job done. Seth was able to get us into the NIT 2 times in 7 years. One and done. Again if you think this is a successful 7 year run then I think you have pretty low expectations. He couldn't match the previous coach. Not even close. He resume doesn't even compare favorably to the current coach anymore. Funny thing about that not being able to beat Cincy excuse. Seth was known for excuses at the end of every year. He always had a reason for not succeeding.

Triple, I agree totally. This year was much more enjoyable than going one and done in the NIT. Great to see we actually can play basketball in the months of Feb and Mar. beastie, If 2 more games had gone our way, it was very possible we would have made the NIT. That means CRM would have been able to go as far as your beloved Seth in just 2 short years of rebuilding. It took Seth 7 years with all of those big time recruits and he couldn't beat Cincy, get us past the 2nd round of CUSA, or beat a top 20 team.  2 NIT bids - one and done. No NCAA's. That's your idea of a successful 7 year run? Would that have been enough to convince you? Gettiing an NIT invite? After all that is all Seth could do with this program.

Some people need to give our CURRENT coach some credit for what he has done. Again, I am a results oriented guy. Potential means nothing unless you actually can tap into it. These recruiting rankings are subjective. Did you notice how Seth's only top 150 recruit just left the team? In his second year, CRM is starting to build quite a resume. He beat a top 20 team, took us farther in the CUSA tourney then we have ever been, and beat Cincy who we haven't been able to beat since 1988. Most exceding what Seth was able to do in 7 years. I wish Seth the best of luck. He wasn't able to produce results here. It was time for him to move on. I was suprised he actually got what was considered to be a promotion. I thought he would have headed for the booth like so many other unsuccessful coaches do. He'll make a good analyst some day. I for one am pretty excited about the future of this program. I think those that are so negative about CRM and so in love with Seth should just go and root for V Tech. I have Gator alum friends who are more positive about our program here at USF than some of you. Sad.

It wasn't on rivals. Unless they consider a 2 star and a 3 star recruit, that are not in the top 150, to be a top 25 class. Maybe you found yourself on the V Tech message board again. They get all warm and fuzzy over Seth too. You people are bilnded by your Seth loyalty. He has recruited 1 player to V Tech that was rated in the top 150 since he has been there. He was a local freshman point guard that left the team in his first year. Get over it. Now if it takes 3-4 years for Seth or Leavitt to develop players, how come you're not willing to give OUR coach the same amount of time?

If he had a top 30 class why doesn't he have a top 30 team? Sounds like he is underperforming as a coach again. It seems as though he has no top 150 recruits coming in. In fact the only guy he has signed that is ranked is a freshman point guard that has left the team. Can you say head-case? How can you have a top 30 class when you don't have anyone ever ranked in the top 150 recruits?? Where do you get info? http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?Sport=2&Year=2005&School=92

I believe the BE helped build the Miami and Virginia Tech programs from near extinction to national powers. It wasn't considered a power conference then either. In fact I would say our situation is very similar to Miami's. Miami made a huge mistake leaving. They had a walk thru schedule to a BCS game. I would rather be the Big Dog in a weak BCS conference than a similarly talented team that is middle of the road in the top conference. Think Texas. If they played in the BE they would play in a BCS game every year. As it is they never get the chance behind OU. Miami now has to split BCS bids with FSU, Va Tech and many others.

bulldad, make sure you give us a report.

I can't believe we scored 80 against one of the best defensive teams in the country. I think I heard them say we have been over 80 5 or 6 times this year? If the role players continue playing like they have, I think we can go toe to toe with alot of teams.

Diarra had that one last night. I about flipped. If you're going to foul a guy going to the basket, make it count.

What's sad but true is that we have always had a mediocre program. I don't recall ever being a top notch program before our current coach. In fact we haven't beaten Cincy in 16 years, we've never been past the 2nd round in CUSA tourney, and haven't beaten  a top 20 team for over a decade until this week. What's sad  but true is that you don't see this as progress. Whats' sad but true is that you call yourself a FAN.

TJ's a Memphis State grad. I know he has said in the past that now he considers himself a Bull. It might be interesting to listen to him while watching.

Beastie, This shows CRM can get his team to peak at the right time. We haven't seen that in awhile. When was the last time we had big wins let alone big wins in March? We don't have the depth to do it all season long yet. When Swifty was sick we had nobody to come in and relieve him. Same thing when we were in foul trouble.  You may say CRM ran everyone off but in reality they quit on the team. They weren't willing to do what it takes. Not much good would have come from having a bunch of quitters on this team and CRM realizes that. These guys are buying into his coaching philosophies and it shows. When the going gets tough.... And by the way, I know you're a pesimist and all but WE STILL ARE LOOKING AT THE NCAA"S !!!

Does anybody notice we don't have any quitters left on this team? They all quit already. Good riddance. Great job CRM. He cleaned house and all we have left are guys that buy into his system. That is what coaching is all about. Getting these guys to believe.

nice post BB2k. Anybody know CD's condition for tonights game? He looked pretty hobbled in the few minutes he played last night. I hope he can go. We could really use him. Our role players have been playing great the last 2 games. Hope this continues.

Cyber, You have to give CRM time to build momentum in his recruiting efforts. It takes time to rebuild. Alot of these kids are being recruited from the time they hit high school. You can't expect any new coach to come into a program in the shape ours is in and say I want top 150's only. He's already beaten a top 20 team and gotten us past the first round of CUSA. These kids will start to notice if we keep this up. He seems to be a great motivator and has this overachieving team peaking at the right time. I remeber BB and Altron disappearing for the big games. Seth wasn't able to get these guys to play when he needed them to. Our team would disappear late in the season. It's nice to know that basketball is actually played in March.

Man, you detractors will not give the coach any credit. Did you see the setup on the final inbounds play for Houston? Did you hear the announcer talk about what a great strategic setup it was and then Houston turned it over. He sounded more like a Bulls fan and CRM fan than some on this board. You must at least admit that he has the team peaking at the right time. It's nice to see us play ball at the end of the year. We used to be able to stop watching before Feb and not miss a thing.