bjef4844

Feel free to fact check it, but I don't think our attendance under QF, when we were ranked, was at the same level as when we were ranked and playing in the Big East.

Complete agree. Particularly, no one showed up for the QF days because the Tampa Bay area doesn't care about the AAC. Kelly noted that <1% of all alumni have ever, at any point, contributed to the athletic department - that has to change, but most alumni look at their time at USF as a transactional relationship and that's it. UCF did make the investment and it certainly had paid off, and while I am supportive of USF making that move the money has to come from somewhere and you still have to have a strategy on how to use it wisely, otherwise you just burry yourself in debt.

I know many USF fans where this is the one game they attend every two years, but agree that UCF give attendance a bump.

That's what is going to happen until the program gets turned around. Its an uphill battle to carve out a space among programs that have generations of a head start on us, but we have known that from the start.

Correct. The area doesn't want to see AAC teams (e.g. Tulsa, Temple, Tulane) that are not UCF, so Kelly has created a non-conference schedule that will engage the disengaged USF fan and the broader Tampa Bay area. USF has the best non-conference HOME schedule of any G5 team and its not even close.

Nothing short of amazing on what Kelly has done with our non-conference HOME schedule. The Tampa Bay area has announced loudly that they are not interested in seeing AAC teams outside of UCF, so the non-conference schedule Kelly has pulled together will (a) give something for fans to get excited to see and (b) give the program an opportunity for a marquee win to generate interest for the remainder of the year. Home games over the next 9 years that should generate a big gate include Florida (2021), Florida A&M (2021), BYU (2022), Alabama (2023), Florida A&M (2023), Louisville (2024), North Carolina State (2024), Boise State (2025), Bethune-Cookman (2026), Miami (2027), Florida A&M (2027) and Notre Dame (2029). That's 6 P5 home games over the next 9 years, with an opportunity to add more.

Happy Easter everyone!

I think this is the biggest risk to Gregory. If he had knowledge of the two separate issues and all he did was make Herrion apologize in an attempt to "help the player(s) get past it", then there has to be some level of accountability. The problem with firing him now is that transfers are already coming in expecting Gregory as the HC, and landing a viable long term replacement becomes more challenging with the timing and the circumstances. If Kelly does decide to fire Gregory, the best path may be to just give Wagers or Dixon the interim tag for the incoming season like Wichita State did with Isaac Brown. With Gregory and Herrion gone, they might have a chance to keep a couple of the guys that entered the portal.

For Herrion that's a simple yes or no, but the investigation will also delve into what Gregory knew and how he dealt with it, and that may be where Kelly is getting his ducks in a row.

Since there was some reporting that USF was looking to get out of Strong's buyout "for cause" (not sure whatever happened with that), I wonder if Kelly is trying to get his ducks in a row so he can fire Gregory for cause and avoid paying the $435k bout. But I agree - Kelly won't fire CBG until he feels immense pressure to do so, or until he can find a way to get out of paying the buyout.

I think 4-8 is my expectation for this year. Their worst case scenario is possible if we haven't found a capable quarterback and agree with the 7-5 ceiling, but again contingent on what kind of quarterback we have. My second expectation, barring significant injuries, is that the team has forged an identify by the back half of the season and playing better than they were in the front half. That's it. Other than that, I am going to take a page out of the playbook of most people on this board - keep my expectations low so I can be happy, while, of course, sprinkling in the occasional critique.

No. CCS was given a pretty loaded team (relative for USF) and was an arsonist who burnt the program to the ground. Scott has been left to pick up the ashes of what Strong left behind.

@Triple Bisn't saying people need 3 years to show improvement "in any facet of anything". Recruiting and developing over 3 years is reasonable and necessary to allow HIS guys to get into HIS system, learn it and demonstrate it in games. The 3 years is a function of recruiting cycles and roster turnover, and that there are only 12 games to demonstrate applied learning in game action. I was wrong in saying CWT should have been fired midway through his 3rd year. Scott came into a bad situation and as a first-time coach, so patience - as hard as it may be to have - is what is prudent here.

Wow. Invoking the Marshall plane crash to emphasize your point, because you know, those are only comprable because they are 1st year rebuilds. You are too extreme even for me puc. If we get a movie made about us Frankie Muniz should play Jeff Scott, Bryan Cranston can play Micheal Kelly and Bobb'e Thompson can play McCloud.

Meant @puc86 not you. I guess you have just been on my mind a lot lately, and I have just missed you and your loving words of encouragement!

I am pretty optimistic about this upcoming season, I think 4-8 is the floor and if we can get a little lucky we might go bowling this year.

@chapelbull is all over the football program like I am all over the basketball program.

Amen brother.

Proof or ban!

He is moving because he wants a different house than the one he has today.

100% yes start over NOW. I don't see how a starting 5 of Murphy, Chaplin, Tchewa and whatever the portal tide washes up is going to get us to the NCAAT/NIT next season. Honestly, this team may struggle to get to double digit wins next year. We are just delaying the inevitable.

By the time Gregory is done here it may be just as big of a dumpster fire that what Antigua left us with. The only difference was under Gregory we had that magical 6-game run against the blue blood programs of Stony Brook, Hidden Valley Ranch U. Loyola Marymount and Big East powerhouse DePaul to win a pay-for-play tournament. I'd so the ROI on that expenditure must be pretty poor after the fact. I've never seen a guy build something so promising so quickly and then have it go to crap so quickly. And if at the end of 4 years you don't know if he is THE answer, then you are never going to know.

It will be interesting to see when the dust settles which players actually landed in a better situation. Some people want change so bad they don't care if its good or bad, they just want change - just look at the 2016 presidential election as a perfect example.

So, we now stand to lose 72% of our scoring from last season, 72% of our rebounds and 71% of our assists, but by all means let's keep the unsuccessful head coach that none of these kids want to play for. Gregory may survive the investigation, but there is no way this clown survives the disaster that we are all being set up for next season. Looking forward to seeing who Kelly hires as HC 12 months from now.

Its going to be net zero once Gregory fills the remaining scholarships, but I don't think that should make anyone feel any better unless the replacements are upgrades over what we had.