MikePhillips

I think they last time we beat an FBS team was before COVID? Maybe a little after?

 get a .500 season and the attendance will triple

I only have 1% battery life, but Dion was in the athletics building today next to the baseball field. The first thing he said, is that the Wizard stays... the second thing is in regards to the war flamingos. He said he wa

I really hope it's Dion. The only thing that saves USF is good recruiting. 

Good recruiting + terrible USF coaching = average season 

We historically always had terrible coaching, terrible strength training, terrible nutrition and terribly undersized players..

But if we have a head coach that can recruit, we can balance out the awful coaches with good players for an average season.

Not win the conference average, bowl game eligible average. 

We need a recruiting coach... 

10 minutes ago, Bull Awakening said:

The question is who is He??

Can't get my good buddy in trouble.... It's not hard to figure out

My rumor mill is telling me, that if he does not come here, that he simply didn't want to coach here

Rumor is they are offering him a HUGE salary, with an even larger one (possibly double) if he gets us into a better conference

But they are 100% willing to pay him 4-5 times what he is currently making  (750k) to come here

If he does not come here, its because he simply didn't want to coach here, not because the money isn't being offered.

(very, VERY reliable source)

1 hour ago, BDYZR said:

God I hope the bar hasn’t been set that low.

a .500 season would be historic LOL

Whoever gets us to .500, is going to score HUGE on their next coaching job at another school,  the following year

1 hour ago, Bull Nut said:

Overall coaching record 7-17

almost a .500 win percentage.. not bad! 

Jeff Scott was 4-26... .153 win percentage

1-19 in our conference... 5% win percentage? 

Larry Scott - 

Original USF player from the 1997 team

Was part of USF's coaching staff when USF was in it's prime in the mid-2000's

Was an interim head coach at UM

Was part of UF's coaching staff

Currently the head coach of Howard 

Has probably 20 years of college football coaching experience

Would STAY with us even after doing good

He's part of the heart and soul of this program, played AND coached under Jim Leavitt

And most importantly... I used to be friends with him in Fontana Hall LOL

My absolute #1 pick - Larry Scott

28 minutes ago, Triple B said:

Our #1 problem for the last decade was not hitting on the right coach or the right support. Infrastructure was not the main problem.

Genshaft's top priority while she was here was academics, there's no denying that and considering what a university is there for, it's hard to find fault with that being her monetary focus. She cared about Athletics (enough to donate $1M to the IPF and to try and embarrass asswipe students who wore other school's hats to our sporting events} but probably too much considering the decisions she was apparently responsible for ..... the letting go of what she apparently perceived as under performing coaches. Another thing she was, I assume, responsible for was the academic committee which didn't do Athletics any favors at the time either.

So if you want to keep this hammering on Judy, fine, she definitely deserves it for some things ........ but the lack of infrastructure is a small part of why we're where we are today.

We are ALWAYS going to have a new coach... ALWAYS

We are a bus stop, for coaches going up or going down, but no coach will ever stay here more than 3-4 years. None

We will most likely have a new coach in 2024... then another new coach in 2028... then another new coach in 2032... then another new coach in 2036... then another new coach in 2040...

guaranteed... 

No one will ever stay here for even 1/3rd as long as we had Leavitt.

With the upgraded locker rooms, with the IPF and hopefully the OCS, we are building a better bus stop

 

Our #1 problem for the last decade, is that we kept trying to build our program around our coach

No infrastructure, no investment in facilities, our locker room sucked, we didn't have an IPF and we didn't have an OCS

USF will have a new coach, every 3-4 years from now until eternity... if they are good, they will move up for better money... if they suck, they'll be fired

But no coach will stay here more than 3-4 years... not a single one.

Right now, it's a dumpster fire until we get some more facilties built. Just let Jeff Scott stand there and hold the firehose

Genshaft is finally gone and out of the way of athletics, hence the reason why so many positive things have happened since she left USF as president.

The locker rooms were massively upgraded, and the IPF was built immediately upon Genshaft's retirement. OCS is coming next

Just leave CJS where he is, we've gone through almost a half dozen coaches in the last 15 years... and none of them got us anywhere 

Leave him where he is.. keep building the infrastructure.

The problem is that when you a program that had zero infrastructure, on a commuter campus... who we had as head coach was everything

Because it was the ONLY thing...

The program was originally built around Leavitt. No IPF, no decent locker room, no OCS... Leavitt

Add 19 years under Caster (who didn't want football), and then we lose Leavitt halfway through her tenure

We just spent 2 million updating the locker room, we just finished the IPF, the OCS is coming....

Which is perfect for the climate of college football now. We are in a bottom rung conference, where coaches go 1 of 2 ways - fired for poor performance, or leave after a couple years once the program gets average (Taggert). 

We made the mistake of building our football program around the coach. But coaches come and go!

And there are over 100 colleges above us, and NFL jobs above us, that they are eye'ing the instant they start here. 

Leavitt wanted to build something HERE at USF...

But none of these new coaches shared his same mentality, and we will never have that again. 

UCF proved this.... they proved that if you build the physical infrastructure (even with losing seasons), as coaches come and go, your program's traditions and infrastructure remain intact.

99% of what you see at UCF, was planned and built during terrible, embarssing seasons... but it was built. They built it! They built the infrastructure  and they built the traditions

You can laugh all you want at the bounce house, but we'll NEVER play OUR bowl game here, there like they did here at Raymond James. 

Knowing now... that coaches are only going to be here at USF for 2-3 years max.. now we can focus on the TANGIBLE things that ensure success. Culture, infrastructure, brand, partnerships, etc

In the next 10 years, we will have 3-5 different coaches.... in the next 15 years, we will have 4-6 different coaches... in the next 20 years, we will have 5-10 different coaches. Over the next 30 years, we will have 7-10 different coaches

The coaches are going to constantly come and go. If they suck, they are fired. If they are good, they move up. Mark my words, no one will stay at USF longer than 4 years for the life of this program.. it'll never happen.

So knowing this, infrastructure is EVERYTHING. Brand is EVERYTHING. Traditions are EVERYTHING.. you can't establish any of those, under a President who doesn't want football (Castor), using a rented stadium, practicing on the IM fields. 

USF in 10 years will drastically different than we are now. We are basically a 4 year old program

Year 1 - Castor retires from USF

Year 2 - massive renovation and upgrade to the football locker rooms

Year 3 - IPF begins construction

Year 4 - OCS is being planned

There is no coicidence.. Castor didn't want ANY of that, and it all took place IMMEDIATELY after she left

And please don't think that my comments about Judy, reflect her negatively in any way,in regards to her leadership academically at USF or her as a person. Judy Genshaft was nothing short of one of the most amazing campus presidents we ever had. She is a very powerful, very charismatic and extremely intelligent person.

I absolutely loved her as a campus president, and a community leader. 

This is a picture of her, taking the time to shake hands with my daughters at the USF games many years ago. She was so sweet to them, she looked at them as said "Guess what? When you Daddy went to my school... I was his principal!" LOL

But... it was no secret that she didn't feel athletics was important to USF, including the football team. 

Judy Genshaft was an amazing campus president... but just not for athletics LOL

This is when I knew we were in trouble... we just never recovered from this point.... 

I was already starting my optimism for next season... 

Fact - Playing video games you played as a kid, doesn't bring back the same feelings of joy and happiness you experienced as a kid

Fact - Bringing back Leavitt after a 15 year absense, will not feel the same as it did in the early 2000's.. 

How good would you perform, at a job that you brutally fired from? That went public? That went nationwide?

CJL wouldn't come back as the same person he left... actually quite the opposite... 

I would have loved to see Larry Scott as our head coach... if we are going to go 1 and 9, I'd rather just give the money and the HC position to someone who was a founding player at USF. 

I genuinely think we missed the board with Larry Scott. Larry Scott is the closest thing we could have gotten to Jim Leavitt. 

* Larry Scott did great at USF as an Offense Coach from 2005 to 2013 (O-Line, Tight Ends, Running Backs, etc).. Remember the #2 team? The sold out stadium vs QVU? Larry Scott was on the coaching staff! 

* Larry Scott did great at UF as a Tight Ends coach, when UF went 10-3 for the season

* Larry Scott did great as the interim Head Coach at UM... 

Maybe I'm biased because I personally knew him at USF when we all lived in Fontana together... But ****.... I would have loved to see Larry Scott as our coach

Anyone who wants Jim Leavitt to return, needs to get on the Larry Scott bandwagon. Larry Scott is a USF OG and I'd rather go through this hell with him, that some rando' coach from Clemson who's going to go 2-36 or whatever before he gets canned

I just read that Joel Miller, the player in the middle of the Leavitt termination, died in 2017

I wasn't ready to hear that. He died at the age of 29 years old... 29!

That really, really broke my heart. I had no idea until just now
 

Joel Miller, USF player at center of Jim Leavitt dismissal, dies

22 hours ago, smazza said:

you blame her and not the coach that hit the student

interesting

Every single one of USF's signature, marquee accomplishments took place in the 2000's.... did Judy take the opportunity to expand on any of it?

We sell out RayJay in 2007 vs WVU - zero support from Judy for investing, or expanding football facilities

Ranked #2 in the country in 2007 - zero support from Judy for investing, or expanding football facilities

Bottom line is that we had the opportunity to FINALLY build a brand in Tampa with USF in the 2000's under her Presidency... and she wanted nothing to do with it

Imagine what could have been -

2006 - we begin talks about IPF, OCS and Locker room

2007 - 2010 - we build the IPF and OCS

2009 - Leavitt departs USF

2010 - we update the locker rooms

UCF did exactly this!!! They built their IPF in 2004, built their OCS in 2007.. and they've had 4 different coaches in the last 10 years...

But guess what? the infrastructure of the program stays in place when the Head Coach leaves. 

The bottom line is that we had nearly two decades of Judt Genshaft leadership at USF, that never wanted to invest in the football program, or try to build any sort of brand. 

When she arrived? We had a rented stadium and an intramural field for them to practice on.

When she left nearly 20 years later... still a rented stadium and an intramural field for them to practice on. 

The reality is that football coaches only stay with a program for 2-3 years TOPS these days... you can't build a program around a coach.

You have to build a brand first, and then let the coaches come and go.

UCF did this, USF did not.

You don't see their opposing teams, coming to UCF's home field and playing their bowl games there. 

USF's program has no home, no soul, no roots, nothing.

And this was all be design, Judy didn't support athletics, she wanted her research and endowment fund.

The first half of the game, is the game

You can't say "we had a great second half" rolling into halftime. behind 4 touchdowns

The other team took their foot off the gas, you didn't "adjust" or "come back". They just stopped playing

"They really came alive in the second half..." = they played alot better against the 2nd string and backups

The curse was the president who was in charge, for 19 of the 25 years of USF Football's existence

She wanted nothing to do with USF football, and her attitude reverberated from the top down

The curse is the motto of "USF is a research university, not an athletics university"

USF cares about it's endowment fund. Not athletics, and certainly not football

USF football isn't 25 years old. It's 3 years old, it was born the day Judge Genshaft left the university.

Notice everything we've done, that we should have done 20 years ago, took place the instant she left? Locker room upgrades, IPF, OCS... NONE of those things would have taken place if Judy was still in charge

As someone who started at USF in 1996, a year before we even had a program

As someone who lived with USF players in Fontana Hall, in the late 1990's

As someone who has a football used in the the first ever game

The #1 biggest white elephant in the room... is that the culture for USF football is broken.. And it all leads to Judy Genshaft

She NEVER cared about USF football... or the positive effects it could have on the university, the campus, the school spirit, nothing

Genshaft was the President of USF from 2000 to 2019

If you ignore the first three years of USF football's existence, Judy Genshaft was the non-supportive President of USF for nearly 90% of USF football's existence

And if you ask people who are deeply entrenched in the program, she had VERY little enthusiam or support for USF Football. And it shows

Notice how the locker rooms got updated (2020-2021), almost immediately after she leaves? 

Notice a year later after she leaves, we start working on the IPF (2021)?

Notice 2 years after she leaves, we start discussing an On Campus Stadium?

Look at years 2000-2019.... ZERO investment in USF Football.

All the marquee wins, all the standings, all the momentum we had in the 2000's... she did NOTHING with it because she didn't support it. 

The instant she leaves? Updated locker rooms (2020), IPF starts to get built (2021), on campus stadium starts to become a real discussion (2025)

That's some coincidence, that the instant Judy Genshaft leaves, we start investing in the program?

FACT - Our program is in the condition it's in right now, because we had a University President that did not support the program, and our culture was broken from the top down.

USF football was basically born in 1997, and was put in jail for 19 years from 2000-2019... and is NOW finally getting the support it needs... 

The program isn't 25 years old, it's 3 years old.. it re-started in 2020 when Genshaft left the office of President

It's no coincedence, that the major investments we've seen in USF football (locker room, IPF, OCS, etc) have ALL taken place after she left. 

Firing Jeff Scott would do us absolutely no good... we've already gone through a half dozen coaches in the last decade or more

We've had a dumpster fire of a program for the last 15 years... At some point, we have to just stop trying new firefighters and just need to leave one in place for a while with a garden hose

Jeff Scott will 100% leave us, the instant he turns this program around, he's gone... 100%...we don't need to force him out, he'll leave on his own once he gets this team bowl eligible. So why fire him and waste money we don't have

Until we have some infrastructure in this program (IPF and OCS), we have zero chances of keeping ANY head coach, the instant we have a winning season. 

This is what 25 years of neglect gets you, trying to run a college football team on a shoestring budget.

In 1997, we were using a rented stadium, and practicing on the old intramural fields.. same thing today

25 years straight... never once capitalizing on any previous success or windfalls. Neve rinvested much of anything into the program, even on the good years

Keep Jeff Scott in place until we get the IPF and OCS built, regardless of our record. We don't have a choice, we need SOME sort of consistency. We've already tried the revolving door of coaches, that didn't work either. 

17 hours ago, Rocky Style said:

I saw the tribute they did on the screen.  It was very cool!

They did an amazing job!! We were blown away and were so happy!! I went home with a big smile and a full heart

That tweet means the coach has lost the respect of the players

"They'll soon see what's really going on"

I interpret that as "The public will soon see that it's not the players, it's the coaching / coaches causing the problems"

Pretty scary stuff to post, that's for sure... and he obviously doesn't care about beign repremanded for posting something like that

Pretty sure Coach Scott has lost this team already

he's a huge USF supporter.. you see him at the basketball games all the time. 

Wanted to leave 10 minutes into it when they were up 28-0 and started pulling their starters off the field

But I was waiting for the 3rd period for this... 

then I left...