Ghostbuster

1 hour ago, Jim Johnson said:

Counterpoint: There is another aspect that resonates and hurts recruiting, and is likely a big reason why USF only has six commitments at this point.  The widespread discussion about whether or not this coach, and the rest of the staff, will be here past Thanksgiving weekend.  If you were a HS prospect being recruiting by someone who will be gone before you get there, would you make a commitment? Or keep your options open until it all shakes out at the end of the year?

Great counterpoint.  Which way *actually* affects recruiting more?  I don't know... Again why I would like a smarter article that presents those arguments and tries to answer (if there is an answer)

Nothing in the article that hasn't been covered a lot already.  At least before they tried looking at coaching records and comparing success levels.

7 minutes ago, Sk00b said:

I'm in the camp... Buddy just can't get it done unfortunately. 

"Would you want a job that fired three of its last four coaches after three seasons each"

It's a valid point in isolation.  You don't want to fire ppl constantly.  But at this point no reasonable person would say "How could you fire this guy after he only won a single FBS game in 3 years?".

To be honest I wonder how it looks to recruits.  Objectively it's a lot easier/quicker to point at the losses coupled with his extension and say "guess they don't care about winning".  (Heck, look at how many of our own fans say that) It's a lot harder to convey "well he was hired during COVID, our facilities have been lagging, we had to turn to a true freshman one year and this year we were snake bitten by injuries".

So my question is at what point does it become a liability, and you have other coaches saying "Look USFs coach doesn't know how to win and you're going to be stuck with a culture that doesn't care about winning because they can't".  *Regardless of how true that sentiment is* I fear it could resonate and hurt our recruiting.

Would love for an article to address that and tell me how off or on the mark I am about it.

11 minutes ago, Who'sYourData? said:

I don't see why he wouldn't come back, unless one of the young guys really takes off during the last five games.  He would be pretty much the undisputed #1 and things were starting to gel.  One would hope the offense would take another step up next year with him at the helm.

I was thinking he might have doubts about returning to a team where things went so spectacularly wrong.  Maybe he decides to try a different team with a defense that doesn't force you to score every drive.

So does Gerry even bother coming back next year?  Would we rather just move on entirely at this point?  

And oh let's not forget our QB next year gets Bama in game 3.

3 hours ago, cophbulls said:

I'd also would like to point out that this board, in the past, was in absolute melt-down mode. Im seeing a lot, A LOT, of positive posts, either we are growing accustomed to losing or maybe there is something we are right on the edge with. 

I think many of us are desperate for something positive.  If I'm being honest with myself, it's a bit of "accustomed to losing" because my standards are so low.  Right now having two games in a row of not being blown out feels like progress.  Hell we've had extended periods of leading during these games.

Like I said, low bar but what's the alternative at this point?  Just keep being upset even though the situation is likely not changing (in ways I might think are best).  At least right now there's a *hope* that if we get healthy we may have more games like UF/Cincy/Tulane and never see the likes of Louisville/ECU/BYU again.

But if we get blown out... meltdown mode will be back with a vengeance.

9 minutes ago, OhioBull said:

What I see is a team figuring it out.  Once they do, watch out.  I truly believe that.  Once this team gets over the hump I think many people are going to be shocked at quickly things change.  Don't give up hope fellow Bulls.  We are right there, just keep cheering to get over that hump.  It is going to happen and happen soon.  I think in the next couple of games it is going to happen.  Maybe I'm delusional, but I truly believe that.

The biggest issue right now is the defense can't seem to play a full 4 quarters.  Against Tulane they had a few good stops and some big plays....But they also allowed the end of the first half score, the 75 yard run, allowed multiple wide open receivers, etc.

Offensively the team is getting better.  Even with Marsh in at QB, we still scored 17 which was more than we did in the first half with GB.  That was a pleasant surprise.  I mean, I've been conditioned to watching backups flail ever since Daniels got hurt at the end of Holtz' tenure.  Instead, someone who was 3rd string a few weeks before the season began, and was in the transfer portal last year, threw some nice balls and led TD drives.  (The fumble of course stunk but I think the playcall wasn't wise with that field position)

I just have no idea how the defense figures out their issues before the season ends.  Maybe it's caused by injuries and we get enough players back...I hope so.  

Gerry is on the sideline with a sling covered by his shirt.  Not hopeful about future games

Fug fug fug fug fug

1 hour ago, Brad said:

I have a club access ticket for you.  If your email is in your profile you should have it soon..

Thanks, really appreciate it!  Worked like a charm.

48 minutes ago, Brad said:

Still searching?

Yes.  Driving at moment so not staying top of posts..

If anyone wants to give a single ticket and or a parking pass to a good home...I would appreciate it.  Thanks.

On 10/11/2022 at 2:50 PM, Outlaw said:

Section 131 row c aisle seats 

I could use 1 if no takers...

12 minutes ago, BrowardBull17 said:

Out of town for a wedding and will transfer via ticketmaster app. 

I could use a single ticket if one still available 

14 minutes ago, UCF_rustbucket said:

Lmao touché

(Trust me I would kill for ucfs on field success right now)

11 minutes ago, smazza said:

we should look to their staff for our next head coach

We already have a staff that couldn't beat  Louisville, thank you very much.

We can aim higher...just avoid the "co-coordinators" at bigger programs and find someone with good coaching experience.

Jeff Scott is to "crying during press conferences"

As

Jim Leavitt is to "slapped and choked player" at halftime

Both can be used by people who didn't see it to justify firing...

(There are real things to not like but I watched the presser, he wasn't buckling under the weight of the job...dude talked about a sensitive player issue)

1 hour ago, Gatorbull325 said:

What is cherry picked? We had 9 sacks all of last season and now we have 9 sacks in the first 6 games. I simply compared numbers. You can feel how you want to feel about the numbers I pulled up and compared. 

56 minutes ago, puc86 said:

it’s a sad state of affairs when a few positive statements draws ire. If you had made grandiose extrapolations from your data, I see how that triggers people (mostly because I would have been the first one on the attack) but here are few improvements I found interesting and wanted to share really shouldn’t anger people or make them feel they need to confront you with their data 

The "too long didn't read" version is I'm sorry if saying 'cherry picked' insulted the work you had done.  My main beef is that the more well known/prominent stats do not look like improvement and blaming the schedule doesn't hold up to me.

The longer version is:

I made a one sentence comment about "cherry picked" and then proceeded to explain in great detail why I think "blaming the schedule" and claiming we would be 3-2 was wrong.  I'm not trying to harp on someone for trying to find "some" positives, but the title of this thread wasn't "we have some positives over 2021" it's "we have improved" over 2021.

Pedantic on my part?  Sure.  But I had just seen a depressing tweet visualizing USFs offensive and defensive ranks and then saw the title of this thread and got my hopes up that there was something big overlooked.

Instead I got hit right outta the gate with "if not for schedule we'd be better" and yeah that set me off;  And if puc doesn't want to make the case that that argument isn't good I will.

Going back to my "cherry picking" phrase- if I have to explain it, sure in retrospect it could seem a little harsh and or derisive of the work done to find bright spots in stats.  I wasn't intending to belittle the effort, but I was expressing that those stats (while many) are more minor stats than traditionally talked about stats (ie Win-Loss, total offense and total defense).

Which again not to harp and drag the darkness into a thread that clearly worked on making others feel better... but if I have to defend my context for saying only lesser stats show improvement well here's what I mean.  These are the big stats:

2021

Record: 2-10 (118th of 130)

Points/G: 23.2 (100th of 130)

Opp Pts/G: 34.7 (117th of 130)

2022

Record: 1-5 (122nd of 131) 

Points/G: 24.3 (98th of 131)

Opp Pts/G: 36.3 (121st of 131)

Nearly a clean sweep of worse across the board... so yeah the stick up my butt got my panties in a bunch and I complained that this didn't seem like improvement to me.  Not trying to make ppl feel bad just don't want to feel crazy for not seeing improvement/feeling the schedule is to blame.

4 hours ago, Gatorbull325 said:

This season has been rough, but I wanted to look at some of our numbers to see where we stand as a team right now compared to last year. Believe it or not, there is a lot of improvement from last year. Unfortunately, a rough schedule and a few missed opportunities have hurt us. We have 6 games left in this season. I’m hoping these improvements I highlighted will lead to finishing this season in a bowl game or at least with 4-5 wins. It’s kind of crazy thinking that we could have been 3-2 right now.

I ain't trying to be a debbie downer but like....that is some hard core cherry picking of individual stats.

And I don't know what anyone has seen that would make them think we could have more wins with an "easier" schedule.  

In 2019 we had Wisconsin, BYU and Georgia Tech as OOC opponents.  We *beat* BYU that year.  We *beat* ECU that year in conference.  We had 4 wins and that led to our head coach being fired.  Now it's a couple years later and we are losing those games by a wide margin.  That's not a scheduling problem and it's frustrating hearing that used so much as an excuse (Scott led off with that in a post game a week ago).

Those teams got better, we got worse.  Simple as that.

Injuries are a valid excuse.  We have a ton.  Late transfer QB under first year OC, valid excuse.  First year DC, first time head coach, etc etc...  I can buy those to varying degrees.  But those are reasons for us doing bad, they are not reasons we would do better against a different schedule.  

Game 1 against BYU, our WR doesn't hold a block allowing defender to get a quick pick 6.  He didn't forget to block because it was BYU, he forgot to block bc he wasn't prepared to execute enough/had a mental gaffe.  Mayyyyybe a lesser team doesn't take advantage as much but the problems are still there regardless of opponent.  Same thing with all the missed connections by GB and our receivers.  We are missing open guys in many cases; that's self inflicted no matter the opponent.

I mean, if we *were* giving up tons of sacks then you could say "boy those teams are just stacked with big guys our OL can't handle"... And that would lend credit to "if we played lesser teams we could have time to execute our offense and win more".  But as you pointed out the o line isn't giving up lots of sacks...  And our oline helped our RBs gash UF.  So I don't think different opponents suddenly equate to automatic wins.

30 minutes ago, Sk00b said:

Lol. Player "didn't execute" but it's the coaches fault. Cool story bro. 

27 minutes ago, Brad said:

Just to understand your process of putting words together, Bohanon did not run the play correctly so Scott is clueless?  Fired?

He's making the argument it was *not* a Run Pass Option because Bohanon immediately threw to the RB.  Saying it was an RPO absolves the coaches a bit of the blame, so the counter argument was being made that Gerry never even looked to run so it couldn't have been RPO.

I frankly don't care if it was RPO and GB should have run because to me either option leaves the guy with the ball several yards from converting.  I'm arguing the only play should have been in front of the sticks.  I mean seriously, if this was 4th and goal at the 1 would you guys want the coaches giving the QB the *option* to throw to a RB 6 yards out?!?! 

17 minutes ago, olafberserker said:

This play call is being used as an example of poor coaching overall .... this kind of play happens all the time  .. .. it sounds like we put the ball in the hands of our best players (GB and Battie) ....   if it worked it would have been hailed as a great call

I understand not wanting to pin a single do or die moment on a coach as undisputable proof that he sucks.

But the other side of the coin is, at some point you are what you are.  If you are a coach who typically gets blown out, you're not going to get the benefit of the doubt on "critical game on the line plays".  If you continue to fail to deliver FBS wins, it is fair to ask if someone else in those critical moments would have/should have called a different play and had a different result.

3 minutes ago, olafberserker said:

If a play doesn't work there will always be legit questions.  This isn't really an example of the "problem".    You see calls like this all the time in college football

I don't understand.  What "problem" are you talking about?

I'm just saying there's a difference between being mad bc a play didn't work and being mad because a play has a poor chance of success.  I'm gonna pick on the Bucs from last their last Super Bowl win.  I was furious when they threw the ball to some OLine dude (who had reported as eligible receiver) instead of their reliable playmakers.  That dude doesn't catch for a living, why waste a trip in the red zone of the Super Bowl on that????  But at least in that case the guy was in the end zone, he just had butterfingers and dropped a TD.

With our 4th down play the required actions were "throw behind the marker, hope he catches, hope he breaks tackles, hope the blockers block, and hope he doesn't trip/otherwise fall down before the converting."

Vs

"Throw the ball to the receiver, hope he is open and hope he catches "

2 minutes ago, Sk00b said:

So when you hand the ball off your not 4-5 yards behind the line of scrimmage? No way they are doing a QB sneak there against that DL...

Coulda tried a sneak...or could have throw to someone who already had the yardage.

18 minutes ago, Sk00b said:

And if it was a straight run and didnt work? Everyone here would still be ********. This one was on #24 Cinci having a good defense call in place. GB wouldnt have gotten that yard if he tucks and runs. Maybe but i don't think so. 

The difference is when you throw well behind the sticks on 4th and 1 you really open yourself up to legit questions.  *ESPECIALLY* against a fast defense.  You have to make up 6 yards against a swarming D instead of 1.

Blame the QB for other things but not for designing a game-on-the-line 4th down play that has an option of intentionally throwing several yards behind the line of scrimmage.

4 hours ago, smazza said:

usf cant afford to play in nil game

who are we kidding

get a coach kids want to play for

the market place dictates this wouldnt work

I think the point is the market already has been dictating for us that we can only get a certain level of coach.  And if you're reliant on lesser coaches your odds of getting better players AND good coaching/preparation are that much wrose.

Considering that we've been shuffling coaches with no luck, why not *try* to move resources to a novel area, the NIL, instead of trying to compete in arms races for coaches and stadiums.  

We can't outcompete everyone on facilities or coaches...so why not let others be encumbered by huge coaching contracts and stadium upkeep costs while we go straight to the source and pay for better players?

Of course the bigger programs will be better at using money, but if we can get ahead of AAC peers/lower P5 teams for a bit it might be worth it.

At this point I'm all for it.  Just go radically different because nothing is working for us.

Sigh.  Listening to coach talk after losses is usually asking for a reason to be upset, because honestly what can be said to make you feel better.....but whatever I did for a bit and yeah it didn't make me happy.

I'm really surprised he really led off with "it's because of our schedule, otherwise we'd be 3-2".  ECU is in our conference.  Louisville used to be in our conference and now they are in a conference we would kill to be in.  They both beat us like we were FCS teams in the first half.  

I also hated hearing that he loves getting the ball to start the second half and wants to continue doing that.  Instead it should be "yeah we gotta change things up bc of our slow starts.  We'll try to get the ball first, we'll try to do x,y,z".  Instead he just said "there's a blueprint in place and we have to execute it better ".  

Idunno I only got so far before I had to turn it off.  There were some valid points like our infrastructure investments will take time to recruit better...but it doesn't matter if the head coach signs off on 6 minute 35 yard drives when down multiple scores.  It doesn't matter if you can't figure out how to make a team look competitive against your conference mates.

17 minutes ago, hightechbull said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Leavitt#Head_coaching_record

 

I have the "redacted" copy of the report, which was not properly redacted, so one could actually read the whole report.
What is the point of digging that up again?   I really do not feel like doing that to debate with Leavitt fanbois.   He is gone, has been gone for over 10 years, and has not gotten a head coaching job since then.

BTW, 25-26 conference record is below .500, and he was trending downwards when USF fired him.

Lmao guys we got ourselves a super spy over here.  And someone who is so adamant that we leave Leavitt in the past that he literally holds onto what he thinks is a super secret document about Jim Leavitt.

But again I'm the one who needs to let go.  Whooo boy.  Pot meet kettle.

This all came up because I made a silly slogan in this thread about Leavitts firing and it apparently set off the "I hate Jim Leavitt but act like I don't" fan group.