TherapyBull

While I am certainly not advocating that USF build a glorified high school stadium, I do think we need to put things into perspective. If we want an iconic cathedral on the campus then we might be waiting too long. These stadiums are not built overnight we do not have a concrete commitment or even a fundraising effort at this time. I think a fair question to ask is how long can USF afford to wait? We continue to be the last holdout in terms of the public universities in the state of Florida with regards to the on campus facility. UCF has already started their efforts to expand Bright House Networks Stadium. http://ucfgoldenknightsclub.com/facility-projects/football-expansion/ Yes, winning helps but it is foolish to believe that the atmosphere up in Orlando and ESPNs love affair with their facilities isn’t helping recruiting, attendance, and gameday experience. Brighthouse Networks Stadium was certainly the right decision for UCF. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/blogs/jon-busdeker/os-ucf-football-game-day,0,3741777.post We can only hope to create this atmosphere one day. Times have changed. Today quick is better than perfect, in business they talk about the minimum viable product. Looking across the country we can see that virtually every other university has followed this model, build an on campus stadium then expand as needed. The longer we wait the more we fall behind. A 40-50K bare bones stadium with the ability to expand and upgrade in the future would be the perfect solution, and cost nowhere near the visions of grandeur we had just several years ago. The goal is to get masses of people on the campus, create a campus atmosphere, build our own campus traditions, and improve the game day football experience, these can all be accomplished with a bare bones stadium. The facility can then be expanded and upgraded in the future and maybe in our lifetime that iconic cathedral might emerge, but right now the goal should be to get onto the campus.

Parking is not an issue. There is no parking in Gainesville and somehow they manage to get 90k into the stadium. There not all students living on campus. You just park all over the place and have to walk, it adds to the experience as you walk past all the tailgaters spread around the campus. USF could not ask for a better advertisement of the school and campus if 40k were suddenly on the campus 6-7 times per year.

14K actually in the stadium in back to back weeks is a complete embarrassment for an FBS football program if we ever hope to compete at a relevant level. A 67,000 seat NFL stadium with congregation areas behind the endzones and a club section makes matters worse as fans are spread very thin. Furthermore these abysmal numbers happened on Saturday nights at 7 PM, which has traditionally given us the best chance to draw. I can forgive noon kickoffs and black Friday games but not these last two. Regardless of our record, if our fan base was that fragile and thin, then our visions of grandeur were absolutely premature. Would we really want to bring a potential recruit to a game? The novelty of an NFL stadium wore off when we moved up to our current level. I can’t see how athletics cannot be at least contemplating some changes and putting egos aside. The lower bowl of RJS seats 41K, it’s time to close off the upper portions again until further notice. Aside from UCF, FSU or if we every play UF, its hard to seem us drawing more than 41K actual. I know this creates some potential problems for ticket holders, but that can be sorted through, we had 14K in the stadium. In the grande scheme of things the numbers are so small, it does not matter if we piss some people off. Having people spread around a stadium that now is significantly too big for the program, serves no purpose, and is clearly a detriment to fan engagement. Lastly, the thinking that an iconic cathedral of an OCS is required if we were to ever leave RJS was also probably a bit premature. A facility like our cousins (UCF, FAU) in the state of Florida, with the ability to expand would suit us just fine, and come at a much cheaper cost then what was envisioned. FAU even seats 30K. Pretty much every team in the country has followed this model with their stadiums and subsequent expansions. Just very frustrating to see what has transpired in the last 3 years. It’s a lot more than just winning and recruiting better………..

I know I’ll probably get attacked for even suggesting this, but failure to monitor your competition (Yes, they are) is a recipe for disaster. Furthermore, simply sending derogatory statements towards UCF also serves no purpose. The last couple of weeks ESPN has had a slobbering love affair with UCF, showcasing their facilities and now letting us all know that their Spirit Splash has won the best campus tradition contest. A university cannot ask for better advertising. In the past we debated if UCF was on our level. Now looking over some things what do we see? They have won a conference (Conference USA) They have finished a season ranked They are most likely going to a BCS bowl game this year, and will win another conference They have an indoor practice facility They have an on campus venue for football (who cares if its crap, it’s on the campus, and yes it can be upgraded) They have a campus tradition that was recognized They have an engaged football stadium They outrank us academically (Better grad rates and overall rankings) USF has none of these, and each one is something that we all want. We do probably have more marquee wins, but a season is a complete body of work, and we were never consistent. This isn’t all Skip Holtz fault, nor is UCF’s new found glory all George O’leary doing. It’s at a much higher level. The question becomes, where does USF go from here, and how does USF achieve what UCF has created? Does USF try to follow a different model? Are we positioned for the future? UCF sure looks to be well positioned. I have faith in USF, but just looking for a vision that consists of more than "Just win". Would a business simply say "Just sell more products". It kills me to see UCF surpassing us...........

Bobby Eveld currently is 2nd to last in ESPNs Total QBR http://espn.go.com/ncf/qbr/_/page/3 Under normal circumstances this play would render you holding a clipboard for the rest of your days with the team, unfortunately our circumstances are different. Does anyone know what the worst QBR ever was for an entire season? Especially someone who had significant playing time? Kind of a dubious record to hold, and you would hate for Bobby to have to go through life with that disctinction.

Anybody have statistics on what the worst quarterback season was in college football history for someone who has played in multiple games. You would hate for Eveld to have to go through life with that stat. Normally he wouldn't be out here.

USF 17-10 Shaw Price 250

Gotcha, thanks.

Just had a question and don't know if it has been discussed here. Floyd is a redshirt sophmore with limited game experience, who barely established himself as the starting quarterback during camp, and if someone else steps up could possibly never throw another pass for this university the rest of his career. Just wondering how he became a team captain? Does he have great leadership skills? Or does this have less to do about Floyd and more to do with the lack of leadership on the rest of the roster. Maybe Coach T just wanted to boost his confidence for the season. Regardless he must have showed something to Coach T.

To me, the silver lining was the validation of parting ways with Skip Holtz at the end of last season. At the time there were still some (albeit small) sentiments to give Holtz another year and let his players have more time to mature. His players just got dominated by an FCS team. This situation would be a nightmare if Skip Holtz was still the coach of this team. There would be calls to fire him immediately and the University would probably be reluctant to make such a rash decision, the whole base would have lost confidence and essentially we would have had a lame duck all season. This would have further extended the rebuilding process and certainly would have hurt 2014 recruiting. So to me, the silver lining is Skip Holtz is not here and the rebuilding is under way.

I agree with this somewhat, there is a line that should not be crossed. These are however, young adults, and adults being the word. College is supposed to be the transition into adulthood and unfortunately learning the harsh realities of the real world. This is not little league were everyone gets a hot dog and coke after the game. Like the commercials say, most are going pro in something else, when that day comes, actions and decisions will have consequenes, and these early adult years should prepare them for that. Maybe I'm old school, but to me a full ride to a University is still meaningful. There are paying customers in the stands, their coaches jobs are on the line, and overall the university is using the football program as an extension of the marketing department, thats just reality. Nobody forced them to play college football. They could have easily decided to enroll at USF or another university and focus their efforts on academics in hopes of landing a job post graduation or a spot in a competitive graduate school. Again there is a clear line, such as personal attacks, but booing is a natural process to voice displeasure, especially if it is directed at the overall program.

I do not know if this has been posted already, so please move it to the correct thread if needed, but here is Matt Grothe's assessment of the first game on rivals http://usf.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1543772

A total of seven McNeese players have been named to various College Football Performance Awards watch lists and another 12 players have been voted onto the preseason All-Southland Conference teams as well as other organization all-conference and all-America teams. They have some good players on their team, including top transfers from D1 programs. Just because they're in the FCS that doesn't mean they automatically suck and we should beat them 100-0. Bunch of ignorant football fans on here. Are you kidding me? You are justifying the worst loss by a 1-A school to a1-AA one based on Mcneese having 7 players on the college football performance awards watch lists? Really? And you would be another fine example of an ignorant unknowledgable football fan. They have solid players and it showed. There is a reason they have nearly 20 players on watchlists and up for conference and all american recognition. Just because they are FCS, doesn't mean they suck. Wake up and smell the coffee, parity exists today. They have solid players and it showed? They played us and dominated, it sure did show, this whole thread is about USF lacking a talented roster so essentially you are veryfying what people are saying. Parity exsists today? Really, I must have slept through the parity between FBS and FCS over the offseason. Apparently everyone else has as well. I see they have 4 First Team all Southland conference players, 5 Second Team all Southland conference players, and 3 Third Team all Southland conference players. Yes, they appear to have a solid team for the Southland Conference. I know people like to rip the AAC but are we comparing the AAC with the Southland now? This team was 4-3 last season in the Southland, certainly USF should have seen this juggernaut coming. Love the passion and the name calling, and maybe McNeese State will run the table and win the FCS National Championship, but again this thread is about USF lacking a talented roster, and what was displayed on the field against an FCS school confirms that in my boat.

This is something that got lost in the fiasco that was last night. It was the first game of the year, and that's all that came through the doors.

A total of seven McNeese players have been named to various College Football Performance Awards watch lists and another 12 players have been voted onto the preseason All-Southland Conference teams as well as other organization all-conference and all-America teams. They have some good players on their team, including top transfers from D1 programs. Just because they're in the FCS that doesn't mean they automatically suck and we should beat them 100-0. Bunch of ignorant football fans on here. Are you kidding me? You are justifying the worst loss by a 1-A school to a1-AA one based on Mcneese having 7 players on the college football performance awards watch lists? Really?

There is a clear disctinction between 1-A and 1-AA (FCS), this is not a BCS, NON BCS Scenario (Although we used to never lose to non BCS teams) There is some sentiments on this board that we have the talent and why cant we win, this is green and gold bias at its finest. Talent is a major problem, recruiting has been suspect for quite some time. Gary Shleton even stated in todays paper. Football is an ultimate team sport and one player cannot take over a game like a stud in basketball or a dominant pitcher in baseball. If our talent was good, it would show against a 1 -AA team, our defense would not give up 53 points, give up all those first downs, our offense would manage to score more than 7 points before the game got out of hand and the other team layed back, our special teams would hit a field goal, not throw a snap over the punters head, and out return team would down the ball in the endzone when we can take it out to the 25 yard line. Taggart is known as a recruiter and he has a lot of work to do............ Of course its the talent

I noticed this article from the front page this morning and stopped and read it before going to work. Totally ridiculous to even consider. I hate it when crap likes this even gets printed, as it gives others more opportunities to knock and make fun of USF...............

6-6 is my baseline. Quaterback situation is terrible, Willie T essentially has a free pass in my book this year. Hope to make a bowl game, show the fans something to be hopeful about for future years. Potentially land some better recruits to build the program back up.

1) What game will we win that we're not supposed to, if any? UCF 2) What game will we lose, that we're not supposed to, if any? SMU 3) What do you expect the run/pass ratio to be? 60/40 4) Will we have the same starting QB in December that close out September? No 5) What game are you most looking forward to? UCF, yep I like having the rivalry, sorry

I've got my first child a son due in about 2 months. I think as parents we all want the very best for our children, in fact we want them to acheive much more than ourselves. My parents provided this environment for me and that lead me to an education both undergraduate and graduate at USF. This is actually a rather difficulty question, certainly my children will grow up watching and attending USF football games with our friends and family, however its hard to tell what the future might bring with regards to my children's apptitudes as well as the overall quality of USF. I've also come to feel that its best to go away to college, and I would almost encourage it of my children. Coming back to Tampa to do graduate school would be a different story however.

Deep pockets, our problem is we are not reaching enough Alumni. How many people have graduated from USF, how many are Alumni members but do not support our Athletics? That is the issue... Didn't we just raise $600+ million? Maybe it's our athletics and not our alumni. According to the chart, USF donors number +/- 3,500. Gotta remember, a lot of alumni passed through USF before '97. As for not reaching them, there is no guarantee that once someone graduates from college that they are inclined to send even mo' money to the alma mater, particularly athletics. Not to mention, our medical programs tend to finish the year ranked, something most of our marquee sports can't say. CAMLS is pretty badass, our athletic department falls well short of that. Probably a topic for a different thread but with our abysmal 6 year graduation rates we actually do not have that many alumni compared to schools of similar size. In fact slightly smaller schools with better graduation rates can easily have more alumni. I still feel it falls on athletics to reach whatever alumni we do have and try to get them to donate. We did make a change, lets see how it plays out.

A very dissapointing graph indeed. While the foundation can make excuses about the relative lack of deep pockets amongst our base of alumni and surrounding area, I hope the powers that be are injecting some accountability into the fundraising efforts.

I've tried to do this, if you call the foundation and athletics and tell them you want to donate money specifically to be used for a future OCS they won't let you........So basically, if we want to do this it has to be separate from the school, which is absurd. Granted, if someone dropped seven or eight figures they might put it aside but basically anything less than that they won't let you do it. There is no fund at this time.

Agree completely. We all know that football is the only sport that the general public cares about enough to actually see in person. That type of volume of people (attendance) just isn't present to view any other sport we participate in. For that reason a football stadium is not just a place where the football team plays its games.

As of June 30 the capital campaign surpassed $621 million. They have proven the can raise some money, hopefully a stadium fund will be added to Unstoppable II. What a great way to stoke interest in Athletics.