12inchtaint!

2 hours ago, Outlaw said:

I am not sure about Spencer but I know Shoops defense system was all about getting sacks and tackles for loss. We did not have 5 defensive backs to be on the field every play to make that work.  I don't know why you would run 4-2-5 with our defensive backs. I think the new DC will use a 4 3 4 but I am not sure. Hopefully the defense improves  but there are reasons to be concerned.

I think its 3 up front due to depth. 
 

Shoop was supposed to be a blitz guy, but he relied a lot on sending his LB’s. He didnt send cb’s or safties in as much.  Then moving to the middle of the season he pulled away from that and went to bend but dont break- they taught the defense the bend part, but utterly failed on the not breaking… 

Im not saying that we will see a huge turnaround or to expect a bowl game, but at least for once we have someone like patrick out saying how his guys are going to be nasty and get after it.  I think that motivates the players more than the nice guy silent approach cjs and his d staff has taken. 
 

Also there has to be some back to basics taught- for 4+ years this defense has given up on 3rd and 8,9,12.  Need to teach these guys to use the field to their advantage when defending.  

55 minutes ago, Outlaw said:

His DC is another retread from FAU. Hopefully all the coaching  staff is much more competent and better at winning than the previous staff.

The DC at least fits what AG wants to do. AG looked at the tape and saw the areas where he had holes on D and decided that instead of getting burned and being reactive, he would hire a guy with a history of being aggressive and attacking.  So at least next year when we are playing these shootout type games like Tulsa, Houston, UCF, ECU last year we have a coach who recognizes that the way for this defense to help win is to attack and force turnovers. 
 

Shoop and Spencer both tried to shut teams down- instead of constant pressure they tried to make their defense play for stops when they were clearly outmatched. 
 

I see orlando coming in and doing what a NFL DC like Wink Martindale did for Baltimore and NYG- creating lots of pressure with different blitzes and looks, hopefully leading to more turnovers. 
 

Worst case is a more aggressive terrible defense, best case is having a defense with an actual identity that can do its job 20-35% of the time as opposed to the 5% we saw last year. 
 

But again, at least there is an identity that is being established. Pressure and aggressiveness.  What was the identity the last two guys were pushing?

Totally understand being skeptical, but this coach has come in and done things pretty closely to what members of this board have been asking for:

1- not talking about what worked at past Jobs.

2- focused on winning football and not throwing out catchy slogans.

3- brought in some coaches with past connections to USF.  

4- has yet to make one excuse/prepared people for losing games next year. 
 

5- reviewed tape and has a grasp of what the returning guys can do  

Now I know we have to account for the fact that USF may be cursed, but if the past month is any indication, this is the type of guy that this school should have hired to run the program back in 2010. 

I still think if CJS brought him in last year instead of Schoop he still has his job. 
Rowe was a finalist for the job last year. 
 

I am 100% in favor of AG choosing all these early to mid career guys and not relying on retreads with questionable pasts. 

55 minutes ago, Gatorbull325 said:

We had a lot of O-line injuries. And the back ups all stepped up. 

To put this in perspective, if we were told prior to this season that:

We lose the top three qb’s, and finish out the year with Brown as the starter.

Mangham would play one snap.

Joiner would play one game and be extremely rusty.

Weaver would be injured off and on and miss the last 3 games. 

Jimmy Horn would have 550 recieving yards.
 

What would the consensus be on how the season played out on the offensive side of the ball?  All things considered, the last 3 games were probably the best the team looked on offense all season. Its pretty crazy that we are going into next year with almost no concern on being able to score points AND also will have a fierce QB competition.

One thing that CJS should get credit for is that he inherited zero offense, and put together a pretty good group before he left. 
 

6 hours ago, hm101 said:

10 days in... should have at least called so far. This is the 2nd one. I will call these coaches if needed.

Takes 5 minutes just to say I'll come by in a few days or weeks but just wanted to offer an open door to hear what you need in the meantime. 

He can do that in Jan or Feb. 

He has to go out and find 2 wr’s who can catch, 1-2 LB, 2 DT’s, and 1 CB. 
He can placate these premadonna coaches after he gets the most important part of the job done.  (and what his predecessor did NOT do when he started) 

I want to see more bay area HS involvement, but he isnt going to find a starting DT or LB who is a sr at spoto or riverview  right now. 
 

2 minutes ago, Grateful Dad said:

Why are we surprised?  We made businessmen out of nineteen year olds.  They are making business decisions.  Friends are great, but if I can pay off mom's house, I gotta go with the woman who fed me.

Im not surprised, but he will be a 24 year old LB trying to get drafted. 
Best case is he sticks on a practice squad. 
Later in his career he may want a GA job or something that USF could have easily made happen if he stuck around. but he gave that up for one year with c. 
That is an interesting decision. 

35 minutes ago, Brad said:

 

He is acting like a guy who wouldn't have  got benched in favor of Gordon this year. 
Boyles was the guy carrying the LB group. 
 

He took this sites money, played three games and used the sympathy card on the fan base when his father passed- then posts this? Helps me understand where some of these D guys heads were at the past 3-4 years. 

Best of luck to him, but there are two ways to do things, this exit was the wrong way. 

1 minute ago, hm101 said:

The guy ran a top tier SEC teams operations. So at the very least he will know how to not make the day to day logistics look like amateur hour and more like a professional organization. 

Quick question, how familiar are you with the day to day operations and logistics of the football team? 

I've been on field for preseason practices and regular season games multiple times and there was never anything amateur about it. 

Its great we get an experienced person in place, but the previous person did a good job. 

38 minutes ago, belgianbull said:

Yes, while his resume is impressive and I welcome him to USF to be honest I am not able to name who was in the same position at USF over the last 10 years. Doesn't mean it is not an important position but whether we are successful will likely come down to other things; mainly to coach Golesh and his ability to adapt from being an OC to HC.  But overall this seems to be a good hire.

Albert Boone was the guy I believe, and if this means he is no longer on staff it saddens me because he was a good USF guy. 

He was here before Scott and Strong and loves the school. He is also a really great person.  I hope he stays on in some capacity. 

1 minute ago, Rocky Style said:

That's how you do things!  Right on.  

Maybe they use this line of thinking when it comes to athlete admissions requirements. Get a few exceptions for partial qualifiers to bump up the talent level. 

4 minutes ago, bulloni said:

Wonder what this means for a few things:

-Is it still going to be a 300-350 million dollar project or are they dropping the price to get it done quicker

-Is 2026 still the target date and they want to be sure they are just starting it sooner so it'll still be ready then in case of delays? Is 2026 still the target date and the scope of the project has increased? Are they moving the target date up to 2025?

Break ground late next year gives a target complete date of end of 2025 season.  That gives them an 8+ month cushion for overrun to open for 2026. 
more interesting is that he said funds were marked for the stadium. 
Sounds like for once USF is going to do something and not worry about any perceived roadblocks. 

31 minutes ago, belgianbull said:

We were horrible this year, but still kept it close with teams like Florida, Cincy, Tulsa and UCF. I think in the new conference we should be able to win 4 games this upcoming year. But yes next year will be tough, and I am willing to give new coach somewhat of a pass in the first year, but a bowl game year 2 is minimum. Year 3 I expect  to compete for conference championship. Anything else I will consider failure; at which point I will have lost all confidence in Kelly. 

The approach to this year is different. There is no expectation for 4+ wins BUT if they win 5-6 would you be surprised with this new conference configuration?

I would say we should be ok with 2-3 wins, as long as the losses do not look like they did for the past 3 years. Getting your doors blown off by Temple, then playing Cinci, UCF, UF close screamed unprepared and unmotivated. That was on the staff. 
 

My main expectation would be consistency, cant lose to bad teams by a lot then get up for tough games and win/almost win them. On top of that there should be accountability, if we have guys getting beat on D or constantly dropping passes, they should be watching from the sidelines until they prove they can be relied on. I feel like in the past some guys got away with poor effort because the staff liked them. 

1 hour ago, FazaUSF said:

Not now that a lot of talent is graduating and/or transferring out...

The talent that matters is BB or GB and Battie. An elite rb and accurate mobile qb will help whatever WR’s remain get open and put up numbers. The only way the offense is bad is if the OL guys totally crap the bed, most of them have had to fill in this year and looked serviceable.
On defense, it can not get worse. Teams were scoring on 60%+ of their possessions,  so it really does not matter who is gone from that group. 
Add in the weak schedule, and literally anything is possible next year. 
 

Dont get me wrong, 4-5 wins would be great, but with this schedule there is a whole lot of upside. 

3 minutes ago, olafberserker said:

Ok, like the enthusiasm but might want to slow it down a little .... 

Yes. This team could win the conference with a top 85-90 defense. 

9 minutes ago, E.T. said:

Exactly!

It is like the polar opposite of the last two years schedule where there were 4-6 games that all were lumped in the hardest category. Now there are 7-8 in the weakest, Its pretty hilarious. 
 

3 minutes ago, E.T. said:

From the strongest to the weakest . . .

Alabama

Memphis

UTSA

UConn

Western Kentucky

FAU

Navy

Temple

UAB

Rice

Charlotte

FAMU

My god. Outside of Alabama, this is an extremely weak schedule. 
UTSA is the hardest game, followed by WKU and maybe UCONN. 
This is a best case scenario schedule for a new coach.  If our offense still features Battie, BB/GB, Dukes, Joiner and the backup OL guys that got PT this year, we can definitely put up points.  If he can get defense to be not the worst in history a bowl game is pretty attainable. 

I have an idea, I would like the people on this site and others who are trashing this pick to do one thing, at the end of their post, wnter the amount of dollars you have contributed to NIL- either here or fowler ave. 
The entitlement here is insane. This is a school who had three good years since 2012.  Want to help? Give some money. 
Be happy that your school has the funds to fire two guys in a row and pay them millions out the door. Be happy that your school had the money to bring in a top tier up and coming coach and not a 50 year old retread. 

1 hour ago, Brad said:

Since so many fans here embrace the belief that we are a stepping stone school and treasure the thought that "if a coach leaves us better that he found us, he was a success".  

This will be our first hiring cycle with the portal and no transfer sit out rules.  Have those that embrace the shiny new object coach and/or up and comer candidate (that just has to make us better) how this fits in a stepping stone plan when every player brought in can transfer out after the shiny new object achieves his goals for success and moves on?

Obviously had Jeff Scott been wildly successful and moved on to a P5 school, we would see the effects...perhaps Battie, Horn, Brown, etc. go with him.

So, just how do we build success (don't tell me UCF did it, because the rules have since changed), if we are to possibly experience player flows in and out as frequently as coaches - unless of course the coach is a failure (then we're stuck with both).

I'm not looking for the regular clatter about Deion or the routine put down of Scott, Taggart or Leavitt.  Those people can ignore this.  

This isn't a deep philosophical question either.  It's just the game has changed - are you considering it?  MK must be.  I hope.  If we can't figure out how to retain a coach, it will be a very long road to consistent success.  I think MK knew this and saw the potential in Scott being a foundational coach that would stay.  Unfortunately, Scott came up short.

Tenure is important in other vocations and industries.  It retains knowledge, creates efficiency and protects assets and markets.  

We'll all be on edge until we hear who becomes the next guy to give it a go...but I hope you have considered the cycle we are entering likely leads to inconsistency and worse, failure.  We need to make a hire that has truly transformational impact, not a Band-Aid on a dying Bull. 

 

If the program is built right, the guys you lose would probably be the ones you would not want around as a new coach. 

If battie is really coming back, he is the exact type of player that you want. He is gifted physically, but more importantly he understands how to be part of a team. Yesterday solidified him as an all time great Bull, Brown takes a late hit and Battie was the first person in to defend him. 
 

Want a winning team? Bring in guys who will be team first and hold each other accountable.  I feel like CJS did that on the offensive side. He just failed terribly on the other side of the ball. 

4 minutes ago, Brad said:

Glad he's taken that public....it's been known here for some time, but privacy was respected.  He's a great person and a true Bull.

Battie back, Brown should be back, keep Horn and you have the three key offensive pieces returning to keep this offense top 50 or better. 
If battie is really coming back, post that link to donate. He is a great Bull. 

Lots of talk online from fans talking about how this job is not as attractive as it has been in the past, or how we are in some 2nd or 3rd tier of positions. 
 

I have to say those takes may be incredibly shortsighted.  Here is why this job is better than 50% of any P5 openings. 
 

- Facilities- new IPF, stadium, board behind athletics. 
 

-location- no state tax, in the middle of a great recruiting area if you want to put in the work locally. 

*Finally the single largest reason*
 

You come here and build a team that beats the likes of Charlotte, Memphis, Tulane, ECU, Navy, and a slate of mid level P5 teams.  You are now in a position to make the expanded playoffs every year.  Literally very year you can tell recruits- we have a seat at the table, an incredibly difficult path in that seat, but you are there. Can the new coaches at Wisconsin, Nebraska, Arizona St, GT, and Colorado say that? 
 

The right guy can either build something here like Boise in the mid 2000’s and stick around, or build it and bolt to one of those top schools.  The only difference between the USF job in 2019 and 2022 is the IPF and Stadium, both huge increases in attractiveness. 

3 minutes ago, Sk00b said:

His OG OC is pretty **** good. Can't agree with you on this one. 

They got rid of him and Shoop. At the end of the day he struck out on two straight DC’s. Offense was serviceable, really would like to know how/why he landed on shoop. A choice that changed the trajectory of his career and the program. 

3 minutes ago, Bull94 said:

didn't horn have a 50+ yard TD run ?

I think we need to move on from Scott. Don't like his mindset. Too conservative. He brought out the injury excuse early which sets the tone for the rest of the year. Gave the players and coaches a reason for why we would fail and touted it in the press.

Even better. He had 2 rushes, 50yd td. 
then nothing.  Horn should get 10targets/touches min a game. Especially with Marsh as qb. 

28 minutes ago, OcalaBull2 said:

That’s not enough in my opinion. At this point Scott has a total of 4 wins in his career at USF, and last season had to fire his DC before the season was over. If he does that again, it further proves that he’s in over his head. If you keep putting people in place that can’t do their jobs, then that shows a big lack of awareness. 

Overall it seems like he is in way over his head- The offense is ok, but if you look closer there are so many points they leave on the table.  Look at a coach like Taggart back when he was successful here, or Lane Kiffin all of the time.  If they find a play/player that can run a play, the run that thing until the other team breaks. Think Rodney Adams and the Jet sweep. Taggart would run the Jet sweep and bubble screen action into the ground.  He would score 30+ in a game on these plays.  Then when the other team started to adjust he would stretch it out to MVS or McCants.  Lane does the same thing- if he has a player who can beat the other team, he runs that play/player until they stop him or the other team breaks- Sure sometimes other teams can stop them and there are losses, but for the most part, hammering your best guys over and over against a team will work. Its like a video game.  And when it works, other kids see it and want to come to USF and be the next guy to be featured.  

We saw Horn run a jet sweep yesterday twice, once it was stopped, once he almost broke it and got 14 yards, then crickets.  How does an offense have the fastest guy on the field and only use him 3-4 times a game, then use him as a decoy the rest of the time? Especially when you have a backup QB who is not accurate.  A head coach should be able to identify this and have guys exploit the other team- This is why we see a RB with 250+ yards, and QB's having career days- they see the offense is weak and let their best player feast over and over every possession. 

7 minutes ago, Dave_Glaser said:

Lost in all this is the fact that with a backup QB playing the past 10 quarters, if you add in the missed FGs the past two weeks, we’re scoring 30+ points a game. I didn’t expect to see that when Marsh took over. That’s enough to win games for most teams if your defense isn’t historically inept. Who knows how many points we may have put up if the defense could have gotten off the field at all and given the offense some more possessions? Is it unrealistic to think that a coach who could get anything out of that defense could turn things around pretty quickly, or am I just dreaming?

Ive been saying this all along. Those scores were when the game was still competitive. Injury excuse didnt apply when you have a competent offensive staff. 
Scott massively struck out on his DC hires. He should have went young, modern, and hungry. Instead he got a retread with a questionable past.  Not sure if his dad was still advising him on the hire, but it cost him his job.  All of the success shoop had was at high level p5 teams and it was all short lived. With all his talk of character, overlooking the red flags of his DC’s short lived previous positions was huge.  I also think Scotts nice guy personality hurt his ability to get shoop in line and performing.

Defense can be fixed in a year- look at what allen did here. There is no excuse for taking over the dc spot and doing worse than last year with the same players and transfer additions. 
hopefully whomever comes in can keep the offense core together- battie, weaver, bohannon, brown, horn, and most of the OL.  If so the pieces may be in place for a quicker turnaround with some stronger leadership. 

21 hours ago, Triple B said:

Apples to apples. What CJL did was infinitely harder .....

In 1996, the internet was a shell of what it is today. There was no social media, no easy way to send/receive/browse video other than vhs.  CJL had the entire bay area and local media behind him.  He was able to find kids who in todays time would go to a mid level P5 program and keep them here.  Same with Miami for him- he was able to go down there and get the guys who didnt get taken by UF, FSU, and UM- there were not 30 other top tier programs all over them like there are now. 

So while I think CJL is the best we have ever had and that he did a wonderful job and wish he still had some association with USF, building something similar now/starting from where Holtz left us was a lot harder- add in the breakup of the Big East and being left behind and that multiplies the difficulty by 2x.