College football: South Florida eyes bright future

[CyberBull]

Naples Daily News

 

College football: South Florida eyes bright future in Big East

By FRED GOODALL, Associated Press

August 16, 2005

TAMPA  Part of Jim Leavitt wants to be a realist.

A mere eight seasons after launching South Florida's football program from scratch, the Bulls are entering the Big East Conference and selling recruits on the prospect of playing for a national championship.

With a schedule that includes road games at Miami, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Connecticut, as well as home dates against Louisville and West Virginia, Leavitt knows his young team could be in for a rough initiation.

As a coach, though, he isn't conceding anything.

"South Florida is going to be a very strong program," Leavitt said.

"Will it happen this year? I don't know. If you look at our schedule a lot of people don't think we have a shot. I don't know if we do or not. All I do know is that our guys are going to play extremely hard."

The Bulls went 4-7 in their final year of a brief stay in Conference USA, only the second losing season in the program's history. Leavitt's 55-33 record is a reflection of the type of talent he's been able to attract, and he's confident playing in the Big East will lure even better athletes.

That's where the prospect of someday competing for a national title comes in. USF could not offer that in the past, but moving into a Bowl Championship Series conference gives Leavitt and his assistants an extra recruiting tool.

The coach recalled falling short of landing quarterback Courtney Denson out of high school in 2003.

Denson signed with Auburn, where he was converted into a defensive back before transferring to South Florida, where he's competing with incumbent Pat Julmiste and freshman Carlton Hill for the starting quarterback job.

Leavitt said the Bulls' chances of getting Denson two years ago faded after the recruit asked whether he'd have an opportunity to play for a national championship at USF.

"You can say anything you want, and you can sell it anyway you want to sell it, but I couldn't be honest ... and say that we could," the coach said.

At the same time, Leavitt knows there's a big difference between being in a conference that provides an opportunity for its champion to finish No. 1 and actually being a national title contender.

The program lacks the tradition of the Sunshine State's Big Three  Florida, Florida State and Miami  but at least now Leavitt can approach the same type of players the Gators, Seminoles and Gators pursue with realistic hopes for landing USF's fair share.

"You're in the room to play for all the marbles. Whether you do or don't, you're in that room," Leavitt said. "You have to believe in what you're selling, you have to believe that there is no ceiling to something."

The Bulls return a talented nucleus of players led by running back Andre Hall, who rushed for a school record 1,357 yards and scored 12 touchdowns in 2004. The quarterback job remains open, but whoever wins it will work with a good group of receivers, headed by Johnny Peyton and S.J. Green.

But to do well against the toughest schedule they've ever faced, the Bulls will have to improve dramatically on defense after yielding nearly 400 yards per game last season. That will be a tall order in the Big East.

Leavitt is excited about the challenge.

"If South Florida is ever going to make a mark ... we knew that someday we had to reach this point where we had gone into the teeth of a lion," the coach said.

"If we look at this thing 20 years from now, you have to make these steps and push at the highest level. You can't just keep dangling. You are either going to be part of tradition or create it. And in a big way, I think we are creating it."

Copyright 2005, Naples Daily News. All Rights Reserved.

[The_Reaper]

A man with a vision... CJL! Way to go Coach!   Reaper

[mutt]

Ya gotta give it to CJL.  He's brought us so far so fast. Who cares if we have a tough schedule, we've beaten the best of em' before and we'll do it again!  GO BULLS !!!