Of OCS Interest

[Cubanbull]

1 hour ago, Jim Johnson said:

While I agree the firing and the resulting controversy did not help... you seem to recall CJL as having a better record than in reality.  We never finished higher than 3rd in the Big East and had at least 3 conference losses every season.  Yes, we went bowling every year... in his last three seasons, USF went 25-14 overall but 9-12 in the Big East.... as a comparison, Charlie Strong was 21-16... but 11-13 in the AAC.  I think that CJL would have been fired in another year or two.

As for attendance, USF averaged more than 44,000 across the three Skip Holtz years (not including the FSU game in 2012 for obvious reasons)... even his last season was 39k average.

There's no way to REALLY know... but even with that level of support, I still do not think USF would have made the Big 12 during the first big round of realignment.

You are correct. The facts are that many thought we had reached a point with Leavitt where 8-5 was going to be the high point. And yes we never finished higher than third in the Big East,His antics on the field and later off were used as an excuse to move on. Skip was hired to help lead us to a higher level, but on that failed. As for the Big12 we wouldn’t had been added in that first round, but we then crashed and let the Houston, UC and UCF pass us by in the AAC.

[UCF_rustbucket]

2 hours ago, Triple B said:

If sufficiently winning in football mattered that much in that round of expansion, Cincy would have been pulled into the Big 12 if the conference wanted a partner for WVU. Sufficiently winning at a higher level than what USF had been didn't save them from getting downgraded.

 

I think it was as simple as USF football as a whole was too young and also hadn't hit enough hight points either. Had that round of expansion happened 10 or 15 years later, giving you more time to build your reputation in the Big East, you'd have had a great chance to get an invite. Cincy had a long history and several BCS appearances but got left behind. TCU and WVU both had long histories and a recent history of ranked seasons and BCS appearances and wins. 

[BulledOver]

19 hours ago, John Lewis said:

I can certainly understand your nephew feeling the way he does since the team didn't perform well during his time attending USF. However, that mentality is the exact reason why we'll not improve as quickly as we all want the program to. Rooting for the other the opponent is just sacrilegious to me.

I hope that he understand down the road how much financial support will help us move forward to where we aspire to get to.

I wish he was the only one of the new usf gen folks that feels that way but, there seems to be a large % that just have no interest. All of us on here mainly come from the time when there was no USF football so we were eager to see it get started and supportive. Different mind set from prior generations. Always tough to digest when we see other teams w/ packed stands. Tough to pass the torch if there isnt anyone that wants to grab it. Hopefully, it will change-Hopefully we will start winning again could help?? 

[Paisa el Toro]

5 minutes ago, BulledOver said:

I wish he was the only one of the new usf gen folks that feels that way but, there seems to be a large % that just have no interest. All of us on here mainly come from the time when there was no USF football so we were eager to see it get started and supportive. Different mind set from prior generations. Always tough to digest when we see other teams w/ packed stands. Tough to pass the torch if there isnt anyone that wants to grab it. Hopefully, it will change-Hopefully we will start winning again could help?? 

Not a generational thing. Too easy to blame the young ones. It's a USF cultural problem, which is a bit difficult to define.

I know plenty of pre-1997 alumni that graduated from USF and have no interest in supporting their alma mater. They'd rather purchase season tix to schools north of us.

[Sk00b]

A lot of it has to do with the college experience and culture/groups of friends, etc. However, success on the field will bring the student engagement back.

Went to UCF 04-06 and went to a few games but never really had any spark or excitement.

Went to USF 06-09 and here i am... 

So basically, our students are in that first scenario.

It's been mentioned before (many times I'm sure) but to get engagement in our current circumstances, there has to be some incentives.  Free EVERYTHING for students at the games, support from faculty & staff, points system for free stuff, etc. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by Sk00b

[Jim Johnson]

14 hours ago, Brad said:

With all due respect this is laughable. 

Why do you laugh at facts, Brad? 

• CJL never finished higher than 3rd in any conference (C-USA or Big East)
• Over the course his last three seasons -- the "best three seasons" in the eyes of most USF fans -- CJL had a losing Big East conference record.

 

 

[BulledOver]

1 hour ago, Paisa el Toro said:

Not a generational thing. Too easy to blame the young ones. It's a USF cultural problem, which is a bit difficult to define.

I know plenty of pre-1997 alumni that graduated from USF and have no interest in supporting their alma mater. They'd rather purchase season tix to schools north of us.

Eh, I'll give you some of that one but, the young ones have other interests now that preoccupy them. So yes, some its generational. All this has been beat around in prior discussions. Easy to blame the university and, justifiable in some sense. It takes a Pres, AD, Board and even some of the educational staff to try to fire up the young'uns. We will know more when we win...Lots of folks jump on board of a winner. Time will tell. I like seeing USF grads return to take positions at the university I think that helps provide roots. 

[USFRaider]

16 minutes ago, Jim Johnson said:

Why do you laugh at facts, Brad? 

• CJL never finished higher than 3rd in any conference (C-USA or Big East)
• Over the course his last three seasons -- the "best three seasons" in the eyes of most USF fans -- CJL had a losing Big East conference record.

 

 

Mediocrity thy name is Leavitt 

[Jim Johnson]

8 minutes ago, USFRaider said:

Mediocrity thy name is Leavitt 

Fair to middlin' for sure... still better than Holtz, Strong, and the first three years of Scott..

[John Lewis]

Fairly safe to say if you were to rank the 10 best wins in program history that Coach Leavitt would have no less than 8 of them.